Belgian officials expressed outrage Thursday after Israeli forces reportedly bombed the office building of the Belgian Agency for Development Cooperation in the Gaza Strip, an attack that came after Belgium declined to join the U.S. and more than a dozen other countries in cutting off funding to the United Nations’ Palestinian refugee agency.
The timing of the attack on the Belgian office building raised eyebrows, with observers pointing to the nation’s status as one of the handful of Western countries not suspending aid to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in response to Israel’s allegation that a dozen of the agency’s employees took part in the October 7 attacks.
This should show anybody that Belgium did the right thing. The ICJ ordered Israel to provide humanitarian aid, instead on the same day they use threats, bribes, corruption to get multiple countries to cut off humanitarian aid! This is further evidence of genocidal intent!
And then they carry out a clear act of terrorism against those who do not make themselves complicit in their genocide!
They bombed the power stations, water supply, hospitals, 70% of all housing. If Israel is allowed to continue hundreds of thousands are going to starve or die of thirst or diseases. Or infections because on top of the 30.000+ there are many times more wounded.
What an absolute horror… they have taken 30 eyes for each eye, 30 teeth for each tooth, plus an extra 1500 children’s legs.
Israel is a terrorist state. The guys who assassinated Yitzhak Rabin are literally running their government. Their slow rolling subjugation of Palestinians is now a blatant genocide.
For Israel, that’s just a Tuesday.
Belgium decided to continue funding UNRWA on 31 January. It seems israel bombed Belguim’s building in Gaza overnight/the morning after.
These types of spiteful bullying acts for petty reasons perfectly represent israel’s policy over the years.
The US did the same thing during the whole “Freedom Fries” BS.
We were running a bombing run on Iraq, France denied us use of their airspace so we flew ALL THE WAY around France, ran the attack and “accidentally” bombed the French embassy in Iraq.
Oopsie.
Joke at the time was “Maybe our pilots would have had better aim if they had had a little more sleep!”
The U.S. bombed the Chinese embassy in Serbia during the Kosovo War. I’m not sure if there was a direct reason but I remember there being a spy thing. Like a Chinese spy accessed some sensitive documents or something like that.
Fvck your US of A$$, and fvck Israel. Just so we’re clear.
But now US support of this mayhem makes more sense.
That’s 100% terrorism
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Provide some proof for those you want to convince
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So I read the letter and the report. I don’t think it proves enough to support their case for shutting down UNRWA.
First, from the letter:
On October 24th, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that the Hamas massacre of October 7th “did not happen in a vacuum.” He was right. The attacks were perpetrated by Palestinians who for generations were indoctrinated with hatred.
That’s evidently not an effort to view the context impartially. They may have been indoctrinated, but there is also the context of Palestinians’ experience over decades. Whatever your views, this is relevant context that this letter conspicuously overlooks.
The very existence of a Telegram group of 3,000 teachers in which members celebrate Hamas atrocities…
This wording is vague. How many of the members do this? We’re all members of Lemmy communities where some people say offensive things. We don’t all agree with everything any member says. Is the Telegram group like this? I don’t see the report establishing that these aren’t just “a few bad apples” (the response they say they have had from UNRWA).
I come back to the words of Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, said in 2018, but valid today more than ever: “UNRWA has become part of the problem. It supplies the ammunition to continue the conflict. By supporting UNRWA, we keep the conflict alive. It’s a perverse logic.”
I followed the link they cite, via X/Twitter to an English article and the original source. They’re quoting him out of context and it’s misleading. He’s not saying this at all for the same reasons as UN Watch are. Here’s what he said:
It worked as a solution for a long time, but has become part of the problem today. It provides the ammunition to continue the conflict. Because as long as Palestinians live in refugee camps, they want to go back home. By supporting UNRWA, we keep the conflict alive. It is a perverse logic, because everyone actually wants to end the conflict. Therefore, the UN General Assembly would have to deal with it in depth again.
