#un relief and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east

[trump-executive-orders]

Withdrawing the United States From and Ending Funding To Certain United Nations Organizations and Reviewing United States Support to All International Organizations

Issued February 4, 2025.

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Purpose. The United States helped found the United Nations (UN) after World War II to prevent future global conflicts and promote international peace and security. But some of the UN's agencies and bodies have drifted from this mission and instead act contrary to the interests of the United States while attacking our allies and propagating anti-Semitism. As in 2018, when the United States withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the United States will reevaluate our commitment to these institutions.

Three UN organizations that deserve renewed scrutiny are the UNHRC; the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

UNRWA has reportedly been infiltrated by members of groups long designated by the Secretary of State (Secretary) as foreign terrorist organizations, and UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. UNHRC has protected human rights abusers by allowing them to use the organization to shield themselves from scrutiny, while UNESCO has demonstrated failure to reform itself, has continually demonstrated anti-Israel sentiment over the past decade, and has failed to address concerns over mounting arrears.

Sec. 2. UNHRC and UNESCO Participation. (a) The United States will not participate in the UNHRC and will not seek election to that body. The Secretary shall terminate the office of United States Representative to the UNHRC and any positions primarily dedicated to supporting the United States Representative to the UNHRC.

(b) The United States will also conduct a review of its membership in UNESCO. This review shall be led by the Secretary, in coordination with the United States Representative to the United Nations (UN Ambassador), and must be completed within 90 days of the date of this order. The review will include an evaluation of how and if UNESCO supports United States interests. In particular, the review will include an analysis of any anti-Semitism or anti-Israel sentiment within the organization.

Sec. 3. Funding. (a) Executive departments and agencies shall not use any funds for a contribution, grant, or other payment to UNRWA, consistent with section 301 of title III, division G, of Public Law 118-47 (March 23, 2024). The Secretary shall withdraw the determination previously made under section 7048(c)(1) of title VII, division F, of Public Law 118-47. Accordingly, of the funds appropriated for a contribution to the UN Regular Budget under the heading "Contributions to International Organizations" of Public Law 118-47, as most recently continued by Public Law 118-158 (December 21, 2024), the Secretary shall withhold the United States proportionate share of the total annual amount of UN Regular Budget funding for the UNHRC, consistent with section 7048(c) of title VII, division F, of Public Law 118-47.

(b) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary, in consultation with the UN Ambassador, shall conduct a review of all international intergovernmental organizations of which the United States is a member and provides any type of funding or other support, and all conventions and treaties to which the United States is a party, to determine which organizations, conventions, or treaties can be reformed. Upon the conclusion of that review, the Secretary shall report the findings to the President, through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and provide recommendations as to whether the United States should withdraw from any such organizations, conventions, or treaties.

Sec. 4. Notification. The Secretary shall inform the UN Secretary General and the leadership of UNRWA and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that the United States will not fund UNRWA or the UNHRC and that the United States will not satisfy any claims to pay 2025 assessments or prior arrears by these organizations.

Sec. 5. General Provision. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

[onbreakreadlastpost]

Humanitarian aid to North Gaza mostly blocked for the last 2 months, UN says

[madamepestilence]

Just as a reminder as I've just noticed myself - arab.org has more pages to support on

In case you're unfamiliar with how this site works, it confirms ad revenue via your clicks, which allows them to donate money to various funds

These go to:

Children -> UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund)

Fight Poverty -> UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)

Environment -> Greenpeace MENA (Middle East and North Africa)

Palestine -> UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency [for Palestine Refugees in the Near East])

Refugees -> UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)

Women -> UN Women

Do more with your daily clicks! You can help each one once per individual (perhaps per IP address?) per day, letting you help out with six things at once?

US-specific advice for helping Palestine below cut.

Side note I'm keeping beneath the cut since it's relevant to US folks only: if you're really determined to help Palestine, vote for Dr. Cornel West, Ph.D. for President of the United States.

He's the most openly vocal about a free Palestine and is the only candidate who has demonstrably shown he is the most committed and prepared to immediately cease US support to Israel.

