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Conflict in the Middle East

Why do Palestinian refugees have a separate refugee agency?

318 replies

Oodiks · 19/10/2024 20:49

Why is it that all other refugees come under the protection of the UNCHR and are resettled in another country if they cannot return home, but UNWRA keeps Palestinians in camps all over the Middle East and they are never offered the chance to resettle in their host countries?

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Lolapusht · 22/10/2024 09:58

www.nbcnews.com/news/world/gaza-plagued-poverty-hamas-no-shortage-cash-come-rcna121099 www.nbcnews.com/news/world/gaza-plagued-poverty-hamas-no-shortage-cash-come-rcna121099]]]]

Quite a good round up of Hamas wealth/funding.

Of course Palestinians need aid, but they’re not getting it and haven’t been getting it for decades. As long as Hamas is in power, they will funnel finance to fill their own coffers. UNWRA is totally failing the very people it is there to help. The international community keeps throwing money at UNRWA and it keeps being diverted away from those that need it.

Everything keeps being destroyed and being rebuilt. What was Israel meant to do after 7/10? Not go into Gaza, leave the hostages there for however long, let the perpetrators escape and just wait for the next attack?

These threads are always full of “Israel is committing genocide…Israel needs to stop…we must stop arming Israel”. Where are the calls for Hamas to be removed from power? Or for UNRWA to be disbanded and replaced with an organisation that actually helps Palestinians (and that will take years as the indoctrination of Jew hatred pretty much from birth via UNRWA schools needs to be stopped)? Israel seems to be expected to care more about the Palestinians than Hamas does. Why is that? Do people just think Hamas are incapable of basic humanity, are lesser somehow and as such can’t be held to a similar value system to ourselves? Surely the options are either that Hamas are inferior to “us” or, if they’re equal, they are murderous maniacs that need to be removed from a position of power? Why are people demanding Israel stops, but Hamas is allowed to continue?

Dulra · 22/10/2024 08:45

SharonEllis · 22/10/2024 07:14

Hamas on the other hand openly admits it expects UNWRA to look after its population while it spends the huge wealth it gets from taxing its population, criminal activities and aid from other places on swanky houses for its leadership and hundreds of millions on building its huge underground tunnel network and on arms to attack Israel. Unlike Israel & the United States neither recipient or key donors publish their figures though, so its hard to tell. You can look up the 100s of millions that go to UNWRA though.

Hamas on the other hand openly admits it expects UNWRA to look after its population
I will take your word for this but if you had a link to it I would be interested in reading it. Hamas are a terrorist organisation and like most similar organisations I am sure they are well embedded in the criminal and drug underworld to support and finance their activities and lifestyles.

You can look up the 100s of millions that go to UNWRA though.
What is the purpose of this comment? Whether you mean to or not it feels like you don't think UNWRA should be receiving this funding to support and sustain people in Gaza? Whether we like it or not the blockade and a useless governing body does mean support is needed like it is in many countries that we provide humanitarian assistence to. Their infrastructure has been continually destroyed for decades it costs a lot to rebuild, Gaza is now pretty much flattened with nearly every piece of infrastructure required to sustain a population, never mind enable them to flourish and thrive, is destroyed, so billions upon billons will now be needed to rebuild.

SharonEllis · 22/10/2024 07:14

Hamas on the other hand openly admits it expects UNWRA to look after its population while it spends the huge wealth it gets from taxing its population, criminal activities and aid from other places on swanky houses for its leadership and hundreds of millions on building its huge underground tunnel network and on arms to attack Israel. Unlike Israel & the United States neither recipient or key donors publish their figures though, so its hard to tell. You can look up the 100s of millions that go to UNWRA though.

Lalaloveya · 22/10/2024 07:09

Oodiks · 22/10/2024 01:35

No thoughts for the peace loving Israelis who were murdered and raped and kidnapped using information from Palestinians invited into their homes?

What?! This thread is ridiculous. The last 3 questions I've been asked are proof of that.

SharonEllis · 22/10/2024 06:45

Daftasabroom · 21/10/2024 23:06

@Lolapusht how much aid does Israel receive each year? How much is either in direct military aid or spent on the military?

I suspect you are well aware that prior to 7/11 it was $3.8 billion per annum.

Yes, that's correct. Spent mostly on defensive capabilities including the Iron Dome which was put in place to defend Israel & Israelis from persistent rocket fire from Hezbollah, Hamas & others & to defend against larger scale attacks from Iran (& anyone else) who has long promised to destroy Israel. Defense is very expensive, though Hamas don't seem to have invested in it at all. I'm not sure what your point is?

