In 2016 (the last year for which full data is available), the USA gave the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) about 316 million dollars. So what is UNRWA? It's the UN agency that was set up in 1949 to help refugees from the Israeli War of Independence. Although there were more Jewish refugees from Arab countries who were ejected from those countries and forced to flee to Israel than Palestinian refugees who went to surrounding Arab countries from the new state of Israel, The UN effort went almost exclusively to helping the Palestinians. Refugee camps were set up by the Arab countries who refused to allow the Palestinians to settle freely in their countries. In Israel, the Jews from Arab countries were welcomed and made citizens of the new state. Over the years, the Palestinians who were refugees from the 1948 war have nearly died out. That's no problem for UNRWA; it started providing funds to children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the original refugees. Even today, nearly 70 years later, UNRWA is still providing huge amounts each year to people who are supposedly refugees from that war. It is a massive flow of cash each year to a group of people who could easily have made new lives by now with even a minimal effort. This cash from UNWRA is what allows the Palestinians to devote their resources to military efforts and terrorism.
Today, in New York, Ambassador Nikki Haley told a conference that President Trump is considering cutting off America's contribution to UNRWA until the Palestinians come back to the peace negotiations. Putting that in simple English, the President is telling the Palestinians that the days of ongoing support from the USA no matter how they act are OVER. President Trump recognized the reality that Jerusalem is capital of Israel, and in response, the Palestinians announced that they would no longer allow the USA to be a peace mediator in the supposed peace efforts which have been stalled for over a decade. The Palestinians also orchestrated the General Assembly resolution that castigated the USA for President Trump's move. Now, the USA is calling the bluff of the Palestinians. If they want to take swipes at America, they will have to understand that president Obama is no longer in office. There will be consequences for the Palestinians if they take shots at the USA. Remember, the US contribution to UNRWA is over one-quarter of the agency's annual budget.
Without a doubt, we will see the usual hysterical reaction from the Obamacrats and assorted people in the media to this latest move by President Trump. They won't be able to change Trump's action, however. For the first time in a long time, the Palestinians now have a real reason to go back to the peace table. They have something to lose. First, they lost their fantasy position that Jerusalem was something other than the capital of Israel. Now they stand to lose enormous sums of aid each year. President Trump has taken a position left by Obama in which the USA had no leverage and has changed that position into one in which it is the Palestinians who are losing their leverage. That does not make peace a likelihood. As the late Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban famously said, "the Palestinians never miss and opportunity to miss an opportunity." Nevertheless, for the first time in years, it seems that there is at least a real possibility of peace talks starting again.
Today, in New York, Ambassador Nikki Haley told a conference that President Trump is considering cutting off America's contribution to UNRWA until the Palestinians come back to the peace negotiations. Putting that in simple English, the President is telling the Palestinians that the days of ongoing support from the USA no matter how they act are OVER. President Trump recognized the reality that Jerusalem is capital of Israel, and in response, the Palestinians announced that they would no longer allow the USA to be a peace mediator in the supposed peace efforts which have been stalled for over a decade. The Palestinians also orchestrated the General Assembly resolution that castigated the USA for President Trump's move. Now, the USA is calling the bluff of the Palestinians. If they want to take swipes at America, they will have to understand that president Obama is no longer in office. There will be consequences for the Palestinians if they take shots at the USA. Remember, the US contribution to UNRWA is over one-quarter of the agency's annual budget.
Without a doubt, we will see the usual hysterical reaction from the Obamacrats and assorted people in the media to this latest move by President Trump. They won't be able to change Trump's action, however. For the first time in a long time, the Palestinians now have a real reason to go back to the peace table. They have something to lose. First, they lost their fantasy position that Jerusalem was something other than the capital of Israel. Now they stand to lose enormous sums of aid each year. President Trump has taken a position left by Obama in which the USA had no leverage and has changed that position into one in which it is the Palestinians who are losing their leverage. That does not make peace a likelihood. As the late Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban famously said, "the Palestinians never miss and opportunity to miss an opportunity." Nevertheless, for the first time in years, it seems that there is at least a real possibility of peace talks starting again.
No comments:
Post a Comment