Joe Biden isn't going to cave if he gets re-elected. We all know that. Voting third party is a lot less risky than you've been taught - the two party system can replace one or both parties with new parties if they lose public favour.

We have both the people and the ability to unseat the Democratic party and install Socialism, and between Socialism and Republicans, Socialism is going to lock in place immediately and become the dominant political force in America.

Cornel West's Platform

Cornel West's Volunteer Events

Cornel West's Ballot Access Tracker and Ballot Access Plans

Tumblr thread I have of Primary/Caucus polling dates in the US (includes US territories)

Not on your Primary/Caucus ballot? Write-in, "Cornel West," on your ballot, or urge your Caucus representatives to do the same.

In a state where it's difficult for Independent candidates to get ballot access? Dr. Cornel West, Ph.D. thought ahead and has created a new party for those states called the Justice for All Party.

(Addendum: Claudia de la Cruz is not a viable alternative. The Party for Socialism and Liberation has a Conservative 5th Column and has frequent issues with discrimination.)

Free Palestine. Vote for Cornel West.

[papasmoke]

September 20, 2024

October 1, 2024

You'll probably need a vpn to visit this page, the text of it reads:

In its sitting on Monday, the Knesset Plenum voted to approve in first reading the Bill for Cutting Off the State of Israel's Relations with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and Declaring it a Terrorist Organization, 2024, sponsored by MK Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beitenu) and a group of MKs. In the vote, 50 Members of Knesset supported the bill, versus 10 who opposed it, and the bill will be returned to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for deliberation.

It is proposed to declare the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as a terrorist organization. It is further proposed that the State of Israel sever its relations with UNRWA, both directly and indirectly.

MK Malinovsky, the bill's sponsor: "We have to perform a surgical [cut] here and end the event. We are on the UN's blacklist in any case. All the excessive morality ended on October 7. UNRWA is a terrorist organization, and not only in Jerusalem. It is afifth-column within the State of Israel. And not just municipal property tax benefits-everything should be revoked from them. The fact that this hasn't happened until now, for seven months--is a disgrace. What is happening today is a badge of honor for the Knesset and for the Members of Knesset. The fact that we succeeded in joining hands, coalition and opposition--that is a very important statement for the Government. We did a wonderful job together with all the partners to these bills."

The explanatory notes to the bill state: "In the months after the outbreak of the Swords of Iron war, investigative reports were revealed regarding the involvement of the workers of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip in the murderous terrorist offensive that began on October 7, 2023, such as participation in acts of murder and massacre, kidnapping Israeli citizens to the Gaza Strip and providing vehicles and equipment for the purpose of the offensive. Reports were also published regarding the membership of these workers in the Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations,

"The above attests to the close relationship that exists between UNRWA and terrorist activity for all intents and purposes, in a manner that is no different from the activity of organizations that have been declared as terrorist organizations by law. Therefore, it is proposed to declare that UNRWA is a terrorist organization as defined in the Counter-Terrorism Law, 2016."

October 7, 2024

October 8, 2024

In that same spirit, we are following with deep concern the Israeli legislative proposal that could alter UNRWA’s legal status, hindering its ability to communicate with Israeli officials, and removing privileges and immunities afforded to UN organizations and personnel around the globe. This legislative proposal reflects the significant distrust between Israel and UNRWA.

Israel has alleged – and the UN, in some cases, has confirmed – that a small percentage of UNRWA employees have ties to Hamas and other terrorist groups. Israel has also conveyed concerns about Hamas misusing UNRWA facilities and the United States shares these concerns.

At the same time, we know that UN personnel, including from UNRWA, are vital to the humanitarian response in Gaza and face tremendous danger while performing their work.

And so, Israel needs to provide UNRWA additional information regarding these allegations, and UNRWA needs to have in place a process to address these concerns seriously and urgently, and make faster progress on the much-needed reforms outlined in the Colonna report.

Simply put: It is in no one’s interest for the neutrality of UNRWA’s personnel to remain in doubt.

