Labour unions have called on the Canadian government to reverse its decision to suspend United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) funding. Six labour unions sent a joint letter to prime minister Justin Trudeau on February 9, stating that the pause in funding is cruel considering the ongoing humanitarian crisis that the Palestinian people are currently facing.
Canada joined several countries in the suspension of UNRWA funding after allegations arose that some of their workers took part in the Hamas attack on October 7. The US, Germany, and Australia are among ome of the other countries to withhold funding to UNRWA.
“Now is not the time to withdraw funding from the United Nations Relief Work Agency,” said Bert Blundon, president of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE).
Along with NUPGE, national labour unions joined together to sign the statement to reverse their decision and reinstate UNRWA funding. Among the other signatories were Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), National Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), Unifor, and United Steelworkers (USW).
Blundon added that labour unions were not the only organizations that are calling for countries to reinstate UNRWA funding—about 20 international NGOs have also put out a joint statement.
When it comes to Canada, Blundon pointed out the hypocrisy in their messaging.
“Canada is among those groups who called for a ceasefire so humanitarian aid could get in—well, those words can’t be hollow words. To provide humanitarian relief, you’re going to have to provide funding to the organization that’s been in the region for so long, and that’s in the best, unique position to provide that relief,” Blundon said.
“So Canada can’t talk out of both sides of its face. Either [Canada] believes in an immediate ceasefire, enabling relief agencies to work in the Gaza Strip or it doesn’t. You can’t say that you want to provide relief—and then take away the funding,” Blundon added.
rabble.ca reached out to CUPE and although they are unable to comment at this time, they referred us to their statement proposal from February 13 which restated that withholding UNRWA funding, especially during a humanitarian crisis, was cruel.
“UNRWA has supported Palestinian refugees for over 70 years … The lives and safety of millions of Palestinians are at stake,” read the CUPE statement.
Suspicion around Israel’s allegations, says human rights advocacy groups
The allegations and subsequently, UNRWA’s funding pause from numerous countries, came after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that humanitarian aid is critical for the Palestinian people.
A statement from Minister of International Development, Ahmed Hussen, released on January 27, noted that funding will be paused temporarily until investigations are conducted.
Investigations into the allegations are still ongoing and the nine of the 12 accused UN workers have been dismissed. But the Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is skeptical of the allegations that the Israeli officials have reported.
“There is a long and well-documented pattern of Israel relying on torture in order to obtain forced confessions from detainees—essentially, to force Palestinians to admit to actions they did not commit in an attempt to get out of detention early,” wrote Michael Bueckert, vice president of CJPME in an statement to rabble.ca
Bueckert added that the Israeli military courts have boasted a conviction rate of 99 per cent while also relying on practices like administrative detention. This means that they detain Palestinians indefinitely without charges or trial.
“To the extent that any of the claims against UNRWA workers came from interrogation, there is an extremely high risk that torture was involved, making the claims circumspect,” he added.
It was also reported that about 10 per cent of UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip have connections to Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. However, the UNRWA has stated that these claims are unfounded—at this time, there has been no evidence presented by Israeli officials to support this claim.
According to the labour unions’ joint letter, UNRWA was due to run out by the end of February. Despite UNWRA’s 75 years of relief work in the Gaza Strip, there has been no updates for Canada to reinstate funding for UNRWA. For Bueckert, he doesn’t see any indications of the government listening to criticism.
“Unfortunately, it appears that they decided to go along based only on Israel’s word, despite Israel’s track record of spreading lies and misinformation. UN officials and humanitarian groups have been clear from the start that suspending funding to UNRWA could cause the collapse of the organization, and its time is running out. There is no agency that can replace the work that it does,” said Bueckert.
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