UNRWA | The American Task Force on Palestine

Camp committees: UNRWA reduced aid by 70%
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 9, 2010 - 12:00am

West Bank refugee camp committees have accused UNRWA of reducing food aid to Palestinian refugees by 70 percent. Following an emergency session of Nablus and northern West Bank refugee camp committees, Nablus-area refugee camp coordinator Ibrahim Saqr said UNRWA had not adhered to its duties laid out in previous agreements. "After two months, the emergency support program failed to cope with the demands of needy families in refugee camps and has several shortcomings which were reported to more than one UN official on several occasions," said Saqr.

Easing of Gaza blockade shows more can be done-UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Patrick Worsnip - April 22, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel's recent easing of its blockade of Gaza is inadequate but shows restrictions could be lifted further without compromising the Jewish state's security, the top U.N. official in Gaza said on Thursday. Israel tightened controls on the Palestinian territory three years ago after Hamas Islamists seized control there, but in recent weeks has allowed in some goods it used to ban, such as clothes and shoes, wood and aluminum.

Palestinian refugees need more service from UNRWA: poll
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Syria expected more services from U.N. Refugees Works Agency ( UNRWA), according to the results of a poll, released here on Thursday. The poll was conducted from October 17 to 25, 2009 by the Beirut-based Organization for the Right of Return (Thabit), Palestinian Return Center (PRC) in London and Damascus-based Palestinian Return Community (Wajeb). It showed that among the 1,460 Palestinian refugees participating the poll, 92 percent of those in Lebanon and Syria support UNRWA's work, though 85 percent said that its work is "not enough".

J’lem deputy mayor weighs opening Sheikh Jarrah office
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Abe Selig - March 8, 2010 - 1:00am

Deputy Jerusalem Mayor David Hadari (Habayit Hayehudi) is weighing the possibility of opening up an office in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, in an effort to “assist neighborhood residents,” he told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. Hadari said he would tour the area on Tuesday to explore logistical and financial aspects of setting up an office in one of the homes where Jewish families currently live. “I’m going to Sheikh Jarrah first of all, to strengthen the Jewish residents there,” Hadari told the Post. “I want to see if there is any way I can help them.

Gaza a Year Later
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
by MICHEÁL MARTIN - (Opinion) March 4, 2010 - 1:00am

Last week I visited Gaza, the first European Union foreign minister to do so in over a year. My purpose was very much a humanitarian one, to see for myself the impact of a blockade that has now been imposed on the people of Gaza for some two-and-a-half years and to meet with the courageous and dedicated staff of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), including its director of operations, Irishman John Ging. They play an indispensable role in maintaining vital humanitarian services to the people of Gaza.

Occupation Turns Palestinian Women Into Breadwinners
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Mel Frykberg - March 4, 2010 - 1:00am

The World Bank (WB) warned over a year ago that unless Israel eased its restrictions on movement and access in the West Bank the Palestinian economy would further deteriorate. In February the WB released another report, ‘Checkpoints and Barriers: Searching for Livelihoods in the West Bank and Gaza, Gender Dimensions of Economic Collapse’. The report outlines the devastating impact Israel’s occupation has caused to Palestinians financially, and women in particular.

Blair: Gaza's great betrayer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Avi Shlaim - (Opinion) February 3, 2010 - 1:00am

The savage attack Israel unleashed against Gaza on 27 December 2008 was both immoral and unjustified. Immoral in the use of force against civilians for political purposes. Unjustified because Israel had a political alternative to the use of force. The home-made Qassam rockets fired by Hamas militants from Gaza on Israeli towns were only the excuse, not the reason for Operation Cast Lead. In June 2008, Egypt had brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement.

Forum seeks ways of bringing Gaza Strip back to life
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by David Lepeska - January 21, 2010 - 1:00am

More than a year after Israel’s extensive bombing campaign, life inside the Gaza Strip is growing increasingly desperate. Four out of five Gazans depend on some form of foreign aid. Lorries carrying medical supplies are often refused entry by Israeli officials, who enforce a three-year-old blockade of the Strip. Sick and dying patients face weeks-long delays for permission to leave for necessary treatment. Education is lagging, as nearly half of Gaza’s schools remain damaged, and unemployment stands at 40 per cent, according to a December report from the United Nations.

Israeli forces disrupt UNRWA chief's farewell
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 10, 2009 - 1:00am

Israeli police ordered outgoing UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen AbuZayd to leave an East Jerusalem home on Thursday during her last official visit as the head of the relief agency. Ma’an’s reporter on the scene said AbuZayd left after police gave her five minutes to evacuate the premises of the house of the Al-Kurd family, as a Palestinian woman yelled "We want our homes and our lands. We have no alternative."

Who will save Gaza's children?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Victoria Brittain - December 9, 2009 - 1:00am

Among all the complex and long-term solutions being sought in Copenhagen for averting environmental catastrophe across the world, there is one place where the catastrophe has already happened, but could be immediately ameliorated with one simple political act.

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