I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3829 

To promote transparency, accountability, and reform within the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near 

East, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 26, 2015 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To promote transparency, accountability, and reform within 

the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘UNRWA Anti-Incitement and Anti-Terrorism Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents is 

7 as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 


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Sec. 3. United States contributions to UNRWA. 

Sec. 4. Sense of Congress. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) The total annual budget of the United Na4 tions Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refu5 gees in the Near East (UNRWA), including its core 

6 programs, emergency activities, and special projects, 

7 exceeds $1,400,000,000. 

8 (2) The United States has long been the largest 

9 single contributing country to UNRWA. 

10 (3) From 1950 to 2014, the United States has 

11 contributed over $5,250,000,000 to UNRWA, in12 cluding an average of over $277,000,000 per year 

13 between fiscal years 2009 and 2015. 

14 (4) UNRWA staff unions, including the teach15 ers’ union, are frequently controlled by members af16 filiated with Hamas. 

17 (5) The curriculum of UNRWA schools, which 

18 use the textbooks of their respective host govern19 ments or authorities, has long contained materials 

20 that are anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, and supportive of 

21 violent extremism. 

22 (6) Despite UNRWA’s contravention of United 

23 States law and activities that compromise its strictly 

24 humanitarian mandate, UNRWA continues to reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Oct 27, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3829.IH H3829

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1 ceive United States contributions, including 

2 $408,751,396 in 2014. 

3 (7) Assistance from the United States and 

4 other responsible nations allows UNRWA to claim 

5 that criticisms of the agency’s behavior are un6 founded. UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness 

7 has dismissed concerns by stating that, ‘‘If these 

8 baseless allegations were even halfway true, do you 

9 really think the U.S. and [European Commission] 

10 would give us hundreds of millions of dollars per 

11 year?’’. 

12 (8) Former UNRWA general counsel James 

13 Lindsay noted in a 2009 report the following: 

14 (A) ‘‘The United States, despite funding 

15 nearly 75 percent of UNRWA’s national budget 

16 and remaining its largest single country donor, 

17 has mostly failed to make UNRWA reflect U.S. 

18 foreign policy objectives . . . Recent U.S. efforts 

19 to shape UNRWA appear to have been ineffec20 tive . . .’’. 

21 (B) ‘‘[T]he United States is not obligated 

22 to fund agencies that refuse to check its rolls 

23 for individuals their donors do not wish to sup24 port.’’. 


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1 (C) ‘‘A number of changes in UNRWA 

2 could benefit the refugees, the Middle East, and 

3 the United States, but those changes will not 

4 occur unless the United States, ideally with 

5 support from UNRWA’s other main financial 

6 supporter, the European Union, compels the 

7 agency to enact reforms.’’. 

8 (D) ‘‘If the [UNRWA commissioner-gen9 eral’s] power is used in ways that are [in] con10 flict with the donors’ political objectives, it is up 

11 to the donors to take the necessary actions to 

12 ensure that their interests are respected. When 

13 they have done so, UNRWA—given the tight fi14 nancial leash it has been on for most of its ex15 istence—has tended to follow their dictates, 

16 even if sometimes slowly.’’. 

17 (9) During Israel’s Operation Protective Edge 

18 in 2014 in response to Hamas rocket attacks against 

19 Israel, UNRWA’s Commissioner General gave a 

20 press briefing ignoring the extraordinary efforts 

21 Israel goes to avoid civilian casualties, and not once 

22 in the nearly 1,100 word statement mentioning 

23 Hamas or condemning Hamas’ use of Palestinian 

24 children, women, and men as human shields in viola25 tion of international humanitarian law. 


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1 (10) On July 16, 2014, UNRWA reported that 

2 it had found 20 missiles in one of its schools in 

3 Gaza, likely placed there by Hamas, and then in4 stead of dismantling the missiles, UNRWA returned 

5 them to the ‘‘relevant authorities’’ in Gaza, and 

6 since Hamas controls Gaza, it likely turned them 

7 back over to Hamas. 

8 (11) On July 22, 2014, UNRWA reported that 

9 it had found a second instance in which missiles 

10 were stockpiled in one of its schools in Gaza, and 

11 again failed to condemn Hamas publicly. 

