Israel has been attempting to undermine UNRWA by alleging it “financed and aided” the Hamas’ attack on October 7th. That claim has now been taken up by CIJA in a lawsuit against the federal government for resuming its funding to the organization. Watch an exclusive CTIP interview with former UNRWA executive Chris Gunness who comments on the allegations.

Israel has been trying to delegitimize UNRWA, the main UN organization responsible for providing food, medicine and health services to Palestinian refugees, for many years. Most recently, it made dramatic claims that UNRWA employees had participated in the October 7th breakout leading many western governments, including Canada, to temporarily suspend their financial contributions.

But after an initial investigation by the UN concluded that the allegations were not supported by evidence (a final report expected soon), Canada and several other countries have returned to honour their financial commitments.

Now, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), the main pro-Israel lobby group in Canada, is bringing a suit against the Federal government demanding that Canada’s contribution to UNRWA be dropped.

CIJA is joined by four individual plaintiffs with family members who were killed in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. Their grief and anguish is real. Deliberately targeting civilians is a war crime. But as of the time of writing, Israel has still presented no hard evidence that UNRWA was involved in any way, directly or indirectly, in the events of October 7th. In fact a recent report indicates that Israel has been using torture to attempt to force UNRWA employees to confess their involvement with Hamas.

The CIJA application to the Federal Court lists a number of accusations against UNRWA, most of which have nothing to do with October 7th:

• That UNRWA schools and textbooks teach Palestinian children to hate and kill Jews.
• That UNRWA allows Hamas to dig “terror tunnels” under its facilities
• that UNRWA institutions ahve been used as rocket launch sites and weapons arsenals
• that senior UNRWA officials have met with Hamas leaders and offered “solidarity”
• that UNRWA funds were used to help Hamas terrorists “beat, rape, torture, and murder men women and children on October 7th.

The complete application to the Federal Court of Canada can be found here

The application contains allegations, with no proof or evidence.

CIJA has retained well known criminal lawyer Lawrence Greenspon to represent them. “UNRWA’s ties to Hamas have long been known and ignored, allowing them to operate with impunity”, said Greenspon, claiming UNRWA staff were “directly participating in the October 7 attacks or their teachers indoctrinating Palestinian children to extremist hate by glorifying terrorism, praising Hamas, and advocating for the killing of Jews.”

CTIP contacted Chris Gunness, a former senior official with UNRWA to ask him about the allegations. See my interview with him.

Given the shaky nature of the allegations, it seems that this is part of a wider Israeli attempt to undermine the main organization providing humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees. “The Israelis appear to believe that if they can destroy UNRWA”, said Gunness, “that the refugee issue, for which they are entirely responsible, will go away. It won’t.“

Gunness also notes that Israel chose to release its allegations against UNRWA the very same day Israel itself went on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice.

The plaintiffs’ loss is real, but It seems highly unlikely that this lawsuit will succeed, given the lack of evidence linking UNRWA to Hamas. Is CIJA doing this as a way to get the unfounded allegations into public circulation again, and to distract from Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza?

Canada Talks Israel Palestine (CTIP) is the weekly newsletter of Peter Larson, Chair of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine (OFIP). It aims to promote a serious discussion in Canada about Canada’s response to the complicated and emotional Israel/Palestine issue with a focus on the truth, clear analysis and human rights for all. Readers with different points of view are invited to make comment.
Want to learn more about us? Go to Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine.ca