Zionists Answer to My Call to End Aid to Israel

Aid to ‘refugees’ adds to conflict

Published: Friday, June 19, 2009 11:56 PM CDT

Aid to ‘refugees’ adds to conflict

Last week, Palestinian Authority President Abbas reiterated a long-standing demand that, in addition to establishing a Palestinian state, Israel absorb an untold number of Palestinians.

This demand is a non-starter because it contradicts the principle of two states for two peoples and by virtue of demographics, Israel would be transformed into another Arab state. Ironically, U.S. aid to so-called Palestinian refugees has helped perpetuate the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Since World War II, 130 million refugees became the responsibility of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Thanks, in part, to UNHCR’s efforts in settling these refugees, their numbers have shrunk considerably, as most have become citizens of their host countries, except Palestinians.

To further the Arab agenda of destroying Israel, in 1950, under pressure from Arab and Muslim countries, the U.N. established a special agency, UNRWA, to care exclusively for Palestinian refugees. Whereas the U.N.’s definition of all refugee groups is restricted to the original refugees and specifically excludes their descendents, UNRWA makes an exception to that rule by defining Palestinian refugees as both the original refugees and all their descendents.

In six decades, the number of original Palestinian refugees shrunk from 650,000 to less than 100,000, while the number of their descendents ballooned to 4.2 million. For 59 years, UNRWA, whose largest contributor is the U.S., has provided billions of dollars to sustain this ever-growing population while keeping them in a permanent state of welfare dependency. This has led to a birth rate 10 times higher than that of Western countries; half of Gaza’s population is under age 15.

Since UNRWA is a major employer of Hamas members, our taxpayer dollars support Hamas terrorist activities as well as UNRWA-run schools that teach militant, anti-Western ideology. It is our taxpayer money that helps perpetuate the Palestinian refugee problem and thereby the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Pnina Luban

Ames