October 9, 2024

October 14, 2024

The bare minimum required from the US to curtail further Israeli atrocities would be the cessation or curtailing of munitions, logistical support, diplomatic cover, and US military presence in defense of Israel. None of these actions are on the table according to Biden, Harris, or Trump. Israel is creating a legal framework to justify the systemic targeting of UNRWA aid workers and facilities, a practice which the US has made it clear it will defend through inaction, if not active participation. It will issue hollow condemnations and statements of concern, urge Israel to investigate, then move on, pretending like nothing happened.

[sayruq]

Israeli forces have conducted at least eight airstrikes on aid workers and facilities in Gaza since October despite direct communication with the groups, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released on 14 May. “Israeli authorities did not issue advance warnings to any of the aid organizations before the strikes, which killed or injured at least 31 aid workers and those with them,” the report reads. “The eight incidents reveal fundamental flaws with the so-called deconfliction system, meant to protect aid workers and allow them to safely deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance in Gaza,” the HRW report continues. Multiple aid groups that have been victims of these Israeli airstrikes had been in communication with Israeli authorities about their locations and movements. One of the more recent incidents happened in April when Israel launched multiple airstrikes against a World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy, killing several of its staff, one Palestinian translator, and foreign aid workers from Australia, the UK, Poland, and a dual US-Canadian citizen.

In the eight attacks mapped by HRW, at least 15 people, including two children, were killed, and 16 others were injured.The other seven attacks include strikes on the convoy of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in November, a UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) guest house in December, an MSF shelter in January, an International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) guest house in January, a UNRWA convoy in February, another MSF guest house in February, and the home of an American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) employee in March. UN numbers at the end of April show 253 aid workers have been killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza since October, 188 of whom were UNRWA personnel.

[zyptoskid]

Compilation of Gaza Direct Aid Resources

Gaza e-sims: an initiative to keep Gaza residents & reporters on the ground connected despite the targeted communication blackouts.

Ground initiatives: those are groups of people with the resources and ability to distribute aid in ad-hoc fashion to those most in need. Small scale groups like this are efficient in their crisis response and some are willing to put their lives in danger to push aid to hotspots like the north of the strip. + @careforgaza (twitter) + @gazadirectaid (twitter) + @ahelgaza (twitter) + PiousProjects feminine hygiene kits

The PCRF: Palestine Children's Relief Fund is an independent and reputable organization with 30+ years of service for Palestinian children.

UNRWA: The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, established in 1949 to support and pay reparations for Palestinian refugees whom are denied their right of return (most of Gaza residents at the moment). This org was recently defunded by your usual colonizer suspects, in an illegitimate attempt to put pressure on the UN after ICJ/CIJ ruling that recognized Palestinians as a distinct ethnic group in plausible threat of genocide.

Daily Click on arab.org: a NGO that collects interaction revenue and sends it to multiple other orgs in support of Palestine

[girlactionfigure]

Knesset passes preliminary bill designating UNRWA terrorist organization

The same bill, which comes in light of evidence suggesting UNRWA employees' links to Hamas, will abolish the immunities and privileges gifted to UNRWA employees.

MK Yulia Malinovsky's bill to designate UNRWA a terrorist organization passed a preliminary reading with a 42-6 majority in the Knesset on Wednesday. The bill will abolish UNRWA employees' immunities and privileges.

If the bill passes a final reading, it will mean that the Anti-Terrorism Law will also apply to UNRWA. Israel will subsequently cease all ties with the agency, and the organization's assets in Israeli territory will be closed.

The abolition of privilege bill is formally called the "Bill to Abolish the Immunity and Privileges of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)." UNRWA is a branch of the UN responsible for Palestinian refugees, including 2 million in the Gaza Strip, the organization claims.

Read More

[allthegeopolitics]

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has confirmed that the food supplies entering the Gaza Strip meet only six per cent of people’s needs, the Palestinian Information Centre reported yesterday. UNRWA said that the Israeli occupation allows limited quantities of flour and food supplies through the crossings, which cover just six per cent of the required needs. The agency highlighted that this situation has led to a severe crisis in Gaza, particularly in accessing bread, forcing most bakeries in the southern part of the enclave to shut down.

