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The UN Agency that Keeps Palestinians from Prospering

(Wall Street Journal) Alex Joffe and Asaf Romirowsky - Shifting funds from UNRWA and addressing other refugee crises has become likelier than at any time in the past 60 years. The titanic crisis created by the Syrian civil war, which has produced millions of actual refugees, puts the Palestinian issue in a new and dramatically diminished light. UNRWA's own mismanagement - such as reports that the agency has dramatically overcounted the Palestinians it serves in Lebanon - also makes the status quo more difficult to sustain. UNRWA has outlived its usefulness; the Palestinians are not "refugees" but are entitled to citizenship in the countries where they've lived for decades. Moreover, the Palestinian Authority must assume its responsibilities toward it own population. By confronting the problem of UNRWA, the Trump administration has the rare opportunity to disrupt dysfunctional patterns that are long entrenched and fantastically expensive. Mr. Joffe is a fellow at the Middle East Forum. Mr. Romirowsky is executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East.
2018-01-11 00:00:00
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