UNRWA upholds a “zero tolerance” policy toward breaches of neutrality, emphasizing that the agency is a “soft target” for anyone which perceives its presence or activities as a threat.

UNRWA chief: Agency enduring ‘darkest moment’, as Israeli laws threaten operations

13 November 2024 Peace and Security

The UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, is living through the “darkest moment” of its 75 year history, Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on Wednesday, pointing to a trifecta of legislative, operational and security challenges.

Speaking at a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York, he detailed the implications of the recent laws passed by the Israeli Knesset, which aim to dismantle UNRWA activities across the occupied Palestinian territory, including Gaza and the West Bank.

“The intention is to undermine the agency,” he said, emphasizing that these measures are politically motivated.

Since the onset of the war in Gaza on 7 October 2023, 243 UNRWA staff members have lost their lives. Around 190 buildings and installations have been damaged or destroyed, and lifesaving aid operations severely restricted.

Disinformation campaign

“In addition to that there has been [an] intense and aggressive disinformation campaign, [including] reaching out to donor capitals to delegitimize the agency,” Mr. Lazzarini said.

He reiterated that despite operating in an environment fraught with risk, UNRWA upholds a “zero tolerance” policy toward breaches of neutrality, emphasizing that the agency is a “soft target” for anyone which perceives its presence or activities as a threat.

This includes Hamas, which over many years has accused the agency of “colluding” with Israel, given UNRWA’s programmes on education, gender equality, or arts, culture and sport. At the same time, Israel has accused UNRWA of colluding with and being infiltrated by Hamas.

“So, this morning [at the Fourth Committee of the General Assembly] I also wanted also to clean the record on this,” Mr. Lazzarini said, refuting the allegations and referring to his annual briefing to UN Member States at the General Assembly’s main Special Political and Decolonization Committee.... READ MORE  https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/11/1156941

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Calling on EVERYONE to utilize all legal and political tools to uphold the international rules-based order.

Founded in 1945, after the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust, the United Nations valiantly and wisely promotes peace, cooperation, and international diplomacy.

 

 Philippe Lazzarini-  Commissioner-General of

@UNRWA

@UNLazzarini

Nov 13 2024

Highlights from Philippe Lazzarini's address to the UN  General Assembly today:  

- The risk of the Agency’s collapse threatens the lives and futures of people and communities, the region’s stability, and the integrity of our multilateral system.  

- UNRWA is mandated to directly provide basic services, including education for more than half a million boys and girls.  

- In Gaza UNRWA has become a casualty of war: at least 243 UNRWA personnel have been killed, others have been detained and report being tortured. More than 2/3 of UNRWA premises have been damaged or destroyed.  

- Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas, and Israeli forces have allegedly used UNRWA premises for military purposes. I strongly condemned the use of our premises.  

- I continue to call for accountability for the attacks on UN personnel, premises and operations through an independent investigation into these violations. 

I have put forward several requests to the General Assembly:

     - Safeguard UNRWA and the rights of Palestine Refugees including for basic services. 

     - The protection of our multilateral system and the UN – of which UNRWA is an integral part.

     - Called on Member States to utilize all legal and political tools to uphold the international rules-based order.

Read the full statement here

https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/remarks-unrwa-commissioner-general-philippe-lazzarini-united-nations-general-assembly-fourth-committee

   [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

Dear Elected Officials- Stop poisoning the land, and undermining international law.

Statue of Liberty Weeps

 Dear Elected Officials,

I have respect for the rule of fair and just laws, and I have respect for good and decent people who live their lives making the world a better place (for everyone)... but I have zero respect for all our many Republican and Democratic politicians and our myopic mainstream Fourth Estate as our tax money is used to create crimes against humanity in The Holy Land.

Stop poisoning the land, and undermining international law. 

I don't care what your religion is- keep it private and personal and do not keep using our tax money to fund bigotry, injustice, weapons manufacturing and escalating violence here or there or anywhere please! 

Modern times call for modern approaches- specifically we should be investing in a just and lasting peace which starts with full and equal rights for all people: One state or two for the people of historic Palestine and Israel- start with the demand for and fair expectation of full respect for basic human rights and the rule of fair and just laws for ALL.

And stop buying into Zionist propaganda.  

Start noticing the very real plight and suffering of the native non-Jewish men, women and children of historic Palestine.