He’s arguing that the existence of UNRWA keeps alive unrealistic dreams of returning home for people who probably never will, and that this exacerbates tensions. It has nothing to do with alleged antisemitism in UNRWA, yet this letter presents his remarks as if he is agreeing with UN Watch’s claims.
The letter refers to UN Watch’s report, which I also read:
https://unwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/UN-Watch-UNRWA-Terrorgram-.pdf
This report does indeed show there are some nasty views expressed by UNRWA staff on Telegram. There is unarguably antisemitism. But I don’t see that the report disproves the UNRWA’s claim that this is just “a few bad apples”.
Firstly, in the report they admit that
Anyone can access the [Telegram] group.
But then they go on:
Where possible, UN Watch matched Telegram nicknames with full names and identifying data on the UNRWA employee lists circulated in the group. However, in most cases, this was not possible because the nicknames were not sufficiently unique. In some cases, UN Watch was able to corroborate UNRWA employee status via the chat history in the group or other public information. Nevertheless, due to the overwhelming evidence that this is a group for UNRWA teachers, as detailed in the next section, UN Watch applies a presumption that all group members are in fact UNRWA teachers.
They admit this is an unwarranted presumption, yet they go ahead and make it.
This report details how UNRWA teachers in a 3,000-member UNRWA staff Telegram group cheered and celebrated Hamas’s October 7th massacre while at the same time asking when their UNRWA salaries will be paid.
So there are 3,000 people in the group, and a lot of it is about employment issues:
As stated in the group description, the purpose of the group is to coordinate negotiations for improved contracts and working conditions for UNRWA teachers employed under temporary (daily or monthly) contracts, even though many of the group members have been working at UNRWA for years.
The numerous group discussions about UNRWA salaries, schedules, and teaching materials, as well as confidential UNRWA employee lists with ID numbers, documents with the UNRWA logo, letters on UNRWA letterhead, including from UNRWA Gaza Director Thomas White, and photos of teachers protesting in front of UNRWA schools, confirm the group is for UNRWA teachers. Group members also used the Telegram group to share answers to UNRWA training exam questions, including trainings on ethics and integrity and social media neutrality.
Here they seem to admit that the group is largely used to discuss UNRWA employment matters as in its stated purpose. Again, they don’t establish how much of the content is antisemitic. For all we know it could be a small fraction.
The UNRWA Telegram group was created by Hani Jouda, who advocates for the rights of UNRWA staff and is listed among the group admins as the owner.
The fact that he’s an admin doesn’t necessarily imply that his views are the views of everyone in the group. As they say, the stated purpose of the group is to discuss employment contracts and working conditions for UNRWA employees. Out of 3,000 members they cite 30 as making antisemitic statements or statements in support of Hamas attacks, so that’s 1% of the group’s membership. We don’t know why the admins don’t moderate such content. Maybe they’re sympathetic or maybe they’re just poor moderators.
UNRWA has 30,000 employees, so the report establishes that at least 0.1% of their employees are antisemitic or endorse Hamas attacks.
On its website, UNRWA also boasts that 95% of its staff members have completed its social media and neutrality course. The high completion rate for UNRWA’s social media and neutrality course, however, is meaningless. As detailed in Annex A, chat history and files found in this UNRWA Telegram group establish that UNRWA staff do not take this course seriously and help each other pass it by sharing the exam questions and answers in advance—in effect, cheating.
This comes across as clutching at straws. UNRWA claims 95% of its employees have completed a social media neutrality course, and the response is that some of them cheat in exams? That seems weak. If you had conclusive proof that UNRWA was supporting antisemitic terrorism you wouldn’t have to complain that their employees cheat in tests.
It also hasn’t been established that the antisemitic remarks shown in the report from 0.1% of employees are from within the 95% who completed the course and not the 5% who didn’t.
