The United Nations Agency for Relief and Works for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) announced the opening of an investigation of 10 of its employees, suspected of spreading anti-Semitic and anti-Israel declarations and remarks online.
The UNRWA statement comes days after the NGO UN Watch, a pro-Israel group that monitors UN activities, released a report alleging 22 agency staff engaged in incitement against Israel on the Internet.
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Palestinian students in UNRWA school in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip
(Photo: AFP)
In its report, UN Watch cited evidence of more than 100 messages, issued by various UNRWA employees in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, which actively promoted and celebrated anti-Israel violence.
Among the messages reported was that of a UNRWA math professor in Gaza, Nahed Sharawi, who shared a video of Adolf Hitler with quotes intended to "enrich and enlighten thoughts and minds."
Another UNRWA professor, Husni Masri, from the West Bank, has published anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that Jews control the world, have fabricated the coronavirus pandemic and want to destroy Islam.
UNRWA responded that only 10 of the 22 staff members cited in the report were employed by the agency, adding that UN Watch has "a long history of baseless, politically oriented claims against it."
The agency, however, appeared to recognize that some of its employees had crossed the red line.
"We are concerned that some publications violate our rules and policies, and if any misconduct is found, UNRWA will take immediate administrative or disciplinary action," the spokeswoman said.
Article republished with permission from i24NEWS