U.N. Information on Palestinian Refugees

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Please see especially “U.N. Information on Palestinian Refugees” and “General Arab Population + Income Stats”

The Suggested Answers to the Short Quiz in the Preceding Section on “Participant Comments” traced the history of Israel-Palestine for the last 2,000 years – AND ENDED WITH THE OBSERVATION THAT MERE “COST EFFECTIVENESS” WOULD DICTATE THAT THE UNITED STATES OFFER TO MAKE EACH PALESTINIAN REFUGEE (WOMAN, MAN OR CHILD) A MILLIONAIRE ON CONDITION THAT S/HE USE THE MONEY TO LEAVE THE REFUGEE CAMPS AND GET A REAL LIFE!!! BECAUSE DECIDING (EVEN UNCONSCIOUSLY) TO LET THIS SITUATION FESTER FOR ANOTHER 60 YEARS WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY END SOONER IN A NUCLEAR BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON PRODUCING A WORLDWIDE “TWILIGHT OF THE HUMANS”!!!

The 9/28/2009 posting on “U.N. Information on Palestinian Refugees” takes a look at the United Nation’s own web site for the U.N. Relief and Agency Works which, since 1950, has registered the Palestinian refugees and run refugee camps for them. In 1950, there were only 750,000 Palestinian refugees. Today, they have multiplied to 4.6 million – with 1.3 million of that total living in the U.N. refugee camps in near-abject poverty and the remainder faring little better. The U.N. camps are located in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza.

The 10/4/2009 posting on “General Arab Population + Income Stats” estimates that to raise the standard-of-living of the 4.6 million Palestinian refugees to the level prevailing in the 12 countries in the Arab League whose economies are not primarily based on oil, would require annual underwriting of $6 billion/year.

HOWEVER, WHAT WAS INTENDED BY THE OFF-HAND THOUGHT OF MAKING PALESTINIAN REFUGEES MILLIONAIRES WAS TO DO MORE THAN SIMPLY GIVE THE PALESTINIANS A “COUNTRY” COMPRISING THE WEST BANK AND GAZA – WITH ALL THE PALESTINIAN REFUGEES CONTINUING TO LIVE IN POVERTY IN THE REFUGEE CAMPS!!!

Obviously what is needed is more than a “land for peace” deal – SOMEONE NEEDS TO DESIGN AN ECONOMIC PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE THE REFUGEES OUT OF THEIR CAMPS AND MAKE THEM PROSPEROUS!!!

The “first step” was the estimate of how much it would cost/year to simply raise the standard of living of the Palestinian refugees to the level prevailing in the other 12 non-oil Arab countries at $6 billion/year.

Now think about what could be accomplished if you took that amount of money for, say, 10 years and designed a real economic-development program for all 4.6 million Palestinian refugees – bringing all of them together in the New Palestine (or how many ever of them can be enticed to leave the refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria). AFTER ALL, $6 BILLION/YEAR FOR 10 YEARS IS ONLY 33% OF GIVING EGYPT $3 BILLION/YEAR OF FOREIGN ECONOMIC AID AND ISRAEL $3 BILLION/YEAR OF FOREIGN ECONOMIC AID BEGINNING IN 1979 WHEN THEY SIGNED THEIR PEACE AGREEMENT – AND WE ARE STILL GIVING BOTH CLOSE TO THAT 30 YEARS LATER!!!

As a “ball park” estimate of what would be required, let’s assume that half of the 4.6 million Palestinian refugees are minors and that what we should be doing is providing each of them with a good education that will equip them to compete successfully in the modern world, and let’s assume that the other half are adults who, with some basic training, could handle the jobs that would go with economic development – construction, irrigation, agriculture, manufacturing, etc. If a careful assessment were made about what the comparative strengths would be for the new country of Palestine (assuming appropriate education for minors and training for adults), it should be possible to get rid of the refugee camps and bring prosperity to the Palestinians.

Unfortunately, it does not appear that anyone is giving any thought to doing this!!! Instead, everyone appears to be taking the attitude toward the Palestinians – “You can have your own country if you stop bothering everyone else” – BUT THAT WON’T SOLVE THE REAL PROBLEM!!!
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johnkarls
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U.N. Information on Palestinian Refugees

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http://www.un.org/unrwa/refugees
United Nations Relief and Works Agency

(Reading Liberally Editorial Note = The following is verbatim from the United Nations/UNRWA web site.)

