The news that the Trump Administration wants to strip refugee status from millions of “Palestinians” should be welcomed by all people of sense. For the “Palestinian” refugees now include every single descendant of those who left Palestine just before, during, and after the 1947-49 war. That means that if your grandfather, or great-grandfather, left in 1947, thinking he would return as soon as the invading Arab armies finished destroying the nascent state of Israel, you, too, are allowed to call yourself a “Palestinian refugee,” and more importantly, to receive all kinds of aid through UNRWA. The lists of these “Palestinian” refugees kept by UNRWA keep growing; no descendant ever loses his “refugee” status. There are more “Palestinian” refugees born every day. It’s an extraordinary situation. No other group of refugees in the world is defined in this most peculiar way. For all other (i.e., non- “Palestinian”) peoples, a refugee is someone who had to leave a particular place to avoid persecution, but his offspring, born in a new country, are not considered to be refugees. Henry Kissinger is a German Jewish refugee. His son is not. Nor is his grandson. Nor his great-grandson. But were Kissinger a “Palestinian,” all of his descendants would be considered to be “Palestinian” refugees. This ever-expanding roll of UNRWA refugees also increases what UNRWA demands, and gets, from bamboozled donors. One more twist to the tale: the “Palestinian” refugees seldom declare that one of their number has died, so dead “Palestinians” remain on the rolls forever.
The millions of “Palestinian” refugees have learned to enjoy the large amounts of aid lavished on them, and they are now long used to the culture of permanent dependence fostered by UNRWA. They find it agrees with them.
But now another note is being sounded in Washington.
According to the Times of Israel, “A Republican senator introduced a bill Thursday that would require the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to change its definition of what constitutes a Palestinian refugee in order to receive future US assistance.” The Trump administration wants UNRWA, corrupt and inefficient, to be cut down to size. They want “Palestinian” refugees to be limited to those who really are refugees, that is, people who left Mandatory Palestine, or Israel, almost 70 years ago. They want “Palestinian refugees” to be defined the same way all other refugees have been defined: as people who have fled a particular territory or country, which does not include their descendants. How many “Palestinians” who left Palestine/Israel between 1947 and 1949 are alive today? Estimates range from 20,000 to 40,000. Compare that with the five million “Palestinian refugees” that UNRWA now claims are eligible for its services. But it is UNRWA that is wrong.
One further point that deserves to be made is that even those Arabs who left Palestine/Israel from 1947 to 1949 are not exactly “refugees” in the full meaning of the term. They did not flee persecution at the hands of Israelis. There was no persecution. Some left before, or during, the hostilities, to get out of the way of battles they assumed the Arabs would win, in the belief that they could soon return. Others left after the Arab defeat, for they assumed — wrongly — that the victorious Jews would treat them as the Arabs would have treated the Jews had they won. Again, there was no forcing them out. They did not flee. They chose to leave. If this history were to be taken into account, there would be no “Palestinian” refugees in the proper sense of the term.
UNRWA is a completely corrupt organization. It has been grossly overstaffed, mainly by extravagantly-paid “Palestinians.” The more UNRWA inflates its rolls with the names of millions of descendants of refugees, described and treated as refugees themselves, and the more dead people it keeps on those rolls, the more aid UNRWA can request from its donors. Who are those donors? Ambassador Nikki Haley has pointed out that the fabulously rich Gulf Arabs give very little to support the “Palestinian refugees.” Of the top fourteen contributors to UNRWA, only one — Saudi Arabia — is an Arab country. All the rest are in Europe, save for the United States, which has been the most generous contributor, by far, to UNRWA.
