Switzerland moves to cut UNRWA funding amid terror, antisemitism claims

The Swiss National Council passed a motion to halt funds for UNRWA, citing its reported incitement to terror and glorification of violence. The motion, passed by a small majority of 99 against 88, was filed already in March, and will have to pass in the confederation’s upper house , the Council of States, to enter into force.

In an exclusive interview with the Jerusalem Post, David Zuberbühler, member of the Swiss National Council who led the legislation, explained the reasoning behind this motion:

“Fundamentally, the media and left-wing parties, who are mostly anti-Israel anyway, fail to recognize that the main problem is the textbooks and teaching materials used in UNRWA schools. In UNRWA schools, children are taught to hate Jews and Israel. If terrorism is glorified, anti-Semitism is stoked and violence is incited in UNRWA schools, then one should not ask why a cruel act of terror like that of October 7 could have occurred.

“There are many other aid organizations (other than UNRWA) that are helping on the ground and can provide emergency aid – accommodation, food, health services, water,” continued the Swiss lawmaker. “The money that Switzerland has paid to UNRWA so far could, for example, be diverted to another organization. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of these aid organizations to ensure that no money falls into the hands of Hamas. In addition, there needs to be complete transparency, which is not the case with UNRWA.”

Zuberbühler added that in January 2023, he joined a delegation of Swiss parliamentarians who paid a visit to UNRWA offices in Bethlehem, but upon arrival they were refused access to educational materials or to conduct an on-site visit to a local UNRWA school, despite of it being agreed upon in advance. Instead, a meeting with students in an UNRWA school was arranged, which was ended abruptly when the students did not answer the lawmakers’ question wondering whether they could imagine a future of them living together side by side with Israelis.

Referring to the reasoning for his motion, Zuberbühler explained: “UNRWA claims that peace, tolerance and human rights are taught in its schools, yet a joint report by UN Watch and IMPACT-se shows that the opposite is the case. According to their investigation, UNRWA employs teachers in its schools who glorify Hamas terrorists as martyrs in class, or even call for violence against Jews. Even the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination criticized hate speech in school textbooks that fueled anti-Semitism in its 2019 annual report. In 2020, the European Parliament also expressed concern that hatred and violence were still being taught in Palestinian school textbooks.”

Zuberbühler stressed that reports by these two organizations exposed over 100 of UNRWA’s staff posting incitement to jihadist terrorism and anti-Semitism on Facebook, as well as several hundred pages of teaching materials which consistently glorified terrorism, promoted antisemitism, and incited violence. He also quoted reports of at least 14 of the agency's teachers who cheered the gruesome Hamas massacre on October 7th as well as the expose which showed that at least 12 employees are said to have actively participated in the massacre, and the discovery of a Hamas shaft under the headquarters of the UNRWA in Gaza.

“UNRWA is infiltrated with Hamas sympathizers,” he added. “Its schools are not currently training the next generation of doctors, craftsmen and teachers, but the next generation of terrorists and their supporters. Switzerland must no longer support terrorism and anti-Semitism - even indirectly. Only by ending funding for UNRWA can Switzerland once again become a real peace broker.”

Legal attempts to find a successor for UNRWA

In May, the Federal Council of Switzerland, which acts as the cabinet and collective head of state of the confederation, to contribute CHF 10 million ($11.8 million) to UNRWA's humanitarian appeal, claiming that “in the absence of a political solution, a definitive suspension of UNRWA's services would likely have additional destabilising consequences for the region. In the current situation, its tasks, including the provision of basic services, could hardly be taken over by any other organisation or authority.”

In this context, two other related motions were also passed in the National Council, the first one calling for the 2024 contribution to UNRWA to be reallocated to emergency humanitarian aid for the population of Gaza instead, and the second one to urge the international community to adopt a solution regarding the succession of UNRWA and the subsequent use of its financial resources, as soon as the current conflict in Gaza allows.

Marcus Sheff, CEO of IMPACT-se whose reports were quoted in Zuberbühler’s words, told the Jerusalem Post: “It is gratifying that in the home of UNRWA and its Commissioner-General, the Swiss parliament is drawing the line at supporting incitement to violence in the educational materials taught and produced by UNRWA. This show of moral clarity in the face of UNRWA’s incessant attempts to offset the measure, is admirable.”