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

"The United Nations was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell." ~Dag Hammarskjöld, second Secretary-General of the United Nations

NOTES  https://x.com/AnnieAnnab

 https://anniesnewletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Notes

The MATH of modern GENOCIDE & the US weapons industry.

Protect Humanity

Thirty Jewish organisations have issued a powerful joint statement defending Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Territories, denouncing what they describe as coordinated attempts to undermine her mandate through false accusations of anti-Semitism.

We are witnessing the final stage of genocide in Gaza- Arwa Mahdawi in The Guardian: Omer Bartov is an Israeli-American professor of Holocaust and genocide studies. He has issued a grim warning on Gaza

+13,319 children killed in Gaza [PALESTINE] +35,055 children lost one/both parents in past year +1M children deeply traumatized .... End this war on innocent children

Human Rights Are Not White Privilege #PalestineLivesMatter

Why is Germany supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza? In 1953, Germany started paying reparations – not to individual survivors of the Holocaust, but the state of Israel in the form of industrial goods, including weaponry.

Israel passes law allowing Palestinian children under 14 to be jailed: More than 270 Palestinian minors are currently held in Israeli detention, despite UN resolutions and international treaties prohibiting the imprisonment of children, according to Palestinian right groups.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of #HumanRights reminds us that everyone is born #free and #equal in dignity and rights. Let’s act with compassion and respect to foster a world of equality.

Jordan's former foreign minister, Marwan Muasher, tells MEE that Jordan is worried Palestinians will be displaced en masse: “What we have seen in Gaza is an example not just of killing Palestinians but of making Gaza uninhabitable and trying to affect a mass transfer of Palestinians into Egypt."

In Forest of Noise, renowned Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha explores the pain, loss, and struggle of life in Gaza, while holding onto his connection to home

Earth after Israel is done defending itself:

2024 Snoopy & Handala & the Statue of Liberty

The greatest challenge to being alive: To witness the injustice of this world, and not allow it to consume our light.

Love to all, Ibtisam the Palestinian author

70% of the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza is funded by the American government: Consecutive American governments have been diverting taxpayer money to finance the Israeli genocide against Palestinians, resulting in the killing of Americans too, instead of spending it on education and infrastructure for its own citizens.

Statement from the bishop of the ELCJHL about Israel’s decision to close UNRWA: “We ask you to join us in condemning this action in the strongest possible terms”

Israeli settlements and outposts are used to take over Palestinian land and enable Israeli settlers to torment and terrorize Palestinians, transferring the protected population by force in violation of international law.

The brutality in Gaza must stop: We cannot afford to remain silent or complacent in the face of such brutality. Now more than ever, the American people must advocate for the rights and dignity of the Palestinians.

"The United Nations was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell." ~Dag Hammarskjöld, second Secretary-General of the United Nations

‘Death is everywhere’: fears grow that Israel plans to seize land in Gaza Increasingly violent siege of north raises suspicions about Netanyahu’s war aims

Philippe Lazzarini: Children & their education are not featured in any discussions when “experts “ or politicians talk about replacing UNWRA. Why? Because in the absence of a functioning state, there is no alternative.

Israel kills the journalists. Western media kills the truth of genocide in Gaza: Western publics are being subjected to a campaign of psychological warfare, where genocide is classed as ‘self-defence’ and opposition to it ‘terrorism’

It's been 107 years since the Balfour Declaration and Britain has not yet atoned for its grave historic mistake. It is time to make amends with the Palestinian people.

BBC: What happened to the young girl captured in a photograph of Gaza detainees

Israeli assault has caused ‘apocalyptic’ situation in northern Gaza, UN warns: Key officials say entire population of northern Gaza ‘at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence’

Author Arundhati Roy lambasts ‘US and Israel’s genocide in Gaza and Lebanon' in her acceptance speech for the PEN Pinter Prize at a ceremony in London earlier this month #Palestine

United Nations Security Council today underscored that UNRWA remains the backbone of all humanitarian response in Gaza & affirmed that no organization can replace or substitute its capacity and mandate to serve Palestinian refugees and civilians in urgent need of life-saving assistance.

