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Tribune News Service
Tribune News Service
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New York Daily News

Editorial: UN-fit: The UN's Palestinian refugee agency is failing the people it is meant to serve

The Trump administration was wrong last year to completely shut off the spigot of U.S. funding for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, which does some humanitarian work for a population in dire straits.

But the agency has done far more damage to itself than any American government could do.

Its employees have praised terrorism against Israel. Its schools have indoctrinated children in anti-Semitism. Its facilities have been used to store and launch rockets at innocent Israelis.

Now, an internal ethics investigation reveals deep rot inside UNRWA's leadership ranks.

A 10-page confidential document obtained by Al Jazeera says members of an "inner circle" have engaged in "abuses of authority for personal gain, to suppress legitimate dissent and to otherwise achieve their personal objectives."

Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl, in charge since early 2014, has allegedly taken up a relationship "beyond the professional" with a senior adviser, creating a "toxic environment" for colleagues.

A now-former chief of staff sidestepped "established procurement and financial processes and decision making."

If UNRWA dies, it'll be a suicide.

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