The Americans have now done something the Arabs find outrageous and, until now, unthinkable. They have decided to refuse to continue accepting, much less, bankrolling, this state of affairs. They want exactly one thing: for the world to define a “Palestinian refugee” as someone who left Mandatory Palestine, or Israel, between 1947 and 1949, and to stop pretending that the millions of descendants of those people are “Palestinian refugees” themselves. After the billions that the United States has poured into UNRWA, it has both the right and the duty to put an end to funding that bloated farce. It is willing to help UNRWA minister to the needs of the 20,000-30,000 Arab refugees still living, but not to those five million descendants. If UNRWA refuses to agree, let it go its own way. Our contribution, and ideally that of our Western allies as well, should at that point be reduced to zero.
Peter Buckley says
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12978/palestinians-conflicting-messages
StellaSaidSo says
Excellent article, Hugh.
The plug should have been pulled on these frauds decades ago. Once again, hats off to DJT for having the common sense, and the courage, to do what needed to be done.
SJ says
Hello Stella!
I did Major research on the UN and subscribed to their email notices, etc. This started with the Bosnian War and then it ran into 9-11. I looked up the UN Resolutions starting from the first one. I read every one of them. Then I got to the UN site for employment. I wanted to see what they were paying and see what was going on there. Now, let me be clear, i looked up the jobs with the least needed skills because I’ve always felt the UN was /is SO CORRUPT so anyway their jobs pay no less than 75,000.00 a year and they mention….”well our employees must dress well”. Remember this was in 2000-2001. The UN pays well so that they can sit on their ashes and spend the US money. UN is one of the most CORRUPT organizations ever. One day it will close and it will go down as a sad legacy that the West and especially the US tolerated.
J D S P says
Once again I state that…THE ONLY REAL PALESTINIANS ARE JEWS.. GOD gave ALL the PROMISED LAND TO THE JEWS!
Berengaria says
Stop UNRWA, a UN program that rewards any Muslim, Nomad Terrorist, who stumbles into the Non-Country called Palestine & happens to remember a Relative that claimed Palestinian Residence in the 1940 era.
We, in the USA, even have our share of So-Called Palestinians, who are winners in the UN Scam of UNRWA.
These Migratory Beings receive both US Assistance & the Coveted UN Aid & Assistance.
These Muslim “Globe-Trotters” of the USA, most often show up, throwing rocks at Israeli Soldiers, in times of “Palestinian” UpRisings.
President Trump should start Stripping this “Status” from Phony Palestinians & do Not Forget the Ones in the USA.
SJ says
Yes, cannot wait until the Great President cuts their food stamps and welfare.
esther says
while we are on the subject of AIDING REFUGEES and THE UN—–does anyone out
there in la la land remember the Pakistani civil war of 1971. I was a young woman
then…. —-I recall a GREAT TRAGEDY—–along with more than one million
girls raped by the Pakistani army, there was the tragic story of hindus fleeing
“east Pakistan”——anyone know the name of the UN program which supports the
hindu refugees of 1971—–and, for that matter of, 1948? and their descendants?
Walter Sieruk says
All this is a very strong s reminder that there are some sincere but uninformed Westerns ,such as many Americans , who who view Islam by Western values . For example America see religion and state as separate . As in the “separation of church and state.” The they sometimes use the term “political-Islam.” which is , for Islam, is redundant . For the Muslims of the Islamic East do know better as to use such in inaccurate term.For the term used by many in the West in current times is “political Islam” That term is, in reality redundant. This is because Islam is in essence, a religious /political Sharia law based system. As so well explained in brief way, by the Muslim tyrant who and ruled Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini when he stated that “All Islam is politics.” [1]
[1] THE ISLAM IN ISLAMIC TERRORISM by Ibn Warraq , page 332.
brane pilot says
The UNRWA is an agency of demographic Jihad against the state of Israel.
The USA is done with this nonsense.
Let the Muslim world pay for its own Jihad.
They can afford it.
SJ says
Exactly. Islam sits on its backside on oil. They don’t know how to work or deal. Kind of like Obama! Still waiting for all the Mideast oil to Completely dry up. As for the west, why do we give all of them so much money, cure their diseases while they blow us up. Even getting them to take inoculations against diseases is a fight and struggle. So sick of these people.
