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UNRWA funding cut could close Palestinian schools within weeks

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a425couple

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Sep 3, 2018, 4:31:42 PM9/3/18
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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/unrwa-funding-cut-could-close-palestinian-schools-within-weeks-n905956

(For 70 years Palestinians have been cutting off their own noses,
in order to spite their own faces. They also could in
1948 have declared their own independence, and statehood.
Instead they have demanded assistance to do wars.
Ever since, your situation has been getting worse
while you refuse to accept reality and make a decent
deal for your best future. Now is time to deal!
Quit expecting the world to pay for your stubborn wars.
Stop the rockets, stop the suicide vests, stop the knife attacks!)

UNRWA funding cut could close Palestinian schools within weeks

“We want peace; we don’t like blood. But I want to ask you a question —
if there is no hope, what do you think will happen?"
by F. Brinley Bruton and Lawahez Jabari / Sep.03.2018 / 6:52 AM ET /
Updated 6:57 AM ET
Image: Palestinian schoolgirls queue at an UNRWA-run school
Palestinian girls line up at an UNRWA-run school in Gaza City on
Wednesday.Mohammed Salem / Reuters
DHEISHEH REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank — Except for a few anxious tears, the
first day of class at Dheisheh Basic Girls School was an exuberant occasion.

Teachers kissed each other on both cheeks. Teenagers in green-and-white
striped smocks hugged. Younger girls — white rubber bands and bows
keeping ponytails and braids tightly in place — held hands.

Some of the smaller students looked set to topple over under the weight
of shiny new “Frozen”-themed backpacks — clearly the favorite accessory
in this refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

But the future of the school and hundreds of others look uncertain from
the end of this month.

On Friday, the Trump administration ended decades of financial support
for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) — which was set up to serve
Palestinian refugees after the creation of Israel in 1948.

The U.S. has long been the organization's largest donor, but the
decision leaves a funding gap of more than $200 million. The move comes
as President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner
tries to craft the “deal of the century” between Palestinians and Israel.

Related

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Trump 'deal of the century' may be doomed by ghosts of America's past
UNRWA schools provide education to 515,000 children. The organization
also provides health care, relief, social services and other types of
help to almost 2.1 million Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip, 2 million others in Jordan, 560,000 in Syria and 450,000 in
Lebanon.

Chris Gunness, the group's spokesman, said that “some of the most
marginalized and vulnerable people in one of the most volatile regions
on the planet are being put under terrible pressure” by the elimination
of funding.

“Whole communities are being deprived of hope and the belief in a
dignified future,” he said.

Fatima Al Qaisi, the principal of Dheisheh Basic Girls School, proudly
mentions that Hanan al-Hroub, who in 2016 won the $1 million Global
Teacher Prize for excellence in teaching, graduated from there.

Image: A girl stands at the entrance of a school run UNRWA in the West
Bank A girl stands at the entrance of a school run by UNRWA in the West
Bank on Wednesday, which was the first day of classes after the summer
holidays.Jaafar Ashtiyeh / AFP - Getty Images
Al Qaisi said the school’s importance to the refugee camp could not be
underestimated. “The schools are the center of the community," she said.
"Not part — the center."

While the State Department called UNRWA an "irredeemably flawed
operation," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned that the loss of
the agency “could unleash an uncontrollable chain reaction.”

In a letter to his European counterparts seen by NBC News, Maas added
that Germany had already contributed 81 million euros ($94 million) to
UNRWA this year, but was planning to “provide an additional amount of
significant funds” in the wake of the U.S. decision.

Related

WORLD NEWS
U.S. decision to halt refugee funds latest setback for Palestinians
In 2017, America covered about one-third of the agency's budget of $1.1
billion. In January, the Trump administration provided $60 million
compared to $364 million in 2017, and called on Palestinians to restart
peace talks with Israel.

Washington's move has been cheered by many Israeli officials who say
UNRWA is a bloated organization that is biased against Israel.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described UNRWA as
a "refugee perpetuation agency," stating that the U.S. had "done a very
important thing by halting the financing."

Image: Children gather outside UNRWA-run school in Gaza City on
WednesdayChildren gather outside UNRWA-run school in Gaza City on
Wednesday.Mahmud Hams / AFP - Getty Images
The State Department said the U.S. would look into "new models and new
approaches" that aimed to provide Palestinian children "with a more
durable and dependable path towards a brighter tomorrow."

But America's UNRWA funding cut is also seen by many here as a blow to
the concept of the right to return — the strongly held belief among
Palestinians that they should be able to go back to homes their families
were driven out of or left when Israel was founded in 1948.

In crowded and dusty Dheisheh, south of Bethlehem, nobody is allowed to
forget where they originated. The camp is roughly divided into
neighborhoods according the 45 villages the original inhabitants hailed
from.

A wall on the outside of a community center lists each of these places
in black and white paint.

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refugee agency

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setback
Ola Masalmeh was born and raised in Dheisheh sends her 6-year-old
daughter Asinat to the local UNRWA school.

Because UNRWA represents Palestinians, she said it served as a
protection for the right of return — or at the very least, an equitable
payback for generations of hardship.

