Two years ago, Palestine was the international community’s primary regional focus. At the end of May, the Israeli navy intercepted and boarded a flotilla of ships and yachts sailing to break the blockade of Gaza and Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish activists, having boarded a Turkish ferry.

Images of the deadly hijacking in international waters were broadcast round the world by YouTube and video. Turkey broke off relations with Israel, which was compelled to ease, somewhat, its blockade of the Gaza Strip.

At the end of September 2011, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made an eloquent plea before the UN General Assembly for recognition of Palestine as a non-member state and, ultimately, entry to the world body as its 194th member. (Ironically, the enduring assembly resolution on Palestine was 194 of December 11, 1948, which established the principle that Palestinians should be permitted to return to the homes and villages from which they were driven when Israel was founded in 1948).

Abbas is still seeking the upgrade resolution and, perhaps, will put forward his case again once the US election is out of the way. Unfortunately for the Palestinians, however, the momentum was lost in the turmoil of the Arab Spring, which began with demonstrations in Tunisia in December 2010 and caught the imagination of the international community in January 2011, when hundreds of thousands of Egyptians flooded Cairo’s Tahrir Square demanding an end to the regime of Hosni Mubarak, their president of 40 years.

The unrest that followed in Yemen, Bahrain and Syria transformed the Palestinians into a forgotten people for the time being. This has had a malign impact on their prospect for self-determination, their daily lives and well-being.

In a recent interview with this correspondent, Filippo Grandi, commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency, described the agency’s post-Arab Spring challenges. Funding has almost always been a major problem for UNRWA, but today securing the money required to provide shelter, sustenance and services for five million Palestinians is an even more daunting task than in earlier years.

Grandi pointed out that UNRWA provides many services states normally provide for their citizens.

“Public services should not be supported by voluntary funding,” he observed.

On the one hand, the “aid system is changing very rapidly”, Grandi stated. Donors have other demands. On the other, the agency is “expanding and [needs] more money” due to rising numbers of refugees and soaring costs.

Because donations are made on an annual basis, UNRWA has to “start from scratch every year” to meet a “relentless payroll for 20,000 teachers and 10,000 other staff members”.

The political environment is a serious problem, stated Grandi, who served in Afghanistan, Sudan and Congo. He joined UNRWA in 2005, becoming deputy commissioner general before taking on the top job.

“Syria is my third war.”

The first was Israel’s 2006 war on Lebanon, where Palestinians were uninvolved, and the second Israel’s 2008-09 war on Gaza, where Palestinians were targeted. UNRWA lost six staff members in Syria.

War “raises costs, not just in human terms but also in financial terms”. Over the last decade, UNRWA has had to undertake rebuilding in Lebanon and Gaza. Syria will require reconstruction once the conflict subsides.

A third major challenge is that “certain circles” seek to “delegitimise” the refugee issue by attacking UNRWA, accusing the agency of perpetuating the refugee question. These critics abuse the refugees themselves and contend that they should not exist “beyond the first generation. These attacks are damaging because they weaken our case when we go for funding or support”.

“The refugee question has been perpetuated by a lack of peace,” Grandi asserted.

The greatest challenge of all is “the marginalisation of [the Palestinian] issue.... We have five million people whom we have to serve… so this marginalisation is in many ways very dangerous. It pushes back a solution to the question, it perpetuates the refugee problem and it makes it more difficult to obtain support for the refugees”.

Grandi compared today’s parlous situation with the situation after Israel’s last war on Gaza, when UNRWA received substantial contributions.

To make matters worse, he said, “the blockade is still there, the people are still poor. The infrastructure is crumbling, the water is undrinkable, the population is growing and I have a hard time convincing donors to give me enough money to distribute food to the people. So, you know, marginalisation has very much a human impact; it is not just a political issue”.

“The Israelis eased the blockade after 2010, but it is still a small opening of the door. The door has to be opened fully. It is not a matter of negotiating how many trucks [carrying supplies] go in and out on a day to day basis but accepting the principle that the blockade is illegal under humanitarian law and not conducive to stability and security in the region.”

Marginalisation also means that the issues of Israel’s wall, checkpoints and restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank are “not being raised”.

Palestinians in Syria have been harmed by the war. While the Palestine Liberation Organisation said 400-500 Palestinians were killed, UNRWA gives out no figures except for staff. Palestinians “are poor, they are suffering. This is why they become very vulnerable”, stated Grandi.

“Palestinians always get stuck. Stuck in Gaza, stuck in the West Bank, stuck in Lebanon, and now stuck in Syria… where they were well treated.”

The UNRWA official mentioned the widespread feeling of fear in Syria where the population is not accustomed to war, particularly a conflict in which people do not know the identities of fighters who rob, kill and kidnap.

“The uncertainty provokes total anxiety. I have seen a lot of conflict, but I have hardly ever seen such a high level of anxiety in civilians as in Syria.”