Continue Reading.

[eretzyisrael]

by Debbie Weiss

Teachers at Palestinian schools run by the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees celebrated Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre against Israel and are part of a “national strategy to commit acts of terror,” the head of a watchdog group told The Algemeiner following the release of the group’s new bombshell report on the matter.

At least 14 teachers at schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) publicly celebrated the Hamas atrocities on their social media accounts, with one calling the morning of Oct. 7 an “unforgettable glorious morning,” a report released on Monday by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) found.

The report also identified at least 100 Hamas terrorists who are graduates of UNRWA’s educating system. It highlighted Amer Yaser Nazmi Sada, whose diploma was found in the vehicle of one of the terrorists who participated in the Oct. 7 slaughter of Israeli families. The diploma, granted to Sada in 2018 upon his graduation, was signed by the chief of UNRWA’s vocational program in Gaza, Farid Ajmi’an Abu Adhira.

One UNRWA employee in Gaza, Mahmoud Abu Adhm, uploaded several posts supporting the massacre by Hamas, the report showed. In one, posted three days after the attack, Abu Adhm urged the Palestinian terrorist group to kill Israeli hostages, citing Islamic texts: “Do not walk past a captive who has not been given amnesty without striking off his neck so as to terrorize the enemy.”

IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff told The Algemeiner: “When you teach young people to cut the neck of the enemy, do not be surprised when you see acts like that.”

“When you teach young people that Jews should be exterminated, do not be surprised when that is what they attempt to do,” he added.

[thebrightestwitchofherage]

It’s almost like we’ve been saying this all along…

7 UNWRA EMPLOYEES HAVE TAKEN PART OF THE OCTOBER 7th MASSACRE

It is estimated that Hundreds UWNRA employees are aligned with Hamas .

Dedicated to the anti Zionists who called me Islamophobic or deluded for saying this <<3

And only now, the UN is starting to investigate the sexual crimes of October 7th. More than three months later.

[athena5898]

(Quds) After the UN expressed deep concern regarding the blatant violations of international humanitarian law committed by Israeli forces in northern Gaza, the “United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East” (UNRWA) was added to the list of “terrorist organizations” on Wikipedia.

This addition aligns with several other entities that have been classified as terrorist merely for their opposition to the Israeli entity and the crimes it commits.

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

It's not nearly enough, but as of the 19th of July 2024, the UK has overturned the suspension of funding for the UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) seven months after the past government paused it in January.

Further (quoting from the article):

"Lammy [foreign secretary] also laid out his party’s priorities when it come to dealing with the conflict in the Middle East. He said: “Britain wants an immediate ceasefire. “The fighting must stop. “The hostages must be released. “Much, much more aid must enter Gaza – Israel promised a ‘flood of aid’, back in April but imposes impossible and unacceptable restrictions. “And there must be de-escalation on the Israeli-Lebanese border.” The party’s manifesto also described Palestinian statehood as the “inalienable right of the Palestinian people”, and committed to recognising the Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution. The manifesto called for international law to be upheld, too."

[dumb-cdc]

UNRWA and the Problem of Data Stewardship

Every single Registered Palestinian Refugee™️ took a grave risk to maintain their legal claim to their ancestral land. A deadly risk. UNRWA now stewards this data and all claim to land that Palestinians past, present, and future depend on. Even if UNRWA wishes to deny that it grants any type of legal status, it cannot deny that it is stewarding validated data that Palestinians lived on their ancestral land before 1948.

---

Three weeks ago, I was digging into population data for Palestine. Population pyramids offer a crude picture of health for a population, and unsurprisingly, Palestine's trends failed to show population stability. Due to premature death, many children do not age into adulthood and few adults grow old to become elders. Typically, members of a population only "exit" a population in two ways: 1) death and 2) physically leaving the geographic bounds that define this population. This leaving could be a willful emigration or a forced displacement. It's one thing to locate data for death rates and survivorship curves. It's another thing to track down refugee data. For the Occupied Palestinian Territories (oPt as defined by the U.N.), refugee data is poorly defined and deeply political. And this data is stewarded solely by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

If it were the 90s, I would be slumped over a series of bloated desktops like Julia Roberts. *adjusts tin foil hat*

On January 26th, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel could no longer act with impunity and had to immediately permit the delivery of basic services and essential humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza. However, Israel has moved to accuse UNRWA staff members of conspiring with Hamas for the October 7th attack. The United States and Western nations have taken their cue to suspend funding to UNRWA.

