UNRWA Schools are a Source for Hamas's Anti Israel Propaganda

Hamas maintains control over UNRWA Staff Union The “Professional List” headed by senior Hamas activist, Suhail al-Hindi, won a landslide victory in the elections to the UNRWA Staff Union held in September 2012. With a high turnout of approximately 11,500 UNRWA employees who cast their ballot, the “Professional List”, affiliated with Hamas, won all 11 seats of the teachers sector, 6 out of 7 seats of the workers sector and 8 out of 9 seats of the services sector. The “Karameh [dignity] List”, affiliated with the Islamic Jihad, took part in the elections. Fatah, on the other hand, boycotted the elections arguing that Hamas controls UNRWA Staff Union and restricts the activity of its members.[1] Al-Kutla al-Islamiya activities in UNRWA's schools Al-Kutla al-Islamiya (a.k.a al-Kutla), literally the Islamic block, is Hamas’ official arm operating in all educational institutions in the Gaza Strip, from elementary schools to colleges and universities, including the educational institutions run by UNRWA. The Kutla's strategy in elementary and middle school is focused on attracting students to its variety of activities, that are intended to strengthen the bonds with the students as well as their belief in Islam, and gradually exposing them to Hamas ideology in order to make them active members of the Islamic movement. In each school, including those run by UNRWA, Hamas appointed a student to head the al-Kutla local branch. He operates as point of contact for Hamas and responsible for recruiting students to the Kutla and organizing activities inside school and after-school.[2] Media reports documented in recent years a fraction of al-Kutla’s activities in the premises of UNRWA's middle schools or al-Kutla’s activities in which students of middle schools run by UNRWA participated. Here are some examples: November 2008 - Al-Kutla held an event honouring students memorizing the Koran in Ahmad Abd al-Aziz middle school run by UNRWA. Al-Kutla's representatives reviewed their activities in school that included strengthening the bonds between students and teachers, disseminating al-Kutla leaflets, posters and magazines to students, organizing a soccer tournament, supplying eye glasses with great discount for students and teachers and conducting a cleaning campaign in school with the cooperation of Khan Yunis municipality. Imad Abdin, the school's principle, attended the event and gave a speech to the students.[3] July 18, 2009 - Al-Kutla held an event honoring close to 400 outstanding students of elementary, middle and high schools, including of schools run by UNRWA. Hamas senior officials attended the event. MP (Hamas) Ahmad Bahr, deputy speaker of the Palestinian parliament, praised the students saying: “the great excellence of the students of the Gaza Strip is the best proof and most appropriate response to the Zionist enemy, and a message that the Palestinian people grew and will grow scholars who will be able to liberate the holy land from the uncleanliness of the Zionists.” Wael Rashid, head of al-Kutla al-Islamiya in Palestine, expressed his wish that the “land of Palestine will be liberated from the Zionist occupation.”[4] Read full report in PDF, click here.  [1]http://paltoday.ps/ar/post/146982/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%87%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%B3%D8%AD-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B8%D9%81%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%88%D9%86%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A7 [2] http://alrased.ps/index.php?action=showdetail&seid=238 [3] http://www.paldf.net/forum/showthread.php?t=323886 [4] http://64.57.218.25/~paldf/forum/showthread.php?t=449291

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When John Kerry, the US secretary of state, attempted to restart the stalled Israel-Palestine peace process, he set a deadline of April 2014 for an agreement. That deadline is fast approaching, and an agreement remains out of reach.

The pressure is on. In an interview with Bloomberg this week, the president, Barack Obama, issued a warning to Israel's policymakers that now is the time to get serious: "If Palestinians come to believe that the possibility of a contiguous sovereign Palestinian state is no longer within reach, then our ability to manage the international fallout is going to be limited."

Obama, who called for "tough decisions" to salvage peace talks, was speaking ahead of a visit to the US by the Israeli premier, Benjamin Netanyahu.

During Netanyahu's visit, he made a speech to the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), Washington's most prominent pro-Israel lobby.

Predictably, he spent much of his speech talking about Iran and its nuclear programme. But he also turned his attention to the peace process. "I'm prepared to make an historic peace with our Palestinian neighbours," he reiterated. He added that Israel is particularly keen to secure a peace deal because it wants improved, robust relationships with Arab states that would lead to economic benefits for the region - such as breakthroughs on energy and technology. He hinted that behind the scenes cooperation already exists, saying that he would like an "open" relationship between Israel and its Sunni neighbours (who share a suspicion of Iran).

Writing in the Haaretz newspaper, Barak Ravid suggests that Netanyahu's speech should be a serious concern for the newly powerful settler caucus in the Knesset. The cause for concern, he says, is that the prime minister stressed these benefits of peace, and used "leftist" language. "With this address, Netanyahu continued his very slow but steady move toward the Israeli center; toward those 65 percent of Israelis who support a division of the land but are skeptical about the ability to realize that vision," writes Ravid.

But of course, critics would argue that Netanyahu was merely paying lip service to the idea of peace. Palestinian officials certainly did not hear the speech as a breakthrough moment: Fatah central committee member Nabil Shaath said afterwards that Netanyahu's speech was "an official announcement of a unilateral end to negotiations". The section he took issue with was the Israeli prime minister's demand that Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas "recognize the Jewish state" and [tell] the Palestinians to abandon the fantasy of flooding Israel with refugees". This comes back to the same old question of the right of return for Palestinians overseas: it has been a sticking point for past peace negotiations, and it will continue to be so. Netanyahu was also pugnacious on the subject of a peacekeeping force to enforce the terms of a peace deal, ruling out a role for any international force.

If there was little evidence of movement on these key issues, the speech did demonstrate Netanyahu's growing anxiety about the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. He dedicated around seven minutes of his speech to it, more attention than any Israeli leader has paid to the movement before in a major address. He branded those who boycott Israel and ignore the human rights violations of their neighbours as bigots, saying unequivocally that this special treatment was "the latest chapter in the long and dark history of anti-Semitism".

There is little in the words of Netanyahu's speech to merit the concern for right-wing settler politicians that Ravid mentions. It is not the first time that the prime minister has spoken of his desire for peace, or for his dedication to the idea of a Palestinian state. Settlements in the West Bank are the main stumbling block for peace, and the fact remains that settlement construction more than doubled in 2013 (according to a recent Israeli government report). As the deadline for a peace agreement approaches, the international pressure will continue to mount. Clearly, Netanyahu is concerned about this international pressure - and about the tide of public opinion - but it does not appear he is concerned enough to make those tough decisions that Obama has demanded.