Transcript [00:04] Hey everyone. So, very interesting story [00:06] that happened today in Jerusalem. The [00:09] Israeli police, the IDF and um and the [00:13] Jerusalem Municipality moved into a [00:15] compound called Kafer Akab and began [00:18] taking it away from UNRA. Remember UNRA? [00:21] The United Nations Relief Works Agency. [00:24] That's the last and this Kafir Akab [00:27] compound is the last piece of real [00:29] estate that the United Nations [00:31] Palestinian Refugee Agency still held in [00:34] the capital in Jerusalem. And you might [00:37] have seen a video I made recently uh [00:40] about UNRA. Uh if you saw that, you [00:43] already know the background. If you [00:44] didn't, don't worry. I'll catch you up [00:46] in the next minute or so. For those of [00:48] you who saw that video, this might be a [00:49] little bit of review and then we'll get [00:51] to what actually happened today because [00:53] there's a lot packed into this story. [00:54] And you know what I'm going to do? I'm [00:56] going to put that previous video about [00:58] UNRA, which has a lot of information in [01:00] it. You don't want to miss that one. I'm [01:01] going to put it uh as a pinned comment. [01:04] I'll make it the first comment in this [01:06] video. So, um if you want to really get [01:09] caught up, you can pause right now and [01:11] just go watch that video and then come [01:13] back and watch this one or you can watch [01:14] it afterwards. But either way, you want [01:16] to get caught up fully on the UNRA [01:18] story. And you know, uh, very often in [01:21] these videos when I'm talking about some [01:22] news item, I'll say you were going to be [01:24] watching this and we'll follow up on it. [01:25] Well, here I'm following up on this [01:27] story. Okay, so here's the quick [01:29] background. UNRA, the United Nations [01:31] Relief Works Agency, is the UN agency [01:33] that has handled Palestinian refugee [01:35] affairs since 1949. [01:38] So they run schools and clinics and they [01:41] protect this refugee status that unlike [01:44] every other refugee population on Earth [01:46] gets passed down generation after [01:48] generation instead of ever being [01:51] resolved. Watch the previous video. [01:53] After October 7th, it came out that like [01:57] a dozen UNRA employees were directly [02:00] implicated in the October 7th massacres. [02:03] That's right. they participated and [02:05] separately UN watch uncovered a telegram [02:08] uh channel a telegram group sorry of [02:10] roughly 3,000 UNRA employees some of [02:14] whom were celebrating the October 7th [02:16] attacks in real time as they were [02:18] happening so in October 2024 [02:22] the Knesset responded by passing a law [02:25] by a very lopsided margin 92 members [02:28] voted for it remember the coalition is [02:30] only like 64 [02:32] or whatever it was at the time around [02:35] there. So, it basically was there was [02:37] consensus. I mean, remember it's 92 out [02:39] of 120 members and like 10 of the [02:41] members are from Arab parties that [02:43] wouldn't vote for it anyway. So, this [02:44] was pretty wall-to-wall consensus. So, [02:47] this law passed and the law banned UNRA [02:50] from operating anywhere Israel claims [02:53] sovereignty, including Jerusalem. And [02:56] the law also cut off all contact between [02:59] UNRA and any Israeli officials. So, that [03:02] law has been in the background. And if [03:05] you caught my last video, you'll [03:06] remember at the time I was covering the [03:08] news item that the Supreme Court had a [03:11] hearing because a a uh a left-wing NGO [03:14] called Adala tried to get that law [03:17] struck down entirely and the justices [03:20] signaled pretty clearly that they [03:22] weren't buying that and um and and they [03:25] weren't going to strike down the law. So [03:27] hold on to that because it's going to [03:28] matter for uh for what comes later in [03:31] this video. Okay. So today was the [03:32] latest chapter in the UNRA story. So [03:34] what happened today? So a a kafir akab [03:40] it it's um it sits in the northernmost [03:43] part of Jerusalem on the far side on the [03:46] other side of the of the separation wall [03:48] the barrier the security barrier that [03:51] Israel built years ago uh after the [03:54] second inifat to keep suicide bombers [03:56] and other attackers from coming in. So [03:59] they built this security