GhostCicada · 22/10/2024 01:41

No, I don't 'get it' because as you know I haven't denied anyone's history.

Why are you avoiding my question? For someone who is so keen to preserve history I would have thought you would be keen to correct yourself and acknowledge Israels role in the purposeful, repeated destruction of Gazas infrastructure in order to, in the word of Eli Yishai, blow Gaza back to the Middle Ages.

How exactly did Israel manage to destroy bridges, thousands of homes, hundreds of UN shelters, tens of mosques, many government buildings, media offices, financial institutions, hospitals and health centers, two stadiums, a training center for disabled athletes, water and sewage and electricity networks, more than 100 schools, and innumerable roads in 2012 when according to you they just didn't bother building any infrastructure?

But yeah sure only Hamas are to blame for Palestinians not having 'sustainable lives'. I'm sure we will hear the same thing in another 10 years time if Israel doesn't decide to resettle Gaza this time, ignore the damage Israel does, the immense work it takes just to make Gaza habitable when Israel are finished 'blowing it back to the Middle Ages' and wonder why a place under repeated bombings that isn't allowed a port or an airport or even control of what trucks enter isn't a thriving metropolis.

Oodiks · 22/10/2024 01:35

Lalaloveya · 21/10/2024 22:59

I don't think anyone's ever claimed that they are nice guys?

I agree, both are awful.

No thoughts for the peace loving Israelis who were murdered and raped and kidnapped using information from Palestinians invited into their homes?

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Oodiks · 22/10/2024 00:40

GhostCicada · 22/10/2024 00:14

I have no idea what you are talking about. Point out where in my 2 posts on this thread I have 'stolen Jewish history' please?

Then maybe you can address your reasons for omitting Israels repeated destruction of Palestinian infrastructure in your post and instead chose to push the narrative that Palestinians destroyed it themselves and haven't been in a cycle of repeatedly rebuilding it under blockade until Israel destroy it again.

Edited

Are you not at all interested in how Hamas has managed to build tunnels and rockets to fire into Israel, but not to create sustainable lives for the people in Gaza?

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Oodiks · 22/10/2024 00:39

Lalaloveya · 21/10/2024 22:47

How should I know what Hamas should or shouldn't do?

The poster I was talking to essentially denied the blockade. I was reminding them it exists.

So, you don't know whether a 'political' group should help the people it claims to represent? Really?

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Oodiks · 22/10/2024 00:37

GhostCicada · 22/10/2024 00:14

I have no idea what you are talking about. Point out where in my 2 posts on this thread I have 'stolen Jewish history' please?

Then maybe you can address your reasons for omitting Israels repeated destruction of Palestinian infrastructure in your post and instead chose to push the narrative that Palestinians destroyed it themselves and haven't been in a cycle of repeatedly rebuilding it under blockade until Israel destroy it again.

Edited

I guess you didn't read back when you responded to my reply to @Reconciliation's post. Perhaps then you'd get it?

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GhostCicada · 22/10/2024 00:14

I have no idea what you are talking about. Point out where in my 2 posts on this thread I have 'stolen Jewish history' please?

Then maybe you can address your reasons for omitting Israels repeated destruction of Palestinian infrastructure in your post and instead chose to push the narrative that Palestinians destroyed it themselves and haven't been in a cycle of repeatedly rebuilding it under blockade until Israel destroy it again.

Oodiks · 21/10/2024 23:56

Daftasabroom · 21/10/2024 23:06

@Lolapusht how much aid does Israel receive each year? How much is either in direct military aid or spent on the military?

I suspect you are well aware that prior to 7/11 it was $3.8 billion per annum.

7/11? wut

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Oodiks · 21/10/2024 23:56

No, @GhostCicada, I'm pointing out the irony of you stealing centuries of Jewish history for the Palestinian story. Do you not see that?

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Daftasabroom · 21/10/2024 23:06

@Lolapusht how much aid does Israel receive each year? How much is either in direct military aid or spent on the military?

I suspect you are well aware that prior to 7/11 it was $3.8 billion per annum.

Lalaloveya · 21/10/2024 22:59

Oodiks · 21/10/2024 22:53

Because their neighbors, run by Hamas, keep trying to kill them. Nice Israelis near the Gaza border employed their Palestinian neighbors and their Palestinian neighbors used that to gather information for the October 7 massacre. Nice neighbors; nice guys.

I don't think anyone's ever claimed that they are nice guys?

I agree, both are awful.

GhostCicada · 21/10/2024 22:57

Oodiks · 21/10/2024 22:43

You missed the crucial first line of my post, "prior to 1948"

So you are advocating for Israel to end their occupation, apartheid and blockade and allow the formation of a Palestinian state? It doesn't look that way judging by your posts?

