Editing UNRWA (section)

===James G. Lindsay===
On the basis of his 2009 analyses for WINEP, referred to in previous sections, former UNRWA general-counsel [[James G. Lindsay]] and fellow researcher for [[Washington Institute for Near East Policy]]{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} made the following suggestions for improvement:{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} 
<blockquote>UNRWA should make the following operational changes: halt its one-sided political statements and limit itself to comments on humanitarian issues; take additional steps to ensure the agency is not employing or providing benefits to terrorists and criminals; and allow the [[UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization]] (UNESCO), or some other neutral entity, to provide balanced and discrimination-free textbooks for UNRWA schools.</blockquote>

[[Andrew Whitley]], director of the UNRWA representative office at [[Headquarters of the United Nations|UN headquarters in New York]], criticized the report as biased and relying on limited sources. Additionally, he noted: "Someone reading this paper with no background would assume that the Israeli government was a benign actor. No mention is made of the [[Israeli-occupied territories|occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip]]."<ref>Natasha Mozgovaya [http://www.haaretz.com/news/ex-unrwa-official-blasts-agency-for-politicizing-palestinian-refugee-issue-1.269657 "Ex-UNRWA official blasts agency for politicizing Palestinian refugee issue"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204021837/http://www.haaretz.com/news/ex-unrwa-official-blasts-agency-for-politicizing-palestinian-refugee-issue-1.269657|date=4 December 2010}}, ''Haaretz'', 8 February 2009</ref>

UNRWA's Jerusalem spokesperson [[Chris Gunness]] stated that UNRWA rejects Lindsay's report and its findings and said that the study was inaccurate and misleading, since it "makes selective use of source material and fails to paint a truthful portrait of UNRWA and its operations today".<ref>Tovah Lazaroff
[http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=131264 "'UNRWA staff not tested for terror ties' "] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918034318/http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=131264 |date=18 September 2011 }}, ''Jerusalem Post'', 31 January 2009</ref>

In response to the criticism of his report from UNRWA, Lindsay writes:

{{blockquote|Despite repeated requests from the author, the agency declined to identify the alleged weaknesses on the grounds that "our views—and understanding—of UNRWA's role, the refugees and even U.S. policy are too far apart for us to take time (time that we do not have) to enter into an exchange with little likelihood of influencing a narrative which so substantially differs from our own." Thus, the paper has not benefited from any input by UNRWA, whether a discussion of policy or even correction of alleged errors.<ref>Lindsay, ''Fixing UNRWA'', pg. 2 "For an extended description of my correspondence with UNRWA on this subject, see the epilogue following the conclusion of this paper."</ref>}}