Today’s suggested actions to support Israel in your local community:

• Share our post on Instagram to remind your partners why Israel is fighting this war.
• Watch this video clip about Hamas summer camps where children learn tactics to kidnap Israelis and are taught to glorify murder.
• Read this article by international law expert Professor Geoffrey S. Corn on the shortfalls of claims about excessive IDF force.
• Raise awareness for the hostages still being held captive by Hamas by printing these signs with their faces and stories.  
• Watch and Share the story of 46-year-old Omri Miran, a shiatsu healer and husband to Lishay and father to two-year-old Roni and nine-month-old Alma. He has spent 115 days in Hamas captivity. During this time, he has missed his wife’s birthday, Alma’s first time standing up, Roni’s first day of school and the many paintings she has drawn for her father. Every night Roni asks where her father is and why he has not yet been found.

Issue:
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is a UN body which was created in 1950 to provide services to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. According to the UN, due to the “absence of a solution to the Palestine refugee problem,” the General Assembly has repeatedly renewed the Agency’s mandate, most recently in June of 2023. Throughout much of its existence, and particularly in recent years, UNRWA has faced serious allegations of working with terrorist groups and of falling under the influence of Hamas. In the past few days, startling and damning discoveries have been exposed of direct links of UNRWA employees to the October 7 massacres.

Background:

• In 2015, a report by UN Watch detailed 12 separate Facebook accounts operated by UN officials openly inciting antisemitism and terrorism. Teachers in UNRWA schools have repeatedly issued terror-supporting statements against Israel and Jews, and the curriculum taught in UNRWA schools has been exposed for glorifying terrorists and inciting murder and violence.
• UNRWA facilities located within the Gaza Strip have often been used by Hamas for military purposes. While the Agency has openly condemned these actions, evidence has been uncovered showing that UNRWA buildings continue to be used to hide Hamas equipment.
• In the wake of October 7, Israeli intelligence uncovered evidence of UNRWA workers who were directly involved in the attacks. The New York Times detailed the involvement of 12 employees, which includes kidnapping a woman, handing out ammunition and taking part in the Kibbutz Be’eri massacre where 97 people were brutally murdered. The employees received UNRWA salaries for their work as teachers and in social work and logistics.
• Today the Wall Street Journal reported that that some 1,200 UNRWA employees based in Gaza have ties to Islamic terror groups.
• In the wake of the revelations, as of writing, 17 bodies that fund the Agency’s operations have announced that they will freeze their financing, amounting to 73% of UNRWA’s total 2022 budget of $1.6 billion. This includes the United States, Canada, Germany and the European Commission.
• Despite the many years of reports highlighting the connection between the Agency and terrorist groups, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “horrified by the accusations”.
• The U.S. State Department also responded to the allegations saying that the United States is “extremely troubled,” and added, “There must be complete accountability for anyone who participated in the heinous attacks of October 7.”
• Foreign Policy Advisor to the Israeli Prime Minister Ophir Falk spoke with CNN about the abundance of evidence that UNRWA staffers were involved with the attacks, calling for “an in-depth investigation.”

Community Spotlight

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Southern New Jersey  hosted a panel discussion, “The Hindu and Jewish Relationship,” focusing on the intersection of Jewish and Hindu cultures and joint collaborations between the allied countries Israel and India. Rabbi Micah Peltz from Temple Beth Sholom and Ramesh Viswanathan and Malathi Shankar from the Indian Temple Association spoke on the panel. The discussion was part of the JCRC’s ongoing work to strengthen ties with civic and interfaith partners.

Submit a community initiative here that you would like to highlight for our system.

Additional Resources

Click here to access Jewish Federations’ toolkit on the War in Israel, which links to the Community Mobilization Resource Hub to help you speak up for Israel.

Click here for guidance on responding to anti-Israel resolutions proposed by city councils.  

The Community Mobilization Center is monitoring major developments in Israel and North America related to Israel’s war against Hamas. The Community Mobilization Center will rapidly disseminate resources to help mobilize and support our local communities as they build and sustain civic and political support for Israel in this conflict. The work of the Community Mobilization Center will continue as long as it takes Israel to eradicate the terrorist threat and restore security to the country.

The Community Mobilization Center is at your service. Click here to send us an email.

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