I’m not arguing that there isn’t an antisemitism problem within UNRWA, just that we can’t tell how much of a problem it is from this report. The report only proves that 0.1% of UNRWA employees have made antisemitic and/or pro-Hamas comments online, yet on this basis UN Watch are arguing that UNRWA should be shut down. If we were to shut down every organization where 0.1% of its employees had made offensive remarks online, there wouldn’t be any organizations left.
The report feels like it’s trying to make more of the evidence than it warrants. Maybe there really is a bigger problem, but it needs a more thorough report than this to expose it.
This is some really high quality reading and critical thinking. I appreciate your write up as well as your identification of and attention to nuance.
“UN Watch” is an israeli propaganda think-tank that is known for making up and repeating lies about the entire UN being anti-semitic.
You don’t have to hide their propaganda in a white-house link. Pretty sad state of affairs that the US covers their material in meetings.
For anyone curious just go to their front page. Whatever is on it today will prove my point https://unwatch.org/
Whatever is on it today will prove my point https://unwatch.org/
Challenge accepted.
…
Oof. Yep. Blatant propaganda.
It gets funnier the further you scroll down. With quotes like
Petition: Terminate the U.N.'s ANTI-ISRAEL Commission of Inquiry
The U.N.’s new Commission of Inquiry against Israel, initiated by Pakistan and the PLO, is a travesty of justice. Despite U.N. rules requiring impartiality, each of three commissioners has a record of extreme anti-Israel positions. One of them was even condemned worldwide for making antisemitic remarks. It’s time to end the U.N.’s perpetual inquisition against the Jewish state
And their use of factual news sources such as
These do seem to be pretty reasonable arguments.
So, those are reasonable arguments for bombing a Belgian building?
BTW I read that comment in Trumps voice. “a terrible terrible organization! That uses kids to …” I mean what the fuck? Unrwa and Belgium are in league with IRAN?
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You never responded to any of the points called out in the article you linked. You can’t post something, and be mad when no one “believes your truth”. If you do, you’re not asking to change people’s minds, you just want to shout into the void too.
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They’re doing a whole lot of fucking around for a surprisingly low amount of finding out. This ratio has to be unsustainable.
Should this be considered an act of war?
Why shouldn’t it?
Was there a possibility to hurt a Belgian official? No. Did they specifically try to hit the Belgian office? Probably also not. Unless we get some crazy leaks I don’t think this should or will have any consequences whatsoever.
This post was erroneously removed by the AutoMod as a rule 1 violation. I don’t see anything here that would constitute a rule 1.
Previous posts on this topic were removed to poor sourcing, but in this case CommonDreams is impeccable.
lemmy.world has had to beef up auto removal tools due to some jack-wagon posting child pornography. That’s the kind of garbage YOU don’t want to see and the mod team shouldn’t HAVE to see.
I think this post was caught in the crossfire.
Your efforts to keep it all above board are appreciated, truly.
PSA: Jordanlund is BASED
Thanks mods!! ❤️
Bombing a building belonging to the government of a member of NATO and the EU? If literally any other Middle East country had done that, they would be invaded and bombed back to the stone age by every ally, led by the US.
Not the Israeli apartheid government, though. They get to do whatever the fuck they want to whomever the fuck they want with no repercussions because AIPAC and groups like them are bribing the majority of American politicians and the US government forces the rest of the world to do whatever the fuck THEY want! 🤬🤬🤬
let me guess, Israel gets a pass, again?
They get three more whoopsies and then they’ll have to start cashing in their oopsie-daisies.
That sounds like an act of war…
fun thing about the whole “UNRWA sponsors Hamas” thing, Israel has failed to provide any evidence of the claim but pro-genocide governments all around the world sentenced a lot of innocent people to death based on the claim anyway.
Remember when Israel said Hamas was beheading babies? The president of the United States signal boosted that claim, then his office had to walk it back when it turned out to be false.
“Israel refuses to share either its evidence or the intelligence dossier”
Just like beheaded babies, this is some trumped up bullshit. it’s just that israel also seems ready to murder anyone who doesn’t fall for it.
