Question 4. Under the United Nations are Palestinians treated the same as any other refugees? If you answered “No”, congratulations. During the 20th century millions of refugees were created by war. The largest displaced populations were the result of World War 2 and the break-up of India which led to the creation of Pakistan. Many millions of people were displaced and resettled. These refugees came under the UNHCR, whose purpose is secure the safety of refugees and to resettle them. All of these refugees were resettled, often in a different country to their home one. Once resettled, they stopped being refugees. Furthermore, their children could not claim refugee status. As a result of the 1948 Middle East conflict approximately 750,000 Arab refugees and 850,000 Jewish refugees were created. The Jews came under the UNHCR and were resettled, mostly in modern day Israel, although some went to other countries such as the United States. For political reasons, the UN created UNWRA just to look after the Arab refugees. UNWRA works under different rules to the UNHCR. The Arab refugees are considered to be refugees in perpetuity, as are all of their descendants. This creates a unique situation where Arab refugees who have been resettled in another country, gained citizenship of that country, and have successful careers are still considered to be refugees, and their children, who have never known conflict, are also refugees. That is why today there are approximately 6 million such refugees out of an initial approximately 750,000, and the number will keep climbing until UNWRA’s mandate is no longer renewed. In 1964 these Arab refugees were renamed “Palestinians”. The situation is bizarre, but suits the politics of those trying to destroy Israel, the country of the indigenous Jews, and ensures that the conflict does not end. The enormous financial cost of UNWRA is born by Western countries. [Photograph: Middle Eastern Jewish refugees]