WHO IS A PALESTINE REFUGEE?

Under UNRWA's operational definition, Palestine refugees are persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948, who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. UNRWA's services are available to all those living in its area of operations who meet this definition, who are registered with the Agency and who need assistance. The descendants of the original Palestine Refugees are also eligible for registration. When the agency became operational in 1950, it was responding to the needs of about 750,000 Palestine refugees. Today, 4.6 million Palestine refugees are eligible for UNRWA services.

WHERE DO THE REFUGEES LIVE?

One-third of the registered Palestine refugees, about 1.3 million, live in 58 recognized refugee camps in the area of operations in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

A camp, according to UNRWA's working definition, is a plot of land placed at the disposal of UNRWA by the host government for accommodating Palestine refugees and for setting up facilities to cater to their needs. Areas not designated as such are not considered camps. However, UNRWA also maintains schools, health centres and distributions centres in areas outside camps where Palestine refugees are concentrated, such as Yarmouk near Damascus.

The plots of land on which camps were set up are either state land or, in most cases, land leased by the host government from local landowners. This means that the refugees in camps do not "own" the land on which their shelters were built, but have the right to "use" the land for a residence.

UNRWA's responsibility in the camps is limited to providing services and administering its installations. The Agency does not own, administer or police the camps as this is the responsibility of the host authorities. UNRWA has a camp services office in each camp, which the residents visit to update their records or to raise issues relating to Agency services with the Camp Services Officer (CSO). The CSO, in turn, refers refugee concerns and petitions to the UNRWA administration in the area in which the camp is located.

Ten of the camps were established in the aftermath of the June 1967 war and the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, to accommodate a new wave of displaced persons, both refugees and non-refugees.

Socio-economic conditions in the camps are generally poor with a high population density, cramped living conditions and inadequate basic infrastructure such as roads and sewers.

The other two-thirds of the registered refugees live in and around the cities and towns of the host countries, and in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, often in the environs of official camps. While most of UNRWA's installations such as schools and health centres are located in refugee camps, a number are outside camps and all of the Agency's services are available to both camp and non-camp residents.


REFUGEE CAMP PROFILES

JORDAN REFUGEE CAMP PROFILES
CAMP NUMBER OFREGISTERED REFUGEES
Baqa'a 93,916
Amman New Camp 51,443
Marka 45,593
Jabal el-Hussein 29,464
Irbid 25,250
Husn 22,194
Zarqa 18,509
Souf 20,142
Jerash 24,090
Talbieh 6,970
+ 70 refugees distributed throughout the camps.

LEBANON REFUGEE CAMP PROFILES
CAMP NUMBER OFREGISTERED REFUGEES
Mar Elias 615
Burj el-Barajneh 16,066
Dbayeh 4,048
Shatila 8,645
Ein el-Hilweh 47,614
Mieh Mieh 4,683
El-Buss 9,849
Rashidieh 27,521
Burj el-Shemali 19,771
Nahr el-Bared N/A
Beddawi 16,591
Wavel 7,909
Total 222,776
+ 10,246 refugees distributed throughout the camps.

SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
REFUGEE CAMP PROFILES
CAMP NUMBER OFREGISTERED REFUGEES
Khan Eshieh 19,059
Khan Dunoun 9,788
Sbeineh 21,210
Qabr Essit 22,348
Jaramana 18,740
Dera'a 13,342
Homs 22,034
Hama 8,263
Neirab 18,955
Total 153,739

WEST BANK REFUGEE CAMP PROFILES
CAMP NUMBER OFREGISTERED REFUGEES
Aqabat Jabr 6,403
Ein el-Sultan 1,920
Shu'fat 10,936
Am'ari 10,520
Kalandia 10,981
Deir Ammar 2,384
Jalazone 11,182
Fawwar 8,066
Arroub 10,444
Dheisheh 12,954
Aida 4,787
Beit Jibrin 1,078
Far'a 7,632
Camp No.1 6,750
Askar 15,887
Balata 23,600
Tulkarm 18,310
Nur Shams 9,163
Jenin 16,209
Total 189,188

GAZA REFUGEE CAMP PROFILES
CAMP NUMBER OFREGISTERED REFUGEES
Jabalia 107,590
Rafah 98,872
Beach 82,009
Nuseirat 62,117
Khan Younis 68,324
Bureij 31,360
Maghazi 23,981
Deir el-Balah 20,753
Total 494,296
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