Speech #890119774

Under the auspices of the United Nations. and largely with the financial support of the United States. an international body was created to provide the essentials of life. the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. It is not my intent today to consider how this unfortunate situation was brought about. but what can be done in order to alleviate it. It has been asked many times exactly how much a solution to the problem of the Arab refugees would contribute to stability and progress in the Middle East. The answer. of course. isa great deal. for the fact that it is inextricably associated with the general problem of ArabIsrael relations means that a solution to this one subordinate issue would inevitably create the political climate which would permit further negotiations and perhaps a final and amicable settlement of the areas major problem. Although the number of refugees grows every year. partially the result of a natural population increase. and partially the result of publicly admitted irregularities in the registration of deaths and other changes in the rolls which the Arabs exploit. it is now an established fact that over half of the registered refugees are under the age of 18. This is of tremendous significance. for the only knowledge of Israel which they possess is secondhand and often from elders who in reality are not refugees themselves. Many quite obviously feel no desire to return to a country which has no direct and immediate meaning to them. They have been fed. clothed. and educated in another country. and they show a far greater interest in the future than in a nebulous past. The result is that the skills which the United Nations and additional private welfare agencies have taught the younger refugees are being increasingly used by them in order to obtain employment in other cities and countries in the Middle East. It Is on this base that I think the United States as well as the other contributors can play an important role in helping to bring about a meaningful change in the present and future status of the refugees. We have already stipulated that 5 percent of our contribution to UNRWA should be allocated to the education budget. recently Great Britain joined us in this program to increase the amount of funds devoted to education. technical training and assistance for selfsupport. It Is obvious that we cannot immediately cease to help in the care of nearly 1 million Individuals. but. we can seek to persuade the host governments. the U.N. and others to concentrate their programs increasingly to works rather than relief. We can aim our aid at constructive development of abilities ratherthe burdening support of what it is. in actuality. a manifestation of Arab aggression. For the Arab cause against Israel. refugees are literally created to pursue an often erroneous right to return to that country. At the same time. the refugee problem Increases because of Arab refusal to negotiate or live in peace. The experience of the United States as well as Europe is that a person who is trained in a specific skill has the tremendous advantage of mobility. and a greatly increased opportunity for employment. This is no less true of the Middle East. where many skills are still lacking. The young people of the refugee camps and villages want to enter the main stream of modern life. as is indicated by their tremendous desire to attend the recently created vocational schools.. Yet. these schools are financed by extrabudgetary funds. I think that it is time that a new effort was made to rechannel the allocations and contributions of the countries who assist in the care of the refugees. we should take advantage of this honest desire for the young people to become constructive and selfsupporting members of society. and expand the facilities available for them to achieve this goal. which will enable them to settle where there is a chance for them to become useful citizens. In this way. we shall help to make a positive contribution toward the peace and stability of the Middle East. We will help to remove one of the major obstacles to better relations between the Israelis and Arabs. and at the same time help to provide the talent and skills which will in the long run contribute most to the selfsustained economic development of the whole Middle East.