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Source: https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/No-need-for-UNRWA-599011
No Need to Renew UNRWA's Mandate
(Jerusalem Post) Editorial - The Palestinian Authority is concerned that the mandate of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, will not be renewed next month at the General Assembly. The U.S., a major donor, stopped funding last year, while the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium have temporarily suspended funding following allegations of corruption and misconduct among UNRWA's top brass. UNRWA was created in 1949 as a temporary solution to the "Palestinian refugee problem." Instead of helping solve the problem, UNRWA has contributed to it, with the number of "Palestinian refugees" ballooning from 700,000 to five million. By comparison, the 850,000 Jews who left their homes in Arab countries are not considered refugees. And the thousands of Jews who left Gaza (and four communities in Samaria) in the 2005 disengagement were never considered refugees, even though they lost their homes, livelihoods and community support systems. The Palestinian Authority is playing a double game, and it is time it is called out. On the one hand, the PA claims to represent the State of Palestine, yet on the other hand it insists that the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza continue to be refugees.