US Defunding of Refugee Organization Implemented

The Trump administration on Friday followed through with its threat to end American support of the United Nations Relief Works Agency – the agency responsible for Palestinian refugees – cutting-off some $300 million in grants already earmarked for projects in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In an angry response, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called the move a “flagrant assault against the Palestinian people and defiance of U.N. resolutions.” The Trump administration recently announced that one of the key factors behind cutting-off UNRWA was its method of certifying those to whom refugee status was being granted. The Palestinians’ starting point was those who left their homes in 1948 when Israel was created to which an endless addition of subsequent generations was added. In a move attributed to presidential adviser Jared Kushner, the administration demanded those added from subsequent generations be removed, a move that would effectively reduce the refugee population by 90 percent. This point was addressed by State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert on Friday when she said the system was “irredeemably flawed.” She explained that “the endlessly and exponentially expanding community of expanding beneficiaries is simply unsustainable and has been in crisis mode for many years.” The EEU has issued new pleas for President Trump to reconsider funding UNRWA, but without success. The Trump administration still plans to provide certain aid to the Palestinians, albeit “re-directed.” While Washington moves closer to revealing its new proposals for a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, the Palestinians continue to move to a more harsh and angry rejection of American involvement in the process. Germany, though, says it will take the lead in finding new funding.