UNRWA head is 'pro-Israel' and anti-BDS

In a NY Jewish Week web-only feature, Julie Wiener interviews John Ging, the head of the UN relief agency in Gaza, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, under the heading, "UNRWA Head: Don't Boycott Israel."  The Columbia University branch of J Street U (called "Just Peace") was prohibited by the campus Hillel from co-sponsoring Ging's recent talk at Columbia, upon pain of being expelled from the university's coalition of Jewish groups.  

UNRWA has a very bad reputation in most of the pro-Israel community, for allegedly maintaining generations of Palestinians in dependent refugee status and in other ways acting out of an anti-Israel agenda.  Yet a Meretz USA board member who attended his talk was impressed by his integrity and  fairness in discussing the acrimonious issues related to Gaza.  This is part of the Q & A carried on The Jewish Week's website:

What about allegations that UNRWA staff members have been involved in terrorist activities?
We have a staff of 11,500 so of course we’re vulnerable to being betrayed. The question is what systems are in place to prevent. The last time we were betrayed, we fired the supervisors and told them if they didn’t know, they should have, and if they did know, they should have told us.    Our staff’s job is to deliver humanitarian services for the UN. They sign every year a statement that they won’t be engaged in anything else whether they’re on duty or off duty. We have a zero tolerance policy.  ....

Do you support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, and how do you feel about the boycott/divestment/sanctions movement?
The last time I was in the States I attended a celebration for Israel’s independence day with the Israelis at the UN. They know I’m pro-Israel. I celebrate Israel’s independence … It’s a concern that those representing themselves as pro-Palestinian are now linking that to anti-Israel sentiment and policies like divestment and boycott. I oppose that … The people of Israel need efforts to rebuild confidence that peace can be brought about. Talking about sanctions and boycotts is not going to bring about anything positive …