BTW, Saw a DOCUMENTARY on the Armenian Genocide. You won’t believe it. All these years Islam stopped the world from calling it a GENOCIDE. It is ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE that they were not even allowed to make a movie…but they did anyway.
It’s called Ararat. I’ve seen it advertised but now I will have to watch it for sure! Islam and Turkey have killed people so as to not make the movie. If you have cable look for it…it will be playing THIS WEEK. ( I cannot remember what station).
jewdog says
After the Arabs lost the ’48 War, they expelled hundreds of thousands of indigenous Jews from their countries. This was all done without any due process, just out of vindictiveness. There has never been any formal compensation along the lines of UNRWA that I’m aware of for those refugees.
gravenimage says
True–and none of these Jews are still considered refugees, either–even though they were *actual* refugees, unlike these whinging Mohammedans. They were never given any aid. And Israel, barely on her feet, had to absorb them all.
Of course, they and their descendants soon began contributing to the world. When have the “Palestinians” ever done this, save in “contributing” Jihad terror?
SJ says
I know a woman that sneaked over the border when Israel became a country. She lived in Iraq and had a large family (one of 10 children) and was very wealthy. She had finished college when they left Iraq. She said they couldn’t take any money and had to leave their business and everything. Only took what they could carry. Thing is, they were expelling Jews way before 1948. Apparently her family were frightened. I never asked her why…
carpediadem says
Very good points, Jewdog and Gravenimage.
Clive Stephen Delmonte says
A similar expulsion of Jews from across the whole Arab world took place after Suez. The Arab states endlessly quote UN resolutions against Israel, as lawful, while cheerfully forgetting their own illegal acts and happily ignoring the equally lawful UN Security Council Resolution which recreated Israel. The UN general assembly has become a creature of Islam.
Now that Mr Trump is doing the right thing yet again, this time defunding UNWRA, perhaps he should warn the UN that they too face “defunding”.
PRCS says
I don’t think we should end our contributions to the UN, but there certainly should be some strings attached to that.
SJ says
I spent probably 4000 hours on the UN site. If you do the same, you’ll learn how corrupt they are. And yes, like everything else they go near -Islam took over the UN.
PRCS says
Yes, they are corrupt. And they’ve been getting away with that because few–if any–strings have been attached to our contributions.
carpediadem says
Impressive effort, SJ!! You should write a book or pamphlet about it!
gravenimage says
Hugh Fitzgerald: UNRWA’s Bloated Farce
……………………….
It certainly is a farce. Not only were these Mohammedans hoping for the destruction of Israel never refugees in the proper sense to begin with, but that they are still considered refugees today–*seventy years after the fact*–is absurd.
No one from WWII–which created millions of genuine refugees–is still considered a refugee today, because it would obviously be ridiculous. Why are these Muslims considered any different?
Glad to see that the US is finally pulling the plug on at least the most outrageous aspects of this funding.
ploome says
‘refugees’ also include anyone ADOPTED by a paleostinian ‘refugee’
Carolyne says
I’m open to being adopted. Any Palestinian takers?
Martin says
Why did the US government ever agree to the “Palestinian” farce to being with?
Why didn’t Eisenhower, Nixon or Reagan end it; why has this gone on until Trump came along?
Ross Lloyd says
Don’t get me started on Palestinian Moslems…
Zenobia van Dongen says
I think that Israeli claims to independent statehood are very strong from a detached and impartial perspective. Consequently doubling down on unverifiable claims like “The so-called Palestinans left of their own free will” is merely a fatuous rhetorical gesture intended to preserve a non-existent illusion of Israeli saintliness.
Instead of adding to Israel’s stature, this rhetorical overstretch detracts from it. Israel’s misdeeds in 1947-48 were very minor compared to those of Turkey, for example in the Armenian Genocide. So why do Israel and it defenders resort to the same sordid little game as Turkey of pretending that their conscience is free of any guilt?
