7 sept 2019
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said today that it is facing a $120 million deficit in this year $1.2 billion budget.
UNRWA spokesman Sami Mshasha told Voice of Palestine radio that despite this shortage and attempts to dissolve it, the Agency has succeeded in starting the new schoolyear and kept on providing services in health, education and social welfare in its five operating areas that include the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
He said UNRWA is working with the Palestinian, Jordanian and Arab governments to garner political and financial support in order to get the United Nations to renew its mandate for the next three years.
“These efforts are important to help UNRWA continue to provide services to the refugees,” he said.
Mshasha said UNRWA is committed to cooperate with the committee investigating alleged corruption in the organization but that there should be separation between corruption in UNRWA and extending its mandate, which is being used by some countries for political ends.
“There are some legal and administrative mishandling in the work of the Agency, but attempts to introduce changes regarding the number of refugees and the definition of who is a refugee will not succeed,” he said in reference to the attempts by the United States and Israel to dramatically cut the number of Palestine refugees worldwide as a step toward wiping out the Palestinian refugee issue from the conflict with Israel.
The US, the long-time largest donor to UNRWA with over $300 million annually, ended last year its support for the humanitarian organization, which was looked at as an attempt to do away with the refugee issue in favor of Israel.
There are over five million Palestine refugees worldwide registered with UNRWA.
UNRWA spokesman Sami Mshasha told Voice of Palestine radio that despite this shortage and attempts to dissolve it, the Agency has succeeded in starting the new schoolyear and kept on providing services in health, education and social welfare in its five operating areas that include the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
He said UNRWA is working with the Palestinian, Jordanian and Arab governments to garner political and financial support in order to get the United Nations to renew its mandate for the next three years.
“These efforts are important to help UNRWA continue to provide services to the refugees,” he said.
Mshasha said UNRWA is committed to cooperate with the committee investigating alleged corruption in the organization but that there should be separation between corruption in UNRWA and extending its mandate, which is being used by some countries for political ends.
“There are some legal and administrative mishandling in the work of the Agency, but attempts to introduce changes regarding the number of refugees and the definition of who is a refugee will not succeed,” he said in reference to the attempts by the United States and Israel to dramatically cut the number of Palestine refugees worldwide as a step toward wiping out the Palestinian refugee issue from the conflict with Israel.
The US, the long-time largest donor to UNRWA with over $300 million annually, ended last year its support for the humanitarian organization, which was looked at as an attempt to do away with the refugee issue in favor of Israel.
There are over five million Palestine refugees worldwide registered with UNRWA.
3 sept 2019
Ismail Ajjawi, 17, a Palestinian refugee from Lebanon who was turned back at a US airport 10 days ago when he arrived in Boston to attend Harvard University, has arrived on campus yesterday, a day before classes were scheduled to start, following interventions that led the US immigration office to overturn his entry denial decision, reported the Harvard Crimson.
Ajjawi, who was admitted to Harvard University and earned a scholarship from AMIDEAST to study at this prestigious university, was issued a visa to the United States. However, he was denied entry to the country when he arrived at Boston Logan International Airport on August 23 and forced to return to Lebanon, where he was born and went to school at Deir Yassin High School in El Buss refugee camp, south of Tyre.
“The last ten days have been difficult and anxiety filled, but we are most grateful for the thousands of messages of support and particularly the work of AMIDEAST,” according to a statement by Ajjawi’s family issued through his lawyer, reported the Harvard Crimson.
US immigration denied entry to Ajjawi supposedly due to content his friends posted on social media that opposed the policies of the administration of US President Donald Trump. He was detained in the airport, harassed and berated by immigration officials, then ordered to hand over all of his electronics.
After going through his phone and computer for hours, officers returned to the room in which Ajjawi was being held and began screaming and yelling at him. They then proceeded to inform him that his visa was being revoked due to posts by his friends on social media and put him on the next plan back to Lebanon.
