Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) denounced Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) call to restore funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, contrasting it to the Democrat’s position on defunding the police.
Several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, withdrew funding from the UNRWA, the agency providing critical funding for Palestinian civilians and refugees, after 12 now-former employees were investigated for playing varying roles in the Oct. 7 massacre that ignited the war. Ocasio-Cortez demanded that funding resume, a position Britt found differed from her previous stance to defund police departments.
“The far-left would defund the police but fund terrorists,” Britt said in a post on X. “10% of UNRWA staff in Gaza have links to terror groups, while 49% of UNRWA staff have close relatives who are members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. UNRWA can’t be trusted with a cent of U.S. taxpayer money.”
The Alabama Republican was responding to a post from AOC in which she highlighted the potential humanitarian implications of cutting off funding, as well as the scale of the agency compared to those who are alleged to have participated in the massacre.
“Cutting off support to @UNRWA – the primary source of humanitarian aid to 2 million+ Gazans – is unacceptable,” the New York Democrat said. “Among an organization of 13,000 UN aid workers, risking the starvation of millions over grave allegations of 12 is indefensible. The US should restore aid immediately.”
The State Department announced the temporary halt in funding for UNRWA on Friday after the allegations came to light.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“The Department of State has temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Britt was elected in 2023 as the youngest female Republican senator in U.S. history and is seen as a rising star within the party.
