We need a Golden Rule Peace for Israel and Palestine

"...will return" by Ismail Shammout

We need a Golden Rule Peace for Israel and Palestine

Creating facts in the mind By Karen AbuZayd

http://www.jordantimes.com/index.php?news=22160
Creating facts in the mind

By Karen AbuZayd

Sixty years ago today the United Nations General Assembly voted into existence a temporary body known as UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.

UNRWA’s task was to deal with the humanitarian consequences of the dispossession of some three quarters of a million Palestine refugees forced by the 1948 Middle East war to abandon their homes and flee their ancestral lands. Just two decades later, the Six-Day War generated another spasm of violence and forced displacement, culminating in the occupation of Palestinian territory. Today, anguished exile remains the lot of Palestinians and Palestine refugees. The occupation of Palestinian land persists, there is no Palestinian state and the human rights and fundamental freedoms to which Palestinians are entitled under international law do not exist.

The occupation, now over 40 years old, becomes more entrenched with every infringement of human rights and international law in the occupied Palestinian territory. Political actors hold in their hands the power to redress the travesties Palestinians endure. Yet, the approach has been, at best, to equivocate over the minutiae of the occupation - a checkpoint here, a bag of cement there - or, at worst, to look the other way, to acquiesce in or even support the measures causing Palestinian suffering.

From my perspective as the head of the agency mandated to assist and protect Palestine refugees, it is particularly vexing that the prevailing approach fails - or refuses - to accord the refugee issue the attention it deserves. Over 60 years, dispossession has faded from the focus of peace efforts. The heart of where peace should begin is absent from the international agenda, pushed aside as one of the “final status” issues, one which belongs to a later stage of the negotiation process.

As forced displacements continue across the West Bank, as Palestinians are evicted from their homes in East Jerusalem, I ask a simple question: Is it not time for those engaged in the peace process to muster the will and the courage to address the Palestine refugee question?

On this regrettable 60th anniversary of the agency which I shall leave in less than one month, I wish to refocus the debate on the displaced and dispossessed, to put the refugees at the centre of peace-making efforts. Make no mistake, not a single conflict of contemporary times has been resolved, no durable peace achieved unless and until the voices of the victims of those conflicts were heard, their losses acknowledged and redress found to injustices they experience. The precedents of recent peace-making efforts and the methodology of contemporary conflict resolution affirm that giving high priority to resolving dispossession and the plight of refugees is a necessity, an international obligation and a humanitarian imperative.

The Israeli-Palestinian confrontation is uniquely complex. Among its myriad dimensions that require attention, the unresolved refugee issue is one of those most profoundly linked to the uncertainties of the regional situation and to the persistence of the conflict. Addressing it is, therefore, a sine qua non for making progress towards a negotiated solution. Failing to engage with the refugee issue and consciously shunting it to one side has served only to disavow the refugees’ significance as a constituency with a prominent stake in delivering and sustaining peace. This has left many with a dangerous cynicism about the peace process, thus strengthening the hands of those who argue against peace itself. I refuse, however, to conclude my time in office on a pessimistic note. Instead, I urge that we take steps to engage the marginalised. Let us confound the cynics. Let us create alternative realities to disarm those who favour violence.

I call on the peace makers to acknowledge, in their rhetoric and their policies, the need to address Palestinian dispossession. Let symbolism and rhetoric give way to substance. On the 60th anniversary of UNRWA, I call on the international community and the parties to the conflict to acknowledge the 60-year-old injustice as a first step towards addressing the consequences of that injustice. Let us build facts in the mind to create facts of a just and durable peace on the ground.

The writer is commissioner general, United Nations Relief and Works Agency. She contributed this article to The Jordan Times

8 December 2009

Berlin Wall

Dec 4 / 690 Photos

Israel's Settlement Beast By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH

http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=21176&CategoryId=3

Israel's Settlement Beast Date posted: December 07, 2009 By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH

It's a mildly comforting scene for Palestinians to see Jewish settlers clash with the Israeli government. In Palestinian terms this is a battle between bad and really bad and it brings us a smidgen of delight when we see the two sides butt heads. Of course, this is an infantile sentiment, given that in the larger picture of things, their bickering really has nothing to do with us. Nonetheless, it is strangely satisfying.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent decision to declare a 10-month moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank has drawn the ire of settlers across the board, even though the declaration in its current form is hardly threatening to them or their homes. The freeze does not include the following: settlement construction already underway, east Jerusalem, or public buildings such as schools and synagogues. Neither is private building included in the government decision. Which, it goes without saying, leaves a lot of wiggle room for these cancerous growths to continue to spread.

Still, the decision has not sat well at all with Israel's settler population which has proceeded to one, scramble to construct as many structures as humanely possible and two, fight their government inspectors tooth and nail whenever they come to ensure that Netanyahu's decision is being implemented.

Of course, the Palestinians have not been saved from the settlers' wrath, as is customary. Since the decision, settlers throughout the West Bank have attacked nearby Palestinian populations, pelting their cars with stones, setting fire to their trees and physically attacking them near their homes. Jewish settlers are a constant plague to Palestinians in the West Bank, not only because they are living on their land and have deprived many of them of their livelihood and security, but because settler vigilantism is a constant threat. Palestinian cars have been burned, olive trees uprooted, men, women and children attacked and livestock stolen by belligerent settlers who operate more or less with impunity while the Israeli army turns a convenient blind eye to their acts of violence.