this security [04:01] wall, but the security wall isn't a [04:03] border. Okay, they just built this wall [04:05] depending on where populations were. [04:07] Physically, this UNRA compound is on the [04:10] other side of that security fence. So it [04:12] feels like it's outside of Jerusalem, [04:13] but it's not. Legally, it is in [04:16] Jerusalem's municipal boundary under [04:18] Israeli law. Now, on this site, there is [04:21] something called the Colandia Training [04:24] Center. That's what we're going to be [04:25] talking about for most of this video. [04:26] That's the site that that was in the [04:29] news today. The Colandia Training [04:31] Center. This is UNRA's oldest vocational [04:34] training center anywhere in the world. [04:36] Uh it's 70. And you you might wonder [04:38] what what do I mean by anywhere in the [04:39] world? UNRA doesn't only operate in [04:41] Israel. It also operates in Jordan and [04:43] in uh in Lebanon, right? It operates [04:46] wherever there are Palestinian refugees. [04:50] So this uh this Kandia training center [04:52] teaches a few hundred young [04:55] Arabs. uh uh trades like vehicle [04:58] maintenance, plumbing, [05:00] uh it okay, so let's take a look at the [05:03] story. [05:05] Uh here is the news item from today. IDF [05:08] and police evacuate Kafir Akab UNRA [05:10] compound. [05:12] Okay, so they began on Tuesday to [05:14] evacuate the UNRA compound. National [05:17] security minister Bengavir welcomed the [05:19] move. This morning, Israel police forces [05:21] are working with the relevant [05:22] authorities to enforce the law and [05:24] remove UNRA from the premises. Remember [05:25] he's in charge of the police. So he's [05:27] saying that, you know, the police are [05:28] doing this. An organization whose [05:30] employees were involved in terrorism [05:32] repeatedly served as a cover for kamas [05:34] has no right to exist for even one more [05:36] second and has no place in Jerusalem or [05:38] the state of Israel. My policy is clear. [05:40] Sovereignty is not something you talk [05:42] about. It's something you exercise. The [05:44] Isra the Israel police will continue to [05:46] act resolutely to enforce the law, [05:48] strengthen governance, and make it clear [05:50] that Jerusalem is the capital of the [05:51] state of Israel. And so it will remain. [05:53] Anyone who establishes ter terrorist [05:56] nests there will be removed, Bengeir [05:58] added. Prime Minister Netanyahu stated [06:01] that in accordance with my directive and [06:02] following the law we passed, the [06:04] evacuation of the UNRA compound in [06:06] Kafaraka began today. [06:09] Okay. And then of course we're not going [06:10] to let people who participated in [06:12] October 7th to stay here. According to [06:14] the police response, [06:17] at the time [06:21] the issue was at an advanced stage. So [06:23] earlier, this is what's happening. [06:24] Earlier this month, the police said that [06:26] they were having discussions about this [06:29] and it was already at an advanced stage [06:31] and the and uh there was commencement of [06:34] the work on the site, [06:37] meaning ahead of this evacuation, they [06:40] were already getting ready with these [06:41] plans to start work on this site. Now, [06:43] what work they were going to be doing, [06:45] you'll find out later in the video. The [06:46] police further stated they will continue [06:48] to work in full operational coordination [06:50] with the security and enforcement bodies [06:52] to complete the eviction and work. [06:56] About a year ago, the Knesset approved [06:58] that law. 92 members saying that uh they [07:01] can't uh UNRA can't operate in Israel [07:03] anymore. Several months later, so [07:06] several months after the law passed, [07:09] Israeli security forces carried out [07:11] operations at UNRA's headquarters in the [07:13] Maot Daphna neighborhood of Jerusalem. [07:15] So that's a neighborhood uh it's a [07:17] Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem, but it [07:19] it it it's very close to bordering. It's [07:21] sort it's right next to it's a Jewish [07:24] neighborhood right at the edge of the [07:25] border where the Arab neighborhoods [07:27] begin. Okay. So they already already um [07:34] uh I think this is back in January, the [07:37] Israelis went in there and they and they [07:40] uh and they demolished the UNRA [07:42] buildings in the