Arabs pledge little, donate less to 'Palestinians'
The Financial Times of London reports that with all the supposed concern that the Arab countries have for the 'Palestinians,' the oil-rich Arab states pledge little and donate less to UNRWA (Hat Tip: Elder of Ziyon). Speaking in New York this year, Filippo Grandi, UNRWA’s commissioner-general, pointed to an Arab League resolution that member states should provide at least 7.7 per cent of the agency’s general budget. Mr Grandi said that in spite of the pledge, Arab states’ contributions stand at only 1.5 per cent.Most of UNRWA's funding comes from the United States and the European Union. If they were smart, they would tell UNRWA to resettle the 'refugees' or that funding will be stopped. But instead, they allow the perpetuation of the 'refugee' status and the continuation of the false hope that the great-grandchildren of those who 'left' Israel may someday 'return' (those words are in scare quotes because the UNRWA definition of 'refugee' is anyone who lived for two years in 'Palestine' before 1948 - that's a rather flimsy criterion for determining residence and compensation).
The 7.7 per cent commitment is for the general budget, which accounts for core activities such as schools and hospitals, and was made as early as 1987. It has been reiterated since, most recently last September.
Based on that pledge, Arab League states are currently about $450m in arrears to UNRWA, with Saudi Arabia accounting for $150m of the shortfall.
“We have 22,000 teachers on our books and we don’t know whether, come October, we will have enough money to pay all of them,” says Mr Gunness.
The agency’s financial problems, if left unresolved, will have a particularly damaging impact in Gaza, where more than half the population depend on some form of UNRWA aid.
Mr Gunness says Arab states have been “very generous” in funding “high-visibility” projects such as emergency programmes or the “adopt-a-school” scheme in Gaza.
When these special programmes are taken into account, the Arab share of funding to the agency’s overall spending rises to about 6 per cent. Arab states also fund projects in Gaza through organisations such as the Red Crescent.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:29 AM
3 Comments:
This is old news.
Someone somewhere has compiled a history of statistics on these donations and they've shown the same pattern ever since it all began.
The Arabs are not the most caring in taking care of brethren.... history will not judge them kindly.
But that is a truth about them we already know.
Defund the UNRWA. This is one of the most important first steps in fixing the problems that the world faces
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