Write a Letter to the Editor about Humanitarian Aid to Palestinians

Send An Email To Your Newspapers And Elected Officials About Aid to Palestinians!

joan,   

As American leaders have said they will provide 900 million dollars in aid to Palestinians, I am writing you about a very important initiative,  H. Con. Res.  29. The initiative, if enacted, can ensure that American taxpayers are not harmed by our good intentions. We were very honored to join the leaders of this initiative, Rep.Steve Rothman, Rep. Mark Kirk and Rep. Sue Myrick  for a press conference this week which you can see here.

Indeed, while it is important to strengthen moderates in the West Bank, fully 140 million of  America's promised aid is to go to the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) who work in Gaza (an area controlled by Iran-backed Hamas). While UNRWA remains the primary delivery mechanism for humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories, there is absolutely no reason why the United Nations cannot take assertive action to ensure that not one penny of U.S. dollars is being redistributed to terrorists. 

Unfortunately, at this time we have no such guarantee, given the lax oversight and faulty accountability mechanisms currently in place. Today UNRWA is the "Ken Lay of humanitarian organizations" with no independent audits! H. Con. Res. 29  seeks to fix this and to ensure that not one cent of U.S. taxpayer dollars provided to UNRWA is redirected to terrorists, or to activities that support terror or promote a culture of hatred.  

It is imperative that our leaders take all necessary measures to certify that UNWRA operates in full compliance with section 301(c) of the foreign assistance act, which states that no American taxpayer dollars be directed to terrorists or to further terrorist propaganda. 

To improve their transparency, UNRWA should publish online copies of all educational materials used in UNRWA-administered schools. After all, not one penny of U.S. taxpayer money should go to textbooks which teach Palestinian children to hate America or our allies. Nor should their spokespeople be allowed to make false statements in the media.  Indeed - to learn more about this see thestatement from Lanny Davis.

To bolster their accountability, UNRWA must also implement terrorist name-recognition software and other screening procedures that would help to ensure the UNRWA staff, volunteers and beneficiaries are neither terrorists themselves, nor affiliated with known terrorist organizations.  

As it is nearly 1000 days since Israeli Gilad Shalit was taken hostage by Hamas, and rockets continue to be shot at Israel almost every day, we must make sure that American dollars are used for smart solutions -- not to give welfare to terrorists  or to use them to enable schools to train terrorists through intolerance.  

Please - use our automated system send your letter today to your elected officials and newspapers to make sure they have the facts!  

Sincerely,  

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi
Founder & President
www.theisraelproject.org  

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