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A Simplistic Attitude to the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
(Irish Times) Adi Ophir Moaz - For some Irish activists and commentators, Palestine and Israel are a veritable obsession. All too often, the perspective is extremely biased against Israel and ignores the complexity and roots of the conflict. In a Sep. 14 article, Kathy Sheridan says that Palestinians are "the largest and longest case of displaced persons in the world today." But why is it still the case? After the Second World War, 40 million to 60 million displaced people found new homes and became part of society. Many Arab countries could have absorbed the Palestinians a long time ago, but the funding that the countries receive through the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) incentivizes them to keep the status quo and "hold the torch" of opposing the existence of the State of Israel. According to figures compiled by the OECD, aid to the Palestinians amounted to more than $40 billion between 1994 and 2020. Of this, non-Arab donors provided close to 77%. The writer is Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Israel in Dublin.