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Palestine refugees on 56 years of UNRWA

Adnan Abu Hasna 1 May 2006


The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is the main provider of education, health, relief and social services to registered Palestine refugees in the Agency’s five fields of operations: Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic and the West Bank and Gaza Strip. UNRWA’s assistance is especially essential to refugees in the occupied Palestinian territory, where the economic situation continues to deteriorate and movement restrictions impede the delivery of UNRWA’s humanitarian aid. The frequent closure of the commercial Karni crossing to the Gaza Strip, where refugees account for two-thirds of the population. Below are some impressions and reflections of Palestine refugees in Gaza. 

World Health Organization: Life Quality Dramatically Deteriorated for Palestinians

Adri Nieuwhof 28 April 2006


In order to have a deeper understanding of the social suffering of the Palestinian people under occupation, a pilot Quality of Life study was undertaken by the World Health Organization - West Bank and Gaza and the Bir Zeit Institute of Community and Public Health in cooperation with the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. The investigation was completed one month before the Palestinian Legislative Council Elections on 25 January 2006. It can therefore be seen as a baseline study to measure the impact of the negative response of Israel and the West to the democratic victory of Hamas. Adri Nieuwhof looks at the survey. 

Seminar on Assistance to Palestinian People opens in Cairo, Secretary-General calls on international community to intensify support for Palestinians

26 April 2006


At the opening session of the United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he respected the decision of the Palestinian people in their election of a Palestinian Legislative Council and hoped the new Cabinet of the Palestinian Authority could address their aspiration for peace and statehood, as articulated by President Mahmoud Abbas. In a statement read out by Assistant-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Angela Kane, he called on both parties to work towards the implementation of the Access and Movement Agreement, and urged the international community to find ways of continuing and intensifying support for the Palestinian people. All must understand that the Palestinian Authority must provide the bulk of the basic services necessary to avert a humanitarian crisis. 

Cairo meeting addresses economic, humanitarian crisis in Palestinian Territory

26 April 2006


In his keynote address to the United Nations Seminar of Assistance to the Palestinian People this afternoon, Member of Palestinian Legislative Council Nabil Sha’ath said the new cabinet was willing to accept financial oversights or to have money transferred through President Abbas, but it could not accept the attempt to bypass the Palestinian Authority. This afternoon’s session, part of a two-day meeting sponsored by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, heard presentations by experts on the scope of the economic and humanitarian crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. 

United Nations Seminar on Assistance to Palestinian People concludes

27 April 2006


United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Economic Affairs Officer Mahmoud ElKhafif said conflict, political instability, an elusive sovereignty and a policy of asymmetric containment had hampered the Palestinian Authority’s ability to ensure any governance, much less a corruption-free, best practice model. Speaking at the last panel discussion of the United Nations Cairo Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People, he said humanitarian relief and budget support were inadequate to reduce poverty and economic vulnerability under current conditions. Sustained economic recovery required either dismantling the politics of asymmetric containment or dealing with it as an external constraint in the short term while working towards its eventual elimination. 

Aid and the Palestine Financial Crisis: A viewpoint on an ongoing debate

Mohammed El-Samhouri 27 April 2006


The sudden ascent of Hamas to power after the January 25 parliamentary elections in the Palestinian Authority (PA) areas has put at risk two vital sources of Palestinian finance: an aid package by Western donors of about $1 billion a year in humanitarian, developmental and budgetary support; and a monthly transfer by Israel of about $55 million in customs and tax revenues that it collects on behalf of the PA. Preserving the status quo, where international aid and customs revenues transfers are maintained at their 2005 levels, would not prevent Palestinian economic conditions from deteriorating. 

I Complain, Therefore I Am

Laila El-Haddad Gaza City, Palestine 27 April 2006


I’m fairly certain I exist. Descartes tells me so, and before him, Ibn Sina. And when my son drags me out of bed to play with him in the pre-dawn hours, I really know I do. So you can imagine how distraught I was when my existence was cast into serious doubt by a major airline. sure enough, in the drop-down menu of countries, I found the British Indian Ocean Territory, the Isle of Man and even Tuvalu - but no Palestine. I was confused. Where in the world is Laila El-Haddad if not in Palestine, I thought? 

Gaza Strip Situation Report

26 April 2006


At just before 1pm today a suspect vehicle reportedly carrying explosives was apprehended by Palestinian security forces in close proximity to Karni terminal. Karni has now been closed and staff ordered to leave the crossing as investigations take place. As of 26 April, Karni crossing has been closed 55 days in 2006 (47% of the year). The crossing has been subject to periodic closure by the Israeli authorities since January 2006 on the grounds of security concerns. The extent of the recent closures is unprecedented when compared to a closure of 18% of the year in 2005 and 19% in 2004. 

Irish MP slams EU "hypocrisy," calls for suspension of EU-Israel agreement

26 April 2006


Commenting on a parliamentary question reply that he received from the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs in relation to the decision by the EU to block funding to the Palestinian National Authority, Irish MP and Sinn Féin Spokesperson on International Affairs Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh slammed the “on-going hypocrisy that characterises the positions taken by the EU in relation to the illegal occupation of Palestine,” and called on the European Union to “suspend preferential trade with Israel until such time as it renounces violence, recognises Palestine’s right to exist and accepts previous agreements and obligations.” 

Israeli attack: Extrajudicial killing of two Palestinians in Bethlehem

24 April 2006


On Sunday evening, 23 April 2006, Israeli armed forces extra-judicially executed two members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, in Bethlehem. Israeli forces also wounded and arrested a third member. Israel later claimed that one of the victims had died from his wounds following his evacuation to Hadasa Hospital in Jerusalem, but investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights refute this claim and prove that IOF executed the victim after his arrest. This latest attack comes after decisions taken by the Israeli political and military establishment to continue to target Palestinian activists.