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'Can't Make This Up': Why This Nobel Peace Prize Nomination Is Causing a Stir

Months after UN Watch released a reporting detailing how staff members at UNRWA celebrated Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the world got confirmation of just how rotten the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees is at its core. Not only was there jubilation among some staffers over the mass slaughter of Jews, at least a dozen were found to have actively participated in the attack, prompting the agency to terminate them. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini vowed that the employees "involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.” Still, the development pushed the U.S. and other major donor nations to finally pull the plug on funding - a move experts have long been calling for. UN Watch's Hillel Neuer testified in November that “UNRWA staff regularly call to murder Jews, and create teaching materials that glorify terrorism, encourage martyrdom, demonize Israelis and incite antisemitism."

Yet despite these realities, a Norwegian politician nominated UNRWA for the Nobel Peace Prize. 

Labour MP Asmund Aukrust told the Dagbladet newspaper he had nominated the UN Relief and Works Agency “for its long-term work to provide vital support to Palestine and the region in general.”

“This work has been crucial for over 70 years, and even more vital in the last three months,” said the politician who is vice-chairman of Norway’s parliament’s foreign affairs committee. (The Times of Israel)

The nomination was met with widespread criticism on social media.