MembersPalestinians Have the Best Enemy

In 2017, the United Nations will spend a record $22 billion to help people in need.

By Aviel Schneider |

“The money is meant to finance food, medicine, housing and other aid supplies for more than 93 million people in 33 countries,” said Stephen O’Brien, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. Most recipient countries are ripped apart by conflict, including Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan and Ukraine.

O’Brien says the world is experiencing its greatest humanitarian crisis since World War II. According to UN figures, nearly 130 million people are affected by war, conflicts, displacement and natural disasters.

“Eighty percent of the needy suffer from manmade conflicts, not natural disasters,” O’Brien says, pointing especially to the humanitarian crisis in Syria. “However, Syria is only one of 43 conflict zones. There were just 27 conflicts in 1997.”

Compared to the other conflicts worldwide, the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is on a relatively low burner. Nevertheless, Palestinians enjoy the privilege of having their own relief agency, UNRWA. It is the only UN refugee organization taking care of just one ethnic group.

In addition, it...

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