Two new Israeli laws severely limit the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). One bans UNRWA from operating inside Israel; the other blocks Israeli officials from working with the agency.
World outcry has been swift. Both Belgium and Jordan issued official statements claiming Israel is violating international law by censuring UNRWA. Britain has threatened to stop arms sales to Israel. The Qatari-based news agency Al Jazeera, with 430 million customers worldwide, declared that Israel’s new laws are an act of “war.”
A number of myths about UNRWA have been repeated by politicians, activists and journalists as facts. Here are 7 common myths about UNRWA, and the truth about this troubled organization.
MYTH: UNRWA AIDS PALESTINIAN REFUGEES
It’s common to hear the oft-repeated myth that UNRWA aids Palestinian refugees. UNRWA claims that “5.9 million refugees (are) covered by our protection mandate.” Yet UNRWA’s definition of “refugee” doesn’t match anyone else’s use of the term - including the United Nations itself.
Most refugees are aided by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) which helps 117.3 million people. It aims to settle refugees in safety and security, often in third countries: “We...find long-term solutions. This can include support to voluntarily return to their home country once safe to do so, integration into the host community, or resettlement and integration in a third country.”
But there’s one group of people for whom “refugee” is defined very differently: Arabs who resided within the borders of Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank between June 1, 1946 and May 15, 1948. (May 15, 1948 saw Israel’s establishment and the subsequent rejection of a Palestinian state and invasion of Israel by its Arab neighbors in 1948.) Over 800,000 Jews were expelled from Arab countries, but they are not defined as refugees by UNRWA.
UNRWA began functioning in May 1950 and abandoned traditional definitions of “refugee”. According to UNRWA, refugee status continues indefinitely, no matter where one was born or lives, no matter what one’s circumstances, so long as one is registered as Palestinian with its agency: “The descendants of Palestinian refugee males, including adopted children, are also eligible for registration.” Keeping people refugees, continuing their conflict with Israel, and not building new lives for the people it purports to help is UNRWA’s overarching goal. The number of Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA has increased massively through the years, rising 780% since 1950.
UNRWA has turned this manufactured crisis of nearly 6 million “refugees” into a potent money-maker. While the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which is
