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Last update - 19:16 08/02/2009
Ex-UNRWA official blasts agency for politicizing Palestinian refugee issue
By Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Palestinians, UNRWA 


A former top legal official with the United Nations relief agency charged with providing for Palestinian refugees - UNRWA - issued a report last week critical of some of the organization's practices, accusing the organization of preoccupying itself with the political aspects of the refugee issue.

James Lindsay, who served as UNRWA's legal advisor and general counsel from 2002 until 2007, said the agency needs to adopt reforms if it is to adequately address concerns that it has politicized the Palestinian refugee issue.
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Among Lindsay's recommendations are the need to end UNRWA assistance to hundreds of thousands of Jordanian citizens who qualify as refugees; shifting from a "status-based" system - whereby anyone who was defined as a refugee received aid even though he or she was more well-off than others - to a "needs-based" system of aid delivery; avoid involvement in political affairs; conduct more stringent background checks on its employees so it does not hire Palestinians who are members of terrorist organizations; and to enable those who wish to leave refugee camps to do so by expanding loans.

An UNRWA spokesman slammed the report, accusing the author of bias and a failure to employ a sufficiently wide range of sources.

"The agency is disappointed by the findings of the study, found it to be tendentious and partial, and regrets in particular the narrow range of sources used," Andrew Whitley, director of the UNRWA representative office at UN headquarters in New York, said.

"The study ignores the context in which UNRWA operates and the tight line the agency walks due to various pressures," Whitley said. "Someone reading this paper with no background would assume that the Israeli government was a benign actor. No mention is made of the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip."

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      1.   James Lindsay is wrong 06:14  |  Marilyn 08/02/09
      2.   Very soon Pres. Obama will take care of Palestinians 06:18  |  Natallie Durson 08/02/09
      3.   Hamas hates UNRWA also 06:57  |  AJ 08/02/09
      4.   UNRWA - Jerking at the Knee Again 07:24  |  Eli Wapniarski 08/02/09
      5.   EXCUSE ME?!? "Occupation of Gaza` ?!?!?!?! 07:56  |  amir 08/02/09
      6.   3.5 yrs past Disengagement, and UNRWA speaks of "Gaza Occupation" 08:26  |  Robert 08/02/09
      7.   MARYLIN Please send photos of Pals who have starved to death 08:30  |  PETER SM 08/02/09
      8.   UNRWA 08:30  |  HAL 08/02/09
      9.   Slowly but surely ... 08:34  |  Meir 08/02/09
      10.   Natalie - myopic again 08:42  |  Magpie 08/02/09
      11.   What James Lindsay Understands that Whitely 09:16  |  Brad 08/02/09
      12.   Marily, at least try to be serious !!! 10:17  |  Silvia 08/02/09
      13.   How much did Israel pay for Lindsay`s words? Soon we`ll know 10:52  |  John Pilgrim 08/02/09
      14.   To Silvia 12 10:58  |  Noam 08/02/09
      15.   His report is utter nonsense ..... 11:14  |  NP 08/02/09
      16.   Looks like Cambodia to me, but . . . 13:05  |  Zev Davis 08/02/09
      17.   Noam, the Pals smuggle rockets 13:23  |  Robert 08/02/09
      18.   #1 and #12 13:28  |  busetibi 08/02/09
      19.   The Study ignores the contex... 14:05  |  Abecassis 08/02/09
      20.   Sorry #12..... 14:07  |  busetibi 08/02/09
      21.   #14 Noam 15:17  |  Moshe 08/02/09
      22.   #1 - Marilyn 18:34  |  MichaelF 08/02/09
      23.   Andrew Whitley`s Uninformed Comments 18:39  |  MichaelF 08/02/09
      24.   #9 Meir to add, Lindsey also has 175 cases 20:45  |  Lynn 08/02/09
      25.   #1 said before 12:44  |  Rab Burns 10/02/09
      26.   UNRWA 17:20  |  Joe Kelsall 10/02/09
      27.   UNRWA is a disgrace 01:25  |  charles soper 11/02/09
      28.   UNRWA created a monster 13:09  |  Lola 27/02/09
      29.   Do UNRWA schools teach Palestinian teens about the Holocaust? 03:55  |  Guy 23/11/09
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