Malotna neighborhood [07:44] and they announced and I love this that [07:46] on the site where those UNRA buildings [07:48] stood, they're going to build an IDF [07:49] recruitment office. [07:52] By contrast, the UNRA compound at Kafer [07:54] Akab, which houses schools and medical [07:56] clinics, has not yet been evacuated. [07:58] About six months ago, security forces [08:00] arrived to assess its evacuation, but [08:03] came under live fire during which a [08:05] terrorist was killed. Now, what was a [08:07] terrorist doing? What was a terrorist [08:10] doing [08:11] in the UNRA compound? Hm. I wonder maybe [08:14] it's cuz they work there. Since then, [08:16] the evacuation has not been carried out. [08:18] Okay, that's the story. Now, the UN is [08:21] none too pleased. So, let's take a look [08:23] at the UN statement. UNRA press [08:26] statement on Colia Training Center. Here [08:28] we go. Today at approximately 10:00, [08:30] Israeli security forces forcibly entered [08:32] the UNRA Colandia training center in [08:35] occupied East Jerusalem. Occupied East [08:37] Jerusalem. I guess they don't recognize [08:39] Israel's sovereignty. At least four [08:41] armored vehicles entered the UN premises [08:44] accompanied by more than 50 Israeli [08:46] security personnel. Approximately 20 [08:47] UNRA staff members were on the site. [08:50] Israeli officials subsequently made [08:51] public statements indicating that the [08:53] premises had been seized by the Israeli [08:55] authorities. UNRA unequivocally condemns [08:58] this unauthorized and deeply concerning [09:00] incursion into the Colandia Training [09:02] Center. You know what's unauthorized? [09:04] The presence of UNRA on Israeli [09:06] territory. Anyway, the entry of armed [09:09] security forces into into a United [09:11] Nations facility without the [09:13] authorization or consent of the United [09:15] Nations is unacceptable. The KTC is a [09:18] United Nations facility protected by the [09:20] privileges and immunities the privileges [09:22] and immunities afforded to the [09:24] organization under international law. [09:26] Its inviability must be fully respected. [09:30] Any attempt to take possession of, [09:31] interfere with, or otherwise undermine [09:33] the functioning of an UNR facility [09:35] strikes at the ability of the United [09:37] Nations to carry out its mandate. What [09:38] would that mandate be? Is it teaching [09:42] Palestinian children uh that murdering [09:45] Israelis is a uh is a lofty act that [09:48] they should be honored for and that they [09:50] should aspire to? Because that's what [09:51] the UNRA schools teach. [09:54] Is it u is is it uh maybe it's [09:59] demonizing the state of Israel? Maybe [10:00] it's participating in October 7th. What [10:02] exactly is the mandate? UNRA will [10:05] continue to insist on the protection of [10:06] its premises, personnel, and operations, [10:09] and on respect for the privileges and [10:11] immunities accorded to the United [10:13] Nations under international law. Oh [10:17] gosh. Okay. Um, [10:23] now when a story get the story gets [10:25] reported this way, you might think that [10:27] this was a spontaneous land grab, but [10:30] this was the fulfillment of a Knesset [10:32] law. Okay? a law passed overwhelmingly [10:35] by the Knesset [10:37] um and uh followed by the the call this [10:42] past December for the Israeli [10:44] authorities to take possession of these [10:46] two sites, the Malo Daphna compound [10:48] which was taken over back in January. [10:50] buildings were destroyed as I said and [10:52] this one kafir akab and the reason it's [10:55] only happening now is because as we read [10:57] in the previous piece six months ago [11:00] when Israeli forces first tried to move [11:01] on the site they came under live fire [11:03] and had to kill a terrorist in the [11:05] process okay so what's going on in the [11:08] site like uh does the UN have a point is [11:12] is it possible that I mean is this [11:14] actually kind of like in the way an [11:16] embassy is is this UN [11:20] uh property. [11:22] Well, let's find out some interesting [11:24] details in the Jerusalem Post coverage [11:26] of this. This is from today as well. [11:29] Jerusalem begins renovation at Kafar [11:31] Akab Unra facility will become [11:34] educational complex. The Jerusalem [11:36] municipality began renovation work on a [11:39] new educational and