Report: UNRWA teachers celebrated Oct. 7 massacre and called for killing of Israelis

According to a report from UN Watch, a Telegram group of 3,000 UNRWA teachers in Gaza was full of posts celebrating the massacre of Oct. 7 and its perpetrators.

UNRWA teachers called the terrorists "heroes," praised the education the terrorists received, and shared photos of dead and abducted Israelis, according to the report released on Wednesday.

BREAKING: A Telegram group of 3,000 UNRWA teachers in Gaza celebrates the Hamas massacre of October 7th, praises the murderers and rapists as “heroes,” and gleefully shares photos of dead or captured Israelis and urges the execution of hostages. https://t.co/ZQJNX701Fr

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) January 10, 2024

The independent organization, which monitors antisemitism within the United Nations, published the results of an in-depth investigation exposing how teachers in the organization encourage anti-Jewish sentiments. 

The report showed that when images and videos of the massacre first began to be published on social media, UNRWA teachers celebrated and justified the horrific acts in statements on their private accounts and on a Telegram chat group of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

The UNRWA Telegram channel, established to support teachers, contains dozens of files with UNRWA staff names, ID numbers, schedules and even curriculum materials.

Beginning on Oct. 7 and in the following days, it contained praise for the Hamas massacre. 

A teacher named Osama Ahmad wrote: “Allah is great, Allah is great, reality surpasses our wildest imagination.” 

Another teacher, Waseem Ula, who provided information to the Telegram group about salaries, called for the killing of Israelis and praised the massacre. 

Shortly after writing that "salaries will be transferred on Sunday," he posted a video glorifying the Hamas brutal attack of Israelis on Oct. 7. Ula also praised terrorist Akran Abu Hassan, one of the perpetrators of the massacre, calling him “Qassami martyr,” “friend,” and “brother.” He shared a prayer that Allah would “admit him to heaven without judgment.” 

“Ula also posted a picture of a suicide vest with the caption: “Wait, sons of Judaism.” 

Meet UNRWA teacher Waseem Ula. He runs a chat for 3,000 UNRWA teachers: https://t.co/0ECeat8qr2 His username: “Handsome” (أ. وسيم).

Ula posts info on salaries from UNRWA Gaza education chief Sami Abu Kamil.

He also calls to kill Israelis, and glorifies the Oct. 7th massacre. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/zK8vahbmW3

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 10, 2024

Another social media post was written by a teacher, Abdallah Mehjez, urged Gazans not to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip, as the IDF requested, but to remain as human shields. Mehjez worked as a correspondent for the BBC network before joining UNRWA as a teacher.

UN Watch has documented UNRWA incitement and antisemitic teaching for years, even testifying before the U.S. Congress and the German Bundestag.

UN Watch was founded in 1993 by civil rights activist Morris B. Abram, the former U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva.