Cessation of US Funding to UNRWA Long Overdue

Here in the US, amid the daily polemics over President Trump, he continues to do positive things for the country. This week, it was announced that the US will stop our contributions to the UN Relief Works Agency (for Palestinians-UNRWA), which funds the one group of people designated as perpetual refugees, the Palestinians. The US has contributed about 30% of the annual UN expenditure ($1.1 billion by the UN in 2017) on this mess, money that could have been spent helping our own citizens here at home. Billions of dollars have been wasted on a people who, instead of climbing out of refugee status and becoming useful members of any country’s society, have wallowed in self pity while embracing terrorism and corrupt leaders like Yasir Arafat or the murderous Hamas regime in Gaza. Instead of being grateful to the US for the billions of dollars we have given over the years, the Palestinian leadership has immediately attacked us for shutting off the spigot. If you are shocked at this display of ingratitude, remember that on 9-11, the Palestinians were dancing in the streets.

And what has that money been spent on? A lot of it has gone to fund UNRWA schools, where children are taught that Jews are evil and that they are monkeys and apes. They are taught that Israel must be destroyed, and that it is they, when they are grown, who will destroy the Jewish state. During the 2014 round of fighting between Israel and Gaza, UNRWA schools were found to be hidden depots where guns, ammo and rockets were stored-and fired at Israelis. Yet, that didn’t faze the Obama administration, at least to the point of ending its financial support. After all, Obama was not exactly friendly to Israel. On the other hand, Trump makes it clear that he is pro-Israel. He realizes that it makes no sense to fund a cause that is not only anti-Israel, but anti-US as well. The Palestinians are not our friends, a fact shown time and time again. Nor do they want peace with Israel. Any sign that the Abbas leadership in the West Bank is willing to negotiate a “final” deal would only be a first step to the eventual driving of the Jews into the sea. The Palestinians want it all. In the meantime, they continue to encourage and train terrorists to kill innocent Israelis.

Predictably, Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has turned Germany into one big, crime ridden refugee camp, where the rapes and murders of German citizens are becoming a daily occurrence, is increasing Germany’s UNRWA contribution in response. She is calling on other European nations to do likewise. If they want to continue their foolishness, there’s nothing we can do about it, but they will not shame Trump into reconsidering.

Others may argue that the UNRWA funding also goes to things like food and medical clinics. But if after 70 years and counting, Palestinians have proved themselves incapable of producing food, training doctors, and building clinics, not to mention creating a civil society, they are ready for some tough love, as we say in the US. In Gaza, when the Israelis pulled out entirely, they left their greenhouses standing for the Palestinians. Hamas promptly destroyed them.

The American people, who don’t need their generosity questioned, have grown weary of pumping money overseas to ungrateful people who can’t get their act together. Our liberal media, of course, is wringing its hands over Trump’s latest decision, but it is surely welcomed by the vast majority of the public.