Israel will stop working with the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip, a government spokesperson said yesterday, accusing the aid agency of “perpetuating conflict”, Reuters reported.
Israel has long sought to have UNRWA closed as it is the only UN agency to have a specific mandate to look after the basic needs of Palestinian refugees. If the agency no longer exists, argues Israel, then the refugee issue must no longer exist, and the legitimate right for Palestinian refugees to return to their land will be unnecessary. Israel has denied that right of return since the late 1940s, even though its own membership of the UN was made conditional upon Palestinian refugees being allowed to return to their homes and land.
Trenchant point here that doesn’t get brought up often enough— the state of Israel faces a demographic crisis, as birthrates and aliyah decline. It may not be able to maintain a Jewish majority in several decades.
Rising antisemitism around the world is actually in its interest, to maybe compel more Jewish people to immigrate.
I heard the Orthodox people in Israel have a ton of kids, though.
22% of the Jews in Israel are reportedly orthodox. Keep in mind orthodoxy isn’t a specific sect or denomination the way, say, Ukrainian Orthodox is in Christianity.
Even if true (and I have no idea,) that’s not enough.
In any case, there is a certain agency in this brutality. They’re not just incompetent or blundering through it. Israel’s attacks on Gaza are considered and planned. So either they don’t care about foreign perception or the current perception is what they want.