Is UNRWA political?The UNRWA has been subject to political headwinds since its inception, especially during periods of heightened tension between Palestinians and Israelis.While it is a UN organisation and thus ostensibly apolitical, it has frequently been criticized by Palestinians, Israelis, as well as donor countries, including the United States, for acting politically.The UNRWA performs statelike functions across its five fields, including education, health, and infrastructure, but it is restricted in its mandate from performing political or security activities.Initial Palestinian objections to the UNRWA stemmed from the organization’s early focus on the economic integration of refugees into host states.Although the UNRWA officially adhered to the UN General Assembly’s Resolution 194 that called for the return of Palestine refugees to their homes, UN, UK, and US officials searched for means by which to resettle and integrate Palestinians into host states, viewing this as the favourable political solution to the Palestinian refugee situation and the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In this sense, Palestinians perceived the UNRWA to be both highly political and actively working against their interests.In later decades, the UNRWA switched its primary focus from jobs to education at the urging of Palestinian refugees. But the UNRWA’s education materials were viewed by Israel as further feeding Palestinian militancy, and the Israeli government insisted on checking and approving all materials in Gaza and the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967.While Israel has long been suspicious of the UNRWA’s role in refugee camps and in providing education, the organization’s operation, which is internationally funded, also saves Israel millions of dollars each year in services it would be obliged to deliver as the occupying power.Since the 1960s, the US—UNRWA’s primary donor—and other Western countries have repeatedly expressed their desire to use aid to prevent radicalization among refugees.In response to the increased presence of armed opposition groups, the US attached a provision to its UNRWA aid in 1970, requiring that
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