‘I couldn’t cry over my children like everyone else’: the tragedy of Palestinian journalist Wael al-Dahdouh. After his wife and two of his children were killed in Gaza, Al Jazeera journalist Wael al-Dahdouh became famous around the world for his decision to keep reporting. But this was just the start of his heartbreaking journey By Nesrine Malik

Concern for Lebanon's heritage grows as Israel intensifies destruction of historic landmarks: Israeli attacks in Lebanon have devastated historic sites, fueling widespread condemnation and highlighting the urgent threat to the country's cultural heritage #urbicide

“I disagree with Kamala’s position on the war in Gaza. How can I vote for her?” ... Here is Bernie Sanders well thought out answer

The rights of Palestine Refugees exist separate to UNRWA, including the right of return, which was set out in resolution 194, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, and predates the creation of UNRWA in 1949. Besides the right to return, the right to family unity and the right to reparations would also remain in UNRWA’s absence, as would the refugee camps of Gaza and the West Bank.

UNRWA was created by the UN Member States. Today’s decision by the Israeli parliament barring UNRWA from its life-saving and health-protecting work on behalf of millions of Palestinians will have devastating consequences.

All the way back to 1948...

Silence is Complicity... and silence turns voters off, ensuring that Democracy dies in the darkness.

ELECTIONS: Our tax money should go to the people's needs- not war mongering and weapons manufacturing for foreign countries that use bigotry and injustice to determine who gets security and who gets their home demolished.

Dear America- We are in this collectively- no exceptions... Stop the hate- and the pollution of war.

Dear America- Don't let Israel drive a wedge between you and the truth.

Dear America, Please Help Stop Institutionalized Bigotry & Injustice

Dear America- Israel can not be trusted, and should not be subsidized

Don't give Israel the power to destroy the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, International Law, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights... and America.

Accusing peaceful pro-Palestine protesters of being "antisemitic" pleases Israel but it does not make any Jews any safer anywhere.

Send an honorable message far and wide- we believe in freedom of and from religion... and we believe in real justice, peace, and security for ALL !

 

"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world..."   https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

The MATH of modern GENOCIDE & the US weapons industry.

 

Protect Humanity

 

The Geneva Conventions, adopted in 1949 and ratified worldwide, are the backbone of international humanitarian law. They:  

 

Protect those who are not or no longer fighting.  

 

Save lives and reduce suffering. 

 

Even in armed conflicts, humanity must prevail. #GC75

 

 

The 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols are international treaties that contain the most important rules limiting the barbarity of war. They protect people who do not take part in the fighting (civilians, medics, aid workers) and those who can no longer fight (wounded, sick and shipwrecked troops, prisoners of war).

We take
action,
not sides

Because we are neutral, impartial and independent, we can reach those who need us when others cannot, providing humanitarian assistance, protecting lives, upholding rights, and relieving the suffering of people around the world whose lives have been torn apart by armed conflict and violence.

About the ICRC

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a neutral, impartial and independent organization with an exclusively humanitarian mandate that stems from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It helps people around the world affected by armed conflict and other violence, doing everything it can to protect their lives and dignity and to relieve their suffering, often alongside its Red Cross and Red Crescent partners.

 

Proclamation

The XXth International Conference of the Red Cross proclaims the following fundamental principles on which Red Cross action is based:

HUMANITY  

The Red Cross, born of a desire to bring assistance without discrimination to the wounded on the battlefield, endeavours – in its international and national capacity – to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found. Its purpose is to protect life and health and to ensure respect for the human being. It promotes mutual understanding, friendship, co-operation and lasting peace amongst all peoples.

IMPARTIALITY  

It makes no discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. It endeavours only to relieve suffering, giving priority to the most urgent cases of distress.

NEUTRALITY  

In order to continue to enjoy the confidence of all, the Red Cross may not take sides in hostilities or engage at any time in controversies of a political, racial, religious or ideological nature.

INDEPENDENCE  

The Red Cross is independent. The National Societies, while auxiliaries in the humanitarian services of t heir Governments and subject to the laws of their respective countries, must always maintain their autonomy so that they may be able at all times to act in accordance with Red Cross principles.

VOLUNTARY SERVICE  

The Red Cross is a voluntary relief organization not prompted in any manner by desire for gain.

UNITY  

There can be only one Red Cross Society in any one country. It must be open to all. It must carry on its humanitarian work throughout its territory.

UNIVERSALITY  

The Red Cross is a world-wide institution in which all Societies have equal status and share equal responsibilities and duties in helping each other.