The US is due to decide next month whether to stop funding UNRWA, a decision that “could be as significant as Harry Truman’s decision to recognize the State of Israel just 11 minutes after the Jewish State declared independence in May 1948.” Adi Schwartz: bit.ly/2MXRjqG
“The US funds one quarter of UNRWA’s $1.2 billion budget. A complete US withdrawal would be a significant step, signaling for the first time in decades that Washington is willing to touch upon the core issue of the conflict: the question of Israel’s existence within any borders.”
“While the Western powers did in fact do everything they could to help the Palestinians rebuild their lives, the Arab world used UNRWA to perpetuate the problem rather than solve it.”
“For the Arab world and the Palestinians themselves, resettling the refugees would have meant making peace with Israel, and that they were not willing to do.”
“To the Arabs, the State of Israel was a grave disruption of the natural order, and the only remedy could be the repatriation of Palestinian refugees – thus turning Israel into an Arab state.”
“The US supported UNRWA for decades, even though it knew the agency is a disruptive organ that harms the prospects for peace, keeps the Palestinians locked in a trap of dependency, and threatens Israel’s security.”
“UNRWA lists 5 million Palestinians as ‘registered refugees’ & has long encouraged them to dream that someday they will resettle in Israel. This falsehood—the most significant obstacle to achieving peace—is a euphemism for the Arab desire to completely undo the State of Israel.“
“The US, along with other Western powers, continued to sustain UNRWA all these years as a means of appeasing the Arab world. UNRWA is thus a relic of the Cold War era.”
“An American decision to stop supporting UNRWA would be an announcement that the US understands that the ‘refugee problem’ is a political disguise for the Palestinians’ real aim, which is to dismantle the State of Israel entirely.“
“Removing this disguise would do a huge service not only to the cause of peace but also to the security and future of the Jewish State.” More from @adi_schwartz: besacenter.org/perspectives-p…