All nations have committed crimes, even Switzerland. They should own up to them and carry on.
rezali Mehil says
Salaam all,
Wanting to put our Pals aside using this this rule is no more than a stint to permanently take Pal lands away… applying a legal solution to a moral problem..whilst putting aside the Pal legality to their land … that must be somehow embarrassing to the western world… Allah SWT however has give the West Jeremy Corbyn… who very much in the style muslims …he simply will not go away … I like him along with millions of White middle class and lower class Britian… the man ozzes class.
Where should the Pals who lost their land illegally in 1947/48 go to?
Wanting to push Israel into the sea is a nonsense, they have their rights… but please equally don’t leave our Pals to whither… a bit of fairness please
More Later …
Rezali
SJ says
First of all its NOT Pals land. Second of all – send them to Yemen , the only country you DON’T ILLEGALLY OCCUPY. Third – you people STOLE MORE THAN 50 +countries from Christian , Jews from EVERYONE so your going to complain they they have nowhere to go?
So, stick a sock in it!
FYI says
It figures that allah the deceiver,the violently antisemitic moon god of islam k2:65 would be impressed by any political leader with a similar proclivity……
The existence of Israel is fully sanctioned:details are in that Bible that allah says he wrote{koran 3:3} and which he tells muhamed to refer to{koran 10:94}
So you muslims cannot dispute it without attacking allah.
[If you deny 3:3 you deny allah]
There is no “palestinian” state.In 1948,Israel was formally re-established as a result of the fulfilment of Biblical prophecy:something muslims don’t seem to get.
Carolyne says
While I support Israel, I also recognize that people were displaced during its founding. I don’t recognize a religious book—any book— which purports to allocate real estate to a certain group of people, or anything else, for that matter. It is folly to support second and third generation Palestinians and I am glad that we are cutting our aid to UNRWA. Palestinians: Get over it. Israel is a settled matter and will stand.
Marilyn Griffin says
Don’t you think 60-70 years is quite long enough for them to have found a way to take care of themselves? The Jews had a much more difficult time of it and look what they have accomplished for themselves, while these people have just spent their lives satisfied to sponge off others.
ibrahim itace muhammed says
Fitzgerald, where do you want these Palestinians to stay if they lose their Refugee status considering the fact that fascist evil Zionist State of Israel has refused to allow them to return to Palestine? you want them to hang on the air? you mean your wickëd satan god in yahweh Idol has decreed in mithraist bible and obnoxious Talmud that palestinians have no right to stay on this earth? you people are wicked inspired by the satan mithraist christians Call Holy Spirit. Palestinians and other Muslims have every reason to hate evil United States, especially this time under savage mad devil Trump.
Carolyne says
Where can they stay? Wherever they are now.
Baucent says
A very logical and correct approach to remove “descendants” from any assessment for the number of refugees. Only the ones that physically left in 1947 or ’48 can be regarded as a refugee. The nonsense the UN talks of “5 million refugees” can not be defended for people born somewhere else after the war.
SicOfwhiners says
Abraham, even your names and stories are STOLEN FROM THE JEWS!
Isn’t it great that our dear President is running the US?
Love it!
PRCS says
Given the PA’s accounting system, I wonder if that refugee definition includes Linda Sarsour?
Carolyne says
It likely does since she is a descendant of Palestinians. That’s how she can probably buy those sparkly things she wears on her head.
Karen says
Just wondering. Linda Sarsour claims to be ‘Palestinian’. Is she receiving funding, as a‘refugee’, from UNRWA?
Is there a list of payments that are public?
Marilyn Griffin says
The USA, along with other nations, has been supporting these people since the end of WW2. We need to stop this, not another penny from the USA. It is way past time these people took care of themselves. Talk about WELFARE, this is beyond stupid!!