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Source: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=272709
Will New Reporting Requirement on Palestinian Refugees Harm or Help Peace?
(Jerusalem Post) - Hilary Leila Krieger - A proposed reporting requirement on the issue of Palestinian refugees, recently approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, mandates that the secretary of state must report how many of the Palestinians serviced by the UN refugee agency UNRWA left homes in Israel during the War of Independence and how many are only their descendants. Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies estimated that the number of living refugees was about 30,000 people, in contrast to the several million counted by UNRWA. One Senate aide said that puncturing the "UNRWA myth" of millions of refugees would help resolve what has been a major stumbling block. "In the end you will find a very manageable problem with practical solutions," he said. "This is a dramatic stop in what has been maybe the thorniest and most difficult challenge to Middle East peace."