U.S.-Palestinian Relations Continue to Degrade

By Amanda Feldman

This year, the Trump administration announced the end of U.S. funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), shut-down the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s Washington, D.C. office, and officially moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. These recent actions correspond with a growing trend of American bias in favor of Israel,  leaving Arab and European countries alike questioning the future and legitimacy of American involvement in the conflict.

Created in 1948 following the Arab-Israeli War, the UNRWA provides housing, healthcare, education, and social services to nearly five million Palestinian refugees living in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. According to the UNRWA website, in 2017, the organization operated with a budget of over $623 million dollars, $157.5 million of which came from the United States. It is the largest single donor country by far, but, according to BBC, the United States contends that it does not receive respect proportionate to its contributions, calling the agency “irredeemably flawed” and incompatible with plans to create lasting peace in the region. According to Al Jazeera, United States ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has alleged that the UNRWA has overestimated the number of Palestinian refugees it serves. The current administration has revealed plans to cap the number of officially recognized refugees at 500,000.

This cessation of funding comes months after the move of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which sparked worldwide controversy. Since the move, Palestinian officials ceased communications with Washington and filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice, alleging that the decision violates the terms of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which requires that an embassy to a state be placed in the territory of that state.

According to Al-Monitor, Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said that the Trump administration’s pro-Israel policies are creating a crisis for the whole region, as Lebanon, Jordan, and the surrounding countries are forced to deal with the consequences by themselves. In response to United States aid cuts, BBC reports that Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said, “such a punishment will not succeed to change the fact that the United States no longer has a role in the region and that it is not a part of the solution.” According to Reuters, many other nearby Arab countries also expressed doubts over America’s ability to secure the “ultimate deal” for both Israel and Palestine.

Within this context, anti-American sentiment is on the rise in the region, with demonstrators in Gaza increasingly calling for military action and, according to Middle East Eye, declaring that “Trump is trying to starve [them].” According to Al-Monitor, among Palestinian officials, the prevailing sentiment is that American foreign policy is trying to “liquidate the Palestinian cause,” and officials have openly expressed their desire for the United States to no longer take part in peace negotiations with Israel.

The recent American actions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have, therefore, sparked widespread debate, and it remains to be seen if the Trump administration’s proposed peace program will appropriately address all parties, thereby securing the future of American engagement in the region.