U.S. Jewish organizations protest UN funding of PA banners in Gaza
The United Nations is embroiled in a dispute with American Jewish organizations over the funding of Palestinian banners in Gaza, and U.S. Ambassador John Bolton on Wednesday protested the “unacceptable” payments.
The dispute centers on the UN Development Program’s payment for materials produced by the Palestinian Authority for Israel’s disengagement from Gaza which include banners saying: “Gaza Today. The West Bank and Jerusalem Tomorrow.”
The American Jewish Congress protested in a letter Monday to the Development Program’s new administrator, Kemal Dervis, that UNDP was paying for Palestinian “propaganda” when the future status of the West Bank and Jerusalem are still disputed.
In a letter Tuesday to top officials from the American Jewish Congress, Dervis said UNDP was encouraged by donors and others to help facilitate Israel’s peaceful withdrawal from Gaza and help ensure stability during the pullout.
“As part of this effort, UNDP provided support for communications to the
public and media in Gaza, the content of which was the responsibility of the PA,” he wrote in the letter obtained by The Associated Press. Dervis indicated that the content – and inclusion of the UNDP logo – were decisions left to the Palestinians.
He agreed with the American Jewish Congress that “the Palestinian Authority is certainly entitled to express its political sentiments.” But what is unacceptable, he said, is the use of UNDP’s logo on the Palestinian message, which was first reported by The New York Times on Monday.
“UNDP takes the need for complete political neutrality very seriously,” Dervis said, adding that while the agency’s mandate includes helping entities to improve their ability to govern effectively “we cannot be involved in political messaging.”
In a statement Wednesday, the Conference of Presidents of Major American
Jewish Organizations expressed “deep disappointment” that Dervis avoided the issues of “the inappropriate allocation of funds and the lack of supervisory mechanisms.” The group, which represents 52 national Jewish organizations, complained that there has been a history of violations of “political neutrality” regarding the Palestinians – including in this case. It said it has asked Secretary-General Kofi Annan “for a full investigation and examination of UNDP’s operations with the Palestinians to put an end to these outrageous practices.”
When queried about the U.S. government’s response, Bolton said in a brief
statement that “Funding this kind of activity is inappropriate and unacceptable.”
“We plan to raise the issue with UNDP and with others,” he said.
Rep. Ileana Ros Lehtinen, a Florida Republican and member of the House
International Relations Committee, said it was “outrageous” that instead of alleviating poverty UNDP “has reportedly assisted Hamas to spread its messages of incitement in the heat and emotion of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza settlements.”
UNDP said a meeting with U.S. officials has been scheduled on Thursday.
“We have directly sought assurances from the Palestinian Authority that no further such materials will be produced with the funds we made available to them for their overall communications efforts during the withdrawal,” said UNDP spokesman William Orme.
Dervis has made clear “that UNDP must be strictly neutral and cannot be in the business of supporting political sloganeering of any kind anywhere,” he said.
“There have been very clear instructions sent that this was inappropriate and should not be repeated,” Orme said.