However, it is interesting to watch as the Israeli government locks horns with its settler population after so many years of appeasement. Frankly, they deserve it.

For years, we have heard how the majority of mainstream Israelis oppose the settlements, or at least don't care if they stay or go. This is understandable given the amount of money, manpower and military might have gone into sustaining these illegal colonies, not to mention the bad rap Israel gets internationally for its settlement policies. However, contrary to logic, which dictates that Israel should forsake settlements for the larger goal of peace and to abide by its own people's wishes, settlements and settlers have expanded and multiplied in exponential proportions since Israel's occupation of the West Bank in 1967. Today the settler population in the West Bank and east Jerusalem is approximately half a million people.

The question is why? Why have all the consecutive Israeli governments allowed, or worse yet encouraged, settlement expansion, well knowing that international law deems them illegal and illegitimate and that in any negotiations, settlements are right there at the top of the "need to go" list? The answer is simple. Israel has expansionist goals in the West Bank and Jerusalem, unlike in the Gaza Strip where it was willing to relinquish Jewish settlements there under the guise of "sacrificing for peace." Israel has no intention of relinquishing the entire West Bank and certainly not all of east Jerusalem in any final settlement with the Palestinians, and the best way to ensure that is through its settlement policy. Creating facts on the ground that involve real people with real lives is a surefire way of adding a tangible human aspect to the conflict and thus scoring more political points.

The only problem is that in forwarding these expansionist goals, Israel's governments have created a beast. Settlers have been allowed to indulge their extremist ideology that espouses the insane notion that the entire land of Palestine was promised to them by God and that they therefore have a carte blanche to do as they please. The fact that Israel's military establishment and its political institutions have funded and sustained these settlements, provided protection for its settlers and defended their existence in international arenas has only strengthened this extremist ideology among this population. Even Israelis who moved to settlements for economic purposes rather than ideological ones ultimately believe it is their right to be there. No consideration is given to the usurped land on which their homes are built.

Israel's coddling of its settler population now means it is having a hard time reining them in. The most extremist settlers who scamper to take over West Bank hilltops before any settlement freeze or evacuation, have vowed to resist any moves from government inspectors, and a mass settler demonstration against the freeze is scheduled for December 9. From the settlers' point of view, this is not unreasonable. For all these years, they have lived on occupied land unhindered. Now, some wet- behind-the-ears US President is dictating to Israelis where they can or cannot live?

For the Palestinians, the freeze is nothing groundbreaking. Netanyahu has made it painfully clear to us and to his "settler brothers" that the freeze is temporary – 10 months – will not include the major settlement blocs in the West Bank and will completely exclude east Jerusalem. In practical terms, this means that once the 10 month period is over, construction may resume as usual. That is, presuming some sort of comprehensive agreement isn't reach, which is a fair assumption by the looks of it. This is hardly promising in terms of negotiating a final settlement. For us, all settlements are illegal and must be dismantled for any lasting peace to prevail. Even President Obama gets this, regardless of how hard he is willing to push for it. There is no doubt he also understands that a 10-month moratorium on construction can never be a goal in itself but rather one means to a much larger end. Still, small victories are victories nonetheless. If Israel is made to bear the wrath of the beast it created, there will be no complaints from us.

Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Program at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mip@miftah.org.

Palestinian children sit on a pile of dirt at the refugee camp of Nahr Al-Bared on the outskirts of the northern Lebanese coastal city of Tripoli on December 4. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's visit to Beirut will cast the spotlight on the plight of nearly 300,000 Palestinians in Lebanon who fear they are doomed to be refugees for life. (AFP/File/Joseph Eid)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091206/wl_mideast_afp/lebanonpalestinianrefugee

Lebanon's Palestinians: refugees for life

by Rita Daou Rita Daou – Sun Dec 6, 11:27 am ET

BEIRUT (AFP) – Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's visit to Beirut on Monday casts the spotlight on the plight of nearly 300,000 Palestinians in Lebanon who fear they are doomed to be refugees for life.

His brief trip comes amid renewed efforts to revive the Middle East peace process and concern in Lebanon's political circles that any deal struck on the refugee issue would be at the expense of the Lebanese.

"A permanent settlement of the Palestinians in Lebanon is a real demographic, political and security threat," Farid al-Khazen, a Lebanese MP and political science professor at the American University of Beirut, told AFP.

"Yet there is pressure toward such a solution which, if implemented, would lead to war and the destruction of Lebanon," he added.

The majority of the refugees arrived in Lebanon following the creation of Israel in 1948. A second wave arrived in the 1970s after Jordan's then king Hussein kicked out the Palestine Liberation Organisation and thousands of its fighters.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) lists nearly 400,000 refugees in Lebanon.

But Lebanese and Palestinian officials say the number actually resident in Lebanon may be as low as 250,000 as UNRWA does not strike off its figures Palestinians who move to other countries.

The refugees that remain live in dire conditions in 12 camps across the country of four million inhabitants.

They rely heavily on UNRWA for educational, health and other assistance because under Lebanese law they are banned from practising most professions or from owning property.

While their presence in Lebanon was supposed to be short-lived, their chance of ever returning to their homeland has dimmed with every failed attempt to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

And the glimmer of hope raised following US President Barack Obama's bid to reinvigorate the peace process has been replaced by more bitterness and cynicism as each side digs in its heels.

"The slow pace and erratic progress of the negotiations means that final status, including the refugee issue, are in effect indefinitely postponed," UNRWA commissioner Karen Abu Zayd told AFP during a recent visit to Beirut.

"I'm very concerned of the lack of attention for the refugees in the peace process."

For the Lebanese, any mention of permanently settling the Palestinians in the tiny Mediterranean country prompts an outcry and warnings that this would upset the country's confessional balance and further exacerbate political divisions.

Fresh in the minds of many is the key role the Palestinians played in Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, Israel's 1982 assault on Beirut and, more recently, the deadly 2007 battle at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon between an Al-Qaeda-inspired group and the Lebanese army.

But specialists and human rights groups warn that unless the refugee issue is addressed, the camps, already considered breeding grounds for extremism, could one day explode.

"The situation in the camps is beyond what is humanly acceptable," said Khalil Mekkawi, former head of the Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee that was set up in 2005 to improve living conditions for the refugees.

"There is no hope whatsoever for people living in such misery."

Mekkawi said that although UNRWA requested 50 million dollars in 2006 to improve conditions in the camps, donors had responded with only 16 million dollars which represent "a drop in the ocean".

Souheil El-Natour, a Palestinian analyst and member of the leftist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said the refugee issue had fallen victim to Lebanon's sectarian divisions.

"The question of permanent settlement is being used as a scare tactic in Lebanese politics and this is denying the refugees their civil rights," Natour said.

Analysts warn that denying Palestinians basic rights and putting the camps off-limits to the Lebanese army allow extremist groups and outlaws to gain a foothold.

"The extremism is in large part because of the lack of a solution," Abu Zayd said. "These people are people without hope, who can't see what the future holds.

"Their plight is not only the responsibility of the Lebanese government, it's an international responsibility."

A Palestinian couple stands on the beach at sunset on the last day of the Muslim Eid Al-Adha festival in Gaza City, Monday, Nov. 30, 2009. Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, is celebrated to commemorate the prophet Ibrahim's faith in being willing to sacrifice his son.(AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

Palestinian fishermen paddle out to sea as sun sets on the last day of the muslim Eid Al-Adha festival in Gaza City, Monday, Nov. 30, 2009. Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, is celebrated to commemorate the prophet Ibrahim's faith in being willing to sacrifice his son.(AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

A demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against the controversial Israeli barrier in the West Bank village of Nilin December 4, 2009. Israeli soldiers used tear gas canisters, stun grenades and small-bore calibre live rounds to disperse some 150 Palestinian protesters. A Palestinian demonstrator was moderately wounded after being shot by Israeli soldiers. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (WEST BANK POLITICS CONFLICT)

A Palestinian woman watches a Jewish settler carry out the belongings of a Palestinian family from a house in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009. In an unrest Tuesday, a Jewish family took over a house in an Arab neighborhood of east Jerusalem, sparking a protest by rock-throwing Palestinians and a few Israeli and foreign activists who joined them, police said. One of the family members was lightly injured in the head when a protester hit him with a metal bar, and police arrested five people. Both sides claim ownership of the building. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty)

Israeli left wing activists walk with a banner during a protest in Jerusalem, Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. The protest was organized by groups supporting Palestinians evicted from their homes in east Jerusalem by Israeli authorities. Hebrew sign reads 'enough with the east Jerusalem settlements' (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)


An Israeli left wing activist holds a sign during a protest in Jerusalem, Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. The protest was organized by groups supporting Palestinians evicted from their homes in east Jerusalem by Israeli authorities.(AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

Muslim pilgrims gather at Mount Arafat. Iranians chanted death to America and Israel on Thursday as some 2.5 million Muslims, drying out after a day of torrential rains, continue their hajj pilgrimage and mass at the site of the prophet Mohammed's last sermon.(AFP/Mahmud Hams)

Palestinian construction workers build are seen at a building site in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Beit Arieh, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009. Israeli police arrested the mayor of a West Bank Jewish settlement on Wednesday after protesters blocked security forces from entering the community to enforce a construction freeze. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A Palestinian worker operates a construction vehicle in a construction site at the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maaleh Adumim, near Jerusalem, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009. Jewish settlers pressed ahead Thursday with their refusal to abide by a government-ordered freeze of new building in West Bank settlements, blocking inspectors from entering one such community to enforce the edict. (AP Photo/ Tara Todras-Whitehill)

A Jewish settler, foreground left, looks on as Palestinian construction workers build a synagogue at the Jewish settlement of Kedumim, in the northern West Bank, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009. Jewish settlers pressed ahead Thursday with their refusal to abide by a government-ordered freeze of new building in West Bank settlements, blocking inspectors from entering one such community to enforce the edict.(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Palestinians returning from the Hajj pilgrimage hold hands with relatives on the other side of the fence as they cross back from Egypt into Gaza through the Rafah crossing, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009. A total of 2.5 million pilgrims attended the hajj this year. (AP Photo/Eyad Baba)

Palestinians walk through a newly built 500 meter-long passage way on their way back to the Gaza Strip through Israel's Erez Crossing December 3, 2009. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (GAZA POLITICS)

