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UNRWA funding cut could close Palestinian schools within weeks

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(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.

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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.

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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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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?"

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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.

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UNRWA funding cut could close Palestinian schools within weeks a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com> - 2018-09-03 13:31 -0700
  Re: UNRWA funding cut could close Palestinian schools within weeks a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com> - 2018-09-03 13:47 -0700

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