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DFAT grilled on UNRWA

"It's generally known that there are at least several organisations that their agenda is to focus on misconduct by UNRWA," says Marc Innes-Brown.

By Gareth Narunsky February 22, 2024, 11:26 am Edit
A man walks with a vest bearing the logo of the UN at a school run by UNRWA in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on November 14, 2023. (The Times of Israel: Said Khatib/AFP)
A man walks with a vest bearing the logo of the UN at a school run by UNRWA in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on November 14, 2023. (The Times of Israel: Said Khatib/AFP)

The Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) has slammed Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) assistant secretary Marc Innes-Brown for deflecting criticism of Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.

It follows evidence that at least 12 UNRWA staffers participated in the October 7 massacre.

Innes-Brown told Senate Estimates last Thursday, “There have been serious allegations and misbehaviour that you know, has been pursued and appropriately dealt with.

“It’s generally known that there are at least several organisations that their agenda is to focus on misconduct by UNRWA. And unfortunately, often these reports can contain a significant amount of exaggeration … the agenda is, and this is well known, for UNRWA to be disbanded.”

ZFA director of public affairs Bren Carlill said Innes-Brown was “unnecessarily flippant on valid concerns” about UNRWA.

“Substantial Australian taxpayer funds go towards UNRWA. The least DFAT could do is take seriously the considerable evidence that shows that UNRWA schools and employees praise terrorists and terrorism,” he said.

Visiting Israeli analyst Haviv Rettig-Gur told an Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council media lunch in Sydney on Monday that “there’s going to be Hamas people in the ranks of any aid agency in Gaza”, and that the real issue is UNRWA’s granting of refugee status to descendants in perpetuity.

“Why? Because you are a refugee until you go back into Israel and displace Israel,” he said.

Also in Senate Estimates, DFAT revealed that the government has granted 2127 visitor visas and 148 migration visas to Palestinians from Gaza. Many were processed in 24 hours or less.

Noting that “Hamas exercises absolute control over all aspects of Gazan society”, Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said, “Anyone seeking entry to Australia from Gaza should be subject to stringent vetting for allegiances to terror organisations and support for atrocities to ensure that the security and stability of our country is not compromised.”

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