“I will live in the refugee camp and I will stay as a refugee until the
day I return to my village," the 42-year-old housewife said.

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“These efforts against UNRWA will only cause more violence.”

Khalid Al Saifi is a former math teacher who now runs after school
dance, athletics and music programs. He feels the American UNRWA cuts
were motivated by politics and not a desire to bring about a just
resolution to the plight of Palestinian refugees.

The normally effervescent 57-year-old was flushed and anxious Saturday —
the day after the U.S decision. He said it would inevitably lead to
violence.

“We want peace; we don’t like blood. But I want to ask you a question —
if there is no hope, what do you think will happen?"

Related

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A failure to reach a political solution to Palestinian statelessness,
and end the military occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of
desperately poor Gaza has demoralized Palestinians, Al Saifi said.
America's decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem and recognize the
city as the capital of Israel was fueling anger in Dheisheh, he added.

So the UNRWA decision felt like a last straw, Al Saifi said.

A reminder of Palestinians’ sometimes bloody national struggle is never
far away in Dheisheh. Just outside the girls’ school is a graffiti mural
of Ayat Al Akhras, who on March 29, 2002 at the age of 18 became the
youngest female Palestinian suicide bomber. Born in Dheisheh, Akhras
killed two Israelis — one of them a 17-year-old girl.

Bissan Abu Ajamia graduated from Dheisheh Basic Girls School, and says
she has spent her life since trying to avoid politics.

Image: Palestinian children at an UNRWA-run school in Gaza
CityPalestinian children at an UNRWA-run school in Gaza City on
Wednesday.Mohammed Salem / Reuters
“I just want to get married and have babies,” said the 21-year-old who
is studying to become a special education teacher.

But things haven’t worked out the way Abu Ajamia had hoped.

On the day of her engagement party six months ago, she said Israeli
soldiers burst into her home and took away her fiance after protesting.
He remains in prison. Two of her younger brothers have been shot by
Israeli soldiers who make frequent raids and incursions in the camp,
according to Abu Ajamia.

She sees UNRWA as essential in maintaining a modicum of calm.

“It is the shelter of all refugees. If the schools close kids will be on
the streets,” Abu Ajamia said. “These efforts against UNRWA will only
cause more violence.”

F. Brinley Bruton and Lawahez Jabari reported from the West Bank, Paul
Goldman from Tel Aviv, and Andy Eckardt from Mainz, Germany.

a425couple

unread,
Sep 3, 2018, 4:47:43 PM9/3/18
to
On 9/3/2018 1:31 PM, a425couple wrote:
> from
> https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/unrwa-funding-cut-could-close-palestinian-schools-within-weeks-n905956
>
> (For 70 years Palestinians have been cutting off their own noses,
> in order to spite their own faces.  They also could in
> 1948 have declared their own independence, and statehood.
> Instead they have demanded assistance to do wars.
> Ever since, your situation has been getting worse
> while you refuse to accept reality and make a decent
> deal for your best future.  Now is time to deal!
> Quit expecting the world to pay for your stubborn wars.
> Stop the rockets, stop the suicide vests, stop the knife attacks!)
>
> UNRWA funding cut could close Palestinian schools within weeks
>
> “We want peace; we don’t like blood. But I want to ask you a question —
> if there is no hope, what do you think will happen?"

(If you have any intelligence at all, what will happen, is you
will decide to change your 70 year long failing policy.
Quit war, accept peace, recognize both peoples have a
right to exist and try to develop and find happiness!)

FROM
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/palestine-us-cuts-un-refugee-agency-united-nations-speak-out-a8521396.html

Palestinians speak out about devastating US cuts to the UN refugee
agency: 'We are already so desperate'

(Well, if you are desperate enough, you will change your
violent leadership, and try peace!)

Families fear they will not be able to survive if United Nations halts
aid to refugees after the US slashes funding

Bel Trew Jerusalem

The Independent
0
shares
A Palestinian carries bags of flour at an aid distribution center run by
the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), in Khan Younis in
the southern Gaza Strip September 3, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
A Palestinian carries bags of flour at an aid distribution center run by
the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), in Khan Younis in
the southern Gaza Strip September 3, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
( REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa )
Palestinians have expressed their fear and dismay at the decision by the
United States to cut funding to the UN’s Palestine refugee programme
(UNRWA), warning it could see the total collapse of communities as well
as any hopes of a peace deal.

Senior Palestinian officials, former UN employees in Gaza and families
told The Independent they feared the sudden financial shortfall could
not only see job cuts, the closure of UN-supported schools and health
centres, but all negotiations off the cards.

President Donald Trump‘s administration, which until last year was the
biggest contributor to UNRWA, announced on Friday that it would no
longer make any contributions to the “irredeemably flawed operation”.

READ MORE
US will fuel radicalism by ending Palestinian aid, Jordan says
The US administration “carefully reviewed” the issue and “will not make
additional contributions”, spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas later said the move
was an “assault” against his people and in “defiance of UN resolutions”.

Top Palestinian officials confirmed to The Independent that Mr Abbas
would be appealing to “all UN bodies” to challenge the decision which
was the final nail in the coffin of the peace process.

