The revelations contained in Jared Kushner’s correspondence which seek to terminate the Palestinians’ refugee status has been the source of much controversy this past month, with little recognition of how Israel has been lobbying for such a violation to occur. In an internal email to other senior US advisors, Kushner wrote:

“It is important to have an honest and sincere effort to disrupt UNRWA. This agency perpetuates a status quo, is corrupt, inefficient and doesn’t help peace.”

Kushner’s email is dated in January 2018, which is when Trump announced the US would be slashing funding for the agency. The deficit in UNRWA’s budget is just a first step to bring the agency to a halt. It is interesting to note that while UNRWA has spoken on several occasions about the ramifications of decreased funding with regard to their projects, it still maintains a purportedly non-political approach, despite the fact that Palestinian refugees have been created as a result of colonisation and that the current restrictions also stem from a political decision directly related to aiding Israel to complete its displacement of the indigenous population and secure colonial expansion.