I wrote this in 2022.
n the Jerusalem Post in 2022, in the section “Word on the Palestinian Street” there was an important comment. Farha Abu Al-Hija said “The Palestinians have proven throughout the years that they will not give up or surrender”. This must not be taken as a sign that there is no solution. It is true that the 2 major political parties on the Palestinian side both call for an ultimate solution that includes the disappearance of Israel. Clinging to that unrealistic aim is what makes the problem seem intractable. However, there may be ways to bypass this without causing discord in the Palestinian administered territories.
UNRWA was created, by an accident of timing, before the establishment of the office of the UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR). The failure to place the Palestinian refugees under the auspices of UNHCR has resulted in those people becoming de facto hostages to Palestinian leaders who clearly do NOT have the best interests of the refugees at heart. UNHCR has a mandate to solve refugee problems. It can be done by repatriation OR resettlement. UNRWA, is, sadly, committed only to repatriation. That’s why it needs to be done away with. Today, the “refugees” need to have a choice that includes resettlement in places other than Palestine (Where, by the way, the ancestors of a vast majority of them cannot even be traced back to earlier than 1948). Few of us have any doubt what would happen if they were given a choice of living under a Palestinian Authority, going elsewhere, or staying in their current host countries (Israel, Lebanon, Syria, or Jordan).
For those that choose Palestine, or remaining in any other host country, the burden (both cost and administration) of providing health and education services would devolve on the authorities where they settle. These are real people who deserve to have a chance at a life that is not dictated by the political whims of some intransigent (and often corrupt) Arab politicians. The world has plenty of other oppressed minority problems to handle: Kurds, Uighurs, Kashmiris, Tamils, and even Ukrainians.
Removing UNRWA could also have some important collateral effects. It removes one of the major Palestinian demands that block agreements on further negotiations. It highlights the fact that although some of the Palestinians have agreed to a 2 state solution, there are only 2 possible borders that the Palestinians have been willing to discuss so far; either all of mandatory Palestine, or the 1967 cease-fire lines (actually established in 1949 with the condition that they were temporary, and would be replaced by borders negotiated between the parties). Neither of these appears to be workable today. But they do indicate that the Palestinian side might be open to redefining a part of what they need to be recognized as an independent state without giving up or surrendering. Israel is not the only one that has failed to decide what they really want.
Wetherhorn 