UNRWA begs Arab leaders to make Palestinians their top political priority, just like the good old days

Not too long ago, the West was convinced that there was "linkage" between the Palestinian issue and everything else in the Middle East. The only reason that they thought so was because Arab leaders kept insisting it was so; they used the Palestinian issue as a means to distract their own people from their own human rights issues.

It turned into a convenient myth for Palestinians as well, because they would routinely threaten the West saying that if they don't get their way, the entire region would explode in Arab fury. Only Israel giving in to Palestinian demands would bring peace to the entire region.

After the Abraham Accords destroyed the "linkage" myth, people who were invested in the myth kept pretending it was true. So instead of welcoming peace between Israel and Arab states, they complained that the Palestinian issue was not resolved - and of course Israel was to blame.

UNRWA's chief  Philippe Lazzarini spoke at a ministerial meeting of the League of Arab States this week. Besides begging for funds, he also said that he wants the Arab states to put the Palestinian issue back as their top priority, just like they pretended to in the good old days of "linkage."

The discussion today needs to be elevated from a financial to a political one, a discussion addressing Palestine refugees’ dignity and wellbeing and through it, the stability of the region and the quest for peace.

The League of Arab States and its members, especially those who host the refugees are key partners.

You are also our allies in our efforts to raise funds and ensure that global solidarity with Palestine Refugees remains strong.

I say this as Palestine Refugees have waited 75 years for a political solution.

They have always relied on the Arab world for solidarity.

They have no closer ally, no better partner.

This is UNRWA admitting that the Arab world no longer even gives much lip service to caring about Palestinians.

The reasons are well known: the Palestinians themselves cannot unify or hold elections, they have not done anything to promote peace, the Gulf states realized that Israel is a more reliable and profitable partner than the Palestinians are.

If Lazzarini really cared about Palestinian "dignity," which he emphasized, he would be asking the Arab states to naturalize Palestinians as citizens. He alluded to this issue in this sentence:

180,000 Palestine Refugees in Jordan, who fled from Syria or from Gaza in 1967 live in poverty and growing debt.  

He is only counting the 180,000 Palestinians in Jordan who are not citizens - not the nearly 2 million who are. 

So he knows the truth, that citizenship is the answer to the issue, and UNRWA has no business sending money to the Palestinian citizens of Jordan whose welfare is properly the responsibility of their kingdom.

He knows it - but he won't say it out loud because it is in his interests to keep UNRWA growing, not shrinking. To ask for more funds every year, not to cut services that the world should not be giving to people who aren't refugees by any definition. 

Instead, UNRWA wants the world to keep pressure on Israel for a "return" that will never happen. And he needs Arab solidarity on that issue; after all, if the Arabs themselves no longer care, why should anyone else?

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