FYI: REFUGEES IN ISRAEL

UNRWA said 17,000, in these two great paragraphs from their 1950 report:

REFUGEES IN ISRAEL

30. In Israel, the Agency has provided relief to two types of refugees, Jews who fled inside the borders of Israel during the fighting, and Arabs in most instances displaced from one area in Palestine to another. Jewish refugees at first numbered 17,000 but, during the current summer, all but 3,000 of these have been absorbed into the economic life of the new State. Arabs on relief were first numbered at 31,000 but many have been placed in circumstances in which they are self-supporting, so that it was possible to reduce the number to 24,000 at the end of August 1950.
31. Recent discussions with the Israel Government indicate that the idea of relief distribution is repugnant to it, and the Agency was informed that already many of the 24,000 remaining refugees were employed and that all able-bodied refugees desiring employment could be absorbed on works projects if they would register at the government registry offices for that purpose. It was stated that they all have status as citizens of Israel and are entitled to treatment as such. It was claimed that after cessation of relief, aged and infirm refugees would be cared for under the normal social welfare machinery of Israel. The Agency was requested to share financially in a programme of re-establishment of displaced Arabs now within the boundaries of Israel.

Comment:It is worthwhile to read the entire UNWRA document mentioned in this blog as it provides perspective for the ongoing issue of ME refugees. I suggest every responsible person interested in this topic become better informed-simply put, governments make policy based upon beliefs and these come from interesting sources. Here is an exerpt from the UN 1950 document:


Chapter I


HISTORICAL

4. With the ending of the British Mandate war broke out in Israel. By July 1948, more than half a million refugees were drifting aimlessly and hopelessly in the neighbouring Arab States, and the bitterness engendered threatened to destroy any hope that the work of the United Nations Mediator on Palestine could be carried out successfully. The Arab nations themselves fed and cared for refugees of Arab nationality in the early months, but the problem was too great for their limited resources. The Mediator appealed to all nations for assistance for the refugees on humanitarian grounds. By August, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) had made a substantial contribution in money, and its personnel was in the field during the following month. The Mediator then established a disaster relief project and available supplies were distributed by many voluntary agencies which performed an outstanding service to humanity.

5. It was soon observed that co-ordination of relief activities was necessary because of the magnitude of the task, so the General Assembly, in resolution 212 (III) adopted on 19 November 1948, set up the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees (UNRPR) as an Agency to do this in conjunction with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the League of the Red Cross Societies (LRCS) and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). The three last named organizations undertook to carry out the distribution of relief supplies procured by the United Nations for the refugees, then estimated at 700,000. UNICEF continued its supply of food and medicine to children and pregnant mothers, UNRPR being responsible for distribution. These several organizations carried out a splendid work, about which the world knows all too little, until it was handed over to UNRWAPRNE on 1 May 1950. Suffice it to say that in spite of all the difficulties and frustrations experienced, refugees in hundreds of thousands were fed, clothed and housed without serious physical deterioration or the incidence of epidemics. Many other voluntary groups have assisted, and continue to assist, in feeding and caring for the refugees. The number of such organizations is too great to permit of their separate mention, but their noble effort is publicly acknowledged and grateful appreciation expressed herewith. A list of them, possibly incomplete, is set out in appendix 1.