A Palestinian protester jumps with a Palestinians flag during a demonstration against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Nilin near Ramallah, Friday, Dec. 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)

RNPS IMAGES OF THE YEAR 2009 MEA - Members of the Palestinian Nabhan family live in the remains of their house in eastern Jabalya refugee camp March 14, 2009. Their house was destroyed during Israel's three-week long offensive in Gaza Strip last January. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (GAZA CONFLICT DISASTER SOCIETY IMAGE OF THE DAY TOP PICTURE)

RNPS IMAGES OF THE YEAR 2009 MEA - Smoke rises during Israeli's offensive in Gaza January 8, 2009. Palestinians faced even grimmer conditions in the Gaza Strip on Thursday after a U.N. aid agency halted work, saying its staff were at risk from Israeli forces fighting Hamas militants, after two drivers were killed. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA)

RNPS IMAGES OF THE YEAR 2009 - A Palestinian man tries to extinguish a fire that started after youths threw a petrol bomb during clashes with Israeli police in Jerusalem's Old City October 25, 2009. Israeli police fired stun grenades at Arab youths who threw rocks at them in the compound of Jerusalem's flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City on Sunday, Israeli and Palestinian officials and witnesses said.REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (JERUSALEM POLITICS CONFLICT)

RNPS IMAGES OF THE YEAR 2009 MEA - A Palestinian demonstrator places a Palestinian flag atop the controversial Israeli barrier during a protest marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in the West Bank village of Nilin November 6, 2009. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (WEST BANK POLITICS CONFLICT IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Palestinians wait to receive food aid at the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, (UNRWA), warehouse in Gaza City, Tursday, Dec. 3, 2009. UNRWA has provided food, housing, education and health care for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank and neighboring countries since its inception in 1950.(AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

A Palestinian vendor (not pictured) sprays bubbles towards passing children at a market in the West Bank city of Ramallah November 26, 2009. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK SOCIETY)

Palestinian girls have their picture taken with a snake at a park in the West Bank city of Ramallah, November 30, 2009, during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK RELIGION ANIMALS SOCIETY)

A Palestinian child plays near a banner with portraits of prisoners during a demonstration calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli Jails, in Gaza City, Monday, Nov. 30, 2009. The Arabic on the banner reads 'charity'. (AP Photo/ Tara Todras-Whitehill)

The West Bank town of Bethlehem is seen in the background as labourers work on a construction site in Gilo, a Jewish settlement on land Israel captured in 1967 and annexed to its Jerusalem municipality, November 26, 2009. Israel's foreign minister shrugged off on Thursday the Palestinian dismissal of a 10-month moratorium on some building in West Bank settlements, saying winning international support was more important. Palestinians wanted Jerusalem and its surrounding areas included in a freeze.REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (POLITICS BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION)

RNPS YEAR 2009 - A Palestinian boy climbs through an opening in Israel's controversial barrier in Shuafat in the West Bank near Jerusalem February 17, 2009. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (WEST BANK POLITICS CONFLICT)

Palestinians walk outside the Dome of the Rock Mosque on the first day of Eid al-Adha in Jerusalem's Old City, Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. Eid-al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, is celebrated to commemorate the prophet Ibrahim's faith in being willing to sacrifice his son.(AP Photo/Mahfouz Abu Turk)

A Palestinian girl dressed in costume stands on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and to Jews as Temple Mount after prayers on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha in Jerusalem's Old City November 27, 2009. Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Adha to mark the end of the haj by slaughtering sheep, goats, cows and camels to commemorate Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail on God's command. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM POLITICS RELIGION)

Palestinian children play in front of houses, destroyed during the three-week offensive Israel launched last December, on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha in the northern Gaza Strip November 27, 2009. Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Adha to mark the end of the haj by slaughtering sheep, goats, cows and camels to commemorate Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail on God's command. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA POLITICS RELIGION)

A Palestinian labourer is seen at a construction site in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim near Jerusalem, November 25, 2009. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Palestinian labourers break concrete from the rubble of a house in al-Salam neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip November 25, 2009, destroyed during the three-week offensive Israel launched last December. Hundreds of Gaza families made homeless during the war still live in tents, the United Nations says. Many more than that are living in the ruins of their houses or with relatives. Picture taken November 25, 2009. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA POLITICS CONFLICT SOCIETY)

Jenin shepherd : A Palestinian shepherd stands with his camels on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Jenin ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice (AFP/Saif Dahlah)

Voluntary contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MUMA-7YF95H?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR

Remarks by U.S. Senior Advisor Richard Erdman, at the Ad Hoc Committee of the General Assembly for the announcement of voluntary contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)

Source: Government of the United States of America

Date: 03 Dec 2009

Richard Erdman
United States Senior Advisor
U.S. Mission to the United Nations
New York, NY

AS DELIVERED

I am pleased to represent the United States Government in expressing its support of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). As we acknowledge next week the 60th anniversary of the passage of the resolution that called for establishment of UNRWA, the United States remains committed to supporting the agency's critical mandate.

In 2009, the United States continued to be UNRWA's largest bilateral donor, providing nearly $268 million to support the education, health, relief, social and emergency needs of 4.7 million registered refugees in the region. I would like to take this opportunity to commend the Agency's achievements and steadfast dedication to the welfare of Palestinian refugees. Over the past 60 years, the commitment of UNRWA's staff has helped to better the lives of generations.

