In late June, UN Watch came out with a report documenting over a decade of overt promotion of Hamas terrorism by Fateh Sherif Abu El Amin, President of the UNRWA Teachers Union in Lebanon. The report also showed how he was a member of Hamas.
UN Watch demanded UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini fire Abu el-Amin, who had at that time only suspended him and asked him to resign following allegations concerning his politics – a move they say “conveniently would have allowed al-Sharif to leave without any censure and to collect a pension.” The suspension led to the Alliance of Palestinian Forces, which includes Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the other rejectionist factions, mobilizing mass protests that shut down UNRWA operations in Lebanon for months. So Lazzarini flew to Lebanon and successfully negotiated an end to protests. Some reported that Lazzarini had agreed in a meeting with the alliance of terrorist factions to reinstate Abu el-Amin, although he denied it.
UN Watch then tried to deliver their evidence to Lazzarini, who refused to accept it – so they sent it to the press, a member of whom later asked Lazzarini about it. He responded by calling the report “completely wrong and misleading.”
On July 12, the ever-persistent UN Watch urged the UN missions of Canada, Sweden, the UK, France, Germany, and the Netherlands to pressure Lazzarini to fire Abu el-Amin. Instead, they pledged more taxpayer money to UNRWA while it still employed him.
On August 1, UN Watch again attempted to hand Lazzarini the evidence, but he refused to meet.
UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer appeared in many media outlets to put more pressure on Lazzarini, and on September 28, two days ago, told him “Every day that you refuse to fire Fathi al-Sharif confirms your open support for terrorism.”
The very next day, Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon and Hamas confirmed he was their leader in Lebanon.
“Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin, the leader of Hamas… in Lebanon and member of the movement’s leadership abroad” was killed in a strike on his “home in the Al-Bass camp in south Lebanon”
Now Lazzarini is claiming ignorance.
The head of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) on Monday denied knowing that its employee Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin was a Hamas commander in Lebanon, and called on states to push back against Israeli attacks on the agency’s reputation.
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Abu el-Amin was suspended from his job at UNRWA in March following allegations concerning his politics, Philippe Lazzarini told reporters in Geneva.
“The specific allegation at the time was that [he was] a part of the local leadership… I never heard the word commander before,” he said. “What’s obvious for you today, was not obvious yesterday.”
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said el-Amin had been on administrative leave without pay since March — “as soon as UNRWA received information about his possible involvement with Hamas at a senior level” — and had never been reinstated.
“As soon as information was received — in this case, from the Israeli government — action was taken,” Dujarric told reporters. “Every time UNRWA has received information beyond just a name, action has been taken.”
Note how Lazzarini is trying to worm his way out of this, by focusing on the word “commander”. The evidence provided by UNRA Watch showed he was heavily implicated with Hamas and supportive of their terrorism. Whether or not they knew he was an actual commander, they needed to act more firmly against him.
And to paraphrase Lazzarini’s own words: What’s obvious for us today – UNRWA being compromised by terrorists – was obvious yesterday and, in fact, for at least over a decade.
Remember, Lazzarini called the UN Watch report “completely wrong and misleading.” How so? Seems to me they were on to something.
Lazzarini needs to resign immediately. Heck, he needs to be facing criminal prosecution for aiding and abetting war crimes.
As for UNRWA, it needs to be disbanded.
