UNRWA objects to placement on anti-Semitic list

Tel Aviv/Cologne (dpa), 27 Dec 2018 -  UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, “strongly objects” to its inclusion on the Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s end-of-year list of the “top 10 worst global anti-Semitic incidents.”   

The centre placed UNRWA fifth on its list, accusing UNRWA of using a school curriculum which “promotes anti-Semitism, refuses to print the word Israel and is unwilling to teach about the Holocaust.”   

In a statement to dpa, UNRWA said on Thursday: “As a UN agency, UNRWA stands by and actively promotes the principles and values of the United Nations, including the promotion of fundamental human rights. Therefore, we strongly object to any association with racism in all its forms.” 

 Also featured on the list are: Bishop Gayle Harris, whom the centre accused of fabricating reports about Israeli violence against Arabs