Statements of support from Harvard student body, staff and AMIDEAST as well as petitions led the US immigration office to overturn its decision and allow Ajjawi in to assume his earned seat at Harvard.
Ajjawi, who was admitted to Harvard University and earned a scholarship from AMIDEAST to study at this prestigious university, was issued a visa to the United States. However, he was denied entry to the country when he arrived at Boston Logan International Airport on August 23 and forced to return to Lebanon, where he was born and went to school at Deir Yassin High School in El Buss refugee camp, south of Tyre.
“The last ten days have been difficult and anxiety filled, but we are most grateful for the thousands of messages of support and particularly the work of AMIDEAST,” according to a statement by Ajjawi’s family issued through his lawyer, reported the Harvard Crimson.
US immigration denied entry to Ajjawi supposedly due to content his friends posted on social media that opposed the policies of the administration of US President Donald Trump. He was detained in the airport, harassed and berated by immigration officials, then ordered to hand over all of his electronics.
After going through his phone and computer for hours, officers returned to the room in which Ajjawi was being held and began screaming and yelling at him. They then proceeded to inform him that his visa was being revoked due to posts by his friends on social media and put him on the next plan back to Lebanon.
Statements of support from Harvard student body, staff and AMIDEAST as well as petitions led the US immigration office to overturn its decision and allow Ajjawi in to assume his earned seat at Harvard.
1 sept 2019
Seventeen-year-old Palestine refugee, Ismail Ajjawi, who was admitted to the Harvard University incoming freshman class of 2023 and issued a visa to the United States, was denied entry to the country when he arrived at Boston Logan International Airport, on August 23.
Ajjawi graduated this spring, from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Deir Yassin High School, in El Buss refugee camp, south of Tyre, Lebanon. He achieved the highest score in the life science stream of the Official Lebanese Baccalaureate exams in the south region and eighth highest in all of Lebanon. El Buss camp is one of twelve Palestine refugee camps in Lebanon where the UNRWA provides services.
Ajjawi explained that his school was surrounded by the camp, and, as suc, it “suffers from many difficulties, the most important being the housing density that leads to the construction of houses very close to each other. In this atmosphere, it is really difficult for students to concentrate on their studies.
There are a limited number of scholarships [after high school] and each year the amount is reduced. A large proportion of students are unable to study. I advise all my classmates to study hard and maintain their studies, so that they can achieve their dreams as I have been able to achieve mine.”
“Ismail Ajjawi is obviously an extremely talented and determined student and young man,” said Dr. Caroline Pontefract, the UNRWA Director of Education, “who, despite all odds, has gained a place in one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Ismail wants to study physical and chemical biology towards a career medicine which he had always dreamed of.
As such, he is a beacon of hope for hundreds of thousands of UNRWA students and representative of what UNRWA strives to achieve through its education programme: to realize the potential of every student and ensure that they acquire the values and principles that underpin the programme and UNRWA as a UN Agency.”
UNRWA educates 530,000 Palestine refugee children at 709 elementary and preparatory schools across its five fields of operations. The Agency also employs over 22,000 educational staff, the majority of whom are Palestine refugees, as teachers. UNRWA students consistently outperform their peers in public schools on national and international standardized tests. The Agency’s school systems across the Middle East were deemed by the World Bank to be a ‘global public good’.
UNRWA supports Ismail and all Palestine refugees who strive, against all odds, to achieve their full potential through higher education.
UNRWA is confronted with an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty.
UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support has been outpaced by the growth in needs. As a result, the UNRWA programme budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall.
PNN further reports that the UNRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agency’s programme budget. UNRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large shortfalls, are funded through separate funding portals.
The UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5.4 million Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA across its five fields of operation. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.
UNRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance.
Ajjawi graduated this spring, from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Deir Yassin High School, in El Buss refugee camp, south of Tyre, Lebanon. He achieved the highest score in the life science stream of the Official Lebanese Baccalaureate exams in the south region and eighth highest in all of Lebanon. El Buss camp is one of twelve Palestine refugee camps in Lebanon where the UNRWA provides services.