The United States remains concerned about the chronic shortfalls facing the organization. UNRWA faces a shortfall of $90 million in 2009. Furthermore, the Agency expects that it will face a deficit of $140 million against its core needs in 2010. UNRWA is confronting increased demands on its services at a time of record financial shortfalls and economic uncertainty. We commend UNRWA on developing a budget that clearly reflects UNRWA's needs and, for the first time, is linked to meeting the organization's medium-term strategic goals.

UNRWA requires adequate funding so that it can continue to provide quality services and meet the pressing needs of Palestinian refugees in the region. Pending the availability of funds, the United States intends to provide an early and significant contribution in 2010 and urges all UN Member States to consider robust contributions to UNRWA's 2010 budget.

Thank you.

Fatah official: UNRWA finance crisis spells human disaster

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=244338

Fatah official: UNRWA finance crisis spells human disaster

Published today 10:08

[MaanImages]

Gaza – Ma’an – Reduced services from the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) due to a budgetary shortfall risks political and social consequences if a solution is not found, member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council Mohammad An-Nahal warned on Saturday.

"The UNRWA financial crisis will not only affect the services offered to the more than four million of Palestinian refugees but also the cause of Palestinian refugees," An-Nahal said. "UNRWA is the only body in charge of the well being of the refugees until we can realize UN resolution 194," that calls for a just solution for Palestinian refugees, the official explained.

Last week UNRWA officials in Gaza announced that the organization had a "zero budget" for the new year, noting the financial crisis could mean failure to pay salaries of UNRWA workers and a decrease in the provision of services for refugees across the Middle East. On Thursday, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan of the UAE ordered the donation of 2.5 million dollars to the agency, marking the donation for Palestine refugees in the Near East.

It is not clear how much UNRWA needs to ensure the regular provision of services.

An-Nahal said he hoped the financial crisis would not be solved by reducing services to refugees, and urged UNRWA and the UN to insist that donor countries follow-through on their pledges so the agency can continue its work.

Fundamentally Flawed

Statement By Majdi Ramadan Counselor Item 31: United Nations ...

http://www.un.int/wcm/webdav/site/lebanon/shared/documents/Statement%20by%20Majdi%20Ramadan.pdfREAD MORE
Statement By Majdi Ramadan Counselor Item 31: United Nations ...

UNRWA determined not to scale back amid crippling funding crisis

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=109446

UNRWA determined not to scale back amid crippling funding crisis
By Dalila Mahdawi
Daily Star staff
Saturday, December 05, 2009

BEIRUT: The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees is struggling with a “dire” financial crisis but will not cut back on its provision of services, its head of operations in Lebanon said Friday. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on Wednesday it was facing its worst budget deficit in history. According to a recent document posted on the agency’s website concerning UNRWA’s financial situation, a shortfall of $79.6 million for 2009 and $125.7 million for 2010 has been projected. It said a continuing lack of funds since 2005 had “resulted in the complete depletion of UNRWA’s working capital.

“UNRWA is faced with a dire financial crisis,” Salvatore Lombardo, director of UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon, told The Daily Star. He said the agency’s operations in Lebanon were facing a $9 million deficit for 2010. “We have been operating with approximately the same budgets for the last [several] years whilst the needs are growing considerably and the cost of services is increasing,” he said. “Our expected budget is 14 percent less than what UNRWA needs to cover the most basic requirements of Palestine refugees.”

The UN official added that although the agency would continue to provide health care, education and relief and social services, the standards of those services would drop. “Whilst UNRWA strives to ensure services are not cut, the overall environment it operates in will deteriorate,” he added.

There are over 422,000 Palestinian refugees registered in Lebanon, most of who live in the country’s 12 squalid refugee camps.

The figure may no longer be accurate, however, as UNRWA does not remove refugees who have moved abroad from its records. There are also an unknown number of nonregistered refugees and an additional 40,000 Palestinians residing in 42 so-called “gatherings,” or ghettoized neighborhoods.

UNRWA has routinely faced funding shortages in the past, but the ongoing international financial crisis and a lack of financial reserves have resulted in a “situation of unprecedented gravity,” the UNRWA website said.

The agency held its annual pledging conference at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, hoping the international community would respond to its financial emergency. “It would be timely, and extremely welcome, if UNRWA was to receive new pledges of support from unexpected quarters or else the announcement of increase in funding from those that have historically underperformed in this respect,” said Andrew Whitley on behalf of UNRWA Commissioner General Karen Abu Zayd ahead of the conference.

“The refugees and our 30,000-strong Palestinian staff, who live in great anxiety these days about the prospect of further reductions in their modest living standards, would be enormously relieved.” UNRWA has warned salary cuts were straining relations with its employees.

But Lambardo said that while pledges were made at the conference, it was “not enough to cover the shortfall for 2010.”

Speaking in September on the occasion of UNRWA’s 60th anniversary, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged the agency’s serious funding shortages and appealed to the international community to give generously. “The agency’s work is too important for it to suffer budget crisis after budget crisis,” he said.

UNRWA’s funding shortfall will impact other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working with Palestinians, said John Viste of ANERA, an American NGO which provides humanitarian relief aid to Palestinian refugees. “It does affect us when UNRWA services are cut back.”

