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UNRWA Is Ensuring the "Day After" includes More Wars

(Jerusalem Post) Brig.-Gen. (res.) Prof. Jacob Nagel - UNRWA, the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees, bears considerable responsibility for the impossible situation the Gazans have reached. In 1949, the UN established UNRWA solely to deal with Palestinian Arab refugees. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees is responsible for resettling every other refugee population in the world. Over the years, UNRWA has become a central component of the anti-Israeli narrative. Between 1950 and 2018, the U.S. taxpayer has contributed $6 billion to UNRWA. Some UNRWA employees act as terrorists. Hamas has used UNRWA schools as human shields, built terror tunnels beneath them, stored missiles inside them and fired them on Israel. UNRWA text books promote hatred and incitement against Israel and Jews. The UNRWA curriculum treats Israel as an enemy, promotes "martyrs," and claims that "jihad is the road to glory." On January 14, 2021, outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated: "Most Palestinians under UNRWA's jurisdiction are not refugees, and UNRWA is an obstacle to peace." Of the 5 million identified as "Palestinian refugees" by UNRWA, fewer than 200,000 meet the international criteria for refugee status. Apparently, the number of Palestinians living today who meet the criteria for refugee status is less than 30,000. UNRWA has encouraged generations of Palestinians to remain stuck between a possible new life and the "right of return" promised them by radical factions committed to eternal war with Israel. Instead of helping solve the problem, UNRWA is exacerbating it. It is time to call for the closure of this unnecessary and harmful organization. The writer, a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a professor at the Technion, served as National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister and Head of the National Security Council.
2024-01-07 00:00:00
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