Osama al-Ali is an UNRWA teacher at the Nazareth Mixed Secondary School in Tripoli Lebanon. He is also the UNRWA Lebanon Teachers Union Leader for the North Region. He was suspended by UNRWA on October 11, 2024. Al-Ali’s neutrality violations include the following:
- Leads Palestinian Arab Cultural Club, an after school student club, operating on UNRWA school grounds, which organizes student protests and engages in fundraising to support the “resistance.”
- Organizes and speaks at rallies for students to support the resistance. Photos of these rallies show students holding Hamas flags or wearing Hamas headbands.
- Celebrated the October 7th attackers as “heroes,” called to prepare “generations on the principles of revolution and resistance,” and specifically advocated armed resistance when he called to eradicate Israel through “muzzles of guns” and “armed struggle.”
Al-Ali appears in a photo of the UNRWA Lebanon Teachers Union in front of an UNRWA field office in Lebanon in October 2022.
Osama Al-Ali Leads Student Club That Promotes Hamas “Armed Resistance”
Al-Ali is a leading member of the Palestinian Arab Cultural Club, a student activist group that openly supports Hamas and “armed resistance.” This in itself is a violation of UNRWA’s Code of Ethics which states that “UNRWA personnel must not take part in demonstrations of a political or politicized nature as it constitutes a public pronouncement that contravenes the principle of neutrality.”
On October 7, 2023, the Club openly celebrated the Hamas atrocities that day as “the revolutionary achievement and clear victory” and the Hamas terrorists as “heroic resistance fighters.”
“The path to liberation is clear and explicit. We congratulate our people inside Palestine and abroad on the revolutionary achievement and clear victory. What our heroic resistance fighters have achieved today is an unprecedented milestone in the history of the occupying, usurping entity. Here is the clear evidence and proof of the correctness of the approach of armed struggle, armed resistance and revolutionary violence. Authentic in liberation, victory and achievement. As we salute our people and resistance fighters in Gaza and all of Palestine, we stress the importance of national unity. Sound foundations and approach of armed struggle for complete liberation. Palestinian national soil from the sea to the river.” (October 7, 2023).
This Palestinian Arab Cultural Club organizes protests and events to indoctrinate children into the Hamas ideology and fundraising campaigns to raise money for the “resistance.” Al-Ali has shared many of their appeals on his Facebook page, such as the one below which says “The Palestinian Arab Cultural Club Campaign: Don’t leave your brothers with small donations, continue until victory.” (June 19, 2024).
Osama Al-Ali Advocates Training Children in “Principles of Resistance”
As part of his activities to promote the Club, al-Ali shared a May 2024 post by the Club glorifying the October 7th Hamas attackers as “heroes,” calling for the elimination of Israel by declaring that “all of Palestine, from the sea to the river” will “remain ours,” and advocating teaching children to pursue “armed resistance.” The post expressly called to “prepare generations on the principles of revolution and resistance” and to use the “muzzles of guns” to eradicate Israel through “armed struggle” and “armed revolutionary resistance.” (May 17, 2024).
In May 2024, Al Ali shared another post by the Club featuring a photo showing a school-age boy in the midst of a joyful celebration just after Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000. The text of the post shared by Al Ali reads, “Long live our resistance” which it described as giving Palestinians “glory and pride.” (May 25, 2024).
The Club itself directly incites Palestinian children to Hamas ideology. A December 2023 post on the Club’s Facebook page encouraged Palestinian children to be leaders of the “armed struggle.” In the context of commemorating the “martyrs” of the first intifada, the club praises the leadership role of children in that intifada and applauds the children in Gaza today who “illuminate the path of honor, victory and liberation” with “their daily sacrifices.”
On its Facebook page, the Club also posts photos of small children wearing Hamas headbands, inciting them to emulate Hamas (May 13, 2024).
Al-Ali Rallies Student Crowds to Support “Resistance”
The student club also posts photos and videos showing al-Ali rallying crowds of students and inciting them to support violent “resistance.” Students at the rallies can be seen holding Hamas flags or wearing Hamas headbands. (November 16, 2023).
Palestinian Arab Culture Club Operates in UNRWA Schools
Photos posted by the Palestinian Arab Culture Club on Facebook confirm that it operates within UNRWA schools and that al-Ali is one of the leaders. (November 28, 2023).
Many of the UNRWA Lebanon Teachers Union members, including Fateh Sharif, have participated in Club events. Below is a photo of the Union at one of the Club’s events in which Sharif spoke.
Al-Ali Mourns Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah
After Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike, al-Ali mourned him as a “hero.” (September 28, 2024).