Medicine, normally provided by UNRWA, was a case in point, Viste said. “If they don’t have any medicine available, others have to fill in the gap. If they can’t provide then the Palestinians are forced to buy, which places greater strain on their resources.”

In spite of the financial difficulties, UNRWA is pursuing internal reform that requires no additional funding, Lambardo said. “We are committed to improving the management of our services. We will do so through decentralizing decision-making to the head teachers, medical officers and relief workers that run our schools, clinics and camp officers, communicating better with our beneficiaries and eliminating bureaucracy in our processes.”

Nevertheless, the cutbacks have raised fears that the security situation in the camps could explode. “The consequences of the financial deficit extend beyond the level of quality of services we provide,” Lombardo said. “Instability feeds on poverty and a lack of opportunities. There are very concrete steps that can be taken to push back against such scenario.

“Providing health, education, and relief and social services means not only teaching the young, caring for the sick and fending for the poor. It means creating a platform of stability on which future political progress can rest. UNRWA is part of the solution here in Lebanon,” he said.

Reflections on the Badil “Palestinian Refugees under International Law” Course Written by Nidal Azza

http://www.badil.org/en/al-majdal/item/1270-reflections-on-the-badil-%E2%80%9Cpalestinian-refugees-under-international-law%E2%80%9D-course

Reflections on the Badil “Palestinian Refugees under International Law” Course

Written by Nidal Azza

Intent on introducing Palestine's future legal cadre to a rights-based approach to the Palestinian refugee question, Badil entered a partnership agreement with al-Quds University in the fall of 2007. Since then, Badil's course on “Palestinian refugees under international law” has been one of the courses offered to law students, with larger numbers enrolling each semester. The target group of the Badil law course is university students, particularly law students interested in human rights. It is expected that law students, as part of the student movement that has historically played a major role in the national struggle, will influence their community and contribute to the right of return movement.

This piece addresses the importance of this law course as part of the broader campaign to defend Palestinian refugee rights. It tries to assess the impact of academic teaching on the right of return movement, specifically how it can strengthen the unity of the refugee return movement and promote self-organized initiatives upholding Palestinian refugee rights.

“… for us, the inclusion of the international law course on Palestinian refugees in the academic program is a distinct step reflecting our duty toward law students, as well as our commitment to Palestine and Palestinian rights. On one hand, it provides students interested in international law and human rights law with new course material. On the other hand, it explores, through the lens of Palestinian refugee rights, the prolonged conflict from a comparative legal perspective.” (Muhammad Shalaldah, Dean of the Al-Quds University Law School, University Press Release, 19 May 2008)

Hamdi Alshaikh, one of the students enrolled in the Fall 2007 semester and himself a refugee, confirmed that he used to see the right of return as one item in a list of “sacred national rights,” together with the right to self- determination, independence and statehood, but never paid attention to the importance of the law underpinning those rights: “When I chose the course, I was expecting a historical and political overview of our plight. I did not imagine that the Palestinian refugee question could be treated legally under so many bodies of law.” For Badil and for the right of return movement, planting and fostering such understanding is essential for building and strengthening the movement promoting solutions that respond to the rights and needs of Palestinian refugees.¹

After the Nakba of 1948 which resulted in the largest wave of Palestinian displacement from the homeland, the refugees' right of return was seen by Arab states, political parties and Palestinians themselves as an automatic result of the eventual liberation of Palestine, which was expected to come through the success of the armed struggle. It was then called a national and natural right, one that is inalienable, non-negotiable and one that would be automatically attained upon the liberation of Palestine. Accordingly, there was no perceived need to further explore the legal dimensions of this right, for example, by examining its human rights context or relevant sources in international law. Indeed, the need and benefit of representing the right of return as a human right enshrined in international law have been given priority only in the process of popular mobilization that came in response to the launch of the Oslo process in the early 1990s, a process that was marked by the organization of several refugee popular conferences. (2)²

Since the early 1990s, similar messages and recommendations have been reiterated by all popular conferences: political negotiators are to respect the inalienable right of return when engaging in negotiations on the Palestinian refugee question; awareness must be raised locally and internationally about the rights of Palestinian refugees, and a new generation of Palestinians, especially refugees, must be raised with the capacity and skills required to defend these rights. The Global Right of Return Coalition, which is one of the most important outcomes of the popular conferences, has adopted these same recommendations in its statements and annual action plans. Palestinian parents and students confirm that Badil has succeeded to translate the popular message into a professional agenda of research, legal advocacy and teaching. Abdel Qader Nasser, a Palestinian activist and parent of one of the students enrolled in the Badil law course, said: "the first time I read from Badil that the right of return is an individual and collective right that is legal and possible I felt that this is different from what we heard from officials of the Palestinian Authority. Then I discovered that its meaning is the most accurate expression of my feelings as a refugee.”

The Badil syllabus and course materials

Badil signed the partnership agreement with Al-Quds University less than two months before the start of the Fall semester of 2007, giving us only a few weeks of preparation time. However, the collection of research papers and legal studies already gathered and prepared by Badil on various aspects of the Palestinian refugee issue made it easier to put together the course materials and syllabus. Members of Badil’s Legal Support Network, many of whom teach similar courses at universities abroad, provided valuable input into the design of the the course and contributed to the timely completion of preparations.