Ajjawi explained that his school was surrounded by the camp, and, as suc, it “suffers from many difficulties, the most important being the housing density that leads to the construction of houses very close to each other. In this atmosphere, it is really difficult for students to concentrate on their studies.
There are a limited number of scholarships [after high school] and each year the amount is reduced. A large proportion of students are unable to study. I advise all my classmates to study hard and maintain their studies, so that they can achieve their dreams as I have been able to achieve mine.”
“Ismail Ajjawi is obviously an extremely talented and determined student and young man,” said Dr. Caroline Pontefract, the UNRWA Director of Education, “who, despite all odds, has gained a place in one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Ismail wants to study physical and chemical biology towards a career medicine which he had always dreamed of.
As such, he is a beacon of hope for hundreds of thousands of UNRWA students and representative of what UNRWA strives to achieve through its education programme: to realize the potential of every student and ensure that they acquire the values and principles that underpin the programme and UNRWA as a UN Agency.”
UNRWA educates 530,000 Palestine refugee children at 709 elementary and preparatory schools across its five fields of operations. The Agency also employs over 22,000 educational staff, the majority of whom are Palestine refugees, as teachers. UNRWA students consistently outperform their peers in public schools on national and international standardized tests. The Agency’s school systems across the Middle East were deemed by the World Bank to be a ‘global public good’.
UNRWA supports Ismail and all Palestine refugees who strive, against all odds, to achieve their full potential through higher education.
UNRWA is confronted with an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty.
UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support has been outpaced by the growth in needs. As a result, the UNRWA programme budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall.
PNN further reports that the UNRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agency’s programme budget. UNRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large shortfalls, are funded through separate funding portals.
The UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5.4 million Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA across its five fields of operation. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.
UNRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance.
30 aug 2019
This week, 46,000 refugee girls and boys began the 2019-2020 school year at 96 schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Students at the Silwan Girls’ School in East Jerusalem were particularly excited to go to school, not only to see their friends, but also because their school, as many others, was renovated over the summer holidays, with generous support from the Saudi Fund for Development.
“Opening the new school year in Silwan was an important moment for a community of Palestine refugees who otherwise see little hope on the horizon.
UNRWA activities serve as an anchor and provide some stability in their lives,” said UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl, who joined the pupils of the Silwan Girls’ School today.
“Education lies at the very heart of the UNRWA mandate and the children I met today are a powerful reminder that this investment is absolutely essential.”
Many students – including those living in the Silwan area – regularly witness clashes with security forces and tensions as a result of the increasing presence of settlers and settler organizations, WAFA further reports.
Krähenbühl said, “During every visit to an UNRWA school in the West Bank and East Jerusalem one is impressed by the unique commitment of Palestine refugees to education and the acquisition of knowledge.”
“Despite the considerable adversity they face, many of the students are high achievers and show great courage in the pursuit of learning.
Their families are proud of them and we are humbled by their steadfastness. We are also deeply grateful to UNRWA school principals, teachers, counselors and many others who worked hard to prepare the new scholastic year and to ensure our schools will remain open.”
Students at the Silwan Girls’ School in East Jerusalem were particularly excited to go to school, not only to see their friends, but also because their school, as many others, was renovated over the summer holidays, with generous support from the Saudi Fund for Development.
“Opening the new school year in Silwan was an important moment for a community of Palestine refugees who otherwise see little hope on the horizon.
UNRWA activities serve as an anchor and provide some stability in their lives,” said UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl, who joined the pupils of the Silwan Girls’ School today.
“Education lies at the very heart of the UNRWA mandate and the children I met today are a powerful reminder that this investment is absolutely essential.”
Many students – including those living in the Silwan area – regularly witness clashes with security forces and tensions as a result of the increasing presence of settlers and settler organizations, WAFA further reports.
Krähenbühl said, “During every visit to an UNRWA school in the West Bank and East Jerusalem one is impressed by the unique commitment of Palestine refugees to education and the acquisition of knowledge.”
