10 January 2009 - Has the UN become an active participant in hostilities?

We already know that UN refugee camps in Gaza have housed active terror groups; that Palestinian UN employees have been actively involved in rocket attacks against Israel; that Hamas and other armed groups have used UN ambulances to transport troops and weapons; and that the same groups have used UN schools as launchpads for rockets aimed at Israeli civilians.

Now the UN may have been caught smuggling military gear to Hamas in humanitarian aid shipments:



At the same time, Hamas continues to attack humanitarian aid convoys and steal food and medical supplies, while the UN blames Israel for targeting its shipments--a claim the IDF has denied. (The UN's claims help it escape a situation in which it might be seen to be enabling Israel's attacks against Hamas by boosting Israel's humanitarian image.)

So, paradoxically, while its personnel are being attacks by Hamas, and its institutions are being used to launch terror attacks and endanger Palestinian civilians, the UN is not only asking Israel to stop fighting but may be actively assisting the Hamas propaganda and war efforts.

I don't find this too hard to hard to believe--I have had classmates and colleagues who have gone to work for the UN in Gaza, and all of them have been hard-core anti-Israel activists. That's why they choose that assignment over those in the region and elsewhere that are far more compelling on humanitarian grounds.