Israel Matzav

What if UNRWA were defunded?

Asaf Romirowsky and Alexander Joffe call for defunding UNRWA.

In early March, Palestinians took the streets of Lebanon to protest the tragic death of a handicapped 11-year-old boy who was denied care by a Lebanese hospital. The boy was turned away after Lebanese officials told his family that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) had to pay for his care. The organization only covered the boy's care for 10 days, and he died at the hospital's entrance when his parents could not afford further treatment.

After his death, a grieving relative told the AhlulBayt News Agency that "We no longer want UNRWA. We want an insurance company to insure our children, families and women." In short, they want the opportunity for a normal life.

But in Lebanon, as in all Arab states except for Jordan, legal restrictions prevent Palestinians from leading such lives, forcing them instead to remain, as they have for over 60 years, dependent on the UNRWA. Lebanese rules keep Palestinians out of various professions, such as engineering and medicine; prevent them from owning property; and ban them from accessing services such as private health insurance.

This latest tragedy underscores these practical barriers against the development of Palestinian civil society. But the organization meant to help them is also a major obstacle to their well-being and peace with Israel. UNRWA facilities are hotbeds of anti-Israeli, anti-Western and anti-Semitic indoctrination, and according to the Palestinian Press Agency, Hamas has stored weapons in tunnels dug beneath UNRWA schools. The organization still refuses to screen its employees against lists of known members of Hamas, Hezbollah and other terror groups (although it does say it checks for and excludes al Qaeda and Taliban members as required by a U.N. Security Council resolution). Meanwhile, its staffers intimidate anyone from taking a stand in favor of peaceful coexistence with Israel.

All this helps explain why the Canadian government announced last year that it would defund the UNRWA and divert taxpayer monies to specific projects to help Palestinians. This decision has of course been met with howls of anger, as it challenges the sacred cow that the UNRWA has become.

Read the whole thing.

What if UNRWA would be defunded? The reality is that the Arabs are likely to let their 'Palestinian brothers' starve if they were to be given the opportunity to do so. At least then their true nature would be exposed.

Labels: Arab apartheid, UNRWA

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:56 PM