Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat on February 13, 2018. Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.

JNS.org – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency is “bolstering terrorism,” Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat told the Knesset Interior Committee Wednesday during a special meeting to discuss a plan by the Jerusalem Municipality to remove the Palestinian refugee agency from the city and transfer its institutions to Israeli administration.

“I am showing you one of [UNRWA’s] textbooks used in its schools, which glorifies the terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, who murdered 35 civilians in a bloody bus attack in Herzliya. The children of Jerusalem who are under the responsibility of UNRWA are currently studying terrorism and we have to stop it,” Barkat said.

“It’s time to remove UNRWA from Jerusalem and transfer its failed education, welfare, health, and cleaning services to the city. That is also what the Arab residents [of Jerusalem] want themselves,” he added. “We need to put a stop to the refugee lie in Jerusalem. They aren’t refugees, they’re residents, and they should receive the same services from the city as any other resident.”

Barkat also said US President Donald Trump’s recent decision to cut US aid to UNRWA “created a window of opportunity to implement the plan and put an end to the perversion of history.”