community complex at [11:41] what has been an UNRA facility in Kafar [11:44] Akab on Tuesday. According to the [11:45] foreign ministry, more than 40 million [11:48] shekels is being invested in the initial [11:50] stage of the project, including a [11:52] municipal boys high school scheduled to [11:54] open next week at the start of the [11:56] school year. The longerterm plan [11:58] includes additional schools, a mosque, [12:01] and sports community and healthc care [12:03] facilities intended to serve thousands [12:05] of Arab residents of the neighborhood. [12:08] Sounds nice. I'm going to build them new [12:11] sports facilities, a mosque, additional [12:13] schools. except it's going to be run by [12:16] Israel. The school's going to teach the [12:18] Israeli curriculum [12:20] cuz it's Israel. The foreign ministry [12:23] said the land has been owned by the [12:25] Jewish National Fund since 1937, [12:29] was allocated to the municipality and [12:32] UNRA has no property rights there. The [12:35] ministry has accused the UN agency of [12:37] fencing off land needed by local [12:39] residents for schools and public [12:41] services. UNR disputes that account. It [12:44] says that the Jordanian government made [12:46] the land available to the agency before [12:49] Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967 [12:52] and argues that the training center is a [12:54] protected United Nations installation. [12:57] Okay. Um [13:01] this let let's unpack this because this [13:03] is really rich. [13:06] Let me explain the way the way the UN is [13:09] claiming it. They're saying you captured [13:11] this and you occupied this area in 1967. [13:14] Before that, it was Jordan's and Jordan [13:17] allocated this land to us, so it's [13:19] legally ours. [13:21] What's the problem? The problem is that [13:24] in 1937, [13:27] more than a decade before the state of [13:28] Israel was founded, [13:31] this land was purchased by the Jewish [13:33] National Fund. Purchased, paid for, [13:36] bought, purchased. What? What's that [13:40] about? Now, let let me back up and a [13:42] little education. [13:44] The Jewish National Fund, what is that? [13:46] It's an organization that was founded uh [13:49] at the beginning of the Zionist of the [13:50] modern Zionist movement. There were a [13:52] number of institutions that the Zionist [13:54] movement created at the time, at the [13:55] very beginning. [13:57] >> And the Jewish National Fund is exactly [14:00] what the name was, exactly what the name [14:03] implies. [14:05] The purpose was to raise funds from the [14:08] Jewish community worldwide [14:11] and to use those funds to purchase land [14:15] in the land of Israel for the creation [14:18] ultimately of a Jewish homeland in the [14:20] land of Israel to purchase land and a [14:23] lot of land got purchased and it was [14:26] those land purchases that then became [14:28] the initial Jewish uh towns and [14:31] settlements before the state of Israel. [14:35] Okay. The Jewish community worldwide [14:36] bought tracks of land. And then when the [14:39] United Nations decided to partition the [14:42] land of Israel and create an Arab state [14:45] and a Jewish state, the Jews accepted [14:47] it. [14:49] The Arabs rejected it. But a lot of how [14:52] those lines were drawn had to do with [14:55] what land was owned by the Jewish [14:57] National Fund. [15:01] State of Israel gets declared, Arab [15:04] armies attack and try to destroy it [15:07] after rejecting the partition plan. And [15:10] when the dust settled on that war, the [15:12] new state of Israel was larger. There [15:15] was no Arab state because they rejected [15:16] it. The new state of Israel was somewhat [15:18] larger, but some of the land that was [15:21] legally purchased by the Jewish National [15:23] Fund was in the hands of was on the [15:26] other side of the armistice line, in the [15:29] hands of Jordan. [15:32] Now, the land was never allocated to [15:34] Jordan, and Jordan was never sovereign [15:36] there. Jordan held it for 19 years from [15:38] 1948 to 1967. And then Israel conquered [15:42] it in the Six-Day War. So now, think of [15:45] the absurdity of what the UN is claiming [15:47] here. They're saying, [15:50] Israel says, "This is our land, okay? [15:52] It's part of Israel. And besides, the [15:56] whole origin of this piece of land is [15:57] that it was purchased purchased. wasn't [16:00] taken