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, they left behind infrastructure behind that was destroyed by the people and by Hamas.

Hamas have been in charge that whole time, what have they built for their people?

Here for instance, why are you omitting the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure by Israel? Take the below quote which will look very familiar to what we have heard over the past year. Israel did over 1billion worth of damage to Palestinian infrastructure yet you are acting like Palestinians have all just been sitting around doing nothing or worse smashing it up themselves like they are some kind of savages. Why is that?

On 17 November 2012, four days into Israel’s eight-day assault on the Gaza Strip, deputy Israeli Prime Minister Eli Yishai publicly called for the Israeli army to “blow Gaza back to the Middle Ages, destroying all the infrastructure including roads and water.” The following day, Gilad Sharon, son of former Israeli premier Ariel Sharon, called for Israel to “flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza. There should be no electricity in Gaza, no gasoline or moving vehicles, nothing,” adding, “there is no middle path here – either the Gazans and their infrastructure are made to pay the price, or we reoccupy the entire Gaza Strip” (“A decisive conclusion is necessary,” The Jerusalem Post, 18 November 2012).

Oodiks · 21/10/2024 22:53

Lalaloveya · 21/10/2024 22:48

And imposed a blockade on their neighbours. Nice guys.

Edited

Because their neighbors, run by Hamas, keep trying to kill them. Nice Israelis near the Gaza border employed their Palestinian neighbors and their Palestinian neighbors used that to gather information for the October 7 massacre. Nice neighbors; nice guys.

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Lolapusht · 21/10/2024 22:52

Lalaloveya · 21/10/2024 22:48

And imposed a blockade on their neighbours. Nice guys.

Edited

Focusing on Hamas, do you think they were right to use million of USD of international aid money to construct military infrastructure underneath non-military buildings? Try not to reference Israel in your answer.

Lalaloveya · 21/10/2024 22:48

Lolapusht · 21/10/2024 22:47

What have Hamas built for their people? Miles and miles of tunnels complete with kitchens, bathrooms, data centres, supply routes into Egypt, arms dumps…oh no, wait. The people are not allowed in the tunnels are they? They have to stay between Hamas and the Israeli bombs. One side makes people include bombs shelters when they build a house and the other side turns civilian homes into military targets and refuses to allow the civilians into the tunnels below their feet.

And imposed a blockade on their neighbours. Nice guys.

Lolapusht · 21/10/2024 22:47

Oodiks · 21/10/2024 22:21

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, they left behind infrastructure behind that was destroyed by the people and by Hamas.

Hamas have been in charge that whole time, what have they built for their people?

What have Hamas built for their people? Miles and miles of tunnels complete with kitchens, bathrooms, data centres, supply routes into Egypt, arms dumps…oh no, wait. The people are not allowed in the tunnels are they? They have to stay between Hamas and the Israeli bombs. One side makes people include bombs shelters when they build a house and the other side turns civilian homes into military targets and refuses to allow the civilians into the tunnels below their feet.

Lalaloveya · 21/10/2024 22:47

Oodiks · 21/10/2024 22:44

Somehow Hamas managed to build tunnels for its leaders and its munitions, why not infrastructure for the people?

How should I know what Hamas should or shouldn't do?

The poster I was talking to essentially denied the blockade. I was reminding them it exists.

Oodiks · 21/10/2024 22:44

Lalaloveya · 21/10/2024 22:43

It started back in the early 90s as a form of collective punishment of Gazans. It's intensified since then of course.

I wouldn't say it's "rubbish". It's been pretty devastating actually for those living under it.

Somehow Hamas managed to build tunnels for its leaders and its munitions, why not infrastructure for the people?

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Oodiks · 21/10/2024 22:43

GhostCicada · 21/10/2024 22:35

Israel have a state. The people being denied one are Palestinians, ironically by their occupier Israel so I'm not sure what your point is? You can see how important it is for Israel to have a state so you can surely see how important it is that Israel stops it occupation, apartheid and blockade and allows Palestinians the same rights that everyone else has. You are arguing for something that already exists when you should be advocating for those still without.

You missed the crucial first line of my post, "prior to 1948"

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Lalaloveya · 21/10/2024 22:43

It started back in the early 90s as a form of collective punishment of Gazans. It's intensified since then of course.

I wouldn't say it's "rubbish". It's been pretty devastating actually for those living under it.

Oodiks · 21/10/2024 22:42

inamarina · 21/10/2024 22:35

Also, how did Hamas manage to build over 300 miles of tunnels during the blockade?

Also, couldn't they have built homes and infrastructure for their people?

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