UNRWA again
Here are two letters in response to the article "Who UNRWA is and what we do" by the UNRWA Commissioner General Karen Koning Abuzayd that appeared in the J. Post on Feb 14.
UNRWA's real role
Sir, - UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen Koning Abuzayd is either prevaricating or ignorant in claiming that "UNRWA was established... to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestine refugees" ("Who UNRWA is, and what we do," February 14). Surely she knows that UNRWA was created by UN Resolution 302, which clearly states (Paragraph 5) that "constructive measures should be undertaken at an early date with a view to the termination of international assistance for relief"?
Moreover, in Paragraph 7 UNRWA was assigned only two responsibilities: to work with Arab governments to implement UN recommendations to provide jobs for the refugees; and to help the Arab governments prepare for the eventual removal of international assistance. The UN called on existing international relief agencies to coordinate their efforts with UNRWA (Paragraph 18), allowing it to focus on ending unemployment and developing the Arab economies.
In practice, the world has quietly allowed UNRWA to negate the entirety of Resolution 302. So for decades UNRWA has been doing the exact opposite of its UN mandate.
Bottom line: Dismantling UNRWA and insisting that the Arab governments resettle the refugees with gainful employment would be to fulfill the original, wise vision of UN Resolution 302 - and go a long way toward combating terrorism while promoting peace.
ROBERT KLEIN
Beersheba
Out of neverland
Sir, - Karen Koning Abuzayd, commissioner-general of UNRWA, begins "Who UNRWA is, and what we do" (February 14) by saying "UNRWA was established in 1949 to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees while a solution was being sought to the conflict." Now, 58 years later, how can she justify perpetuating this refugee crisis when a solution was found to the initial conflict - the establishment of the State of Israel with UN recognition?
The humanitarian solution was and still is clear: to resettle the remaining refugees where they are and not continue to nourish their hope of returning to their homes. The refugees of WWII gave up that hope long ago, and the same is true of every other war in the 20th century.
Only the Palestinians still wait in a neverland, never going back to their original domicile and, for political reasons, never being resettled.
This must stop, or UNRWA will still exist in another 58 years.
JACK COHEN
Netanya
UNRWA's real role
Sir, - UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen Koning Abuzayd is either prevaricating or ignorant in claiming that "UNRWA was established... to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestine refugees" ("Who UNRWA is, and what we do," February 14). Surely she knows that UNRWA was created by UN Resolution 302, which clearly states (Paragraph 5) that "constructive measures should be undertaken at an early date with a view to the termination of international assistance for relief"?
Moreover, in Paragraph 7 UNRWA was assigned only two responsibilities: to work with Arab governments to implement UN recommendations to provide jobs for the refugees; and to help the Arab governments prepare for the eventual removal of international assistance. The UN called on existing international relief agencies to coordinate their efforts with UNRWA (Paragraph 18), allowing it to focus on ending unemployment and developing the Arab economies.
In practice, the world has quietly allowed UNRWA to negate the entirety of Resolution 302. So for decades UNRWA has been doing the exact opposite of its UN mandate.
Bottom line: Dismantling UNRWA and insisting that the Arab governments resettle the refugees with gainful employment would be to fulfill the original, wise vision of UN Resolution 302 - and go a long way toward combating terrorism while promoting peace.
ROBERT KLEIN
Beersheba
Out of neverland
Sir, - Karen Koning Abuzayd, commissioner-general of UNRWA, begins "Who UNRWA is, and what we do" (February 14) by saying "UNRWA was established in 1949 to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees while a solution was being sought to the conflict." Now, 58 years later, how can she justify perpetuating this refugee crisis when a solution was found to the initial conflict - the establishment of the State of Israel with UN recognition?
The humanitarian solution was and still is clear: to resettle the remaining refugees where they are and not continue to nourish their hope of returning to their homes. The refugees of WWII gave up that hope long ago, and the same is true of every other war in the 20th century.
Only the Palestinians still wait in a neverland, never going back to their original domicile and, for political reasons, never being resettled.
This must stop, or UNRWA will still exist in another 58 years.
JACK COHEN
Netanya
posted by Jack Cohen at 7:59 PM
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