[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: The international community typically aids in
solving refugee problems on a humanitarian basis by assisting in absorbing
the refugees in host countries. But the welfare of Palestinian refugees and
their progeny of several generations has taken second place to their role as
pawns in the ongoing struggle against the Zionist identity (aka Jewish
state, aka Israel).

And that's where UNRWA comes in, helping to feed, cloth, educate, etc.
these political pawns (with a payment system designed to encourage one of
the highest birth rates in the world to help increase the number of
Palestinian pawns) .

From an institutional standpoint its a win-win situation. After all, if the
refugees, their children, grandchildren and now great grandchildren were
formally absorbed then the folks making a career working for UNRWA would be
unemployed.. ]

UNRWA
Press Release
UNRWA, New York

18 Sept 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EMBARGOED UNTIL 14h30 GMT / 17h30 Jerusalem time

World leaders pay tribute
To the United Nations Relief and Works Agency
On its sixtieth anniversary

United Nations, 18 September 2009: The United Nations Relief and Works
Agency, UNRWA, has announced a week-long series of events beginning in New
York next week to mark the 60th anniversary of its creation. These include
the unveiling of a commemorative banner that will adorn the façade of the
iconic UN General Assembly building by the President of the Palestinian
Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Deputy Secretary General, Asha-Rose
Migiro.

The centrepiece of the week is a Ministerial Level Event on September 24 at
which governments will pledge support for UNRWA and pay tribute to six
decades of achievement and service to the world's largest and longest
standing refugee population and to the Palestine refugees themselves.

In addition, there will be academic conferences at Columbia University and
the Princeton Club on UNRWA's humanitarian role in current peace efforts and
an assessment of the Agency's contribution to human capital in the Middle
East.

The Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, commended UNRWA as a "symbol of the
international community's determination to end the state of limbo the
Palestine refugees endure", and praised the Agency's staff for its
"dedication and courage". He is expected to warn of "painful" cuts in UNRWA
services and call on the General Assembly to "look again" at its
responsibilities and put the Agency on a firm financial foundation.

Looking forward to the High Level Event, UNRWA Commissioner-General, Karen
AbuZayd said, "This is an occasion for reflection on why after sixty years
of exile and dispossession, millions of Palestine refugees remains
stateless. With increasing talk about an emerging peace deal, let us all
recommit ourselves to finding a peaceful solution in which the tragic
situation of the refugees will be resolved". "This week is also an
opportunity for UNRWA to tell the world about its achievements. The war in
Gaza and our continued presence side by side with the people there may have
raised some headlines. During this coming week we want to remind the world
of the less-publicised work we do day in and day out for a refugee
population larger than the populations of over a third of the UN's member
states," said AbuZayd. "That is UNRWA's lasting contribution to peace".

UNRWA has published a commemorative book in which nearly one hundred
statesmen and women pay tribute to its work. President Mahmoud Abbas praises
the Agency for its role as a "stabilizing force" and commends UNRWA for
"ameliorating the plight of the Palestine refugees by giving them
"protection, hope and a sense of human dignity". The US Secretary of State,
Hilary Rodham Clinton, gives her support to the Agency, which has been
confronting "difficult and challenging circumstances", working "tirelessly .
to ensure the dignity and human development of those they serve". Her
Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan says, "We owe so much to UNRWA.
Their selflessness and perseverance in the face of indescribable adversity
have kept Palestine refugees alive for sixty years: healing their wounds,
sustaining their bodies, nourishing their minds and giving them hope in
their darkest hours".

UNRWA provides education to half a million children in approximately 650
schools across the Middle East and maintains 138 health centres in Gaza, the
West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. In addition, it runs extensive relief,
social services and microfinance programmes in the region.

Ends

MEDIA ARRANGEMENTS
For media enquiries or interviews with UNRWA's Commissioner-General, please
contact:

Chris Gunness, UNRWA Spokesperson: (+972) 542 402 659
Michael Balz, UNRWA Public Information Officer: (+1) 646 522 5693
Shymaa El-Ansary, UN Department of Public Information (+1) 917 367 2753,
e-mail: el-ansarys@un.org

Journalists without UN accreditation who wish to attend the event should
follow the instructions for obtaining accreditation at:
www.un.org/media/accreditation

For more information, please also visit:
www.un.org/unrwa/newyork