Thread by @HSajwanization

JUST in : #Trump administration announces end to financial aid for #UNRWA - #Palestinians
haaretz.com/middle-east-ne…

#Trump Administration Implements #MEF Plan to Sideline #UNRWA
meforum.org/articles/2018/…

The U.S. #taxpayer contributed $364 million in 2017, about one-third of the total #UNRWA budget, almost triple the #EU contribution and by far the most from any single UNRWA donor.

“At the @StateDept’s request, the Forum on Aug. 8 provided it with a detailed plan to dismantle #UNRWA – a refugee agency that perversely sees its mandate as creating ever-more refugees. Today’s announcement takes a first step toward that end.”

“The 2nd step should be for the US government to divert funds to local partners on the ground via direct relationships with hospitals, clinics, schools, municipalities,

micro-financing programs, vocational capacity building initiatives, infrastructure managers, social service providers, and others.”

“The third step will be to end U.S. recognition of the fake Palestine refugees. In 1950, UNRWA counted 625,000 Palestine refugees; today it counts 5.3 million of them.

#MEF estimates that actual #Palestine refugees – those who fled in 1948-49, did not take on a nationality, and do not live in the #WestBank or #Gaza – number about 20,000.”

“That means that over 99 percent of #UNRWA-recognized #Palestine refugees do not fit the definition of refugee according to the U.S. government. UNRWA’s unique definition nourishes #Palestinian irredentism and terrorism, renders diplomacy futile, and creates regional instability.

#MEF advises treating the 99 percent as needy people deserving of assistance, not as refugees.”

“Key advantages of this three-step plan include:
1-ending the creation of new #Palestine refugees,
2-limiting #UNRWA’s anti-Israel propaganda, and
3-encouraging the constructive development of a #Palestinian polity, economy, culture, and society.”