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President Truman Thought He Solved the Arab Refugee Problem in the 1950s

(Israel Hayom) Eldad Beck - At the start of the 1950s, in addition to pouring money into the Marshall Plan to rehabilitate Europe after World War II, the U.S. provided money to Arab states and Israel to solve the refugee problem created by the 1948 War of Independence. The American aid was supposed to have been split evenly between Israel and the Arab states, with each side receiving $50 million to build infrastructure to absorb refugees. The money to take in the Arab refugees was handed over to the UN agency founded to address the issue, and the Americans gave Arab countries another $53 million for "technical cooperation." In effect, the Arab side received double the money given to Israel, even though Israel took in more refugees, including Jews from Arab nations who had been displaced by the upheavals in their countries of residence. The amount Congress allocated for Middle East refugees - Jewish and Arab - at the request of then-President Harry Truman was equal to $1.5 billion today. Historian Kobby Barda said noted that President Truman told Congress that the aid would help Israel and the Arab countries by eliminating the refugee problem - which he said presented a "serious threat" to peace in the region - once and for all. "In hindsight, the Americans have already paid to have the Palestinian refugees accommodated, but they are still defined as refugees and still living in refugee camps."
2018-10-23 00:00:00
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