File photo
Justice and Development (AK) Party spokesperson Ömer Çelik slammed a move by Washington to cut funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
“The U.S. decision to end aid to the UN Palestinian refugee agency will provoke chaos and worsen the situation in the region. Every step that blocks the solution of the Palestine issue affects the whole world. The U.S. supports discord,” Çelik said on Friday.
“The entire world must stand united against this unjust move by the U.S., like it did regarding the Jerusalem issue in the past. The best response is to increase financial aid to the UNRWA,” he added.
Çelik’s comments came after the Turkish Foreign Ministry released a statement dubbing the U.S. move “greatly disappointing.”
A U.S. decision to cut all the funding for the UN’s Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, has invited a storm of condemnations inside the Palestinian territories.“The U.S. has no right to support and bless theft of Palestinian land and illegitimate Israeli colonialism on Palestinian land,” Saeb Erekat, the Secretary-General of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said in a statement on Saturday.“It has no right to support and bless the theft of Jerusalem and its annexation to Israel,” he said.Erekat said the U.S. decisions to end funding for UNRWA “embody annihilation of international law and security and stability in the region”.“They are gifts for radical forces and terrorism in the region,” he said, going on to call on the international community to reject the U.S. move and provide all possible aid to UNRWA in respect of the UN resolution establishing the agency until the issue of refugees resolved.Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, for his part, ruled out that the U.S. move would lead to dismantle UNRWA or marginalize the issue of Palestinian refugees.“On the contrary, this decision will lead to strong responses from several states that will not accept the U.S. policy of thuggery against refugees,” al-Maliki said in a statement.“Many countries will step up to protect the agency from [U.S. President Donald] Trump and his administration’s attack,” he added.On Friday, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Washington "will no longer commit further funding" for UNRWA."The fundamental business model and fiscal practices that have marked UNRWA for years – tied to UNRWA’s endlessly and exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries – is simply unsustainable and has been in crisis mode for many years," Nauert said.The U.S. was by far UNRWA's largest funder, giving $350 million annually, or about one-quarter of the agency's budget.Established in 1949, UNRWA provides critical aid to Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.US cuts all funding for UN's Palestine refugee agencyGaleri: Palestinian students run to classes on frst day of new school year in Gaza‘Inhumane, reckless’Hanan Ashrawi, a member of PLO’s executive committee, described the U.S. aid cut as “inhumane and reckless”.“The US administration's decision to terminate all funding to UNRWA is a cruel and irresponsible move targeting the most vulnerable segment of Palestinian society,” Ashrawi said in statements cited by the official Wafa news agency.Palestinian resistance group Hamas, meanwhile, said the U.S. decision aims to eliminate the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their land.This is a “dangerous American escalation against the Palestinian people”, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement.It “reflects the Zionist background of the current American leadership, which became an enemy to the Palestinian people as well as the [Arab and Islamic] nation,” he said.Abu Zuhri, however, stressed that "the Palestinian people will not surrender to such unjust decisions."Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement was also critical of the U.S. decision."Trump had taken his decision to attack the most two important issues of the Palestinian people, Jerusalem and the refugees,” Fatah spokesman Ossama al-Qawasmi said in a statement.He said Trump was seeking to “liquidate the Palestinian cause by resolving the final-status issues unilaterally at the expense of international law and legitimacy as well as the rights of the Palestinian people".
Palestinians decry US decision to end aid for agency
In the first reaction by Turkey to the American decision, a written statement by the ministry criticized the American decision to cut its aid to the UNRWA, noting that it will “negatively affect the lives of over five million Palestinians.”
“This decision will at the same time damage regional peace and stability, and the prospect of finding a two-state political solution to the Palestinian issue.”
“Over 500,000 Palestinian children receive education at UNRWA schools and close to one million Palestinians depend on UNRWA’s urgent food aid for sustenance,” the statement read.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert announced on Friday that Washington "will no longer commit further funding" to the UNRWA.
The U.S. on Friday announced it is cutting all of its funding for the UN's Palestine refugee agency.State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Washington "will no longer commit further funding" to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)."The fundamental business model and fiscal practices that have marked UNRWA for years – tied to UNRWA’s endlessly and exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries – is simply unsustainable and has been in crisis mode for many years," she said.The U.S. was by far UNRWA's largest funder, giving $350 million annually, or about one-quarter of the agency's budget.The agency is responsible for a number of critical programs for the more than 5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. It provides them with schooling, health services and food security, among other services.UNRWA earlier this week warned that if Washington went through with its funding cut, it would likely result in greater instability in the region.“You have to ask yourself the question: what would the Middle East look like if the most vulnerable people in that region were not to be receiving services from a UN humanitarian organization?" agency spokesman Chris Gunness told Anadolu Agency."I think the answer is there would be a lot more angry, and hungry, and ill-educated people, and that does not bode well for peace in the Middle East,” he added.In her statement, Nauert called UNRWA a “deeply flawed” organization, a charge Gunness rejected “in the strongest possible terms” in a series of tweets posted after the announcement.“These very programs have a proven track record in creating one of the most successful human development processes and results in the Middle East. The international state community, our donors and host countries have consistently praised UNRWA for its achievements and standards,” Gunness said.“Following today’s announcement, UNRWA will pursue with even greater determination and engagement its mobilization of existing partners - 20 of whom have to date contributed more money than in 2017, including countries from the Gulf, Asia and Europe - and of new ones,” he said.“This is what UNRWA stands for and as an organ of UN General Assembly we will continue to provide high quality services and assistance to over 5.4 M Palestine refugees.”Nauert acknowledged the impact Washington's decision would have "upon innocent Palestinians" but placed the blame for the U.S. action with UNRWA.Referring to school children affected by the decision, she said: "These children are part of the future of the Middle East. Palestinians, wherever they live, deserve better than an endlessly crisis-driven service provision model. They deserve to be able to plan for the future."Accordingly, the United States will intensify dialogue with the United Nations, host governments, and international stakeholders about new models and new approaches, which may include direct bilateral assistance from the United States and other partners, that can provide today’s Palestinian children with a more durable and dependable path towards a brighter tomorrow," she said.US charges associate of indicted Russian with lobbying violationUS, Canada slug it out as deadline looms to clinch NAFTAUS moves against Turkey do not befit alliance, says FMUS charges associate of indicted Russian with lobbying violation
US cuts all funding for UN's Palestine refugee agency
The U.S. was by far UNRWA's largest funder, giving $350 million annually, or about one-quarter of the agency's budget.
The agency is responsible for a number of critical programs for the more than five million Palestinians living in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. It provides them with schooling, health services and food security, among other services.
UNRWA earlier this week warned that if Washington went through with its funding cut, it would likely result in greater instability in the region.