Count me as distinctly unenthusiastic about the perpetual funding of the so-called Palestinian refugees. As I wrote in "The Refugee Curse,"
It's high time to help these generations of non-refugees escape the refugee status so they can become citizens, assume self-responsibility and build for the future. … In a misguided spirit of "deep commitment to the welfare of Palestinian refugees," Washington currently provides 40 percent of UNRWA's $306 million annual budget; it should be zeroed out.
Well, today's news suggests I am not exactly getting my way. To the contrary, the U.S. government seems to be shouldering an ever-larger portion of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency budget. According to The Jerusalem Post, UNRWA's latest emergency appeal for funds netted $38 million in pledges, of which no less than $31 million came from the American taxpayer. Also noteworthy is that UNRWA sought $103 million but only raised a fraction of that amount, which makes one wonder are where all those governments seemingly so ardent in their support for the Palestinians? (September 26, 2003)
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency logo.
July 29, 2004 update: Again in 2004, the U.S. government is larding on more aid to the so-called Palestinian refugees. This time up to $20 million will be heading to UNRWA via the U.S. Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund. The money comes in response to the agency's 2004 emergency appeal for an extra $193 million and it brings the total U.S. contribution in 2004 `to that emergency appeal to $40 million. This donation again confers on the American taxpayer the dubious distinction of being the single largest bilateral donor to UNRWA, and thus the largest enabler of Palestinian victimhood and irredentism.
Feb. 9, 2007 update: The U.S. government may be spending too much on UNRWA, but the Arab states have the right idea. As Michael Freund notes in the Jerusalem Post, rhetoric aside, they are providing less aid. UNRWA's Peter Ford has declared that UNRWA faces "a financial crisis" in part because Arab states provide a steadily decreasing percentage of its funding. Their donations in the 1980s, he said, came to 8 percent of the annual budget of $462 million but now, "Arab donors currently contribute less than 3 percent of UNRWA's overall spending." UNRWA has pledges for 2006 of $345 million, meaning it suffers from a funding shortfall of $117 million.
UNRWA's website indicates that the largest amounts received from Arab states in 2006 were $1.5 million from Kuwait and $1.2 million from Saudi Arabia. Bahrain gave $30,000 and Lebanon $10,000. In contrast, the United States gave $137 million, Sweden $41 million, the United Kingdom $27 million, and Denmark $12 million. In all, Western countries provide more than 95 percent of UNRWA's income.
