[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] Honor/shame and UNRWA budget cuts

I found this Ma'an article to be interesting:

Hundreds of Palestinian refugees on Sunday staged a sit-in in front of the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City to protest a reduction in services provided by the UN agency.
The sit-in was the second Sunday protest in a row, as refugees in Gaza faces cuts to health and educational services.

Protesters waved flags and posters as they chanted slogans slamming the reduction of UN services.

“We want schools! Stop the policy of humiliation and contempt!” the protesters chanted.

Notice that the slogans aren't about the importance of education, but that cutting services is the equivalent of humiliation.

The sign in this file photo says "We are not beggars! We have rights," again putting the issue in terms of humiliation and shame.

The subtext is that Palestinian Arabs have the right to unlimited funds from the West, and to not get billions of dollars is humiliating.

The Palestinian Authority is publicly saying that it is not their responsibility to educate their own people whom they call "refugees."

Secretary-General of the Palestinian Cabinet, Ali Abu Diak, Sunday rejected UNRWA’s proposal to postpone the start of the new academic year for over half a million students across the Middle East for a period of four months due to severe finical crisis.

He called on the UN, and the rest of the world countries to uphold their responsibilities toward Palestinian refugees’ issue

Abu Diak stressed the need for UNRWA to resume its work and provision of assistance to Palestinian refugees as long as there is no political solution to the refugees’ issue on the basis of international legitimacy resolutions, particularly resolution 194; the right of return and compensation.

The argument is not based on humanitarian concerns but on "rights" that simply don't exist. They aren't asking for money because they cannot afford schooling and medical care for their kids; they are demanding money because they believe that the world owes it to them, forever.

Meanwhile, Jordan has told the world not to expect them to pick up the slack for educating their own Palestinian Arab citizens.

Minister of Education Dr. Mohammad Thunaibat said that the Ministry of Education does not have the ability to accept UNRWA schools students in its schools. He said that Jordan is already stretched thin because of the many Syrian refugees that it has accepted.

But this begs the question of why there is a parallel UNRWA school system in Jordan to begin with for students who are nearly all full Jordanian citizens?





--
Posted By Elder of Ziyon to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 8/03/2015 10:00:00 AM