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Friday, October 29, 2010

Jordan condemns UNRWA official's comments

Earlier this week, I mentioned an outgoing UNRWA official had stated out loud what everyone knows - that most descendants of Arab refugees from Palestine in 1948 will never "return" to Israel, and it is cruel to keep feeding them that lie.

Predictably, UNRWA distanced itself from the comments.

Jordan has now condemned the comments as well:
Jordan has condemned remarks by a United Nations official saying Palestinian refugees must not be deluded about their right to return and that Arab countries must resettle them.

Wajih Azaizeh, who directs Jordan's Palestinian Affairs Department, on Thursday called remarks by Andrew Whitley, the N.Y. director of the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees, "irresponsible."
It is especially interesting that Jordan is upset, because it is the only Arab country that gave citizenship to Palestinian Arabs (the ones who lived in the West Bank that was illegally annexed by Jordan.)

In recent years, Jordan has been slowly taking away Palestinian Jordanians' rights - and citizenship, especially from Arabs who live in or have ties with the West Bank.

This is apparently more evidence that Jordan has no intent to treat its Palestinian citizens equally. From the reaction, it appears that Jordan is pushing to deport all of its PalArab citizens to "Palestine" as soon as that option arises.

And this is the Arab country that has treated Palestinian Arabs the best, by far!