UNRWA’s False Façade of Neutrality

UN NGOs have a long history of attempting to sell their own neutrality and even-handedness. UNRWA stands out as an agency that has abused its diplomatic immunity to transform itself into a Palestinian political arm that serves as a vehicle for Arab propaganda and incitement to violence.

It’s Time to Close Down UNRWA

UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, was created in 1949 via UN Resolution 302 (IV) with a short-term mandate. It flouted its original mission and perpetuated rather than alleviated the Palestinians’ status as refugees. It has long since become corrupt and functions essentially as a front group. The UN should close it down, and Palestinian refugees should be integrated into the economic systems of the countries that sheltered them.

As the US Cuts Funding, UNRWA Employees Flee Gaza

It does not matter that UNRWA employees would never dream of breaking the code of silence regarding Hamas’s use of UNRWA facilities or UNRWA’s hiring of terrorists. They were forced to flee for their lives anyway for the cardinal sin of having failed to keep American money coming in.

Cutting UNRWA’s Support Is a Necessary Step

With the sole exception of Palestinians, international law does not grant refugee status to generation after generation of any group until the end of time. The American decision to cut funding to UNRWA is therefore a correction of a false reality that was established with the aim of perpetuating, rather than solving, the Palestinian refugee problem.

The BESA Center on UNRWA

The BESA Center has been ahead of the curve in its attention to the problem of UNRWA, the organization ostensibly tasked with solving the Palestinian refugee problem but largely responsible for its perpetuation. In view of President Donald Trump’s recent decision to cut all US funding for UNRWA, we present a digest of BESA’s coverage of the issue.

Is a Historic Decision on UNRWA Imminent?

The next few weeks could be remembered in the annals of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as historic. The US administration is due to decide at the beginning of September whether to stop its funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Such a decision could be as significant as Harry Truman's decision to recognize the State of Israel just 11 minutes after the Jewish State declared its independence in May 1948.

Transfer UNRWA’s Responsibilities to Whom?

International political changes and genuine refugee crises have prompted a renewed examination of UNRWA, the internationally funded mechanism for the Palestinians. The problem of transferring UNRWA’s health, welfare, and education responsibilities to other organizations is not easily resolved. Despite obvious problems (primarily the inevitable corruption), absorbing UNRWA into the PA is the least bad alternative, as it offers a path for both capacity-building and real oversight.

Conference: Reforming UNRWA

“Palestine refugees” have been exceptionally indulged by the international community for 70 long years. Consider the ways: They should not even have been classified as refugees, they had the unprecedented benefit of a relief agency created exclusively for their welfare (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA), and they uniquely can pass on the “refugee” status to future generations.

Don’t Dismantle UNRWA; Reform Its Policies

The desire of Prime Minister Netanyahu to dismantle UNRWA, while understandable in light of the agency’s egregious history of collusion with Hamas, is not a practical proposition. Israel can, however, demand that funding to UNRWA be conditioned on the agency’s reform in multiple areas.

Dismantle UNRWA

Adi Schwartz
July 14, 2017
Paper No. 528

In a surprising change of policy, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has called for the dismantling of UNRWA. Such a move could benefit both Israel and the peace process. The new US administration might change its decades-old policy as well.

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