Long before Khalil’s detention, UNRWA was a lightning rod for American and Israeli politicians who accuse the agency of antisemitic behavior alongside its humanitarian mission. Founded in 1949, it has been the United Nation’s primary agency for providing aid and relief to Palestinians living in the Gaza and the West Bank – as well as other countries – including shelter, health care, food and education.
The UNRWA is absolutely antisemitic.
Israel last year banned UNRWA from operating in that country, accusing the organization of “spreading antisemitism” and saying some UNRWA employees – who are mostly Palestinian – participated in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed more than 1,200 people.
Allegations about UNRWA workers’ involvement in the October 7 attack prompted the Biden administration to pull US funding from the agency in January 2024, and more than a dozen other countries followed suit. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February cutting off US aid to the organization. “UNRWA has reportedly been infiltrated by members of groups long designated … as foreign terrorist organizations,” he asserted.
Trump’s not wrong about the UNRWA and neither was Biden.
That said, I’m not yet convinced there’s adequate grounds to deport Khalil. If this were strictly a First Amendment case, it would be over already: There would be no grounds for deportation or arrest. But immigration law is something I’m not well-versed so I don’t know what the courts are going to say.