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The UN Handmaiden of Hamas
(Wall Street Journal) Claudia Rosett - The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is one of the UN's most perverse, destructive creations. In Gaza it essentially functions as Hamas' handmaiden. During the clashes of recent weeks as Israel sought to stop rocket attacks by Hamas and to destroy its terror tunnels, UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl publicly condemned Israel, accusing the Israelis of "serious violation of international law." Hamas controls UNRWA's staff unions in Gaza, where in 2012 a Hamas-affiliated slate swept 25 of 27 seats. The 30,000 staff on the payroll are almost all Palestinian. With a budget topping $1 billion, the agency's welfare programs relieve Hamas of many of the costs of servicing the enclave it controls as its launchpad for terror. In 2011 the agency opened an office in Washington run by two former U.S. government insiders: Matthew Reynolds, previously the State Department's assistant secretary for legislative affairs, and Chris McGrath, previously a media-events director for Sen. Harry Reid. Thus, U.S. tax dollars fund UNRWA officials now lobbying in Washington to obtain yet more money for an agency entwined with the rocket-launching, tunnel-digging rulers of Gaza. The writer is journalist in residence with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.