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UNRWA comes clean on its true mission
A proclamation from the agency's new head lets everyone in on the secret

Seth Mandel
THE JEWISH STATE
February 12, 2010

In April 1999, CNN reported on an ambitious refugee resettlement plan.

"Hundreds of ethnic Albanians boarded planes bound for Turkey on Monday, launching a plan to relocate more than 100,000 refugees stuck in dank, overcrowded camps near the borders of Kosovo," the report announced.

Included in the ambitious program to help refugees from the Kosovo War were the U.S., Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Canada, each of which took in thousands of refugees.

Scroll down the article, however, and you find this gem, from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees spokeswoman Paula Ghebini: "We need to get these people out. It is terrible there. It is extremely muddy. The rain is not helping. We have already weakened people who went through a harrowing experience for four days. They waited at the border; they have not eaten."

Her concern for the Albanian refugees is commendable. But note how she starts her quote: "We need to get these people out." Out of the refugee camps. Out of danger. Out of squalor.

Contrast that with the perpetuation of refugee status for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) is tasked with taking care of these refugees, yet out of the original Palestinian refugees from the Arab war against Israel in 1948, instead of relocation and integration, we find the U.N. does everything in its power to keep those Palestinians -- and now their children and grandchildren -- living in the very conditions (and worse) that were unacceptable for the Albanian refugees a decade ago.

There have been countless scandals involving UNRWA employees moonlighting as Hamas terrorists, or vice versa. And there have been too many revelations of corruption within UNRWA to trust its independence. But each time, officials can chalk that up to a lack of background checks on employees in Gaza, or other examples of carelessness that, they argue, amount to benign neglect and nothing more.

Thankfully, the veil has been lifted. UNRWA's commissioner-general, Karen AbuZayd, recently stepped down. Her deputy, Filippo Grandi, took over, and let the world know that the failure and corruption of UNRWA is actually its mission statement.

Grandi wrote a letter to UNRWA staff Jan. 26.

"I need not tell you how difficult this period is for the Palestinian people," Grandi wrote. "We are all painfully aware of the counterproductive policies collectively punishing the people of the Gaza Strip; conscious decisions that have caused untold suffering and a dramatic deterioration in the lives of the population, in contravention of international law. One of my key priorities will be to continue to advocate strongly on behalf of the 1.5 million Gazans, and to do so not only until the end of the blockade and the occupation, but also until a just and lasting solution to the plight of the refugees is achieved.

"Despite some recent economic improvements for some, the lives of most Palestinians in the West Bank continue to be made almost impossible by obstacles, walls, movement limitations and other restrictions, and by the expanding threat of settler violence. For those residing in East Jerusalem, as I do, it is cause for daily anguish to watch the situation deteriorate rapidly under our very eyes, especially the ruthless evictions of Palestinians from their homes. UNRWA will continue to stand with the affected families and all of those in need of our protection and will tirelessly lend our voice to their calls for justice."

Sometimes, honesty is all we can ask.

So Grandi believes UNRWA's mission is about fighting Israel; the Palestinians in his charge are simply weapons in his arsenal. Those who have been evicted from homes in Jerusalem have resided there illegally or else participated in some form of terrorist violence against Israel. Grandi openly declares he is on the side of the lawless and the terrorists.

He repeats many of the stale talking points about settlers, the occupation, the blockade, walls, etc. His appointment is simply a political one, not humanitarian -- and he has now explicitly told us as much.

UNRWA claims its mission statement is to provide food, health care, and education. Palestinians do everything in their power to get Israeli medical treatment, so the health care provided by UNRWA can't be much to crow about. They may be getting food, but how much? It's safe to say they're not living in times of plenty. And the education seems to be anti-Israel incitement.

On the UNRWA Web site, we're told the following: "UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from U.N. member states."

That, of course, is a not-so-subtle way of saying the United States taxpayers get fleeced so the U.N. can continue to radicalize generations of Palestinians.

UNRWA's partisanship in this conflict has long been an open secret. Thanks to its new commissioner-general, Filippo Grandi, we are at least spared the charade.

Seth Mandel is the managing editor of The Jewish State.