Frozen in time, addicted to pity

I just came across this op-ed piece in the National Post (Canada). This piece's viewpoint deals with the plight of the poor Palestinian refugees in the various Arab countries in which they live. Mr. Fulford questions why after 60 years there are still huge numbers of Palestinian refugees when no other group has remained as such. With the Arab world's vast oil resources, why  have the Palestinians not been integrated into the societies in which they live? 


Frozen in time, addicted to pity
Robert Fulford, National Post · Saturday, Aug. 7, 201

Refugees? Canadians, even if their families have lived here for centuries, know something about refugees. We know Hungarians, we know Vietnamese, we know many others. We admire their energy and their accomplishments. Observing them can be a bracing lesson in human tenacity under adverse circumstances.

But that pattern doesn't cover Palestinian refugees. They are a special case. For many reasons, various populations across the planet are displaced; only the Palestinians cling to their "refugee" status decade after decade. They present themselves as helpless victims of Israeli aggression. They await rescue-- as they have been awaiting it for three generations, since Israel was founded in 1948. Members of other history-battered groups choose to live by an urgent ethic: Get up, get going, make a new life. Palestinians have a different approach: Sit down, wait, stay angry till the world provides for you.

For the rest of this op-ed piece, click on the link below:
http://www.nationalpost.com/Frozen+time+addicted+pity/3371479/story.html