“Despite the considerable adversity they face, many of the students are high achievers and show great courage in the pursuit of learning.
Their families are proud of them and we are humbled by their steadfastness. We are also deeply grateful to UNRWA school principals, teachers, counselors and many others who worked hard to prepare the new scholastic year and to ensure our schools will remain open.”
28 aug 2019
A London-based pro-Israel newspaper suffered embarrassment this week as The Jewish Chronicle newspaper published a public apology and agreed to pay damages to a pro-Palestine charity after falsely accusing it of supporting terrorism.
The Palestinian Relief and Development Fund, also known as Interpal, is a British-charity which provides relief and development aid to Palestinian refugees in occupied Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan.
The Israel-supporting paper published the apology on Friday over an article it released in March 2019 titled: “Corbyn spoke at conference calling for release of terrorists”.
"We accept that neither Interpal, nor its Trustees, have ever been involved with or provided support for terrorist activity of any kind. We apologize unreservedly to the Trustees for any distress caused.”
"Following the apology, Interpal's reputation has now been rescued but this story has raised new questions about The Jewish Chronicle, who seem to have form in libelling and defaming British Muslim organisations and pro-Palestine activists. The language used in these articles can create negative consequences for those targeted."
Another example took place in January 2014, when the paper apologized and paid substantial damages to British relief agency, Human Appeal International, after falsely accusing it of supporting suicide bombings.
I also met with Marc Wadsworth, a life-long anti-racism activist who complained to the press regulator IPSO about The Jewish Chronicle’s choice of words in an article published in 2018. The article allegedly used misleading terms to describe an exchange between Wadsworth and pro-Israel Labour MP Ruth Smeeth.
Wadsworth went on to explain the abuse he received following the articles release.
The JC eventually agreed to change the wording of the Wadsworth article but allegedly refused to allow him a chance to clear his name with a follow up article. So for affected pro-Palestine activists like Wadsworth an apology or word change can not fix all of the damages.
The Palestinian Relief and Development Fund, also known as Interpal, is a British-charity which provides relief and development aid to Palestinian refugees in occupied Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan.
The Israel-supporting paper published the apology on Friday over an article it released in March 2019 titled: “Corbyn spoke at conference calling for release of terrorists”.
"We accept that neither Interpal, nor its Trustees, have ever been involved with or provided support for terrorist activity of any kind. We apologize unreservedly to the Trustees for any distress caused.”
"Following the apology, Interpal's reputation has now been rescued but this story has raised new questions about The Jewish Chronicle, who seem to have form in libelling and defaming British Muslim organisations and pro-Palestine activists. The language used in these articles can create negative consequences for those targeted."
Another example took place in January 2014, when the paper apologized and paid substantial damages to British relief agency, Human Appeal International, after falsely accusing it of supporting suicide bombings.
I also met with Marc Wadsworth, a life-long anti-racism activist who complained to the press regulator IPSO about The Jewish Chronicle’s choice of words in an article published in 2018. The article allegedly used misleading terms to describe an exchange between Wadsworth and pro-Israel Labour MP Ruth Smeeth.
Wadsworth went on to explain the abuse he received following the articles release.
The JC eventually agreed to change the wording of the Wadsworth article but allegedly refused to allow him a chance to clear his name with a follow up article. So for affected pro-Palestine activists like Wadsworth an apology or word change can not fix all of the damages.
27 aug 2019
UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl has said that the world does not appreciate the reality of suffering, pain and disappointment among the population in the Gaza Strip
In a recent news conference held in Gaza City, Krahenbuhl highlighted the fact that the Gaza population is deprived of their most basic rights.
He said that he had conducted important meeting with officials in Gaza during the last few days, adding that the reason for his return to Gaza was to launch the new school year, which he described as a very important event for the Palestinian refugees.
In a recent news conference held in Gaza City, Krahenbuhl highlighted the fact that the Gaza population is deprived of their most basic rights.
