UNRWA Anti-Incitement and Anti-Terrorism Act

UNRWA Anti-Incitement and Anti-Terrorism Act

This bill amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to withhold U.S. contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) or to any successor or related entity, or to the regular budget of the United Nations (U.N.) for the support of UNRWA or a successor entity, unless the Department of State certifies to Congress that:

• no UNRWA official, employee, representative, or affiliate is a member of a foreign terrorist organization, has propagated anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic rhetoric, or has used UNRWA resources to propagate political materials regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict;
• no UNRWA facility is used by a foreign terrorist organization;
• no UNRWA school uses educational materials that propagates anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic rhetoric;
• no recipient of UNRWA funds or loans is a member of a foreign terrorist organization;
• UNRWA is subject to auditing oversight; and
• UNRWA holds no accounts or other affiliations with financial institutions deemed by the United States to be complicit in money laundering and terror financing.

U.S. contributions to UNRWA are limited during the period for which a certification is in effect.

It is the sense of Congress that:

• the President and the Department should lead a diplomatic effort to encourage other nations to withhold contributions to UNRWA, or to the regular budget of the U.N. for the support of UNRWA, until UNRWA has met these conditions;
• citizens of recognized states should be removed from UNRWA's jurisdiction;
• UNRWA's definition of a "Palestine refugee" should be changed to that used for a refugee by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); and
• responsibility for the Palestinian refugees should be fully transferred to UNHCR.