Over 20 states are demanding congressional leaders defund a United Nations aid agency over its ties to Hamas and rising antisemitism on college campuses in the United States.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson led 22 other states in a letter sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R‑LA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D‑NY), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D‑NY), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R‑KY) on Tuesday asking them to “stop funding antisemitic education efforts” from the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNRWA.
The agency has come under increased scrutiny for its connections to Hamas, Gaza’s governing body, since the Oct. 7 attacks against Israel last year. In January, the news of UNRWA’s connection to Hamas caused the U.S. and other countries to suspend funding to the agency. Congress also recently approved a ban on funding from the U.S. to UNRWA until March 2025 in the fiscal 2024 appropriations package.
Despite these a …