Do we not fuck them up yet?
For real, Israel is a nation surrounded by hornets nests and they’re still making enemies hundreds of miles away.
The EU needs to section them already.
How the fuck is there not a political officer in the air strikes room.
Wait……
Seems to be finding UNRWA’s terrorism, not sure I see the problem.
Oh look, the bandwagon is here!
You know, the first news reported that Israel bombed an area and the Belgium empty office was a collateral casualty.
Yet here we are now at malicious intent.Have you considered the idea that in their quest to level Gaza, which building belongs to whom never even crossed Israel’s mind?
Or that their military is full of incompetent buffoons?I give the IDF zero benefit of the doubt after they straight up murdered the Reuters journalist with a fucking tank.
If I bombed your house a d destroyed it, would you be totally okay with it if I told you there was no malicious intent and I was just trying to murder your neighbour instead?
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Please don’t take the name of one the best characters in Sci fi literature just be a trolling loser.
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Depends on what’s destroyed and how much you’re paying as compensation.
You think people in gaza have someone to go cry out to in order to get their dead children and destroyed home back?
Sound mentality.
The topic isn’t about the people in Gaza, it’s about Belgium’s building.
The compensation is telling you that we’ve worked out a deal to take you to Central Africa, and what was previously the ruins of your house has been bought by a home developer for the ensuing reconstruction, during which Israeli citizens will be offered to buy it. You get no money.
Ok, let’s see how Israel evicts Belgium to Central Africa.
All of it, nothing.
Then we go to court.
Stop dodging the question.
No
Bull-fucking-shit dude.
You’re a liar.
And a cheat.
Yeah maybe it’s an accident related to a complete lack of concern for which building they bomb, or maybe it’s not an accident and that’s why it’s timed so conveniently. Who cares, fuck Israel either way.
If they hadn’t built up so much bad will and distrust recently people probably wouldn’t rush to this conclusion. But they have. So they get to lie in the bed they made
Oh I agree. But if we start using unproven scenarios to further demonize them, then we do no better than what they did to Palestine. It’s hypocritical and follows the path they’re taking. So what’s the point then?
You want to wait for an investigation?
So do you also agree that we shouldn’t use unproven scenarios to demonize Palestinians or UNRWA just because a few of their workers ALLEGEDLY are members of hamas? And that we shouldn’t cut of funding to the humanitarian organization the same day the ICJ ruling ordered Israel provide humanitarian aid? Because otherwise it would be hypocrisy right?
Oh no, please don’t tell me that is totally different!
Nice loophole find after the post was deleted.
To answer your reply, I agree. It’s exactly the same and it’s a shame the bias exists so blatantly.
Yeah I see your point and agree to an extent. But if we don’t assume the obvious explanation because of Israel and it’s supporters generally casting doubt on basically any report of it’s crimes until an unspecified “investigation” is (possibly) concluded at some point in the future, then we allow them to escape blame for their actions.
You must know that they will never admit this is what happened, and there is no plausible way to settle the issue in the fog of war (e.g. the hospital car park explosion from early in the war, still debated and unclear).
So your approach basically lets them off the hook. Going with the obvious explanation is kind of better imo
It might be. I won’t say I know better.
If this was a one off event sure.
These “concidences” just happen a little too frequently. Some might say you can notice a pattern…
Is arguing “they’re not malicious in their enthusiastic use of bombs, merely incompetent” not worse? It implies they don’t know how to do better, and thus are a very reckless uncontrolled threat, compared to just one that chooses to be evil.
It probably is worse. And consider this: they have nukes in their stockpile and are running out of regular bombs.
This comment brought to you by whippets
The dog or the nitrous oxide?
Yea
If the incident was a one off I could see that as true, like the US boat during the six day war when everything was hectic as hell and all communications had seemingly been cutoff. This is unfortunately not an isolated incident, and the benefit if the doubt should not be given.
Took me a bit to realize this comment isn’t pro-Israel.
