100 
registered refugee, no matter what he or she 
does.’’. 
(23) The late United States Representative 
Tom Lantos, in a May 13, 2002 letter, expressed his 
concern that— 
(A) ‘‘UNRWA is perpetuating, rather than 
ameliorating, the situation of Palestinian refu-
gees’’; 
(B) ‘‘UNRWA officials have . . . failed to 
prevent their camps from becoming centers of 
terrorist activity’’; and 
(C) ‘‘for too long, UNRWA has been part 
of the problem, rather than the solution, in the 
Middle East . . . UNRWA camps have fostered 
a culture of anger and dependency that under-
mines both regional peace and the well-being of 
the camps’ inhabitants.’’. 
(24) UNRWA continues to hold accounts at the 
Arab Bank and the Commercial Bank of Syria 
(CBS), financial institutions that the United States 
deems or believes to be complicit in money laun-
dering and terror financing. 
(25) The Arab Bank is reportedly at the center 
of United States investigations into how tens of mil-
lions of dollars have flowed to Palestinian groups 
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that allegedly used some of those funds to pay off 
suicide bombers and their relatives, and is also re-
portedly being sued in Federal court by American 
victims of attacks in Israel, with attorneys for the 
victims accusing the bank of facilitating Acts of 
International Terrorism. 
(26) On May 11, 2004, the Department of the 
Treasury designated CBS as a financial institution 
of ‘‘primary money laundering concern’’ pursuant to 
section 311 of the USA Patriot Act, stating that 
‘‘CBS had been used by terrorists and their sympa-
thizers and acted as a conduit for the laundering of 
proceeds generated from the illicit sale of Iraqi oil’’ 
and that ‘‘numerous transactions that may be indic-
ative of terrorist financing and money laundering 
have been transferred through CBS, including two 
accounts at CBS that reference a reputed financier 
for Usama bin Laden.’’. 
(27) CBS is controlled by the Government of 
Syria, a State Sponsor of Terrorism. 
(28) The curriculum of UNRWA schools, which 
use the textbooks of their respective host govern-
ments or authorities, has long contained materials 
that are anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, and supportive of 
violent extremism. 
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(29) As far back as over forty years ago, former 
UNRWA 
commissioner-general 
Laurence 
Michelmore admitted that UNRWA schools were 
supporting a ‘‘bitterly hostile attitude to Israel.’’. 
(30) Former UNRWA general counsel James 
Lindsay noted in a January 2009 report that 
‘‘[T]eachers in UNRWA schools were often afraid to 
remove posters glorifying ‘martyrs’ (including sui-
cide bombers) for fear of retribution from armed 
supporters of the ‘martyrs.’ ’’. 
(31) UNRWA officials have compromised 
UNRWA’s strictly humanitarian mandate by engag-
ing in political agitation, propaganda, and advocacy 
agitation against Israel and in favor of Hamas, as 
reflected by the following, inter alia: 
(A) UNRWA officials have repeatedly 
called for the United States and other nations 
to deal directly with Hamas and have repeat-
edly called for political ‘‘reconciliation’’ between 
Hamas and Fatah. 
(B) UNRWA officials have repeatedly cas-
tigated Israel for her actions to defend innocent 
civilians from rocket and mortar attacks from 
violent extremist groups in Gaza and from 
other Acts of International Terrorism, and has 
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repeatedly blamed Israel, not Hamas and other 
violent extremist groups, for present restrictions 
on access to Gaza. 
(C) Former UNRWA general counsel 
James Lindsay noted in a 2009 report that: 
‘‘Although it occasionally issued mild, pro 
forma criticisms of Palestinian attacks (most of 
which were clearly war crimes), [UNRWA] put 
more effort into criticizing Israeli counterter-
rorism efforts (which were condemned using 
language associated with war crimes, though 
any such crimes were far from proved) . . . 
UNRWA never seems to acknowledge that 
Israel, since its 2005 withdrawal from Gaza, 
has launched strikes on the territory largely in 
order to halt rocket attacks and other as-
saults.’’. 
(D) Lindsay also noted that ‘‘UNRWA— 
through its leaders and press spokespersons—is 
constantly involved in political speech . . . 
These one-sided speeches on political matters 
do not further the goals of a humanitarian and 
supposedly nonpolitical agency.’’. 
(E) 
UNRWA 
Commissioner-General 
Filippo Grandi described as a ‘‘massacre’’ 
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Israel’s May 31, 2010 naval operation, and use 
of self-defense measures, to seize the Mavi 
Marmara ship in order to enforce its naval 
blockade of the Gaza Strip. 
(F) Former UNRWA commissioner-gen-
eral Karen AbuZayd stated in a 2009 meeting 
with Congressional staff that ‘‘We [UNRWA] 
are not just humanitarian.’’. 
(G) In January of 2009, UNRWA spokes-
man Christopher Gunness called for an inves-
tigation as to whether Israel had committed ‘‘a 
war crime.’’. 
(H) On December 30, 2008, former 
UNRWA commissioner-general Karen AbuZayd 
stated that only Israel was responsible for the 
start of the most recent conflict in Gaza. 
(I) On May 25, 2008, in an interview with 
Press TV, which is controlled by the Govern-
ment of Iran, former UNRWA commissioner- 
general Karen AbuZayd reportedly claimed that 
Hamas was free from corruption and ‘‘more 
popular than ever’’. 
(J) On October 5, 2007, former UNRWA 
commissioner-general Karen AbuZayd blamed 
Israel for violent extremist groups in Gaza 
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