GEOPOLITICS can be a cruel and heartless domain. However, even in the realm of international relations, there are some basic moral standards all parties are expected to respect. Included in these is the protection that should be provided to refugees fleeing war and persecution. In this respect, the Palestinian refugee population has been suffering for decades: first after the creation of Israel, and then after Arab lands were occupied by the Zionist state in 1967. However, in a recent move, the Trump-led US administration has decided to cut all funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency. The US is the largest donor to the agency, which provides critical help to Palestinian refugees in areas such as education and food aid. The Americans have said the UNRWA is “irredeemably flawed” while Israel has expectedly welcomed the move. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has termed the funding cut a “flagrant assault against the Palestinian people”, while an agency spokesperson has said the move will affect “some of the most marginalised ... and fragile communities in the Middle East”, including the disabled, women and children.

The Trump administration has long been considered hostile to the Palestinian people. Just last week, the American ambassador to the UN said “Palestinians continue to bash America”. She should know that when the US sides with Israel each time the latter unleashes death and destruction upon the Arabs, the Palestinians cannot be expected to declare their love for America. The fact is that the US has abandoned all pretence of being neutral in the Arab-Israeli dispute. In fact, it has become a staunch defender of Israeli brutality. The cutting of aid to some of the Middle East’s most vulnerable people — uprooted from their homeland as a result of colonial machinations — and the politicisation of refugees is just the latest in a long list of anti-Palestine moves emerging from Washington. Instead of trying to address Arab grievances and win ‘hearts and minds’, the ruling clique in Washington seems content to permanently alienate them.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2018