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“We going to go the UN and to appeal to all the agencies, we will find
alternate funding. The US has to be held accountable,” said Hanan
Ashrawi, a Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) executive committee
member.

“The US is dismantling the peace process systematically and destroying
all hope of peace, while doing the bidding of Israel. It is the
unilateral attempt to destroy all the components of any [political]
solution. They have destroyed their own credibility and people’s lives,”
she added.

Cracking the code: Young Palestinians take hold of their futures at
Gaza’s tech hub
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat echoed her words saying that
the American administration had invalidated future peace talks by
“preempting, prejudging issues reserved for permanent status” negotiations.

UNRWA was established in 1949 to care for hundreds of thousands of
Palestinians who were forced from or fled their homes during the 1948
conflict which surrounded the creation of Israel. It says it currently
supports more than five million registered Palestinian refugees in Gaza,
the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

In 2015, the agency, which is almost entirely funded by voluntary
donations from UN member states, nearly closed all its schools due to
shortfalls. It carried over a deficit of tens of millions of dollars
last year

The US had been the single largest donor, providing $364m (£283m) in
2017 and funding almost 30 per cent of its operations in the region.

In January Mr Trump announced a $300m funding freeze crippling some of
UNRWA’s activities and forcing it to lay off hundreds of people.

Mr Trump, who has also claimed his administration will soon deliver a
peace agreement for the region dubbed the “deal of the century”, first
threatened to cut off aid over what he called the Palestinians
unwillingness to negotiate with Israel.

The Trump administration later backed Israel in accusing UNRWA of
perpetuating the Middle East conflict by maintaining the idea that many
Palestinians are refugees with a right to return to homes in what is now
Israel.

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, last month claimed that UNRWA
had exaggerated the number of Palestinian refugees.

Israel welcomed the US move.

“Consolidating the refugee status of Palestinians is one of the problems
that perpetuates the conflict,” an official in Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s office said. The premier later said that UNRWA was formed
“not to absorb the refugees but to perpetuate them”.

On Monday Jerusalem’s Mayor Nir Barkat threatened to expel UNRWA from
Jerusalem altogether, local media reported. He accused the agency of
failing those in its care and instead inciting terror activity.

READ MORE
US will fuel radicalism by ending Palestinian aid, Jordan says
Palestine condemns US decision to stop funding refugee agency
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Trump administration cuts more than $200m in aid to Palestinians
Israel is building another 1,000 homes on Palestinian land
Chris Gunness, UNRWA’s spokesman, said the agency would try to close a
$217m (£170m) shortfall, or it would have a “profound, widespread,
dramatic and unpredictable” impact.

“Some of the most marginalised and vulnerable people in one of the most
volatile regions on the planet is being put under terrible pressure,” he
added.

In Gaza, Palestinians rely on UN aid to survive, largely due to
decade-long blockades imposed by Israel and Egypt. The 1.8 million
population of the Strip, which is just 25 miles long, suffers from one
of the highest jobless rates in the world.

They also endure long daily power cuts and shortages in food, clean
water and medical supplies.

Residents told The Independent the funding cut would have a
“catastrophic and explosive” impact on the already impoverished
communities. They said the US was effectively telling Palestinians to
give up their legal rights in exchange for food and water.

“It will be like an explosion within the Palestinian communities … A lot
of families live and rely on this aid, in the form of food parcels,
medicines for the sick, education, salaries,” said Ismael Altalaa, who
worked for the UN’s emergency program in Gaza, until he lost his job
this summer due to cuts.

“The Americans are basically telling us that we must give up our legal,
geographic and religious rights in exchange for money and food. We must
forget the massacres, the killings, the displacements, the arrests, the
violation of human rights for Trump’s so-called deal of the century,” he
added.

We depend on food parcels, we are already so desperate
Alaa, mother-of-two, Gaza
Alaa, 28 a mother-of-two in a refugee camp in north Gaza said she feared
her family would starve and her children would never go to school.

“We depend on food parcels, we are already so desperate,” she said.
“This aid is often the only income for Palestinian families and the main
source to feed their families,” she added.

In the West Bank, Mahmoud Mubarak, director of committees that run 19
refugee camps home to some half a million Palestinians, warned of “very
serious repercussions”. Mr Mubarak said committee representatives would
meet on Tuesday to discuss their options.

In Jordan, which is host to more than 2 million of the over 5 million
registered refugees, Palestinians said they would not be able to make
ends meet. ”Our country is gone and now they’re coming after our
livelihoods,” said Zeinab al-Ardaba, a resident of Jordan’s Baqaa camp.

Jordanian authorities meanwhile warned that the US decision would only
fuel radicalism and harm prospects for Middle East peace.

The European Union, the second largest donor to UNRWA, has pledged to
keep it afloat. This week Germany announced it would increase its funding.

Mr Trump had already sparked fury among Palestinians after moving the US
embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognising it as the capital of
Israel.

Jerusalem is a contested city claimed by both the Palestinians and the
Israelis. Many countries, including the UK, believe its status should be
determined by both sides in a final peace agreement.

More about: | Palestinian territories | Israel | UNRWA | United Nations
| United States | Donald Trump
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