12 (12) On July 29, 2014, UNRWA confirmed 

13 that, for the third time in less than a month, a 

14 stockpile of Hamas rockets was found in one of its 

15 schools in Gaza, establishing a pattern of Hamas 

16 weapons being stored in UNRWA facilities, and call17 ing into question UNRWA’s claim of being caught 

18 unawares to Hamas’ actions. 

19 (13) On July 30, 2014, three Israeli Defense 

20 Force soldiers were killed in an explosion at a booby21 trapped UNRWA health clinic, which was housing 

22 the opening to one of Hamas’ underground tunnels. 

23 (14) On July 30, 2014, John Ging, head of 

24 UNRWA from 2006–2011, when asked if Hamas 

25 has been using human shields and using United NaVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Oct 27, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3829.IH H3829

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1 tions schools and hospitals to store weapons and as 

2 a shelter from which to launch missiles into Israel, 

3 stated in an interview, ‘‘Yes, the armed groups are 

4 firing their rockets into Israel from the vicinity of 

5 UN facilities and residential areas. Absolutely.’’. 

6 (15) During Operation Protective Edge in 

7 Gaza, UNRWA repeatedly distorted the facts and 

8 accused Israel of targeting Palestinian women and 

9 children based off of the casualty numbers provided 

10 to it by Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, which 

11 has been shown to have deliberately lied about the 

12 casualty numbers. 

13 (16) On September 1, 2015, the nongovern14 mental organization, UN Watch, published a report 

15 which documented 12 different Facebook accounts 

16 operated by UNRWA officials that openly incite to 

17 anti-Semitism and violence, including Ahmed Fathi 

18 Bader, who identified himself as a Deputy School 

19 Principal at UNRWA and who praised the murder 

20 of ‘‘a group of collaborators with the Jews’’. 

21 (17) On October 16, 2015, UN Watch pub22 lished a report entitled ‘‘Report on UNRWA Teach23 ers and Other Officials Inciting Violence & Anti24 semitism’’, identifying an additional 10 UNRWA in25 dividuals that openly incite to anti-Semitism and vioVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Oct 27, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3829.IH H3829

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1 lence, including Hani Al Ramahi, who identified 

2 himself as a ‘‘Projects Support Assistant at 

3 UNRWA’’, and who posted an image that encour4 aged Palestinians to ‘‘stab Zionist dogs’’. 

5 (18) On October 20, 2015, the United Nations 

6 Secretary-General’s Deputy Spokesman’s office, in 

7 response to a question regarding the UNRWA alle8 gations raised in the UN Watch reports, stated that 

9 ‘‘in a number of cases so far, the Agency has found 

10 staff Facebook postings to be in violation of its so11 cial media rules . . . the staff have been subject to 

12 both remedial and disciplinary action, including sus13 pension and loss of pay. The remaining allegations 

14 are under assessment’’. 

15 (19) As of October 21, 2015, there have been 

16 at least 9 Israelis killed and dozens more injured in 

17 at least 44 violent attacks in Israel and the Pales18 tinian territories since September 13, 2015. 

19 SEC. 3. UNITED STATES CONTRIBUTIONS TO UNRWA. 

20 Section 301 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

21 (22 U.S.C. 2221) is amended by striking subsection (c) 

22 and inserting the following new subsection: 

23 ‘‘(c)(1) WITHHOLDING.—Contributions by the 

24 United States to the United Nations Relief and Works 

25 Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East 


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1 (UNRWA), to any successor or related entity, or to the 

2 regular budget of the United Nations for the support of 

3 UNRWA or a successor entity (through staff positions 

4 provided by the United Nations Secretariat or otherwise), 

5 may be provided only during a period for which a certifi6 cation described in paragraph (2) is in effect. 

