Israel Matzav

The real obstacles to peace

There are two real obstacles to peace between Israel and the 'Palestinians.' One cannot be dealt with by Israel, for it requires Arab (including 'Palestinian') acceptance of Israel's existence as a Jewish state in the Jewish homeland. The other, however, could be broken down by western countries who continue to fund the delusion known as the 'right of return.' A conference in New York City this past week attempted to make inroads on that problem.

“No one will admit it... the real obstacle [to a two-state solution] is the right of return for millions of Palestinian refugees,” Prosor said. The “refugees problem is the main obstacle to peace, not settlements.”

The return of Palestinian refugees “would cause Israel’s destruction,” Prosor said.
In 1950, there were some 700,000 Palestinian refugees. The current figure stands at more than 5.1 million, though that depends on who is counting.

Historically, refugees who become citizens of another country lose their status as refugees; a large percentage of Palestinians live in Jordan or Syria, though those in Syria are now experiencing an entirely new refugee crisis.

Many participants at the event asserted that double standards applied to Palestinian refugees, in sharp contrast to this general rule of thumb.

Prosor sees UNRWA policy to allow Palestinians to “transfer their refugee mileage to their children” as misguided. “Israel deeply opposes UNRWA’s political agenda, but supports its humanitarian agenda,” he said, adding that “not one Arab country appears on the top-10 list of UNRWA’s donor,” and that its funding comes mainly from Western countries.

Although Arab countries are “saturated with petro-dollars,” they are not donating adequately to UNRWA, he charged.

According to Prosor, the ration of staff to refugees at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which covers non-Palestinian refugees, is 1 to 4,400. UNRWA has a ratio of 1 to 172.

Former Labor and Independence MK Einat Wilf said it is important to debunk the widespread image of Palestinian refugees “huddled in tents."

She cited an EU diplomat who told her: “Do not tell anyone – I know middle class families in Ramallah.”

She said the “EU says Palestinians know they won’t return to Israel” but urged to the EU “to start telling them that.”

The two obstacles are really related,  because if one understands that the 'Palestinians' will never 'return' to their former homes, one also understands that the Jewish state is a permanent fact that cannot be destroyed demographically.

Of course,  one cannot expect the 'Palestinians' or their Arab brothers to accept this fact easily. But at least the West could be smart enough to stop paying for their intransigence.

In case you're wondering, here's a list of the top 20 donors to UNRWA in 2012 as put out by the organization itself. The US is number 1, the EU is number 2, but the next 5 are also European countries (UK, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Netherlands). The Islamic Development Bank comes in at number 8, but the next four are Switzerland, Denmark, Australia and Belgium. 'Our friends the Saudis' finally become the first Arab country to check in at number 13, with just over $12 million (a drop in the oil bucket!). They are followed by France, Ireland, Brazil, Turkey and Finland, before Iran steps in at number 20.

So the top 20 contributors include two Muslim countries (one of which is Arab) and one Islamic bank.

Why does the West continue to fund this effort at Israel's destruction when it claims to want peace? Could it be anti-Semitism?

Labels: Palestinian refugees, right of return, UNRWA

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:22 AM