In a feature that ran on the AP wire on January 6, 2019, entitled “Middle East education payments ‘funding terrorist propaganda’…” it was confirmed that “Switzerland is looking into reports that foreign aid payments are being used to glamorize Palestinian terrorists in Middle East schools. The complaints focused around UNRWA, which hads been criticised in the past by the Swiss foreign minister.

According to AP, “the Sonntagszeitung newspaper has unearthed evidence that UNRWA money directed at educational projects is funding school material that praises so-called Islamic martyrs. Switzerland is one of the largest contributors to UNRWA, giving some CHF27 million ($27.4 million) to the agency last year. It is headed by Swiss national Pierre Krähenbühl.

AP reports thast he Swiss foreign ministry is investigating these allegations, along with the European Union, Britain and Finland

“School materials that run counter to the spirit of a two-state solution, glorify violence, incite racism and anti-semitism or trivialise violations of international law and human rights are not in keeping with the Swiss Middle East position,” a spokeswoman of the Swiss government told the Sonntagszeitung newspaper

The UNRWA operates 711 schools in the Middle East.

Last year, Swiss Foreign Affairs Minister Ignazio Cassis sparked controversy when he said the UNRWA had become part of the Middle East problem by shielding millions of Palestinian refugees in camps that prevented them from integrating into neighboring countries.

Studies revealing the current directions in UNRWA schools have been published by the Center for Near East Policy Research, based in the US and in Israel.

https://israelbehindthenews.com/israel-jews-and-peace-in-the-new-pa-textbooks-used-in-unrwa-schools-today-final-study/16903/

https://israelbehindthenews.com/full-study-school-books-now-used-unrwa-palestinian-authority/16438/

The post Swiss Wake Up to UNRWA Reality appeared first on Israel Behind the News.

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David Bedein

David Bedein is an MSW community organizer and an investigative journalist.   In 1987, Bedein established the Israel Resource News Agency at Beit Agron to accompany foreign journalists in their coverage of Israel, to balance the media lobbies established by the PLO and their allies.   Mr. Bedein has reported for news outlets such as CNN Radio, Makor Rishon, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, BBC and The Jerusalem Post, For four years, Mr. Bedein acted as the Middle East correspondent for The Philadelphia Bulletin, writing 1,062 articles until the newspaper ceased operation in 2010. Bedein has covered breaking Middle East negotiations in Oslo, Ottawa, Shepherdstown, The Wye Plantation, Annapolis, Geneva, Nicosia, Washington, D.C., London, Bonn, and Vienna. Bedein has overseen investigative studies of the Palestinian Authority, the Expulsion Process from Gush Katif and Samaria, The Peres Center for Peace, Peace Now, The International Center for Economic Cooperation of Yossi Beilin, the ISM, Adalah, and the New Israel Fund.   Since 2005, Bedein has also served as Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research.   A focus of the center’s investigations is The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In that context, Bedein authored Roadblock to Peace: How the UN Perpetuates the Arab-Israeli Conflict – UNRWA Policies Reconsidered, which caps Bedein’s 28 years of investigations of UNRWA. The Center for Near East Policy Research has been instrumental in reaching elected officials, decision makers and journalists, commissioning studies, reports, news stories and films. In 2009, the center began decided to produce short movies, in addition to monographs, to film every aspect of UNRWA education in a clear and cogent fashion.   The center has so far produced seven short documentary pieces n UNRWA which have received international acclaim and recognition, showing how which UNRWA promotes anti-Semitism and incitement to violence in their education’   In sum, Bedein has pioneered The UNRWA Reform Initiative, a strategy which calls for donor nations to insist on reasonable reforms of UNRWA. Bedein and his team of experts provide timely briefings to members to legislative bodies world wide, bringing the results of his investigations to donor nations, while demanding reforms based on transparency, refugee resettlement and the demand that terrorists be removed from the UNRWA schools and UNRWA payroll.   Bedein’s work can be found at:www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com and www.cfnepr.com. A new site,unrwa-monitor.com, will be launched very soon.

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