 DAMASCUS - SyriaÂ’s information minister on Saturday called for Palestinian refugees to be allowed to return to their homes, from which millions fled after the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.
| One of the more reliable ways of whipping up the rubes. |
Since 1950, the United Nations refugee agency (UNRWA) has cared for nearly four million such refugees in the Middle East, with around 500,000 living in Syria.
| They aren't refugees anymore, they're the children and grandchildren of refugees. Maybe they should integrate with the other states in the 'unmah' and get jobs. |
‘Palestinian refugees must return to their homes. The application of United Nations Resolution 194 is the best solution for their problem,’ said Mohsen Bilal, referring to the 1948 UN resolution calling for Palestinians to be allowed home.
| "We sure don't want them in our country!" |
‘The Palestinian cause is the central cause for Syria.’ said the minister during talks with Panos Mumtzis, director for UNRWA in Syria.
| "We'll fight to the last Palestinian!" |
Mumtzis, quoted by the Syrian news agency Sana, said Resolution 194 was ‘very important’ in that ‘it is the right of Palestinian refugees to return home.’
| Things must be getting tight in Syria, time for a little magic trick and distraction ... |
Israel, whose population of seven million includes 18.5 percent Arab-Israelis, strongly opposes the return of large numbers of Palestinian refugees because of the potential to upset the Jewish stateÂ’s demographics.
| Not to mention the rather dramatic increase in death it would bring ... |
UNRWA, since 1950, has provided most of the basic services -- education, health, social welfare, food aid -- in Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, in Syria, Jordan and in Lebanon.
| And done a lousy job of it. How many billions of dollars over the years? They could have moved them all to Western Sahara -- tough luck, guys, you lost a war, but we got a nice patch of uninhabited desert for you over here -- and helped them build a state. |
|