January 19, 2024
Foreign Minister Penny Wong told a meeting of Palestinian Authority officials Australia's latest funding package for the West Bank and Gaza intended to pay for civilian healthcare and childhood education must not be misused by terrorists, signalling Australian government concern with how the funds might be apportioned.
Senator Wong said she raised the matter during a meeting with Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, one day after the Albanese government announced $21.5m in aid for initiatives in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as funding for programs in Lebanon and Jordan.
During a visit to the West Bank the Foreign Minister also met with representatives of communities affected by Israeli settler violence, drawing praise from Mr Shtayyeh for her condemnation of the attacks. "I was very encouraged to hear a very strong statement from the minister on issues that have to do with settlements and the Australian opposition of settlement construction that are all illegal in the Palestinian territories." Some $6m has been set aside by the Albanese government for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees, an entity that's long been accused of disseminating anti-Semitic material in schools and having its resources pilfered by Hamas in Gaza.
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the government needed to immediately reconsider its latest commitment of UNRWA funding given the well-documented concerns with the agency and its employment of vehemently antiIsrael staff members.
"The Foreign Minister has effectively conceded this overnight.
She said at a press conference that she raised this issue with the (prime minister) of the Palestinian Authority. And if that's Penny Wong's only plan to ensure Australian taxpayers' dollars don't end up inadvertently funding terrorism, then I think it's totally inadequate. She needs to revisit it." Days after the October 7 massacre, UNRWA educators posted on X that fuel and medical equipment had been stolen by a group of people "purporting to be from the Ministry of Health of the de facto authorities in #Gaza", only to later delete it and publish a correction saying no looting had occurred.
Footage released by the Israeli government has also shown aid packages arriving by truck in Gaza and immediately being stolen by Hamas affiliates.
The government's decision to commit more funding to UNRWA was criticised by Jewish leaders and at least one former Labor MP, David Feeney, who described it as an "investment in hatred".
In addition to evidence of UNRWA schools being used to store and fire rockets, some of its staff and educators are known to have celebrated the October 7 massacres on social media, instances of which have been identified by Geneva-based United Nations monitoring group UN Watch.
On Thursday, the Foreign Minister met with Commissioner General of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini where she expressed her support for the agency and condolences over the 150 staff killed in the present conflict. But she also confronted Mr Lazzarini about claims of pro-Hamas activity in the organisation. The UNRWA chief confirmed the agency had investigated problematic sections of UNRWA textbooks that were said to be inconsistent with UN values, but that the material was not taught in classrooms.
Senator Wong pressed him to go further and remove those sections entirely. Earlier, the Foreign Minister said the purpose of investing in UNRWA was to ensure health services and childhood education could be provided in the West Bank and Gaza, saying the UN agency was "the only entity able to do that for Palestinians and that is why we support them".
Senator Paterson said the Palestinian Authority had no control over how funding is apportioned in Gaza because the territory has been controlled by Hamas since 2007 and which is accused of repurposing civilian aid it receives.
UNRWA does, however, provide education in the West Bank, which is governed by the Palestinian Authority, and Senator Wong said she had raised these transparency issues with Mr Shtayyeh during their meeting in Ramallah.
"This is an issue I raised with the Palestinian Authority and expressed my continued expectation that those funds would be used appropriately," she said.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry denounced the decision to boost funding for UNRWA, warning it is responsible for perpetuating the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
"Its teachers and staff have been shown to be supporters of terrorism and the organisation itself treats Palestinians living in their own homes in their own territories, generation after generation, as refugees, telling them that Israel is in fact theirs," said coCEO Alex Ryvchin.
"We support foreign aid to provide humanitarian relief and to support the building of peaceful, democratic institutions in postHamas Gaza, but UNRWA is the problem, not the solution." Senator Wong left Israel for Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
'We support foreign aid to provide humanitarian relief . but UNRWA is the problem, not the solution' ALEX RYVCHIN EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN JEWRY CO-CEO
