Which side is UNRWA on?

by Elliott Abrams

The war in Gaza has brought UNRWA, the U.N. agency dealing with Palestinian ‎‎"refugees," back into the news -- mostly because UNRWA schools were used to shoot ‎rockets at Israel.‎

The failings of UNRWA were examined here ("End UNRWA") in December 2011, although today they seem even worse. The UNRWA ‎employees union is under Hamas control, and it's clear that the staff is riddled with ‎Hamas "activists." The Israeli commentator and former MK Einat Wilf ‎wrote on Sunday that "now, with the fighting over, it is time for Israel to do what it should have done ‎decades ago -- remove the layer of protection and legitimacy it grants to UNRWA. ‎Israel should recognize UNRWA for what it is -- a hostile Palestinian organization ‎that perpetuates the dream of the return of Palestinian refugees to Israel -- and ‎treat it accordingly.‎"

So now there are two compelling reasons to end UNRWA. Its cooperation with ‎Hamas, and the way in which it has been permeated by Hamas, constitute one ‎reason. The second is that UNRWA is engaged in the perpetuation and expansion of ‎the "Palestinian refugee problem" rather than its solution. Here is the explanation I ‎gave in 2011:‎

"Since the end of the Second World War, millions of refugees have left refugee ‎camps, and refugee status, and moved to countries that accepted them -- quickly or ‎slowly -- as citizens. Post-World War II Europe was an archipelago of displaced ‎persons and refugee camps, housing 850,000 people in 1947 -- Czechs, Poles, ‎Lithuanians, Germans, Latvians, Greeks, and many more nationalities. By 1952, all ‎but one of the camps had closed. Hundred of thousands of Jewish refugees from ‎Europe went to Israel after 1948, and then hundreds of thousands more arrived ‎from Arab lands when they were forced to flee after 1956 and 1967. The children and ‎grandchildren of these refugees, born after their arrival, were never refugees ‎themselves; they were from birth citizens of the new land, as their parents had ‎become immediately upon their own arrival. In this process many nations and ‎agencies have played wonderful roles, not least the U.N. High Commissioner for ‎Refugees (UNHCR).‎

"The exception to this refugee story is the Palestinians. In most of the Arab lands to ‎which they fled or traveled after 1948 they were often treated badly, and refused ‎citizenship (with Jordan the major exception) or even the right to work legally. And ‎instead of coming under the protection of UNHCR, they had a special agency of their ‎own, UNRWA, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency. In the decades of its existence, it ‎has not solved or even diminished the Palesinian refugee problem; instead it has ‎presided over a massive increase in its size, for all the descendants of Palestinian ‎refugees are considered to be refugees as well. Once there were 750,000; now there ‎are five million people considered by UNRWA to be 'Palestinian refugees.' And ‎UNRWA is now the largest U.N. agency, with a staff of 30,000. UNHCR cares for the ‎rest of the world with about 7,500 personnel.‎"

Which side is UNRWA on? Its supporters would say "on the side of Palestinian ‎refugees," but instead the agency appears to be on two other sides: its own, always ‎expanding its own empire and responsibilities, and on the side of Hamas.‎

Any transition to UNHCR would need to be slow and careful, but it should begin. ‎One good way to start is to demand independent studies and planning for such a ‎step (independent because you obviously can't leave this work to UNRWA itself, nor ‎should all of it be conducted within the U.N. system). For example, a plan might start ‎in one country (such as Jordan or Lebanon) rather than in Gaza. Or it might start by ‎redefining "refugee" the normal way. The United States should begin, after a set ‎future date, to move funding from UNRWA to UNHCR. If UNRWA or the U.N. ‎refuse, so be it: let those who insist on retaining UNRWA, its pernicious definition of ‎‎"refugee," and its ties with Hamas pay the freight.‎

Such a transition will be extremely difficult and take years. That's clear -- but it's time ‎to begin. The Gaza war has illuminated once again the ways in which Hamas has ‎been acting as a parasite feeding on this U.N. agency -- to which the United States is ‎the largest donor. Time for a change.‎

From "Pressure Points" by Elliott Abrams.

Elliott Abrams is a senior fellow for Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. 

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=9849

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.