Reply #7: UN not only ignores Arab discrimination against Palestinians, it promotes it [View All]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel,_Palestine,_and_the_United_Nations#Claims_that_the_UN_ignores_Arab_discrimination_against_Palestinians_and_inter-Palestinian_fighting

Claims that the UN ignores Arab discrimination against Palestinians and inter-Palestinian fighting

Main article: Palestinian refugee #Treatment in Arab countries

Half of the Palestinian refugees are located in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Basic human rights of these refugees are violated by these states, notably Lebanon which is accused of violating the right to health, education, work, ownership, travel and even the right to a name,<132>,<133>,<134>.<135><136>, <137>
A three month-long assault by the Lebanese army on the Nahr al-Bared in 2007 camp caused 498 deaths, the destruction of 85% of the infrastructures and 30,000 refugees. The UNRWA report contains no accusation.<138>

The violent takeover of Gaza by Hamas in 2007 has, so far, not been condemned at the UN. In November 2007, PA observer Riad Mansour sought to include a clause "expressing concern about the takeover by illegal militias of Palestinian Authority institutions in June 2007" and calling for the reversal of this situation (...) Reliable diplomatic sources said Mansour was subjected to a barrage of insults, led by the representatives of Egypt, Syria and Libya. The Arab delegates claimed Mansour's initiative would be interpreted as an official UN condemnation of Hamas, and would gain Israel international legitimacy for cutting electricity and fuel supplies to Gaza. Mansour agreed to softer language expressing "concern about an illegal takeover."<139>

Claims that the UN promotes Arab discrimination against Palestinians

Several observers accuse the UN of promoting this discrimination by creating a special status for Palestinian refugees. The IFHR study states:

Because the UNRWA's position consists of the prospect of a conflict resolution leading to the creation of an independent Palestinian State and to the return of the refugees on that territory, as a definitive solution, it tends to justify the Lebanese policies granting the Palestinian refugees only a minimal legal status. In other words, the Palestinian refugees' rights are limited to the right of residence as a condition of the application of UNRWA's humanitarian assistance.<134>

In an online article, the Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees states:

Palestinian Refugees are the only refugees in the world to exist solely under the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and therefore outside the realm of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in their host countries. The consequence of this fact is one many do not comprehend. The Palestinian Refugees become sidelined and marginalized, without hope for any form of protection. (...) Unlike other refugees, they are not protected by the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Both the 1951 Convention and the Statute of UNHCR exclude Palestinian refugees from international Protection.<140>

A 2007 article in the Washington Times states:

UNRWA serves as a crucial tool of legitimacy for the Palestinian refugee issue — as long as the office is active, how could anyone question the Palestinian refugee problem? Thus an oxymoronic situation: Despite the Israeli disengagement from Gaza in 2005 and the creation in 1993 of a Palestinian Authority with jurisdiction over the Palestinian refugee camps in Gaza/West Bank, UNRWA remains the key social, medical, educational and professional service provider for Palestinians living in "refugee" camps. This runs contrary to every principle of normal territorial integrity and autonomy.<141>

A similar argument was published in The Independent <142>