ВОЗВРАТ                                         

   
February N2, 2011    

     
 
UNRWA and it support by our tax money                             

 
 

Dear Representative Eric Cantor,

Eliminating spending on programs that bring no benefit whatsoever to American taxpayers should be the first order of business for the new Congress. Eliminating the financing of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) by American taxpayers at the annual cost of $268 million is a perfect example. The 20th century had the unfortunate distinction of seeing the number of worldwide refugees explode to unprecedented levels. After Russian revolution of 1917, more than two million people fled the country. Among the millions of people displaced by World War II, millions of Germans were expelled from parts of their country that were annexed by the USSR, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Millions of Poles had to leave the eastern part of their country that was annexed by the USSR. The fate of these refugees was still far better than the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. Since the early 1970s nearly two million Soviet Jews left the USSR due to government persecution. People like us, who came to USA, were able to start a new life with the help of the American Jewish community. Not a penny came from the UN.

Unlike the other refugees of the 20th century who were either expelled against their will or were fleeing persecution, several hundred thousand Arabs chose to flee from the fledgling State of Israel as it was fighting for its life against the armies of five Arab nations in 1948. They settled in neighboring Arab countries, such as Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, from which many of their ancestors moved to Palestine over the course of the previous centuries. While these refugees needed help, a reasonable period would have been one or two years. In 1950, the UN created UNRWA to help the Arab refugees of Palestine but not for the larger number - more then 800,000 - Jewish refugees from Arab countries who fled to Israel). Strangely, both UNRWA and the so-called “refugees” are still around 60 years later. Its budget for year 2010 is $1.23 billion (or which $268 million comes from the US). Currently 26,000 people are employed by UNRWA -among whom are members of Hamas and other terrorist organizations. One may ask why today, 62 years after Israel War of Independence against the surrounding Arab states, there still exist so-called “Palestinians refugees”. The answer is obvious - while UNRWA subsidizes and employs “refugees” there will continue to be people who claim that status. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of the people who call themselves Palestinians “refugees” today were not alive during the 1948 war. These people claim refugee status based solely upon what happened to their ancestors 62 years ago.

The central purpose of the continued cultivation of the Palestinian “refugee” problem by the UN and the Arab countries where they live is to perpetuate the continued jihad against the State of Israel. These people have been robbed of opportunities for a normal life and are confined to squalid refugee camps. This propagates the sense of victimhood which in turn leads to terrorism. Is this the best use for American tax dollars?

I am asking you to stop the financing UNRWA by American taxpayers.

Boris Gulko

11-24-2010

                                                                                                                                          

             Eric Cantor                                                                                       Boris Gulko
  Majority Leader of the                                                                U.S. International Grandmaster in chess
  United States House of Representatives
   (since January 3, 2011)

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