To recap: now that the ICJ has ordered humanitarian aid to enter the Occupied Palestinian Territories (oPt), Western nations have cut funding to the U.N. arm delivering that very humanitarian aid in the region.

152 UNRWA workers have been killed and 145 UNRWA facilities have been damaged or destroyed. Over 1 million Palestinians are currently taking shelter in ~154 UNRWA buildings (via OCHA's reliefweb). Al Jazeera reports that the United States, Germany, the EU, and Sweden together fund ~62% of UNRWA's total funding. As these countries suspend their funding, it's predicted that UNRWA will run out of funds within weeks.

29 January 2024 statement from NGOs:

The suspension of funding by donor states will impact life-saving assistance for over two million civilians, over half of whom are children, who rely on UNRWA aid in Gaza. The population faces starvation, looming famine and an outbreak of disease under Israel's continued indiscriminate bombardment and deliberate deprivation of aid in Gaza. We welcome UNRWA's swift investigation into the alleged involvement of a small number of UN staff members in the October 7th attacks. We are shocked by the reckless decision to cut a lifeline for an entire population by some of the very countries that had called for aid in Gaza to be stepped up and for humanitarians to be protected while doing their job. This decision comes as the International Court of Justice ordered immediate and effective action to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza. 152 UNRWA staff have already been killed and 145 UNRWA facilities damaged by bombardment. UNRWA is the largest humanitarian agency in Gaza and their delivery of humanitarian assistance cannot be replaced by other agencies working in Gaza. If the funding suspensions are not reversed we may see a complete collapse of the already restricted humanitarian response in Gaza.

Letting UNRWA sputter out and die has grave implications for Palestinian refugees past, present, and future. Why? UNRWA is the only recognized entity that grants Palestinians their legal claim to their ancestral land and their refugee status. Piecing together the data on Palestinian refugees is Kafkaesque. The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) operates in 135 countries and estimates that ~108.4 million people are forcibly displaced globally. However, UNHCR is a distinct entity from the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) serves every single country but Palestine. UNRWA was established in 1949 and is mandated to serve Registered Palestinian Refugees™️. Registered Palestinian Refugees™️ are defined as "any person whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict" (UNRWA FAQs). Registered Palestinian Refugee™️ status extended to biological and adoptive descendants of male lineage only. Registration closed after the 1950s and re-opened decades later in 1992 to allow new appeals for registration from persons "able to produce valid documentation proving their 1948 refugee status." Only in 2006 could Registered Palestinian Refugee™️ women have their own husbands and descendants registered as Registered Palestinian Refugees™️.

Census data has never been used to build UNRWA's registry of Registered Palestinian Refugees™️. All registered persons are registered voluntarily.

So here we are in 2024. The current database of Registered Palestinian Refugees™️ only captures individuals who voluntarily registered to maintain their legal claim to the land they were displaced from. Individual men who, from 1949 to 1959, had physical documents proving that they and their family lived in Palestine. Individual men who, over 40 years later, submitted physical documents (themselves or posthumously through their children) proving that they and their family lived in Palestine. Then, individual women, who almost 60 years later, submitted physical documents (themselves or posthumously through their children) proving that they and their family lived in Palestine.

Violence since 1948 has repeatedly displaced Palestinians. Most notably is the 1967 Naksa, when Israel annexed the remaining Palestinian territories after the Six-Day War. Though UNRWA serves Palestinians who have been displaced "as a result of the 1967 and subsequent hostilities," these persons are NOT Registered Palestinian Refugees™️ — they can receive services from UNRWA, but only persons and lineages connected to the 1948 Nakba fall under the definition of Registered Palestinian Refugees™️.

