Israel asked Canada to reverse decision on funding for UN Palestinian refugee agency CIDA documents on UNRWA prompt fresh questions about role of Jewish lobby groups in policy making. By Lee Berthiaume Published July 6, 2011

View story Email Comments To the Editor

For more than a year, many have suspected that the Harper government's decision to stop providing direct budgetary support to the UN agency responsible for helping Palestinian refugees in the Middle East was made at the behest of Israel.

However, newly released CIDA documents appear to turn that notion on its head as they show Israel was one of a number of countries actively lobbying Canada to reverse its decision last year to focus its funding on emergency food aid.

"The announcement of this targeted funding has provoked a number of reactions from countries in the region," reads a document dated Aug. 24, 2010, "and in discussions with the US, Israel and the UN Secretary General, Canada has been asked to resume funding the General Fund."

While pro-Israel groups say this proves the Harper government isn't simply kowtowing to the Jewish state's interests, the revelation has prompted fresh questions about the role and influence of those same lobby groups in Canadian foreign policy making.

A decision quietly rendered

Canada has been contributing funds to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, since 1950, when the agency was established to provide emergency relief and support to Palestinians displaced by the Arab-Israeli war. UNRWA now supports 4.7 million registered Palestinian refugees living in a number of countries in the region, including Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

From 1990 to 2006, CIDA provided UNRWA with about $10 million each year in core funding. That amount increased to $15 million in 2007. Canada also provided anywhere from $1 million to $16 million in response to UNRWA emergency appeals during that time. Altogether, Canada alternated between being UNRWA's sixth- and seventh-largest donor.

However, in 2009, Canada quietly stopped providing core funding to the agency. Instead, all money was redirected exclusively to an emergency appeal in the West Bank and Gaza, primarily for food aid.

The decision did not become public until January 2010 when Public Safety Minister Vic Toews revealed the move during a trip to Israel. CIDA Minister Bev Oda's office maintains the decision was made to align Canada's contributions to UNRWA with CIDA's desire to increase aid effectiveness and accountability.

"The redirecting of funding to UNRWA program-specific activities in food security is in line with our Aid Effectiveness Agenda and responds to a key priority of the Palestinians," spokesman Justin Broekema said in an email. "By focusing on emergency appeals, we can ensure our aid continues to be effective and responsive to needs."

Frank Dimant, executive vice-president of Jewish group B'Nai Brith Canada, which has been one of the most vocal Canadian critics of UNRWA, says the revelation Israel was asking Canada to reverse its decision is proof the change was based purely on aid accountability.

"I think this is a wonderful example of how Canada determines its own foreign policy, irrespective of what others may want it to do," Mr. Dimant said. "That not withstanding what some of the Arab dictatorships or the American government, or even for that matter what Israel wanted...that humanitarian aid is a necessity, but it has to be channelled properly, especially in areas that are controlled by terrorists.

"B'Nai Brith is proud that we advocated for change and that the government listened in spite of all the pressure from those other governments," he added. "I think it's very, very important that Canadian tax dollars be used in the most efficient way for humanitarian purposes. That there be no ambiguity in terms of it falling by the wayside to assist any kind of terrorist organization."

As with other stories about CIDA funding to UNRWA, the Israeli Embassy refused to comment for this story, saying it was an internal Canadian issue.

Plenty of post-decision contact

The documents indicate the change prompted immediate reactions from countries in the region.

"This decision has generated concern with various stakeholders," reads a memo dated Feb. 3, 2010, "particularly in countries that benefit from UNRWA's operations, namely Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, as well as the West Bank and Gaza."

The fact these countries were opposed to the government's decision has been an open secret. In May 2010, Jordanian ambassador Nabil Barto took the unusual step of publicly expressing his country's opposition to the change. However, Israel pushing Canada to renew its support for the General Fund was, until this point, a closely guarded secret.

Mr. Broekema said all countries that approached Canada about the issue were given the same explanation.

"Canada took note of the concerns and reiterated our commitment to work toward its goal for the West Bank and Gaza: to help build a more just and prosperous society, with improved living conditions for Palestinians, including Palestinian refugees," he said.

The fact is that the Israeli government has an "odd" relationship with UNRWA, said Rex Brynen, a McGill University professor who has done extensive work on the Middle East conflict.

"On the one hand, they find it an annoying reminder that the refugee issue is still there," he said. "On the other, particularly on the operational side, they have a quite close working relationship and also see UNRWA as an important element of stability."

At the same time, Mr. Brynen said, "it wouldn't help UNRWA to have the Israelis praising its contributions to Israeli security" because that would make it a target of anti-Israeli sentiment in the region.

For those and other reasons, Mr. Brynen said, the Israeli government does not have a public position on UNRWA. He believes this led Jewish lobby groups like B'Nai Brith to push the Canadian government to stop funding the UN agency even though it wasn't necessarily what the Israeli government wanted.

"The lobby, without any clear direction from the Israeli government, is beguiled by all this rather shoddy literature on UNRWA's links to terrorism, UNRWA's contributions to the refugee issue, etcetera," he said. "So in a sense I think the lobby is working in a vacuum with very poor information and, ironically therefore, pushing for actions that the Israeli government feels is not in its interest."

Linda Sobeh of the Palestinian General Delegation in Ottawa also saw the pro-Israel lobby's influence in the Harper government's decision to change the way it funds UNRWA. However, despite the CIDA documents, which she couldn't explain, Ms. Sobeh believed certain segments of the Israeli government were in favour of the Canadian move away from the General Fund.

"The Israeli lobby doesn't work without some direction," she said. "How would I lobby for my country if I didn't have a sense of direction on where to go?"

Since the decision was taken, senior Canadian officials right up to Prime Minister Stephen Harper have had key interactions with Israeli counterparts. There is little reason to believe the issue of UNRWA and the General Fund weren't raised. But Mr. Brynen believes it became a matter of letting sleeping dogs lie to save everyone further embarrassment.

"It's one thing to take a move because you wanted to support the Israeli government," he said. "It's another to then have to reverse that publicly when it turns out you didn't know what the Israeli government wanted."

NDP Foreign Affairs critic Paul Dewar said he hopes the decision didn't simply come down to listening to one group or other.

"I think the government needs to take a look at our geopolitical interest here, the benefit to the people on the ground, and what our allies think," he said. "And if you add those variables up, there's only one conclusion you come to, and that is to reinstate the General Fund funding."

When asked why Israel might have been asking Canada to reverse its decision, Mr. Dimant couldn't say, though he indicated it may not have been the Jewish state's first preference.

"I'd have to look at exactly specifically what was happening at that time," he said, "what kind of pressure was being applied by the Americans on the Israelis to ask them to do that."

However, he said the ultimate decision rested solely with the prime minister and Cabinet, and he maintained the issue was one of ensuring Canadian tax dollars were not misused.

"Rather than going into the general pot and not knowing where it ends up, and I repeat again, in an area which is controlled by terrorists," he said, "Canadians now know that their money is directed in pure humanitarian efforts to assist the civilian population."

This year, Canada has contributed $15 million to UNRWA, with $5 million for work in the West Bank and $10 million for food in Gaza, said agency spokesman Christopher Gunness in an email. "We are grateful for this."

However, he added, "UNRWA is disappointed that Canada discontinued it support for the General Fund, as this is what funds the human development work we do, increases self-sufficiency among the refugees and stability in the region.

"I leave it for Canada to talk to you about the extent to which their decision on UNRWA upset key Canadian allies in the region, UN partners and others," he added. "But the fact that it had a negative reaction is a tribute to the fact that our work is not just adding to the stability of this region and this is recognized by governments in the region."