7 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION.—A certification described in 

8 this paragraph is a written determination by the Secretary 

9 of State, based on all information available after diligent 

10 inquiry, and transmitted to the appropriate congressional 

11 committees along with a detailed description of the factual 

12 basis therefore, that— 

13 ‘‘(A) no official, employee, consultant, con14 tractor, subcontractor, representative, or affiliate of 

15 UNRWA— 

16 ‘‘(i) is a member of a foreign terrorist or17 ganization; 

18 ‘‘(ii) has propagated, disseminated, or in19 cited anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic 

20 rhetoric or propaganda; or 

21 ‘‘(iii) has used any UNRWA resources, in22 cluding publications or Web sites, to propagate 

23 or disseminate political materials, including po24 litical rhetoric regarding the Israeli-Palestinian 

25 conflict; 


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1 ‘‘(B) no UNRWA school, hospital, clinic, other 

2 facility, or other infrastructure or resource is being 

3 used by a foreign terrorist organization for oper4 ations, planning, training, recruitment, fundraising, 

5 indoctrination, communications, sanctuary, storage 

6 of weapons or other materials, or as an access point 

7 to any underground tunnel network, or any other 

8 purposes; 

9 ‘‘(C) UNRWA is subject to comprehensive fi10 nancial audits by an internationally recognized third 

11 party independent auditing firm and has imple12 mented an effective system of vetting and oversight 

13 to prevent the use, receipt, or diversion of any 

14 UNRWA resources by any foreign terrorist organiza15 tion or members thereof; 

16 ‘‘(D) no UNRWA-funded school or educational 

17 institution uses textbooks or other educational mate18 rials that propagate or disseminate anti-American, 

19 anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic rhetoric, propaganda or 

20 incitement; 

21 ‘‘(E) no recipient of UNRWA funds or loans is 

22 a member of a foreign terrorist organization; and 

23 ‘‘(F) UNRWA holds no accounts or other affili24 ations with financial institutions that the United 


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1 States deems or believes to be complicit in money 

2 laundering and terror financing. 

3 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(A) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT5 TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com6 mittees’ means— 

7 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

8 Committee on Appropriations, and the Com9 mittee on Oversight and Government Reform of 

10 the House of Representatives; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

12 the Committee on Appropriations, and the 

13 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern14 mental Affairs of the Senate. 

15 ‘‘(B) FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.— 

16 The term ‘foreign terrorist organization’ means an 

17 organization designated as a foreign terrorist organi18 zation by the Secretary of State in accordance with 

19 section 219(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

20 Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)). 

21 ‘‘(4) EFFECTIVE DURATION OF CERTIFICATION.— 

22 The certification described in paragraph (2) shall be effec23 tive for a period of 180 days from the date of transmission 

24 to the appropriate congressional committees, or until the 

25 Secretary receives information rendering that certification 


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1 factually inaccurate, whichever is earliest. In the event 

2 that a certification becomes ineffective, the Secretary shall 

3 promptly transmit to the appropriate congressional com4 mittees a description of any information that precludes the 

5 renewal or continuation of the certification. 

6 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—During a period for which a cer7 tification described in paragraph (2) is in effect, the 

8 United States may not contribute to UNRWA or a suc9 cessor entity an amount on an annual basis that— 

10 ‘‘(A) is greater than the highest annual con11 tribution to UNRWA made by a member country of 

12 the League of Arab States for the same year; 

13 ‘‘(B) as a proportion of the total UNRWA 

14 budget, exceeds the proportion of the total budget 

15 for the United Nations High Commissioner for Ref16 ugees (UNHCR) paid by the United States; or 

17 ‘‘(C) exceeds 22 percent of the total budget of 

18 UNRWA.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

20 It is the sense of Congress that— 

21 (1) the President and the Secretary of State 

22 should lead a high-level diplomatic effort to encour23 age other responsible nations to withhold contribu24 tions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agen25 cy for Palestine Refugees in the Near East 


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1 (UNRWA), to any successor or related entity, or to 

2 the regular budget of the United Nations for the 

3 support of UNRWA or a successor entity (through 

4 staff positions provided by the United Nations Sec5 retariat or otherwise) until UNRWA has met the 

6 conditions listed in subparagraphs (A) through (F) 

7 of section 301(c)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

8 1961 (as added by section 3 of this Act); 

9 (2) citizens of recognized states should be re10 moved from UNRWA’s jurisdiction; 

11 (3) UNRWA’s definition of a ‘‘Palestine ref12 ugee’’ should be changed to that used for a refugee 

13 by the Office of the United Nations High Commis14 sioner for Refugees; and 

15 (4) in order to alleviate the suffering of Pales16 tinian refugees, responsibility for those refugees 

17 should be fully transferred to the Office of the 

18 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 

Æ 


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