U. of Waterloo students ran UNRWA fundraiser after terror attacks
UN agency beset by allegations of antisemitism
Optometry students at the University of Waterloo raised funds for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) amid allegations that some employees of the UN agency aided Hamas during the Oct. 7 atrocities.
Continuing a Valentine’s Day tradition of picking a charity to support, third-year students chose UNRWA and posted a group photo shared across the program’s social media channels. The image was later deleted, Stan Woo, the director of the School of Optometry and Vision Science,
told the Post in a statement.
“We recognize that their choice this year could be hurtful to some, and we have therefore removed a social media post about it. We’ve had an opportunity to meet with our students and will continue a constructive conversation about this issue.”
According to a university spokeswoman, Woo had “a very constructive conversation with the students” following the administration’s decision to remove the post. The school did not respond to the Post’s followup question as to whether the funds raised were ultimately donated to UNRWA or to a different charity.
The UN agency has been beset by allegations of antisemitism and support for terrorism since the attacks on Israel by Hamas. Over a dozen countries froze their funding of UNRWA after reports emerged that at least a dozen staffers allegedly participated in the Oct. 7 terror attacks.
On Friday, the Israeli Defense Ministry identified the individuals and said that 30 UNRWA workers “participated in the massacre, facilitated the taking of hostages, looted and stole from Israeli communities.”
In early February, the IDF publicized a wide network of Hamas tunnels constructed directly beneath the agency’s headquarters in the Gaza Strip. The body’s leader, Philippe Lazzarini, responded to the allegations by insisting UNRWA’S leadership was unaware of the Hamas infrastructure, including power banks and computer servers, a Times of Israel investigation reported.
In late January, Israeli intelligence issued a report claiming that as many as 10 per cent of UNRWA’S workforce were members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad.