UNRWA recently came out with its "medium-term" strategy document. And once again, it says that it has a "non-political role" in trying to improve the lives of Palestinian Arabs.
The strategy document itself starkly shows the difference between UNRWA today and from when it was formed. Even though the W of UNRWA stands for "works," UNRWA has completely and totally abandoned its original purpose of finding reasonable employment for Palestinian Arabs in their host countries by creating works projects. Those countries pushed back in the 1950s to ensure that none of the jobs created would make their Palestinian Arab guests comfortable enough to want to stay, so instead they used them as free labor paid for by the nations of the world and cut them off as soon as the projects ended.
Eventually, UNRWA gave up, and became what it is today - a self-perpetuating organization that allows a "refugee" population to grow ad infinitum.
As we mentioned recently, internal UNRWA policy directs its employees to ensure that "they shall avoid any action and in particular any kind of public pronouncement which may adversely reflect on their status, or on the integrity, independence and impartiality which are required by that status."
That has once again been shown to be an absolute lie this weekend.
John Ging, Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza, recently spoke to influential German politicians at a breakfast sponsored by the Korber Foundation. In that speech he talked about "Israeli policy towards Gaza as well as on policy options for the international community and current trends in the inner-Palestinian political discourse." The name of the breakfast was "Political Breakfast with John Ging."
A month earlier, Ging also violated UNRWA's stated policy of "integrity, independence and impartiality" by giving a lecture entitled "Inhumane, illegal and insane: A Medieval Siege on Gaza in 2010."
Does this sound remotely impartial or non-political?
(h/t Silke)
