Palestinians wait for their turn outside al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on April 7, 2021. (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)
A funding deal between the United States and a United Nations agency working for Palestinian refugees is “immoral” and will put Palestinians at a disadvantage, analysts said, lamenting the absence of consultation with stakeholders.
Palestinian factions in Gaza held demonstrations recently against an agreement signed by the US and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in July, claiming that the deal violates the rights of the Palestinian people.
Kamaruzaman Bin Yusoff, a Middle East political analyst and former professor at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Johor, questioned the need for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees to report to the US when the agency has never been involved in local politics
They alleged that the two-year plan, dubbed The Framework for Cooperation, “cancels the rights of return” for refugees, among other things, given the conditions attached to the resumption of US funding for the UN refugee agency.
The agreement states that “no contributions by the US shall be made to UNRWA, except on the condition that UNRWA takes all possible measures to assure that no part of the US contribution shall be used to furnish assistance to any refugee who is receiving military training as a member of the so-called Palestinian Liberation Army or any other guerrilla-type organization or has engaged in act of terrorism,” Al Jazeera reported on its website on Oct 5.
The framework also includes “monitoring Palestinian (school) curriculum content”.
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Some of the conditions under the framework agreement include neutrality requirements of UNRWA personnel on the guidelines of social media use, strengthening the capacity of the UNRWA headquarters’ education curriculum team, reviewing educational materials through the use of field-based education specialists, and submitting a semi-annual report to the US.
Kamaruzaman Bin Yusoff, a Middle East political analyst and former professor at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Johor, questioned the need for the UNRWA to report to the US when the agency is supposed to be doing voluntary work and has never been involved in local politics.
“What type of report does the US need from (UNRWA) to give to (its) government that one way or another, might violate human rights,” he said.
Haydar Oruc, an independent researcher on Middle East and Israeli-Palestinian affairs based in Turkey, said the agreement between the US administration and UNRWA, should be canceled immediately and UNRWA should return to its main duties without any conditions.
The most important of these conditions, he also said, is the monitoring of UNRWA schools in Gaza reporting “suspicious situations”.
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In addition, Oruc said, social media accounts of UNRWA staff will also be monitored, and criticism of Israel or the organization's donors will not be allowed. These conditions, he said, are “illegal as they are immoral” and contrary to UNRWA's founding charter.
“After underlining how important UNRWA is for the future of the Palestinian people, it is necessary to explain how the deal with the United States might affect the future work of the institution,” Oruc told China Daily.
Arhama Siddiqa, a Middle East expert and research fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad in Pakistan, said the UNRWA-US deal will first make aid to Palestinians more dependent upon US benignancy and susceptible to US withdrawing their support at any given time without warning as what has happened in the past.
The US restored its funding support for the UNRWA in April after former US President Donald Trump announced its cessation in 2018.
The restored deal covers $150 million to the UN agency providing life-saving services to eligible registered Palestine refugees across the Middle East, an additional $135.8 million to the UNRWA, and some nearly $33 million in humanitarian assistance in May in response to the violence in the West Bank and Gaza.
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Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UNRWA, has said that US funding is essential for the UNRWA, which is facing an “existential budget crisis” to keep 550,000 children in school, provide healthcare for thousands and wages for the agency’s 28,000 staffers.
In May, violence broke out between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. The 11 days of fighting left no fewer than 250 dead and most of those killed were Palestinians in the Gaza strip.
jan@chinadailyapac.com