HOW UNRWA PERPETUATES THE PALESTINIAN REFUGEES MYTH
First, our research shows that the fourth and the fifth generations of the original refugees, ([1]) have long been resettled and should not be considered "refugees” in the internationally accepted sense of the term. We argue that the existence of "unsettled refugees” is actually a myth that has been cynically nurtured and perpetuated by UNRWA on the one hand, and by Palestinian and Arab leaders on the other hand. Second, our study shows those decades ago, UNRWA has abandoned its original humanitarian mission and has used the myth of the four million "unsettled refugees” to become a mammoth bureaucracy, to assume the authority of a "non-territorial government.” ([2]) Third, UNRWA is the perfect case of the "Iron Law of Bureaucracy”. During its six decades of operation UNRWA has developed an extensive network of non-emergency services, hiring tens of thousands of employees, built hundreds of schools, daycare centers, and medical clinics, paving roads, and actually becoming a de- "non-territorial government”. UNRWA's elaborate bureaucracy developed its own interest of self-preservation, leaping from a humble budget of a few millions to an annual budget of over half a billion dollars! Finally, UNRWA's highly professional civic services that were available indiscriminately to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian who never lived in "refugee camps,”[3] damaged the image and authority of the fledgling Palestinian Authority (PA). In the competition on the hearts of the Palestinian UNRWA easily won over the PA. In fact, UNRWA's success was the PA biggest failure.
First, our research shows that the fourth and the fifth generations of the original refugees, ([1]) have long been resettled and should not be considered "refugees” in the internationally accepted sense of the term. We argue that the existence of "unsettled refugees” is actually a myth that has been cynically nurtured and perpetuated by UNRWA on the one hand, and by Palestinian and Arab leaders on the other hand. Second, our study shows those decades ago, UNRWA has abandoned its original humanitarian mission and has used the myth of the four million "unsettled refugees” to become a mammoth bureaucracy, to assume the authority of a "non-territorial government.” ([2]) Third, UNRWA is the perfect case of the "Iron Law of Bureaucracy”. During its six decades of operation UNRWA has developed an extensive network of non-emergency services, hiring tens of thousands of employees, built hundreds of schools, daycare centers, and medical clinics, paving roads, and actually becoming a de- "non-territorial government”. UNRWA's elaborate bureaucracy developed its own interest of self-preservation, leaping from a humble budget of a few millions to an annual budget of over half a billion dollars! Finally, UNRWA's highly professional civic services that were available indiscriminately to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian who never lived in "refugee camps,”[3] damaged the image and authority of the fledgling Palestinian Authority (PA). In the competition on the hearts of the Palestinian UNRWA easily won over the PA. In fact, UNRWA's success was the PA biggest failure.
