Gaza and Charities at War: Activists Call on IRS to Revoke UNRWA’s Tax Exemption
A group of attorneys and human rights activists have written to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel demanding that the IRS revoke the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine’s (UNRWA) tax exempt status, according to a report in the Washington Free Beacon. And there are calls in Congress to strip tax exemption and legislate against any direct funding of the organization. The article quotes from but does not link to the letter:
“We hereby demand that the exempt tax status of UNRWA USA be immediately suspended, pending an investigation, and then revoked,” the lawyers and activists wrote in a letter sent to IRS commissioner Daniel Werfel, obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. “Providing support for an organization that incites and commits murderous violence while harboring members of U.S. designated terrorist groups that specialize in killing Jews and that call for Jewish genocide is obviously against both the law and public policy.”
The Biden Administration has already suspended U.S. funding of the organization in the wake of an Israeli intelligence report concluding that some of the organization’s workers participated in the massacre on October 7 along the Israeli border with Gaza. Reuters, citing an Israeli Intelligence dossier its reporters were allowed to see says this:
An Israeli intelligence dossier that prompted a cascade of countries to halt funds for a U.N. Palestinian aid agency includes allegations that some staff took part in abductions and killings during the Oct. 7 raid that sparked the Gaza war. The six-page dossier, seen by Reuters, alleges that some 190 UNRWA employees, including teachers, have doubled as Hamas or Islamic Jihad militants. It has names and pictures for 11 them. . . The Palestinians have accused Israel of falsifying information to tarnish UNRWA, which says it has fired some staffers and is investigating the allegations. The dossier said one of the 11 is a school counsellor who helped his son abduct a woman during the Hamas infiltration in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 253 kidnapped.
The allegation is not hard to believe but we ought to keep in mind that Israel is no fan of the UN, even if for good reason. Which is to say that exempt organizations accused of supporting terrorist ought to get some sort of process. Right now there is hardly any, though there is a bill pending in Congress that seems to strike the right balance between national security and due process. Of course, UNRWA is no ordinary exempt organization. It’s existence is infused with foreign policy implications. Not surprisingly, the State Department seems to be proceeding cautiously:
The United States is extremely troubled by the allegations that twelve UNRWA employees may have been involved in the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. The Department of State has temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them. UNRWA plays a critical role in providing lifesaving assistance to Palestinians, including essential food, medicine, shelter, and other vital humanitarian support. Their work has saved lives, and it is important that UNRWA address these allegations and take any appropriate corrective measures, including reviewing its existing policies and procedures.
darryll k. jones