He said that he had conducted important meeting with officials in Gaza during the last few days, adding that the reason for his return to Gaza was to launch the new school year, which he described as a very important event for the Palestinian refugees.
22 aug 2019
This photo shows Ali Nehme Hamzeh, who was killed on August 22, 2019 in an explosion of an Israeli cluster bomb left over from the 2006 war on Lebanon as he was working on a bulldozer in a field near the village of Majdal Selm
A young Palestinian man has lost his life when a cluster bomb dropped during Israel's military aggression against Lebanon in the summer of 2006 detonated in the country's south.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that the man, identified as Ali Nehme Hamzeh, was working on a bulldozer in a field near the village of Majdal Selm on Thursday, when the bomb exploded.
He was taken to the nearby Tibnin Governmental Hospital, but succumbed to his wounds.
Southern Lebanon is littered with hundreds of unexploded Israeli cluster bombs, and the Lebanese army together with the UN and other international organizations are working to purge the area of the deadly ordnance.
According to the United Nations, the Israeli army dropped some four million cluster bombs on Lebanon during the July-August 2006 war, mostly during the last 48 hours of the conflict.
More than 400 people, 90 percent of them civilians and a third under the age of 18, have been killed by the munitions, while dozens more have been maimed.
Cluster bombs are a type of explosive weapons that blow up in the air and scatter dozens of sub-munitions over a large area.
Cluster munitions are banned in most countries due to the indiscriminate nature of the weapons.
About 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, lost their lives during Israel’s 33-day war on Lebanon back in the summer of 2006.
According to a 629-page report of the Winograd Commission, appointed by the Israeli regime itself, Hezbollah fighters involved in defending Lebanon against the Israeli war defeated the enemy, and Tel Aviv was compelled to withdraw without having achieved any of its objectives.
The Winograd Commission was set by former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert in September 2006 to examine the events during Israel’s 33-day war on Lebanon. It was chaired by retired judge Eliyahu Winograd.
The commission was formed in the wake of public criticism and protest over the fact that the Israeli military had effectively lost the war by failing to achieve its aim of freeing two soldiers captured by Hezbollah fighters.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which brokered a ceasefire in the 2006 war, calls on Israel to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
A young Palestinian man has lost his life when a cluster bomb dropped during Israel's military aggression against Lebanon in the summer of 2006 detonated in the country's south.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that the man, identified as Ali Nehme Hamzeh, was working on a bulldozer in a field near the village of Majdal Selm on Thursday, when the bomb exploded.
He was taken to the nearby Tibnin Governmental Hospital, but succumbed to his wounds.
Southern Lebanon is littered with hundreds of unexploded Israeli cluster bombs, and the Lebanese army together with the UN and other international organizations are working to purge the area of the deadly ordnance.
According to the United Nations, the Israeli army dropped some four million cluster bombs on Lebanon during the July-August 2006 war, mostly during the last 48 hours of the conflict.
More than 400 people, 90 percent of them civilians and a third under the age of 18, have been killed by the munitions, while dozens more have been maimed.
Cluster bombs are a type of explosive weapons that blow up in the air and scatter dozens of sub-munitions over a large area.
Cluster munitions are banned in most countries due to the indiscriminate nature of the weapons.
About 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, lost their lives during Israel’s 33-day war on Lebanon back in the summer of 2006.
According to a 629-page report of the Winograd Commission, appointed by the Israeli regime itself, Hezbollah fighters involved in defending Lebanon against the Israeli war defeated the enemy, and Tel Aviv was compelled to withdraw without having achieved any of its objectives.
The Winograd Commission was set by former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert in September 2006 to examine the events during Israel’s 33-day war on Lebanon. It was chaired by retired judge Eliyahu Winograd.
The commission was formed in the wake of public criticism and protest over the fact that the Israeli military had effectively lost the war by failing to achieve its aim of freeing two soldiers captured by Hezbollah fighters.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which brokered a ceasefire in the 2006 war, calls on Israel to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.