UNRWA’s ‘Nobel Prize for Genocide’

George Orwell, one of Britain’s greatest gifts to Western literature, warned his readers about the deceptive use of language, particularly in the realm of politics. Political language, Orwell wrote, “Is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

So, it is with Norwegian Labour MP Asmund Aukrust’s recent nomination of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to receive a Nobel prize “for its long-term work in providing vital support to Palestine and the region as a whole”.

UNRWA’s nomination, like hundreds made annually to the Nobel committee, has no operative meaning. And the Nobel committee permanently stained its noble name in 1994, when it awarded the prize to arch terrorist, Palestine Liberation Organization Chairperson Yasser Arafat, a long time African National Congress (ANC) ally. But the message in the recent UNRWA nomination does matter. It’s another weapon in the deception-driven global disinformation war the Iranian regime and its terror proxies are waging primarily against Israel, the Jewish people, and the West. Psychological warfare is consequential in a world shaped by feelings over facts and in which iPhones and social networks sire instant alternative realities for billions of people.

The recent UNRWA nomination is yet another case of Orwellian “double speak”. It comes as the world bears witness to incontrovertible evidence of UNRWA employees’ direct role in the Hamas mass terror invasion, massacre, rape, and kidnapping of Israelis and other nationals on 7 October 2023.

UNRWA’s crimes were well documented. On 30 January 2024, UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer testified before the United States Congress, documenting UNRWA employees’ incitement of the murder of Jews and glorification of the Hamas 7/10 massacre.

Neuer said, “Just in November 2023, we sent a report to the UN on 20 teachers who celebrated the October massacre. In March, together with the organisation Impact-se, we identified 133 UNRWA teachers who promoted hate and violence on social media.” Neuer summarised his congressional testimony, observing that, “the core problem with UNRWA is that the very purpose of the agency is to perpetuate the war of 1948, and to send the message to Palestinians that the war of 1948 isn’t over”.

Neuer isn’t a lone voice. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken characterised as “highly credible” evidence provided by Israel proving UNRWA staffers participated in Hamas’s 7 October terror onslaught. Even UNRWA, albeit tacitly, admitted the culpability of its employees by terminating their employment pending a hearing.

UNRWA isn’t the only worthy nominee for the “Nobel Prize for Genocide”. The South African government is another leading candidate for its abominable and unforgivable referral of Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on charges of genocide. This “award winning” Orwellian perversion of justice reflects what Mary Kluk, the vice-president of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, characterised as “a pornographic and sycophantic romance between [South African] government ministers and Hamas”. It’s also become clear to many in Israel that the South African government and Hamas serve at the pleasure of the genocidal Iranian regime.

South Africa’s ICJ claim didn’t develop in a vacuum. Just months before the petition was submitted, the ANC teetered on the verge of bankruptcy. Almost magically, following South Africa’s minister of international relations, Dr Naledi Pandor’s, 23 October 2023 visit to Tehran, it was reported that the ANC ruling party’s finances had “stabilised”. Pandor’s visit was almost immediately followed by South Africa’s full-throated accusation of genocide against Israel. Soon after, the South African Parliament voted in favour of severing diplomatic ties. It was a perfectly timed political-warfare operation.

Deception, disinformation, and psychological warfare are tentacles of the Iranian “octopus” in its mission to sow global destruction. Though Iranian officials remain in the background and often unseen, their presence is constantly felt, pulling on the strings of state puppets and terror proxies. Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, Syria, the Houthis and even South Africa do Teheran’s bidding, while the mullahs rub their hands in satisfaction.

Alfred Nobel must be turning in his grave.

• Dr Dan Diker is president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.