We have seen UNRWA claim to be acting against incitement by its teachers on Facebook and other social media that I discovered and that was publicized by UN Watch.
I did notice that it is more difficult to find antisemitic and terror-supporting posts by UNRWA teachers in the past week or so.
Now I found an article that shows that
UNRWA did indeed warn the teachers not to post hate.
Al Araby
had an article on the issue last week.
Sources from UNRWA in Palestine for "al Araby" said that Israel monitors Agency staff accounts and documents any posts from them that are attacking the occupation forces, or attacking the Agency. They name names and their positions, thus UNRWA staff, especially teachers, have come under control by the State of the occupation on the one hand and the Agency on the other.
I'm not aware of any Israeli program to look for UNRWA incitement, only me and UN Watch, which means that UNRWA teachers think I control them!
Sami Mshasha, Arabic spokesperson for UNRWA, told Al Araby, "Everyone in the agency knows the concept of neutrality in all cases, and the employees must do their duties as fully as possible within specific parameters in order not to weaken its services to refugees."
UNRWA isn't telling teachers that antisemitism and supporting stabbing Jews is wrong. Just that it makes UNRWA look bad.
The teachers have called this a "harassment policy" which UNRWA decided to pursue, because the Palestinian teacher would feed their disciples in the spirit of the defense of the Palestinian territory and encourages them in any anti-Israeli attacks, in order to create a generation defending their land. There are now growing fears about control of teachers in their schools, that they are held accountable if they tell their students about violations of the occupation. This could threaten the future of thousands of teachers and workers in other sectors.
If I am understanding this paragraph correctly, it means that UNRWA teachers are known to routinely go outside the official curriculum and incite against Israel, and now they are upset that this might threaten their jobs.
The director of one of UNRWA schools west of Gaza City, who preferred anonymity, told Al Araby that he was "surprised that UNRWA management notified teachers not to publish any entries against the occupation, to keep their jobs and livelihood." This upsets him, pointing out that "it is natural thatthe teachers and staff at the agency express their solidarity with their country's territory and attack the occupation. Their country wa usurped and this must be taken into account." He adds that the teacher are leaders, and should enhance the values of belonging to a nation.
Showing that UNRWA employees cannot distinguish between expressing political positions and encouraging murdering Jews. I didn't bother to publicize political posts, or even posts that were upset at Israeli actions, real or not.
It should be noted that some of the most influential leaders of the Palestinian resistance were teachers in UNRWA schools who were able to perform their work without any restrictions on political freedom, and they are active politically.
There's a UNRWA accomplishment that the agency doesn't brag about on their website!.
Mohammed Mustafa (not his real name) is one of the teachers who received a warning from UNRWA management in the event that he continues his support of the current uprising, the issues of Jerusalem and attacking the occupation. His postings were documented and sent to the management of the Agency in Palestine. One of the posts said, "The Occupiers claim we are terrorists when we stab illegal settlers, and do not talk about the arson and murders committed by them." He said: "If it comes to this point that we cannot express any opinion, this would not work." From that moment, he did not express any position on any social networking site, describing himself as a "citizen living without feelings." Mustafa points out that this issue at present affects a large number of teachers, especially since they had received Agency warnings.
Despite the fact that social networking sites have served the Palestinian cause, we cannot turn a blind eye to their drawbacks . The occupation can monitor some activists and staff in various sectors, and keep track of most of their activities and their views on issues related to the occupation. According to sources from UNRWA for al-Araby, "An employee can express his position on an issue, according to his personal point of view; I do not mind it. But to associate it with his career in the Agency is not desirable and he may be held accountable for it. This is part of our labor contracts. "
It sure looks like my work has gotten results. Many of the people I exposed have taken out their association with UNRWA in their profiles, and others took their pages down altogether.
This article shows that rather than being a tiny number of teachers who violate UNRWA policies as was claimed, it is likely thousands of them, although not all on Facebook - but
in the classroom itself.
The Israeli organization "Sons of Zion" monitors and tracks the number of UNRWA staff accounts, and says there is "incitement by the staff of international organizations in the Gaza Strip, and lack of respect for international conventions and processes." It has already filed a lawsuit against the agency, claiming that staff incites against Israel on behalf of the agency.
I have no idea who they are referring to here. I don't think it is me, since I never threatened a lawsuit, but I've never heard of this organization. But maybe it is me and they just badly mistranslated my posts.
This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 11 years and over 22,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.
Wednesday, December 09, 2015
Elder of Ziyon
This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 11 years and over 22,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.