The course has been divided into two main parts: the first part explores the concepts and rights related to refugee status, state obligations, and the role of international agencies and mechanisms. Students study the provisions of the 1951 Refugee Convention, documents and recommendations of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, human rights treaty committees and relevant UN guidelines and declarations. Students learn about international standards for the treatment of refugees, and about examples of good and bad state practice. Students also learn how to assess states’ practices in light of the relevant instruments.

The second part of the course examines the genesis of the Palestinian refugee issue, the rights and specific status of Palestinian refugees, and protection gaps resulting from Israel's violation of its legal obligations and the failure of the international community to ensure Israel's respect of international law. In this section students also learn about other cases of displacement and dispossession through specific examples, such as Bosnia-Herzegovina and Apartheid in South Africa.³ They also examine the implementation of relevant provisions of the 1951 Refugee Convention. Such comparative studies enable students to see the protection gap that affects Palestinian refugees, develop their knowledge of other cases and enhance their understanding of the potential of a rights-based approach for solving the Palestinian case, thereby improving their ability to play an active role in defending Palestinian refugee rights.

From a legal perspective, the course is unique in that it combines various bodies of international law, specifically the Law of Nationality in state succession, international human rights law, and international humanitarian law. It goes beyond highlighting the rights and obligations enshrined in international treaties by encouraging students to discover the links between the various bodies of international law and their connections with the realities on ground. The course emphasizes the importance of applying a broad body of international law rules to conflict analysis, treatment of its consequences and formulating the solution.

“I studied International public law, international humanitarian law, the law of international organizations, and international human rights law, but I had not realized the importance of international law for ending the Israeli occupation before I took the course on Palestinian refugees under international law.” (Kifah Froukh, course of fall 2007)

In political terms, the course deals with the root causes of the conflict, its evolution, and proposed solutions. Although these topics are fundamental for any student of the region, they have been largely absent from the Palestinian curriculum at all levels. As such, Palestinian students have for the most part encountered materials dealing with their own history and struggle in a way that has not sufficiently engaged them to form a nuanced perspective of the various historical, political and legal dimensions of the struggle. By examining these dimensions, the course provides what can be considered a new way of looking at the conflict and an attempt to analyze and overcome the deficit in both, the educational curriculum and the common approach to “solutions” debated in the public sphere which look only at the political dimension while ignoring history and law.

“I have never believed that international law and mechanisms might be of any benefit for the rights of the Palestinian people. Even after I had taken three courses in international law, I could not see in international law any more than a tool in the hands of colonial powers. The course on Palestinian refugees under international law opened my eyes to see the possibility of using the same tool for defending our rights.” (Bader al-Tamimi, course of Spring 2009)

In practice, the course has contributed to mobilizing and advocating for a rights-based approach. Suhair Al Weradat, student of the Spring 2009 semester said, “the course opened my eyes to the importance of advocating for our rights, not only because we need to widen the support at the international level, but also because we need to always strengthen our home front.”

In early 2009, students of the Fall 2008 semester decided to organize a photographic exhibition explaining the ongoing Nakba in cooperation with the university's students union. Their initiative was supported by Badil and welcomed by the Law School faculty. It was developed to include a book fair and two seminars, one on refugee rights and the other on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Campaign. Ahmad Nouba, a student of the Fall 2008 semester, noted that, “the title of the photographic exhibition - ‘Haq Al-Awda Mish Lalbay' (the right of return is not for sale) - which took place in mid March 2009, had a significant impact on the student community at the university. After the exhibition, this title became a slogan that can still be heard in everyday discussions.”

Endnotes

1For more information about the campaign see: http://www.badil.org/en/right-of-return-movement-initiatives

2For more on the evolution of the post-Oslo right of return movement, see Muhammad Jaradat, “Reflections on the Palestine return Movement”, al-Majdal #36-37 (Winter 07-Spring 08).

3Texts used for these examples are Badil's working papers: “The Right to Housing and Property Restitution in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A case Study”, and “Land Restitution in South Africa: Overview of Learned Lessons” accessible at http://www.badil.org/en/documents/category/2-working-papers

Published in Nakba Education on the Path of Return (Autumn 2009)

Tagged under

• Right of Return Movement
• Culture of Return

Palestine Note: Palestinian refugees learn journalism basics, launch blog

News » Palestinian refugees learn journalism basics, launch blog

A new blog entitled "Palestinian Youth Writes" has recently been launched as the outcome of a journalism workshop training for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. The workshop was organized by the British Embassy and Lebanon's Al Hayat newspaper, the Daily Star reported .

According to the newly-launched site:

"The "Palestinian Youth Writes Blog is a media project that creates an additional space for young Palestinians men and women, from all casts and affiliations, to express their views and concerns. They can do so by using the many different multimedia tools provided on the blog, such as texts, images and videos. This project thus aims to attract a wide spectrum of both the Palestinians and the Diaspora, in order to highlight their common concerns and problems, whether they are social, cultural or political in nature.

Joanna Abu Jaoude, the project manager told the Daily Star:

"Palestinian issues are usually covered by non-Palestinians, and the reports tend to focus on the security aspects of the camps. We want to empower Palestinian youths to report on issues of their interest."

