
In an exclusive interview with Bulletin, UN Watch chief Hillel Neuer reveals how the Muslim terrorist organization Hamas has taken over the UN agency UNRWA, thanks Sweden for cutting funding, and dismisses Social Democrat ally Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as a peace partner.
A Hamas terror chief was in charge of 2,000 UNRWA teachers. Norway’s current foreign ministry official Leni Stenseth traveled to Gaza to apologize to the now-deceased terror leader Yahya Sinwar. And 90 percent of Hamas terrorists who participated in the October 7 massacre were educated in UNRWA schools.
These revelations come from an interview with Hillel Neuer, executive director of the watchdog organization UN Watch. Neuer had strong ties to Sweden through his friend Per Ahlmark, former leader of the Liberal Party who died in 2018. Ahlmark served as European co-chair of UN Watch for 20 years, and the organization annually awards the Per Ahlmark Award for moral courage.
”Per was my friend. I went to Stockholm for his 70th birthday celebration and he used to fly to Geneva for our events. Each year we give out the Per Ahlmark Award to people who have moral courage,” Neuer said.
He praised the Swedish government’s decision to stop funding UNRWA.
”I want to commend the Swedish government. My understanding is that in December the government announced they would no longer give money to UNRWA but instead increase aid to Palestinians through other agencies. That was the right decision,” Neuer said.
Hamas Controls UNRWA
Neuer described how Hamas has infiltrated UNRWA, the UN’s special refugee agency for Palestinians, which Sweden has funded with billions over the years.
”Fathi Sharif was Hamas leader in Lebanon, UNRWA teacher, principal and head of 2,000 teachers. When Israel eliminated him last year, Hamas announced that their leader had been killed. It wasn’t like Sharif was hiding [his Hamas membership] — he had pictures with Hamas leaders all over his Facebook,” Neuer said.
Sweden has been one of UNRWA’s largest donors for decades. Is there any separation between UNRWA and Hamas in Gaza?
”In Gaza they’ve taken over completely. They control the staff union with 13,000 employees. The head of UNRWA’s union sits on Hamas’s political bureau. He’s one of the few who survived — over half of the political bureau has been eliminated by Israel. He fled to Turkey a few years ago.”
”UNRWA’s own legal advisor said that 90 percent of Gazans are alumni of UNRWA schools. That means 90 percent of the barbaric murderers who raped and murdered on October 7 [attended] UNRWA schools,” Neuer said.
UN Watch has documented UNRWA’s indoctrination of Palestinian children for decades. What does it look like?
”We’re releasing a report next month showing that UNRWA’s education system is completely infiltrated by Hamas. We’ve interviewed children who say they learned to kill Jews. They all want to become Hamas fighters. The message in schools is that Gaza is not your home — your home is there, and they point to Israel. They call it the ’right of return’ but it means October 7.”
West kowtowing to Hamas
One example of how Western countries submit to terrorists, according to Neuer, is when Leni Stenseth, then UNRWA’s deputy chief and now an official in Norway’s foreign ministry, traveled to Gaza to apologize to Yahya Sinwar — the architect of the October 7 massacre.
”An UNRWA official admitted on Israeli TV that IDF strikes were precise. Hamas kicked him out, he was no longer welcome in Gaza. Stenseth drove from Amman to Gaza, met Sinwar and apologized for the official’s ’indefensible’ statements. She now leads Norway’s foreign ministry and campaigns for UNRWA,” Neuer said.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini reportedly met with terror groups in Beirut last May and reached an agreement allowing Hamas to maintain control over UNRWA schools, according to UN Watch.
Fatah Not a Peace Partner
Sweden’s Social Democrats and the left are pushing for Sweden to resume funding. What do you say to them?
”They have to answer to the evidence. We have hundreds of pages of documentation on our website with screenshots of UNRWA teachers praising jihad terrorism. If they care about Palestinian children, why do they let Hamas terrorists be their teachers and principals for decades?”
Is Fatah and its leader Mahmoud Abbas — the Social Democrats’ sister party — a legitimate peace partner?
”The best thing you can say about Fatah is that they’re not Hamas. But there’s not much more to say than that. Abbas is in his twentieth year of his four-year term. He’s a dictator who tortures those who dare to oppose him. He denies the Holocaust and says the Jews deserved it.”
Abbas’s government continues the ”pay for slay” policy where terrorists and their families receive compensation for attacks against Israelis.
”Fatah doesn’t want their own state either. When they were offered 97 percent of the land they wanted, [former leader] Arafat responded with an intifada with hundreds of suicide bombings. They also want Israel’s destruction,” Neuer said.