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Sunday, September 01, 2024

UNRWA head accuses Israel of buying Google ads to block donations to agency

 

al Jazeera:


UNRWA head accuses Israel of buying Google ads to block donations to agency

Commissioner-general says Israeli government has undertaken a defamation campaign against the UN agency.


UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini attends a briefing on the humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 25, 2024. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

'The spread of misinformation and disinformation continues to be used as a weapon in the war in Gaza,' UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said [File: Denis Balibouse/Reuters]

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has accused the Israeli government of “buying ads on Google to block users from giving donations” to the agency.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on X that Israel’s attempts to defame the agency both harm its reputation and put the lives of its staff at risk.

“These deliberate efforts to spread misinformation should stop + be investigated,” Lazzarini wrote on Saturday, calling for more regulations for companies, including social media platforms, to combat disinformation and hate speech.

“The spread of misinformation & disinformation continues to be used as a weapon in the war in Gaza,” he wrote.

Israel has campaigned for years against UNRWA, the main organisation delivering humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory and providing services for Palestinian refugees in other countries since 1949, claiming it has connections with “terrorists” and lobbying for its closure.

Last month, the UN denounced an Israeli government spokesperson after he described Lazzarini as a “terrorist sympathiser”.

David Mencer had taken aim at Lazzarini in a videotaped speech, claiming the agency had been deeply infiltrated by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The UN said the comments were “reprehensible” and warned that they jeopardise Lazzarini’s safety.

Earlier this year, Israel alleged that some of the agency’s staff participated in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel, leading more than a dozen international donors to suspend support.

A UN-authorised independent review found that Israel had not provided credible evidence for its accusations and most donors have since reinstated funding.


Israeli attacks in Gaza have frequently targeted UNRWA facilities, killing 212 of its staff members and hitting at least 70 percent of its schools, according to the organisation.

At least 40,691 people have been killed and 94,060 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza, according to according to the Gaza Health Ministry. At least 1,139 people were killed in the Hamas-led attacks on Israel, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on official Israeli statistics.

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies

9 comments:

  1. "On the Jews and Their Lies
    Book by Martin Luther"
    Nothing proves more the rabbit hole of anti-Jewish racism that Ktemoc has descended into.

    That was a 1543 racist work that the the modern Lutheran Church has strongly disavowed.
    It was one of Nazi Germany's chief propaganda weapon used to justify and promote the liquidation of all Jews in The Final Solution.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mfer, proving u DON'T understand & never read the now surfacing stories mentioned in the book!

      Delete
  2. There is no doubt at least some of UNRWA personnel are actively engaged in aiding and abetting Hamas militant activities.

    The only other question is how deep is UNRWA is institutionally complicit in Hamas terrorism.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Similar question - how deep is OFFICIAL WESTERN MEDIA r institutionally complicit in the zionist genocidal terrorism?

      Delete
  3. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce31ddege9vo

    Six Israeli hostages Murdered by Hamas.

    Israel will continue to prosecute the war with Full ferocity against Hamas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. they were killed because of the IDF's Hannibal Doctrine. Netanyahu didn't want them back alive as their deaths better serve his true purpose

      Delete
    2. Let this know-nothing Zionist mfer farted about its ignorances - just for a laugh in a boring day!

      Delete
    3. Netanyahu did NOT murder them.

      Hamas did.

      In the strange world of your mind, the people who actually do the killing are not guilty.
      Just as the country that is invading and destroying Ukraine is not guilty.

      Black is White, White is Black.

      Delete
    4. directly no, but his secret agenda - to avoid the law, hang on to power, etc - requires him to prolong the war and as PM, and consequentially with a cause (dead hostages) to continue his casus belli - effectively he killed them by deliberately evading calls for a ceasefire with repetitively changing-increasing demands for one

      Delete