The EU haws just pledged 72 million Euros to finance UNWRA
Dr Daniel Navon argues the EU is and has been an obstacle to peace.
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UNWRA is thus a major obstacle to peace. Had UNHCR been in charge of Palestinian refugees (UNHCR handles all the world refugees except Palestinian refugees), the issue would have been solved a while ago.
First, were Palestinian refugees defined as such according to UNHCR criteria, about 100,000 Palestinian refugees would still be around today, most of them elderly.
Second, UNWRA collaborates with the discriminatory policies of countries such as Lebanon and Jordan, who deny them citizenship and jobs, by subsidizing the confinement of Palestinian refugees in camps instead of integrating them into countries with which they have no language, ethnic, and religious differences.
Dismantling UNWRA and transferring the fate of the remaining actual Palestinian refugees to UNHCR would thus remove a major obstacle to peace.
The EU has just decided to do the very opposite by granting UNWRA a €72 million donation. This decision is not only an affront to the Palestinian refugees themselves, since it contributes to the perpetuation of their status of segregated and pauperized minorities among their Arab brothers. It is also an affront to the cause of peace. The EU, in effect, has just signed a big check that will fund a major obstacle to peace.
While the EU did somewhat realize the Kantian vision of democratic peace within its borders (although with a little help from the United States, whose army protected Europe from the Soviet Union during the Cold War), Europe’s contribution to peace outside of the Old Continent’s borders has been dismal. From Rwanda to the former Yugoslavia, the EU has been powerless at best and part of the problem at worst. T
he EU (formerly EEC) promoted the PLO in the 1970s and did not welcome the Camp David Agreements of 1979. Although the Oslo Agreements were technically not made in the EU (Norway is not a EU member), the European recipe for peace in the Middle East has failed miserably and tragically.
The EU’s recent decision to fund UNWRA belongs to a long history of counter-productive efforts. But, mostly, it confirms the fact that the EU is an obstacle to peace in the Middle-East.
The chinese seem to be the smartest of all
Be very careful how you deal with the Iranians. They are very,very foxy.
Norman.
I don’t agree. The smartest are the Europeans. They always manage to do the most harm, and keep their noses clean in the eyes of the world. The next smartest are the fundamentalist Arabs, because they have had one goal since pre-1948, which is to drive Jews out of the Middle East – they are united in that goal, and have never veered from it. The least smart are the Jews/Israelis. We keep changing our tactics while trying to appease everyone else. If we were united, if we kept our eyes on our goal of independence, democracy and self-preservation in Israel, we would be smart too.
Batya Casper
You are so right. The Europeans have never had any interests in either justice or peace for the Middle -East. Their only interest is self interest. What would it hurt the EU to have Palestinian refugees flounder in their pajamas, in Arab countries, for another 100 years, so long as they remain far from European borders? Europe is unable to handle its own Arab population. While preserving the Palestinian status quo in Arab lands, The EU can continue blaming Israel for its humane, democratic inclusion of Arab refugees into its tiny country – on territory no larger than New Jersey. The world, and the EU says nothing about the refusal of Arab countries – vast stretches of land – to include Palestinian refugees as citizens. They prefer to preserve that status quo – and blame Israel.
Batya Casper
You’re right.
The only saving grace as I see it, is the Arabs are far stupider than the conniving Europeans and the feckless Jews.
I find it curious that the Eu where most of it’s constituent member states are bankrupt and where unemployment averages close to 20% for some countries and in certain age groups across the EU, that they have maintained their financial commitment to the Pali Arabs, this when The Saudis and other donor nations have either cut back or not paid their financial pledges to the Palis.
Then Israel as well continues to refund taxes to the PA. Stupid Jews and Jew hating Europeans.
UNWRA keeps a few million Arabs in camps across the Levant. That’s a few million Arabs the Europeans don’t have to take care of at home. From a European perspective, that might well be worth the mere €72 million (especially since the “€” is rapidly becoming worthless).
Nothing much has changed about the historic European antipathy to the Jews.
They may be broke but they can still spare the panhandling change to help panhandling Arabs.
I guess with bosom buddies like that, the Palestinian Arabs don’t need their stingy Arab brethren to come to their rescue.