UNRWA erases Israel from the map

Official UN workers in Lebanon posed with a map in which Israel did not exist, and the entire area from the Jordan to the sea was titled “Arab Palestine.”

At the launch of German-funded projects in Lebanon earlier in May, Ann Dismorr, director of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) affairs in Lebanon, held the map, which mentioned Jordan, Syria and the other neighboring countries by name — but neglected to name Israel, Palestinian Media Watch reported Monday.

The map, titled “Arab Palestine” and headlined by the Palestinian flag, named sites in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip along with cities on the Israeli side of the 1949 armistice lines such as Beersheba, Acre and Tiberias.

The UNRWA project in Lebanon, worth some $4.5 million and aimed at improving the water supply network and rehabilitating shelters in the Rashidieh Camp, was sponsored by Germany. The UNRWA website stated “a number of high ranking Lebanese and Palestinian officials” were present during the ceremony.

Created in 1949 to aid Palestinian refugees, UNRWA has been slammed by Israel and the US for backing terror organizations and causing more harm than good.

In one case, former UNRWA head Peter Henson was heavily criticized for saying “there are Hamas members on the UNRWA payroll and I don’t see that as a crime.” During 2010 the Canadian government cut off funding to the organization, saying the money would be transferred to projects in a more accountable way.