This wholly fucks up the numbers.

This data is hardly complete. It is miraculous that there are any Registered Palestinian Refugees™️ given how bureaucratically violent and prohibitive this process is. How do you present documentation when the registration window finally re-opened in 1992... if your entire family line was wiped out? How do you present documentation of where your family lived some 40 years after they were driven from their home with just the clothes on their back? In public health, it has been widely studied and proven that stigma, violence, and distrust are durable drivers of surveillance avoidance. Victimized people will refuse to engage systems that capture any of their identifying information because of their fear of surveillance. They are, rightfully so, afraid of being revictimized by peoples and powers beyond them.

And so: Can you imagine having your home seized by a Western-backed nation, your family dying and suffering on a Trail of Tears, and then being asked to sign up for a Western-backed registry tracking your genetic family lineage?

Every single Registered Palestinian Refugee™️ took a grave risk to maintain their legal claim to their ancestral land. A deadly risk. UNRWA now stewards this data and all claim to land that Palestinians past, present, and future depend on. Even if UNRWA wishes to deny that it grants any type of legal status, it cannot deny that it is stewarding validated data that Palestinians lived on their ancestral land before 1948.

UNRWA only operates in 5 regions: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank (including East Jerusalem), and Gaza. It cannot operate outside of these regions. With that said, the U.N. is only tracking Registered Palestinian Refugees™️ who are internally displaced within the Occupied Palestinian Territories (oPt) or have crossed borders into one of these 5 regions. Apparently the U.N. banks on Palestinians being unable to find resettlement outside of these 5 regions. From VOA News:

UNRWA does not have the authority to give Palestinians refugee status under the 1951 Geneva Convention. Nor does the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees have that authority while they are in UNRWA's area of operations; it can designate Palestinians as refugees only when they are outside UNRWA's jurisdiction. "The Refugee Convention was written such that it excluded [Palestinians] from protection and consideration by the UNHCR," Yael Schacher, director for the Americas and Europe at Refugees International, told VOA.

Unsurprisingly, there have been continued efforts to dissolve UNRWA. Doing so would transfer its mandate over to Arab powers within the 5 regions and subsequently dissolve the registry of Registered Palestinian Refugees™️. 

In a 2021 letter, UNRWA's Director of Legal Affairs pens a letter "at the request of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ('UNHCR') for the purposes of describing the Agency's mandate and services that it is able to provide, and limitations thereto."

The letter defines the purpose of UNRWA and the state of its funding as such:

UNRWA's fields of operations are Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza. The Agency does not have a mandate to operate outside of its five fields, and therefore, other than maintaining regional representative offices, does not have offices anywhere else. UNRWA pursues its mission within its five fields of operations through the provision of humanitarian assistance and mandated services. UNRWA mandated services are concerned with: - Basic education, - Primary health care, - Relief and social services, - Infrastructure and camp improvement, and microcredit, and, - Emergency assistance, including in situations of armed conflict.

The Agency contributes to the protection of Palestine refugees both through its service delivery and by advocating for their rights with relevant stakeholders. UNRWA does not have a mandate to seek durable solutions for Palestine refugees. UNRWA does not manage refugee camps and is not responsible for protecting the physical safety or security of Palestine refugees or maintaining law and order in UNRWA's five fields of operations. The Agency cannot guarantee any individual's physical security. Ensuring the physical security of Palestine refugees residing in any of UNRWA's five fields is the responsibility of the respective host state or authority. [...] Operating within a resource-constrained environment, and reliant on voluntary funding, UNRWA allocates its limited resources among the services provided to Palestine refugees, prioritizing the needs of the most vulnerable. The level of services that UNRWA is able to provide depends on the Agency's funding situation, which is largely dependent on voluntary contributions by States, and may not correspond to the needs of Palestine refugees. The Agency's funding situation, which has steadily deteriorated over the past several years, reached a critical point in 2020. UNRWA received US$ 940 million, US$ 649 million short of total requirements and US$ 60 million less than in 2019. The Agency's financial situation remains uncertain with a shortfall of US$ 100 million as at mid- September 2021.

As stated, UNRWA does not operate or fund refugee camps, as they can only deliver services; refugees become the financial responsibility of the host nations. Thus, pushing Registered Palestinian Refugees™️ across borders is to the advantage of UNRWA in a few ways. If Registered Palestinian Refugees™️ are pushed outside of UNRWA's 5 regions, through the Rafah crossing into Egypt let's say, then UNRWA washes its hands of these refugees from both a financial and jurisdiction standpoint.

To reiterate from before: At least 152 UNRWA workers have been killed and most of UNRWA's physical infrastructure has been blown up and destroyed. Over 1 million Palestinians are taking refuge in remaining UNRWA buildings. Nations that account for ~62% of UNRWA's total funding and are now suspending their funds one-by-one. It's predicted that UNRWA will run out of funding within weeks.

Sounds like a convenient solution for the problem of Registered Palestinian Refugees™️. And again, this brings up concerns regarding data stewardship.

If UNRWA dies, then all Palestinians would be absorbed into the umbrella title of Internally Displaced Persons™️ (IDP) -- forcibly-displaced persons who do not cross borders. "People become internally displaced when they are forced to leave their homes due to conflict, violence, human rights violations, natural hazards, or other crises within the borders of their country. This can include situations where people move voluntarily to seek safety or to access essential services" (via OCHA).

IDP is a regionally-agnostic and globally-used term, as opposed to Registered Palestinian Refugee™️. The U.N. body primarily concerned with IDPs is the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Defined solely by geographic bounds, IDPs are not refugees, even if they've been displaced for generations. Those IDPs are just experiencing protracted internal displacement: "Protracted Internal Displacement refers to IDPs who, for significant periods of time, cannot take steps to progressively reduce their vulnerability, impoverishment and marginalization, and find a durable solution" (United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement, 2021).

There is a current movement to apply the term IDP to Palestinians. On one hand, it's accurate and helpful in garnering resources. On the other hand, it further erodes the UNRWA classification of Registered Palestinian Refugee™️.

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (a Norwegian organization) put out an interesting report in 2015 regarding this language shift and foreshadows a mandate shift for UNRWA:

Until 2006, local NGOs, INGOs and the media generally referred to Palestinians displaced by house demolitions and evictions as "homeless", not as IDPs. At that time, some did not see the utility of the IDP label, especially given that the status of Palestinian refugee used by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) conferred some degree of assistance to Palestinians. Over time there has been growing recognition of the validity of the IDP label in Israel-Palestine and its potential to ensure greater visibility. This new awareness of internal displacement and its triggers and consequences in the region was reflected in the 2008 creation of the Inter-Agency Displacement Working Group (DWG) led by OCHA under the auspices of the Protection Cluster chaired by OHCHR. It rapidly grew to include over a hundred members, including UN agencies, Palestinian and Israeli local organisations, INGOs and donors. They collectively acknowledged the local applicability of the IDP definition provided by the Guiding Principles and started considering as IDPs all Palestinians, including UNRWA-registered refugees, who have been displaced as a result of policies associated with the Israeli occupation of the territories annexed in 1967. Accompanying this conceptual shift there has been increasing recognition of the applicability of the term "forcible transfer" to describe Israeli practices in the oPts.

Without UNRWA's registry of Registered Palestinian Refugees™️, the public identity of Palestinians will irrefutably change. Both in the region and on the world stage.

Just another internally displaced person. Just another refugee. Displaced from where? Refugee from where? Not any place that they have claim to, legally or anecdotally; not any place that they have power to return to.

This is the problem of data stewardship that needs to be answered. Anyways, a depressing rabbit hole I found myself in.

[bloghrexach]

🤔 … What is UNRWA?

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians displaced by the 1948 Palestine War and subsequent conflicts, as well as their descendants, including legally adopted children.

HOW CONVENIENT? NOW?

“The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has fired 12 aid workers accused of involvement in the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, and has launched an investigation.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said yesterday that he was "horrified" by the allegations and that those found to have been involved would be referred for potential criminal prosecution.” … 🤔