The federal government said it would be suspending financial aid to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees UNRWA last week, however, Global Affairs Canada confirmed that the controversial agency had already received $48.15 million before the announced pause.
Opposition MPs have been demanding to know how much money was given to the organization ever since Parliament returned from the Christmas holidays.
“It’s not political to want to ensure Canadian tax dollars are not being used to fund terrorism,” said independent MP Kevin Vuong, while speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday. “It’s the government’s moral and legal duty.”
Vuong went on to describe the organization as being one “full of hate” that has indoctrinated Palestinian youth to hate Jews for generations.
“This funding includes a $20 million contribution to meet the urgent needs stemming from the crisis in Gaza as a result of the Israel-Hamas conflict, $1.25 million to the flash appeal for West Bank and Gaza, as well as $25 million in line with the disbursement schedule under Canada’s multi-year funding commitment to the UNRWA programs across West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon,” Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Pierre Cuguen told the National Post.
“Canada will not retroactively revoke funds that have already been disbursed to address urgent humanitarian needs,” said Cuguen.
He said that the remaining $1.9 million was given to Lebanon and Syria to help with their response to the Gaza crisis.
Those figures don’t include an additional $25 million of what was to be a total $100 million funding boost promised by the Trudeau government last summer.
While Ottawa did announce a pause on funding to UNRWA, they committed to giving another $40 million in Gaza funding to other UN agencies, without ties to UNRWA.
“Since the very beginning of the crisis, our position has always been, and continues to be, centered on the firm belief that more assistance is needed, not less. In line with this commitment, we are stepping up with additional emergency funding so that our trusted and experienced humanitarian partners can continue to ensure this funding reaches the most vulnerable in their time of need,” said Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen.
Critics of UNRWA allege that the agency has been controlled by Hamas for decades and that its donations only help to fund attacks on Israel by the terrorist group.
Furthermore, critics claim that students of schools that are funded by UNRWA have been known to be indoctrinated into holding antisemitic views and a hatred towards Israel.
The Israeli government has claimed that as many as 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and two Gaza employees have been accused of kidnapping Israeli hostages.
News of their involvement led to the U.S. suspending funding to the agency, a decision that was later followed by the UN and 17 other countries.
According to the New York Times, a dossier published by the Israeli government on Sunday suggested that as many as 10% of UNRWA’s 12,00 Gaza employees are involved in terrorist organizations, with 10 of the 12 staff mentioned in the document being full-patch Hamas members.
Canada had initially cut funding to UNRWA over these same concerns back in 2010 under Harper’s administration but funding was restored in its full capacity by the Trudeau government in 2016.
