Speech #890121231

In the hope of rendering her fertile valleys a parched wasteland. Today I would like to comment briefly upon a third method being utilized by the Arabs in their methodical effort to bring about strife and bloodshed in the Middle East. I would like to speak briefly about the coldblooded use of the Arab refugees as political pawns In the Arab chess game of aggression. The story of how some 550.000 Arab refugees left their homes in that part of Palestine partitioned to the state of Israel by the United Nations in 1947 is now ancient history. They did not have to leave. They were not driven out. They were welcome to remain and participate in the building of a strong and free new nation in cooperation with the Jewish pioneers. But they chose to relocate in Arab lands. and a number of refugee camps were set up by the United Nations to temporarily assist them in finding new homes and in reshaping their lives. I would like to stress that word "temporarily." It was never intended that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency should remain in existence today. two decades later. having cost a total of over $4 billion. and having cost the taxpayers of the United States over $2 billion. and worst of all. having contributed little more than the preservation of the status quo. In fact. there are over 1 million refugees now under the Jurisdiction of UNRWA. when once there were some 550.000. The refugee rolls have continued to swell as a result of new births. but also because a large number of people who never lived in the territory of what is today Israel have claimed to be refugees in order to get ration cards. Thus the Arab refugee problem is still with us. and the primary reason is that there has been an almost total lack of interest on the part of the Arab States in seeking ways to provide for a permanent solution. The Arab States have adopted an unswerving policy of resistance to all attempts by other countries to provide such a solution. How callous. how base of the Arab States to pitilessly use these stateless. homeless. hopeless people for shortsighted political ends. In order to foster a misguided Arab nationalism. the Arab leaders have on purpose created a festering emotional and political sore which doubtless will cause grave difficulties in the future if nothing is done to heal it. In my capacity as a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. I made an effort to visit these UNRWA refugee camps in 1962. but was advised against doing so. I learned. however. how hostility and hatred had been encouraged for base political reasons. More than half of the refugee population today has grown up in these camps. and therefor.- has little recollection of. or attachment to the home of their parents in Palestine. But the young refugees are constantly reminded by their families and by the nationalist propaganda of the Arab host governments that they are Palestinians. At the same time. many of the older refugees have remained bitter over their status. and some have refused permanent housing. employment. and other means for furthering their relocation. If a final solution is to be found for these homeless refugees. the Arab States must participate willingly in the planning. But the Arabs find it to their advantage to keep these people in the camps. in a temporary and transitory situation. thus refusing to acknowledge that the State of Israel is a permanent addition to the international scene. By keeping these people in the camps. the Arabs foster the illusion that some day the Israelis will be driven out and the territory will revert to the Arab States. Any Arab leader who called for integration of the refugees into other Arab countries. in areas where there is both the space and the need for additional people and the labor and skills which they represent. would be denounced as a traitor to the "cause" that demands the destruction of Israel. Given the intransigence of the Arabs. it appears to me that the refugee problem will be selfperpetuating for many years unless some real progress is made in gradually closing down the camps and relocating the occupants. I submit that the United States can accomplish this transition relatively easily. simply by a gradual phasingout of our financial contribution to the U.N. agency administering the camps. As I pointed out earlier. the United States has. to date. poured over $2 billion into these refugee camps. and we have seen precious little progress for our money. It seems clear to me that as long as we contribute our unlimited resources to the upkeep of these camps. that is how long the Arabs will procrastinate. and that is how long the problem will remain unsolved. If we gradually withdraw our funds. the Arab States will be put on notice that we expect them to take care of their own people to the extent that they are able to do so. They will be put on notice that while humanitarian considerations have induced us to play their game so far. the Congress is in no mood to play it much longer. I introduced an amendment to this years foreign aid authorization bill providing for a reduction of 5 percent per year for the next 20 years in our funding of the refugee camps. This. to me. seemed the best way to gradually phase the camps out of existence. without causing undue burden either upon the refugees or upon the Arab States. A substitute amendment was accepted reducing by 5 percent only this years contribution to UNRWA. I supported the latter amendment. though I do not feel it goes far enough. because I believe it is the first step. the first indication that the Congress of the United States wants swift action toward the dissolution of the refugee camps. But a definitive phasingout program. while absolutely essential. is only one part of a twopronged approach which must be utilized in dealing with this problem. Until we can get the camps closed and the refugees relocated. we must see that a shift in the emphasis of UNRWA programs is accomplished in order to take account of the changes which have taken place over the past few years in the character and age of the refugees. During the first few years. when a majority of the refugees were older people. it was quite logical that the U.N. programs concentrated on providing these people with shelter. clothing. and food which they required. Many were too old to make a new life for themselves. But most of the Individuals in the camps today have no direct knowledge of their former homes and do not desire to remain there for the rest of their lives. waiting and hoping for. an event that will never occur.