Israel Raids UNRWA, Citing Unpaid Taxes, Not Ethnic Cleansing
Israeli authorities raided the UNRWA compound in East Jerusalem, raising the Israeli flag and citing 'unpaid taxes.' Al-Monitor reports UNRWA hasn't used the building since early this year after Israel ordered them to vacate. Conveniently, this 'tax dispute' emerges as Israel continues its systematic dismantling of UNRWA, an organization providing vital services to Palestinian refugees since 1949—
a legacy of the 1948 Nakba and subsequent displacements. The media frames this as a bureaucratic spat—a 'challenge to international law,' per UNRWA—rather than another tactical step in Israel's decades-long effort to erase the Palestinian right of return and the very existence of Palestinian refugees. One might wonder if nations that receive billions in foreign aid, like the $3.8 billion annually
the US provides to Israel, are truly concerned about tax compliance when the target is an agency for stateless people.