As previously noted in Mosaic, a number of employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) have been using Facebook and other electronic media to make anti-Semitic declarations and praise terrorism. Elliott Abrams comments on the State Department’s response:
The State Department says it is deadly serious about oversight of UNRWA. It says this four times in its short [statement]: we expect UNRWA personnel to behave, we are committed to overseeing UNRWA, we take this responsibility very seriously, and we closely engage with UNRWA all the time.
So what exactly is the State Department doing now in the face of serious charges of anti-Semitic and violent statements by UNRWA officials? How will its oversight be exercised, given that we closely engage and that we take this responsibility so seriously? What happens now?
Nothing. Nothing at all. To be precise, “We have asked UNRWA to keep the United States informed of the findings of its investigation.” If there were any seriousness at the State Department at all, there would at a minimum be a call for an independent investigation. Instead, it is entirely happy with whatever internal investigation—which will almost certainly be a cover-up—UNRWA has in mind.
Proof of that is in the [statement’s] last line: “For any additional details regarding investigations, we refer you to UNRWA.” In other words, don’t bother us again with this stuff. We’re busy. Go call UNRWA.
Read more on Pressure Points: http://blogs.cfr.org/abrams/2015/09/15/unrwa-the-state-department-and-the-uses-of-english/