Here's a man-bites-dog story: The director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency's New York Representative Office (the primary United Nations organization responsible for advocating on behalf of the Palestinian Arabs), Andrew Whitley, told a conference in Washington that Palestinians should accept that they will never return to Israel and, rather than continue to dream of this, they should work to improve their current circumstances.
"If one doesn't start a discussion soon with the refugees for them to consider what their own future might be—for them to start debating their own role in the societies where they are rather than being left in a state of limbo where they are helpless but preserve rather the cruel illusions that perhaps they will return one day to their homes—then we are storing up trouble for ourselves. …
We recognize, as I think most do, although it's not a position that we publicly articulate, that the right of return is unlikely to be exercised to the territory of Israel to any significant or meaningful extent. It's not a politically palatable issue, it's not one that UNRWA publicly advocates, but nevertheless it's a known contour to the issue."
Whitley concluded these startling remarks by suggesting that UNRWA should resettle its clients rather than continue to perpetuate their refugee status.
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