R.I.P. UNRWA

UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees is set to go out of business this week, in Israel at least, none too soon. RIP. 

From its inception in 1949, UNRWA has been a controversial organization, criticized for policies and actions that have harmed both Israel and Palestinian Arabs. In the wake of Israel’s war of Independence, UNRWA was ostensibly set up to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinian Arab refugees. Yet its unique and disturbing mandate and political entanglements have made it an obstacle to peace rather than a solution; perpetuating refugee status for people who should have been settled in the countries in which they are, making this the only ethnic group in the world among whom refugee status is inherited from generation to generation, fostering and even emboldening radicalization for future generations, and maintaining an unsustainable and dangerous status quo that ultimately harms both sides.

One of the most significant problems with UNRWA is its unique definition of “refugee” which differs from that used by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the global agency responsible for refugee issues. Unlike UNHCR, which works to resettle and integrate refugees, UNRWA is responsible for expanding and increasing the number of “refugees” indefinitely by granting refugee status to the descendants of the original 1948-49 refugees. As a result, the number of Palestinian Arab refugees has grown from approximately 700,000 in 1948 to over 5.9 million today, even though the vast majority of those who were actual refugees 77 years ago have died, and those classified as Palestinian Arab “refugees” today have never been displaced themselves. Parenthetically, this alone undermines the libel that Israel has committed genocide. 

UNRWA’s policy has a devastating effect on both Israel and Palestinian Arabs. For Israel, it creates an unsustainable demand for what Palestinian Arabs insist is the “right of return” which, if implemented, would result in the demographic destruction of the Jewish state. For Palestinian Arabs, it traps them in a cycle of dependency, discouraging integration into their host countries, or mandating these countries do so, or to pursue viable alternatives to the fantasy of “return” to and destroying Israel. Unlike other refugees worldwide, Palestinian Arab “refugees” are discouraged from resettling and building new lives, and rather are kept in a permanent state of limbo. They are the only ethnic group defined as “refugees” to have their own UN entity sustaining all this with no goal of resolving the problem but in fact perpetuating it. 

By keeping millions of Palestinian Arabs dependent on foreign aid, UNRWA prevents economic development and self-reliance. The agency operates in the “West Bank,” Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, providing services such as healthcare, education, and welfare. However, instead of preparing Palestinian Arabs for personal independence, self-sufficiency, and economic sustainability, UNRWA reinforces a culture of victimhood and entitlement. As victims, UNRWA schools teach Palestinian Arabs that Israel is to blame as the source of all their problems, contributing to their intransigence and radicalization. 

It's been documented that UNRWA schools promote anti-Israel and antisemitic narratives, rather than fostering reconciliation and coexistence. Their textbooks often glorify terrorism, erase Israel from maps, and teach children that armed struggle is the only solution (meaning to destroy Israel). By funding and overseeing such an education system, UNRWA has indoctrinated generations into a conflict-driven mindset rather than preparing them for peace and prosperity.

UNRWA is at the center of repeated accusations of collaborating with terrorist organizations, particularly Hamas in Gaza. Investigations have revealed that UNRWA facilities, including schools and hospitals, have been used to store weapons and launch rocket attacks against Israel. In multiple cases, Israel has discovered Hamas tunnels running underneath and connected to UNRWA buildings, showing clear collaboration. 

UNRWA employees have also been caught directly participating in terrorism. In 2023 and 2024 alone, multiple reports surfaced that scores of UNRWA staff members were involved in the October 7 massacre in Israel, where Hamas terrorists killed over 1,200 people and kidnapped 251. These revelations led countries like the United States, the UK, Canada, and Germany to suspend their funding to UNRWA. With the release and rescue of more than 100 hostages, there have further been multiple reports of UNRWA facilities and employees involved in the hostage taking and their captivity. 

In 2024, UNRWA’s budget was a whopping $1.2 billion. Multiple accusations of corruption and financial mismanagement have also harmed the agency and its tainted reputation even further. In 2019, its commissioner-general, Pierre Krähenbühl resigned after a scandal involving misuse of funds and unethical behavior. Despite receiving billions in international aid, UNRWA continues to function inefficiently, with much of the money failing to reach those in need, or going to terrorists directly.

By reinforcing the demand for an unrealistic “right of return” for millions of Palestinian Arabs, UNRWA has earned itself the title of being a true obstacle to peace. By maintaining this illusion, UNRWA prevents Palestinian Arab leaders from making practical compromises toward, or average Palestinian Arabs from embracing, the necessity of that, rather than endless “armed struggle.” 

For generations, UNRWA has fueled the false hope that one day, Israel will be replaced. This prevents peaceful coexistence, much less the development of realistic expectations and solutions that could lead to a negotiated settlement.

In 2024, Israel passed a law banning UNRWA from Israeli territory, and prohibiting Israeli officials from working with the corruption-plagued UN agency. That law is set to go into effect this week. 

What needs to be done to break the cycle of UNRWA’s failed monopoly and irresponsible business plan and vision? First, UNRWA should be completely dismantled. Any actual humanitarian roles it has served must be reenvisioned and undertaken by others to find permanent solutions that do not spawn generations of jihadi “refugees.’. Its educational programs must be scrapped and redone to eliminate hate speech, incitement, and anti-Israel propaganda. This alone will take a generation or more to see any effect. Reinforcing the need to radically change how things are done, looking for out-of-the-box solutions for true peace, plans like the Solution for Peace in Gaza need to be embraced and achieved. 

A better model with full transparency and accountability must be instituted to monitor how international funds are used, preventing corruption, and ties to and support of terrorist groups.

Coupling President Trump’s recent call for Egypt and Jordan to resettle Gazans, Arab states must integrate Palestinian Arab “refugees” instead of keeping them in perpetual stateless limbo for generations.

If there’s ever going to be true peace and prosperity for Israel and Palestinian Arabs, the later must break free from the culture of radicalism, blaming and seeking to destroy Israel, and international dependency, and to do so, it must be without UNRWA. The Israeli law is a good start.