away. This isn't like, you know, [16:01] the whole narrative that in the founding [16:03] of Israel, they dispossessed these [16:05] indigenous Palestinian Arabs and took [16:07] their land away from them and and [16:09] expelled them. Okay, there were people [16:12] who were refugees. There was all kinds [16:13] of displaced people in that war. But [16:16] there's also legal ownership of lands. [16:20] So, you want to go back to who owned it [16:22] before [16:24] Jordan? [16:25] Jordan was an illegal occupier of that [16:27] territory for 19 years. No one [16:30] recognized their sovereignty there [16:33] and the UN is claiming that because the [16:35] Jordanians while they were while they [16:38] were illegally occupying that land [16:40] because they gave the UN that land and [16:42] it's theirs even though prior to that it [16:45] was purchased legal deed purchased by [16:49] the Jewish community and now it's part [16:50] of Israel. It's it's ridiculous. It's it [16:53] it's it's comical. Anyway, [16:56] a 2022 government decision instructed [16:58] the land of Israel authority to allocate [17:00] land in Kafarakab for a municipal [17:02] educational campus teaching the Israeli [17:05] curriculum. Yes. To Arabs. The [17:07] municipality has since advanced a [17:09] broader plan for public and educational [17:11] facilities in the area that you know [17:13] what Israel wants to do? They actually [17:15] want to act like a sovereign. get these [17:17] UN guys out of here and we're going to [17:20] create a school and and a community [17:22] facility and a sports facility and maybe [17:24] a healthc care clinic and then we are [17:27] going to also we're going to incorporate [17:29] this into the Israeli education system. [17:32] That's what they want to do. Now I [17:33] mentioned before that Bengir, the [17:35] national security minister was uh was um [17:39] taking credit for this. Well there's a [17:41] member of Knesset who was who was not [17:43] too pleased with that. Israel Betenu, [17:45] member of Kesset, Julia Malanovski, who [17:48] initiated the legislation, [17:51] accused Benvir of attempting to claim [17:53] credit for the operation. [17:56] The work began, [17:58] this just jumped. The work began 5 days [18:02] after she Bit Salmo, that is a that's a [18:05] right-wing NGO that was fighting UNRA, [18:08] that was fighting to get rid of UNRA. So [18:10] she, Betelmo, and Yakov Samurano, a man [18:13] by the name of Yakov Samurano, [18:15] petitioned the high court against Benir [18:18] and other ministers over their failure [18:19] to implement the law. In other words, [18:21] this is just a little political spat [18:23] where she's saying to Ben, you're taking [18:25] credit for this. You were dragging your [18:27] feet as the head of the police at as the [18:30] head of the at the national security. [18:32] you were dragging your feet on ad on [18:35] moving forward on this until I went to [18:37] the Supreme Court to force them to force [18:40] you to do this. Anyway, Malinowski [18:43] argued that the petition had forced [18:44] action after more than six months of [18:46] warning, adding, "Without my high court [18:48] petition, and if we were not in an [18:50] election period, we would have continued [18:52] sleeping." Meaning, she was attacking [18:54] Ben. Fine. But here's the key I wanted [18:56] you to see. Look at this. Who's this [18:58] other guy? Yakov Samurano, who was one [19:00] of the people who filed the petition to [19:03] the court. [19:04] Samurano is the father of Yonatan [19:06] Samurano, who was murdered during the [19:09] October 7th massacre and whose body was [19:13] taken into Gaza by an UNRA employee. [19:17] According to footage presented by [19:18] Israel, his body was later returned to [19:21] Israel. Okay, that's that's it for the [19:24] uh for that uh for that coverage. So [19:26] whatever you make of the of the [19:28] political sniping between Bengir and [19:30] Melanowski, it's worth it's worth [19:32] thinking about this detail for a second. [19:34] Here you have this grieving father whose [19:36] son's body was taken by an UNRA staffer [19:41] into Gaza. [19:44] Okay. And that and and that father is [19:46] the one who took this to court to force [19:49] the closure of the compound. And it's [19:52] just like like these this UN of the UN [19:55] saying this is a violation of the [19:57] immunity of the UN. [19:59] Yeah. You know, where