THE UN RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY IS THE PROBLEM – NOT THE SOLUTION

Peloni:  A very interesting conversation as usual.  In this episode, among other things, Mike conjectures that the real purpose of the upcoming Blinken visit is to stop Israel from attacking Rafah.  He believes that Israel’s actions might be intended to put pressure on Hamas to agree to a an acceptable prisoner deal to pause the fighting.  Gadi notes that there are other pressures which could be raised such as a protest in Israel against Blinken, or for Bibi to begin to address the American people directly.  Notably, Bibi’s speech at the press conference two days ago, which was staunchly defensive of continuing the war, was later re-recorded in English, something which has not been the norm thus far in this war.

By Gadi Taub & Mike Doran,  Tablet February 10, 2024

Recent revelations about the participation of UNRWA employees in the October 7 massacre have focused attention on the agency. The UN has vowed to purge it. Supporting countries are withholding funds. But the problem is not this or that employee. The problem is structural. UNRWA was born in sin. It was created to perpetuate the Palestinian refugee problem in order to prevent any solution short of the full destruction of Israel. We spoke with Dr. Adi Schwartz, co-author (with former Labor Party Knesset member Einat Wilf) of the bestselling book The War of Return about the role of UNRWA and what could be done about it.