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Is a Historic Decision on UNRWA Imminent?

(BESA Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Adi Schwartz - The U.S. contributes $350 million annually to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) out of a $1.2 billion budget. Earlier this year, the U.S. slashed its contribution to UNRWA by half. The U.S. supported UNRWA for decades, even though it knew the agency is a disruptive organ that harms the prospects for peace and keeps the Palestinians locked in a trap of dependency. UNRWA encourages Palestinians to dream that someday they will resettle in Israel - a significant obstacle to achieving peace. The U.S., along with other Western powers, has continued to sustain UNRWA all these years as a means of appeasing the Arab world. An American decision to withdraw from UNRWA would signify that the U.S. believes the dispute is not territorial but existential. By addressing the core ethos of the Palestinians - that the entire land is theirs, and therefore all refugees should be entitled to "return" - the U.S. could make an invaluable contribution to the prospects for future peace. This would be the first time the Palestinians pay a price for their intransigence. Up to now, they have been encouraged to harden their position every time they refuse a peace deal offered to them by Israel. Pulling U.S. funding from UNRWA will break this twisted logic. An American decision to stop supporting UNRWA would show that the U.S. understands that the "refugee problem" is a political disguise for the Palestinians' real aim, which is to dismantle the State of Israel entirely.
2018-08-30 00:00:00
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