{"id":2200903,"date":"2024-03-17T21:41:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-18T01:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrat-senator-chris-van-hollen-slammed-over-remarks-on-israel-he-likes-hamas\/"},"modified":"2024-03-17T21:45:35","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T01:45:35","slug":"democrat-senator-chris-van-hollen-slammed-over-remarks-on-israel-he-likes-hamas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrat-senator-chris-van-hollen-slammed-over-remarks-on-israel-he-likes-hamas\/","title":{"rendered":"Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen Faces Criticism for Comments on Israel: Accusations of Favoring Hamas"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrat-senator-chris-van-hollen-slammed-over-remarks-on-israel-he-likes-hamas%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2200903&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Senator Van Hollen Stirs\u2062 Controversy with Defense of UNRWA Amid Alleged Hamas Ties<\/h2>\n<p>Over a tense \u2062weekend, <strong>Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)<\/strong> sparked a firestorm of criticism when he threw his support behind a U.N. agency accused of collaborating with the Hamas \u2063organization, classified as terrorists.<\/p>\n<p>In a candid\u200d interview on <em>CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face The Nation&#8221;<\/em> with host Margaret Brennan, Van Hollen emphatically dismissed any\u200d connections between the \u2062 <strong>United Nations Relief\u2064 and \u2063Works Agency for Palestine Refugees \u2063(UNRWA)<\/strong> and Hamas as\u2064 baseless fabrications. This\u2063 assertion comes at a time when Democratic support \u2062for Israel is wavering due to friction from \u2063factions within the party, particularly as the November elections draw near.<\/p>\n<h3>Van Hollen&#8217;s Staunch Defense of UNRWA<\/h3>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;The allegations that UNRWA\u200b is somehow a front for Hamas are absolutely unfounded. That&#8217;s a blatant falsehood,&#8221; argued Van Hollen.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He further outlined Prime Minister Netanyahu&#8217;s longstanding desires to dismantle UNRWA, not just in \u2064Gaza, but across their field of operations. Van \u2063Hollen highlighted \u2064the severe humanitarian repercussions such an action might entail:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;If you eliminate UNRWA in Gaza, you&#8217;re disrupting the main lifeline of\u200d food and medical supplies. Axing their\u200d funding \u2062would lead to dire straits \u2013 hunger and\u200c a lack of healthcare \u2013 a grave error indeed,&#8221; he contended.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>Backlash and Criticism<\/h3>\n<p>The Senator&#8217;s comments did not go unchallenged. Vocal critics took to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/people-who-trash-their-family-in-public-cant-be-trusted\/\" title=\"Don't trust those who publicly criticize their own family.\">social\u2063 media platforms<\/a> like Twitter to express their dissenting viewpoints.<\/p>\n<p>A prominent conservative voice identified only as\u2062 &#8220;AG&#8221; rebutted Van Hollen&#8217;s claims, condemning them \u200bas deceptive. He disparaged the idea that UNRWA&#8217;s association with Hamas was anything but evident and enumerated the \u2062agency&#8217;s numerous controversies:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;The reality includes UNRWA employees implicated in terrorist attacks, celebrations of violence by \u200cits staff, education materials fostering hate, \u2063and undeniable evidence of weapon storage within its facilities. It \u2063goes beyond that\u200c \u2013 the misappropriated aid funds, the \u200btunnels linked to headquarters, all while UNRWA turns \u200ca blind eye,&#8221; he stated.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>AG also suggested a fundamental shift in aid distribution logistics, recommending a transition of responsibilities to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which handles global refugee matters, rather than \u2063accepting the status quo.<\/p>\n<p>Adding to \u200bthe chorus\u2064 of disapproval, political commentator Noah Pollak questioned Van Hollen&#8217;s motives outright:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Van Hollen&#8217;s stance is puzzling. His apparent approval of Hamas and UNRWA&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stacey-abrams-voting-rights-pac-helped-group-that-pushed-voter-fraud-conspiracy-theories\/\" title=\"Stacey Abrams\u2019 Voting Rights PAC Helped Group That Pushed Voter Fraud Conspiracy Theories\">close working relationship<\/a>, including the employ of Hamas members, begs the question \u2013 why deny\u200c the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/opinion-steven-crowder-showed-why-we-shouldnt-engage-with-debate-me-bros\/\" title=\"OPINION: Steven Crowder Showed Why We Shouldn\u2019t Engage With \u2018Debate Me Bros\u2019\">obvious reality<\/a>?&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The swell of\u200d controversy following Van Hollen&#8217;s statements underscores the complexities and deep-seated tensions \u2064linked to\u2063 the Israel-Palestine conflict, wherein international affiliations and support play out\u200d against a \u200dbackdrop of global and regional politics with humanitarian \u2062concerns often in the \u2062balance.<\/p>\n<p>As election pressures mount, the issue of US foreign policy toward Israel and Palestine remains a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-delegation-calls-on-biden-to-address-border-crisis-traveling-to-texas-to-see-firsthand\/\" title=\"GOP delegation calls on Biden to address border crisis, traveling to Texas to see firsthand\">hot-button topic<\/a>, with Senator Van Hollen&#8217;s recent remarks only adding fuel to an already blazing debate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) received heavy criticism for supporting UNRWA despite its alleged Hamas ties, denouncing the connection as &#8220;lies&#8221; on CBS&#8217;s &#8220;Face The Nation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":2200904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/03\/Van-Hollen-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2200903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/03\/Van-Hollen-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2200903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/134"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2200903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2200903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2200904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2200903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2200903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2200903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}