Protest against UNRWA aid cuts, downsizing plans
Employees of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) on Thursday called for a series of measures to be taken in response to recent policy decisions by the agency’s administration.
The UNRWA employees union has called for a “civil disobedience” campaign to include protests, strikes and the closure of the UNRWA’s Gaza office.
"We will conduct a comprehensive strike at all UNRWA institutions [in Gaza] next Tuesday and Wednesday to protest the arbitrary measures the agency has taken against its employees and the services they provide," union head Amir al-Mishal said in Gaza City.
Al-Mishal said that UNRWA employees also plan to boycott “all UNRWA workshops and programs”.
Dozens of Palestinians took part in a demonstration on Tuesday outside the headquarters of the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).Held on an almost-daily basis, the demonstrations are intended to protest the UNRWA's plan to scale down its operations in Gaza and reduce the number of its employees.Tuesday’s protest, organized by Gaza’s Joint Committee for Defending the Rights of Palestinian Refugees, saw people holding banners reading, “Refugees' rights are a red line” and “With our unity, we’ll obtain our rights”.Mahmoud Khalaf, a leading member of the leftist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said in a statement: “We warn UNRWA against its policy of sacking employees, reducing their salaries and threatening them with arbitrary dismissal.”“The policies of the U.S. administration aim to terminate UNRWA’s operations, revealing its bias in favor of Israel,” Khalaf said.He added: “U.S. President Donald Trump's call to end the refugee issue has paved the way for the death of UNRWA.”UNRWA employees in Gaza Strip protest downsizing plansIsrael closes Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque to MuslimsIn July, a UNRWA spokesman announced that the agency -- which continues to suffer from chronic funding shortfalls -- would not renew the contracts of more than 100 staff members in Gaza.According to the UNRWA employees’ union, funding cuts have forced the agency to close its mental health program, which had provided direct services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and had employed about 430 people.UNRWA has also terminated the contracts of dozens of its engineers in recent months, union officials have said.Late last month, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert announced that Washington would “no longer commit funding” to the refugee agency.The U.S. had been UNRWA's largest contributor by far, providing it with $350 million annually -- roughly a quarter of its overall budget.Established in 1949, UNRWA provides critical aid to Palestinian refugees in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.Settlers storm J'lem's Al-Aqsa, Palestinians detainedPalestinian martyred by Israeli soldiers in N. Gaza
Palestinians protest UNRWA aid cuts, downsizing plans
A general strike on Monday paralyzed operations at the Gaza City office of the UN’s cash-strapped Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA).According to a UNRWA official, the strike is intended to protest the agency’s plan to scale down operations -- and dismiss employees -- in the blockaded Gaza Strip.“Monday’s strike has affected the agency’s educational, health and relief services,” Ameer al-Mishal, head of the UNRWA employees’ union, members of which helped organize the strike, told Anadolu Agency.Protest activity will “escalate further” if the UNRWA’s administration fails to meet strikers’ demands, al-Mishal said, noting that some 13,000 Gaza-based agency employees had taken part in Monday’s general strike.In late July, a UNRWA spokesman announced that the agency -- which continues to suffer from chronic funding shortfalls -- would not renew the contracts of more than 100 staff members in Gaza.According to the employees’ union, funding cuts have forced the agency to close its mental health program, which had provided direct services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and had employed about 430 people.UNRWA has also terminated the contracts of dozens of its engineers in recent months, union officials have said.Late last month, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert announced that Washington would “no longer commit funding” to the refugee agency.The U.S. had been UNRWA's largest contributor by far, providing it with $350 million annually -- roughly a quarter of its overall budget.Established in 1949, UNRWA provides critical aid to Palestinian refugees in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
UNRWA employees in Gaza Strip protest downsizing plans
“We also announce the closure of the agency’s Gaza office, and all sub-offices, starting next Sunday,” he added.
Employees, he continued, plan to escalate their protest activities “until we sit at the negotiation table [with top UNRWA officials]”.
Al-Mishal urged countries now participating at the UN General Assembly meetings in New York to "to increase their annual contributions to UNRWA to meet the shortfalls caused by recent U.S. funding cuts”.
According to the employees’ union, the cuts have forced the agency to close its mental health program, which had provided direct services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and had employed about 430 people.
UNRWA has also terminated the contracts of dozens of its engineers in recent months, union officials have said.
Late last month, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert announced that Washington would “no longer commit funding” to the refugee agency.
The U.S. had been UNRWA's largest contributor by far, providing it with $350 million annually -- roughly a quarter of its overall budget.
Established in 1949, UNRWA provides critical aid to Palestinian refugees in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Dozens of Palestinians took part in a demonstration on Tuesday outside the headquarters of the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).Held on an almost-daily basis, the demonstrations are intended to protest the UNRWA's plan to scale down its operations in Gaza and reduce the number of its employees.Tuesday’s protest, organized by Gaza’s Joint Committee for Defending the Rights of Palestinian Refugees, saw people holding banners reading, “Refugees' rights are a red line” and “With our unity, we’ll obtain our rights”.Mahmoud Khalaf, a leading member of the leftist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said in a statement: “We warn UNRWA against its policy of sacking employees, reducing their salaries and threatening them with arbitrary dismissal.”“The policies of the U.S. administration aim to terminate UNRWA’s operations, revealing its bias in favor of Israel,” Khalaf said.He added: “U.S. President Donald Trump's call to end the refugee issue has paved the way for the death of UNRWA.”UNRWA employees in Gaza Strip protest downsizing plansIsrael closes Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque to MuslimsIn July, a UNRWA spokesman announced that the agency -- which continues to suffer from chronic funding shortfalls -- would not renew the contracts of more than 100 staff members in Gaza.According to the UNRWA employees’ union, funding cuts have forced the agency to close its mental health program, which had provided direct services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and had employed about 430 people.UNRWA has also terminated the contracts of dozens of its engineers in recent months, union officials have said.Late last month, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert announced that Washington would “no longer commit funding” to the refugee agency.The U.S. had been UNRWA's largest contributor by far, providing it with $350 million annually -- roughly a quarter of its overall budget.Established in 1949, UNRWA provides critical aid to Palestinian refugees in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.Settlers storm J'lem's Al-Aqsa, Palestinians detainedPalestinian martyred by Israeli soldiers in N. Gaza Palestinians protest UNRWA aid cuts, downsizing plans
A general strike on Monday paralyzed operations at the Gaza City office of the UN’s cash-strapped Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA).According to a UNRWA official, the strike is intended to protest the agency’s plan to scale down operations -- and dismiss employees -- in the blockaded Gaza Strip.“Monday’s strike has affected the agency’s educational, health and relief services,” Ameer al-Mishal, head of the UNRWA employees’ union, members of which helped organize the strike, told Anadolu Agency.Protest activity will “escalate further” if the UNRWA’s administration fails to meet strikers’ demands, al-Mishal said, noting that some 13,000 Gaza-based agency employees had taken part in Monday’s general strike.In late July, a UNRWA spokesman announced that the agency -- which continues to suffer from chronic funding shortfalls -- would not renew the contracts of more than 100 staff members in Gaza.According to the employees’ union, funding cuts have forced the agency to close its mental health program, which had provided direct services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and had employed about 430 people.UNRWA has also terminated the contracts of dozens of its engineers in recent months, union officials have said.Late last month, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert announced that Washington would “no longer commit funding” to the refugee agency.The U.S. had been UNRWA's largest contributor by far, providing it with $350 million annually -- roughly a quarter of its overall budget.Established in 1949, UNRWA provides critical aid to Palestinian refugees in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. UNRWA employees in Gaza Strip protest downsizing plans