According to the daily:

The participants, recruited through NGOs, the Internet and word-of-mouth, were introduced to various techniques of journalistic work, complete with training sessions on how to succeed at investigative reporting, feature-writing or online journalism. Seasoned journalists of Al-Hayat, BBC and NowLeba­non acquainted them with the challenges of the job and the im­portance of objective reporting.

Click here to see the new blog.

Click here to read the full article on the Daily Star.

Peaceful resistance... an EXCELLENT letter in today's Jordan Times

http://www.jordantimes.com/index.php?news=22055
letters

Peaceful resistance

Having read the article “Not learning from failure” (The Jordan Times, December 2, 2009), I would like to express my ideas about the concept of nonviolent resistance. In our Palestinian struggle, we tried all kinds of violent resistance since the 1960s, and the Palestinians gained nothing other than being named terrorists and losing Western support. For many nations, nonviolent resistance was the path to freedom: blacks in the US, led by Martin Luther King Jr., blacks in South Africa during the apartheid, led by Nelson Mandela and, of course, the Indians led by Gandhi. These people were able to achieve freedom, justice and a better future. We need to speak to the West in the language it understands. We cannot tell a European or American about our right to plant bombs in public transport buses. This does not mean that Israel has the right to commit massacres. But we can talk to the West about our rights, international law, Geneva conventions, which is much more beneficial for our cause and rights. A demonstration of 100,000 people in the West Bank chanting “We want freedom” is much more effective than 100 bombs in universities and buses. We need to use the weak points of our enemy, but unfortunately we are making him stronger. The weakness of the enemy is our point of strength, which is our right to freedom, independence and justice, based on human rights and international law. Israel’s strong point is public relation: every time we plant a bomb somewhere in Tel Aviv, they gain more support and we lose ours. Nonviolent resistance is the only alternative to useless, violent armed resistance, but it does not mean acceptance of the current situation. Today, Israelis, Westerners and Palestinians are demonstrating against the Israeli wall and settlements. The Westerners take back these stories to their countries, and the circle of support increases week after week. I know this did not end the occupation yet, but it is one step on the long path to freedom. What did we achieve through suicide bombing and rocket attacks in terms of ending occupation? Simply nothing. By the way, it is not only Mahmoud Abbas who supports nonviolent resistance. There are many other Palestinians who do, among them the well-respected Mustafa Barghouthi. Wasseem Al Kury, Amman 4 December 2009

Picturesque Palestine
Interior of the Church of the Nativity, photo by Osama Silwadi

My letter to The Guardian RE Shattering Israel's image of 'democracy'

RE: Shattering Israel's image of 'democracy'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/03/israel-negev

Dear Sir,

Excellent to see Ben White's enlightening article "Shattering Israel's image of 'democracy'": May many more voices of reason and compassion speak out clearly to help shape better policies- and better investments for both pubic and private funds.

AND Tempting though it might be to launch into an angry tirade about "Israel" in response, the real point is that bigotry is wrong: Palestinians do not need our rage- they need realistic solutions to end the Israel/Palestine conflict. The Arab Peace Initiative is a good start....

Emanating from the conviction of the Arab countries that a military solution to the conflict will not achieve peace or provide security for the parties, the council:

1. Requests Israel to reconsider its policies and declare that a just peace is its strategic option as well.

2. Further calls upon Israel to affirm:

I- Full Israeli withdrawal from all the territories occupied since 1967, including the Syrian Golan Heights, to the June 4, 1967 lines as well as the remaining occupied Lebanese territories in the south of Lebanon.

II- Achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194.

III- The acceptance of the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied since June 4, 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Furthermore, one does not have to support the Boycott campaign (Palestinian Call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS)) to agree with its demands that Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people‘s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law by:

1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall;

2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and

3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194 [from 1948].

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

RNPS IMAGES OF THE YEAR 2009 - A Palestinian demonstrator uses a tennis racket to return an empty tear gas canister at Israeli soldiers during a protest against the controversial Israeli barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin near Ramallah October 23, 2009. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (WEST BANK POLITICS CONFLICT IMAGES OF THE DAY)

My Letter to the New York Times Global Blog 11-2009 RE An Absurd Situation by Daoud Kuttab

RE: An Absurd Situation by Daoud Kuttab
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/israels-gamble-in-a-prisoner-swap/#daoud

Dear Editor,

THANK YOU for publishing a Palestinian perspective- in particular such an articulate one! Daoud Kuttab sums up so much so perfectly with his statement: "What’s more, it is politically horrifying that Israel is willing to reward radical Hamas with a prisoner exchange instead of honoring the commitments of the Road Map, which call for, among other things, a freeze in settlements in the occupied territories."

I wonder how many other ways has Israel helped empower Hamas and undermine Abbas, systemically sabotaging a secular two state end to the Israel/Palestine conflict.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

FILE - A Palestinian stone thrower faces an Israeli tank, during clashes at the Karni crossing point between Israel and the Gaza Strip, on the outskirts of Gaza City, in this Oct. 29, 2000 file photo. According to Enaam Udah, 41, her son Fares Udah, 13, is the boy in the picture and was shot dead by Israeli gunfire on November 8, 2000. 'We don't send our sons to an easy death, ' said Udah 'But if this is fated by God, then I cannot change that'. (AP Photo/Laurent Rebours, File)