Mick Hartley

In response to a news item about Mohammad Abu Itiwi, a Nukhba commander in the Al Bureij Battalion of Hamas' Central Camps Brigade who'd been employed by UNRWA:

The involvement of numerous UNRWA employees in terror activities, especially on October 7th, is more than just a scandal—it’s a symptom of a deeper, festering disease. A disease that has torn through the lives of families like mine.

In 1948, when war came, my family fled Jaffa… https://t.co/YUezirvtkT

— George Deek (@GeorgeDeek) October 24, 2024

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Full text:

In 1948, when war came, my family fled Jaffa to Lebanon, trusting Arab leaders who promised a swift victory over the Jews. But when Israel won, the promises shattered, and my family was stranded—trapped in a UN-run refugee camp. The fallout from that moment is something my family still carries.

My family’s fate splintered into three paths. One group escaped to the West—Canada, the U.S., and beyond. They’ve long since assimilated, now as Canadian and American as anyone else.

My grandparents, however, risked everything to smuggle themselves back into Jaffa with their newborn child. They endured incredible hardship, but they rebuilt their lives, became equal citizens, and now their grandson—me—serves as an ambassador for Israel.

But the third path, the one my relatives who stayed in the Arab world were forced to walk, is the one that breaks my heart the most.

For nearly 80 years, my family in Lebanon and Syria have been denied the dignity of citizenship. Stateless, they’ve been forced into an existence of waiting—waiting for a return that will never come. Some found jobs in the Gulf, but even they are stuck in limbo, branded as “forever refugees.” They hold on to keys that will never fit in any door, clinging to the false hope that one day they’ll reclaim the homes of their ancestors, built on the ashes of the Jewish state.

Thanks to UNRWA, this illusion persists. My relatives, their children, their grandchildren, and now even their great-grandchildren are trapped in a cycle of victimhood. How is it that my cousins in Canada have full rights as citizens, while those born and raised in Syria, Lebanon, and the Gulf are still labeled refugees?

This isn’t just a failure of policy. It’s a human tragedy.

Every decent person must demand the dismantling of UNRWA. My cousins—and millions of others—deserve more than endless waiting. They deserve a future.

George Deek is Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan.