US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has suggested the right of return for Palestinian refugees could be removed from any eventual peace settlement with Israel.
Speaking at an event on Tuesday with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington DC-based neoconservative think-tank with pro-Israeli sympathies, Haley was asked whether she agreed with taking the right of return “off the table”.
US Haley questions Palestinians' right of returnhttps://t.co/iXL4VC8gLJ pic.twitter.com/kXclo8vVWP
— Ma'an News Agency (@MaanNewsAgency) August 29, 2018
She said:
“I think we have to look at this in terms of what’s happening [with refugees] in Syria, what’s happening in Venezuela. So I absolutely think we have to look at the right of return.”
Palestinians view the right of return, along with the end of the Israeli occupation, as one of the basic tenants in achieving a peace deal with Israel.
The United States ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley dismisses the Palestinian refugees’ right of return to their homeland.#FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/YZM4mjf7U2
— Press TV (@PressTV) August 29, 2018
Haley also accused the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) of exaggerating the number of Palestinian refugees it currently provides aid to and services for.
Haley said:
“We will be a donor if it [UNRWA] reforms what it does … if they actually change the number of refugees to an accurate account, we will look back at partnering them.”
There are more than five million Palestinian refugees in the occupied territories and surrounding countries of Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.
PRC Denounces Haley's Remarks on Palestinian Right of Return and Number of Refugees Recognised by #UNRWA #NikkiHaley #Palestine #RightofReturnhttps://t.co/ehZZYvTT64 pic.twitter.com/sN5N3BG6XK
— Palest Return Centre (@prclondon) August 29, 2018
The majority are descendants of the 700,000 Palestinians ethnically cleansed from their villages, towns, and cities by Zionist paramilitaries in 1947-1948.
In response to the refugee crisis, UNRWA was created the following year under UN Resolution 302, which stated its mandate to “prevent conditions of starvation and distress … and to further conditions of peace and stability”.
"Trump has denied refuge to those in need at the borders of the U.S. with hateful policies of separation and deportation. Now he is exporting his vitriol to Israel/Palestine by denying the very existence of Palestinian refugees…" Rabbi Joseph Berman, JVPhttps://t.co/zqTJPPHOYl
— JewishVoiceForPeace (@jvplive) August 29, 2018
Since its inception, UNRWA has worked with governments on interim measures in anticipation of a “just resolution” to the Palestinian refugee question.
In January, the United States cut $300m out of $350m in funding for UNRWA, which forced the UN body to slash jobs and scale back its operations, much to the consternation of Palestinian employees and those who rely on its services.
Hugely disappointing and counterproductive as Palestinian children head #backtoschool. #UNRWA provides essential services such as health & education and is a bulwark against further instability & radicalisation.https://t.co/L5ysID9d9E
— The Elders (@TheElders) August 30, 2018
The Donald Trump administration has made no secret of its hostile view of UNRWA. In emails leaked to Foreign Policy magazine earlier this month, Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, described the agency in January as “corrupt, inefficient, and doesn’t help peace”.
During his visit to Jordan last June, Kushner reportedly pushed for the refugee status of the two million Palestinians registered in the country to be dissolved.
(AJE, PC, Social Media)