was that immunity [20:01] on October 7th? [20:04] Anyway, here's another wrinkle uh to [20:06] this story and this will be the last [20:07] wrinkle we do and I think it's uh [20:10] significant and it happened not in the [20:12] in uh in Jerusalem but it happened in [20:16] Washington DC. [20:19] It's this and this is from last month [20:21] folks a month ago US congressman [20:24] introduced bipartisan bill to dismantle [20:26] and replace UNRA. So what happened here [20:30] is this past summer representatives Mike [20:32] Lawler a Republican from New York and [20:35] Josh Godtheimer a Democrat from New [20:37] Jersey introduced a bill in Congress [20:39] called the Replace UNRA with Real [20:42] Humanitarian Assistance Act. So, it's a [20:45] bipartisan uh bill and it doesn't just [20:48] cut funding the way past congressional [20:50] action has. This bill directs the State [20:53] Department to work with America's allies [20:56] on an actual strategy to permanently [20:59] permanently wind UNRA down with a real [21:03] timeline and to replace it with [21:05] mechanisms that get aid to Palestinian [21:08] civilians without running it through an [21:10] agency that has been thoroughly [21:13] compromised and corrupt for decades. [21:16] And groups like Apac and the Foundation [21:18] for Defense of Democracies are very are [21:20] very in favor of this uh which is [21:22] predictable. Critics understandably are [21:24] raising alarms about what happens to [21:26] humanitarian services in the transition [21:28] humanitarian services [21:31] because that's what UNRA ostensibly and [21:33] now they also do provide those things. [21:34] That's the problem here. That's what's [21:36] so complicated. [21:37] Um, and it's a fair question what's [21:39] going to happen to those services in the [21:40] interim, but it sounds like the Israelis [21:42] are are looking to build some services [21:45] uh for the people. But let's let's take [21:47] a step back and look at the whole [21:48] pattern here. Two years ago, Israel bans [21:51] UNRA from its territory and um [21:57] and and you know and got condemned for [21:59] that on the world stage. Now today, [22:01] Israeli police physically dismantling [22:03] UNRA's last Jerusalem compound. Um and [22:06] and the UN's freaking out again. [22:09] And meanwhile, we have a bipartisan bill [22:12] going through Congress. [22:15] Uh that is legislation to phase out the [22:18] entire agency globally. [22:21] And then remember the Supreme Court [22:23] hearing that I mentioned at the top, the [22:25] one where this left-wing NGO Adala was [22:28] trying to get the the Israeli law [22:31] banning UNRA struck down. So that ended [22:33] last week. By the way, the the [22:35] petitioners withdrew after the justices [22:38] made it very clear that they were not [22:40] buying their argument anymore. So, no [22:42] one is forcing Israel to reverse course. [22:44] If anything, both the Israeli courts and [22:46] the US Congress are converging on the on [22:50] uh on the same conclusion, giving [22:52] support to the Israeli government. So, [22:53] that's the story underneath today's [22:55] headline. This was not a raid. It was [22:57] not a land grab. It was uh it was it was [23:02] unwinding was the beginning of really [23:04] unwinding and ending a corrupt [23:07] institution that basically is one of the [23:11] perpetuators of this [23:14] of this uh you know forever conflict [23:18] that Israel has with uh you know with [23:22] you know with the Arabs of Judea, [23:23] Samaria, Gaza. Anyway, that's the story. [23:27] maybe we will finally finally see the [23:29] end of UNRA. Thank you so much for [23:32] watching and uh thank you for helping [23:34] grow the channel. It's really it's [23:35] really something and I I have tremendous [23:37] gratitude to all the viewers and uh [23:39] please keep spreading the word. You [23:41] know, you who watch me on a regular [23:43] basis, you know what we do here, how we [23:45] read the headlines and how we, you know, [23:46] make sense uh of what's going on in the [23:49] world. And if you find this helpful, the [23:51] best way you could help me out is just [23:54] share it with someone. Think of one [23:55] person you know who would appreciate one [23:57] of these videos and share it with them. [23:59] Uh, drop a comment, let me know what you [24:00] thought of this one. And, uh, we'll see [24:03] you on the next one.
