Capturing the MidEast in short soundbites: poignant reflections by people who understand the complexities of the Middle East. My philosophy is: "less is more." You won't agree with everything that's here, but I'm confident you will find it interesting! Excepting the titles, my own comments are minimal. Instead I rely on news sources to string together what I hope is an interesting, politically challenging, non-partisan, non-ideological narrative.
Monday, September 08, 2014
UN Pimps for Palestinian Thugs
The UN: Clueless or Complicit in Gaza? - Claudia Rosett
If UNRWA officials knew that Hamas was building terror tunnels, but raised no public alarm, then that should be grounds for a major inquiry into UNRWA complicity with terrorists. There's also the question of whether UNRWA employs or directly supports members of Hamas. If so, that should block the agency from receiving money from the U.S.
The U.S. Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 forbids funding to UNRWA unless it takes "all possible measures" to ensure that no U.S. assistance goes to any refugee who has received "military training" as a member of the Palestine Liberation Army, or any other "guerrilla-type organization," or who has "engaged in any act of terrorism." UNRWA promised to check its staff against specific UN sanctions lists. But those lists are not that relevant to Gaza: They cover al-Qaeda and the Taliban (there is no UN sanctions list for Hamas).
The writer is journalist-in-residence with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
(National Review)
Reveal UNRWA's Bluff - Einat Wilf
During the fighting in Gaza, Israeli forces were fired at from UN facilities. Now that the fighting over, Israel should recognize UNRWA as a hostile Palestinian organization that perpetuates the dream of the return of Palestinian refugees to Israel - and treat it accordingly.
Even if UNRWA itself does not attack the IDF directly, it ensures that there will always be someone to do so in the future. Under a thin veil of humanitarian activities, UNRWA acts with a clear political agenda, aimed at perpetuating the situation of Palestinian refugees and fostering the dream of their return to Israel.
UNRWA is directly responsible for the fact that 5 million people are registered as Palestinian refugees, a large number of whom continue to live in refugee camps. UNRWA works to inflate the number of registered refugees in two ways. First, the descendants of refugees from 1948, already the fifth generation, are automatically "entitled" to refugee status. And second, UNRWA thwarts any attempt to absorb refugees where they currently live or in third countries. If UNRWA operated the same way as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which is responsible for all other refugee groups in the world, today there would be only tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees, rather than millions.
UNRWA's continued existence depends on donations totaling $1 billion per year from Western nations, including $250 million from the U.S. and more than $500 million from Europe. Why do Western taxpayers fund an organization which acts in stark contrast to the policy of finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
The writer, a former member of the Knesset, is a senior fellow with the Jewish People Policy Institute.
(Israel Hayom)
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