The Palestinian refugee phenomenon is unique in that, unlike past refugee situations, the number of Palestinian refugees is growing exponentially.
Of the 600,000-750,000 Arabs displaced by the 1948 Israeli-Arab war, as few as 30,000 remain alive and nation-less today. And yet, the Palestinians somehow claim over five million refugees, with the support and blessing of the international community.
This is because the UN decided years ago, against all previous norms, to allow the Palestinians to retain refugee status even if they became citizens of another nation, and to pass their refugee status on to their children. Also unique to the Palestinian refugees was the creation of a separate UN agency to aid their plight, an agency (UNRWA) that is in fact the largest of all UN agencies.
The United States, the largest donor to UNRWA, is not so happy about this situation, and has commissioned a study into the validity of "Palestinian refugee" status, a move that could have far-reaching consequences for the Middle East peace process.
Read the full report on this at Jerusalem Newswire