Attorney General Miyares Joins 26-State Coalition Urging Congress to Defund U.N. Agency that Employed Terrorists   

RICHMOND, VA —Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares joined 25 other states in a letter to U.S. Congressional leadership, calling for them to defund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (“UNRWA”) for ties to terrorism.   

On January 26, UNRWA announced it fired more than a dozen employees for participating in the Hamas terrorist massacre against Israel on October 7. But UNRWA’s ties to terrorism are nothing new. UNRWA employed one school principal who moonlit as an Islamic Jihad bomber and another who was a Hamas commandant. One UNRWA school teacher is accused of detaining an October 7 hostage for nearly two months. And in a shocking report, it was revealed that every UNRWA school the Israeli Defense Forces searched contained hidden weapons. 

In 2018, President Trump recognized UNRWA’s alarming ties with terrorism and stopped all federal funding to UNRWA. Despite glaring legal and security concerns, President Biden reinstated funding for UNRWA on his first day in office, paying them almost $1 billion dollars during his current term. 

“Taxpayers’ money should be used on things like education, infrastructure, and protecting our communities - not on aiding and abetting terrorist sympathizers,” said Attorney General Miyares. “America cannot be the champion of human rights and liberty while also funding organizations that have direct ties to evil, death, and destruction.” 

The States urge Congress to cut all funding to UNRWA. After the barbaric October 7 terror attacks, there is no excuse to pay UNRWA a single cent, much less billions of dollars.

Virginia joined the Iowa and South Carolina-led letter, along with Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. 

Read the full letter here. 

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