In 2017, Justin Trudeau Said “Re-engagement With UNRWA” Wouldn’t Create “Negative Consequences For Israel Or Anyone Else”. How Did That Turn Out?

InsightSpencerFernando

There are real-world consequences when our leaders get things so profoundly wrong.

For many years – and long before the October 7th terror attack by Hamas – Israel has been warning the world that the United Nations Relief & Works Agency (UNRWA) was not what it seemed.

Israel warned that UNRWA was closely connected to Hamas – a genocidal terrorist organization.

Israel warned that UNRWA teachers were pro-Hamas, and that UNRWA teaching materials were radicalizing young Palestinians.

Those warnings – which obviously proved prescient – were taken seriously by some leaders.

Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper ended Canada’s funding to UNRWA, based upon those the concerns surrounding the true nature of the organization.

It was a wise move, made at a time when Canadian foreign policy was still based upon some foundational values and principles, rather than trying to boost next week’s polling numbers.

But of course, this didn’t last.

Early in their time in office, the Trudeau government reversed course and restored Canadian funding for UNRWA.

At the time, Justin Trudeau dismissed concerns about the organization, and even claimed that restoring funding would help Canada hold UNRWA to account.

He also said there would be no negative consequences for Israel or anyone else for that matter:

“Our re-engagement with UNRWA allows us to hold it to closer account. We know Canadian pressure and Canada being part of UNRWA allow us to ensure help is going to where it is needed, and not creating negative consequences for Israel or anyone else.”
— Justin Trudeau, April 2017″

How did that turn out?

This is how it turned out:

“BREAKING: Terror tunnel discovered right below UNRWA HQ, hiding Hamas intelligence data center, with electrical room, industrial battery power banks, living quarters for Hamas server operators. Electric cables from UNRWA powered the Hamas servers. UNRWA chief: “We had no clue.””

It is profoundly disturbing that some of our tax dollars ended up going towards this.

Canadians were in effect forced to inadvertantly fund the operations of a genocidal anti-semitic terror organization.

And none of it had to happen.

All the Liberal government had to do was leave Harper’s decision to end funding to UNRWA in place.

There are other aid organizations that can operate in the region, organizations without the connections to Hamas.

But that would have deprived the Trudeau government of an opportunity to show how ‘kind’ and ‘compassionate’ they were by reversing one of the ‘mean’ policies of the Harper era.

And so, our tax dollars went towards funding UNRWA, and UNRWA helped Hamas.

As for those ‘negative consequences’ Trudeau thought would be absent, Israel ended up suffering the worst terror attack in their history, and Canada is now dealing with a surge of anti-Semitism.

You would think there would be a lesson to be learned here for the Liberal government.

You would think they would recognize that Israel should be listened to when they warn us about the true nature of organizations like UNRWA.

But alas, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Their hyped funding ‘pause’ regarding UNRWA seems to be a mirage, with $40 million rapidly shovelled out the door before the pause was announced. And now, the Liberal government is halting arms sales to Israel – caving in to the pressure of anti-Semitic mobs.

Basically, they are making the same mistake again: Ignoring the reality of what the supposedly ‘pro-Palestinian’ movement really represents, and abandoning our democratic ally in Israel all for the short-term pursuit of votes.

If it wasn’t clear before, it should be abundantly clear now: Canada must return to the kind of principled foreign policy we had in the Harper era.

Spencer Fernando

Photo – Twitter

***

In order to remain independent, I will never take government media bailouts. If you value my perspective and would like to support my work, I encourage you to contribute what you can through PayPal at the button below.