Occupied Jerusalem– After the Israeli Parliament approved last Monday the law banning the activity of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in Israel, with the support of 92 members and the opposition of 10 members, the story of the agency’s persecution and targeting of its institutions in the Palestinian holy city came to mind.
Although many believe that the most difficult stage of the liquidation of UNRWA took place in 2017, when the then US President Donald Trump declared the city of Jerusalem – with its two parts – the capital unified Israel, others believe that the most dangerous liquidation attempts began to become clear after the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.
Among them is Nidal Al-Azza, director of the Badil Resource Center for Citizenship and Refugee Rights, who said at the start of his interview with Al Jazeera Net that the campaign to dismantle UNRWA and end its presence intensified after the signing of the Oslo Accord. Agreements, and subsequently became one of the standing issues on the agenda of the annual “Herzliya” conference for Israeli strategic planning, launched in 2017. 2000.
This conference discusses Israel’s security and defense policies and foreign relations, and is attended by researchers, politicians, academics and specialists from inside and outside Israel. Al-Azza confirms that since 2003, the liquidation mechanisms of UNRWA have been discussed every year at this conference. .
Include targeting
Center director Badil said: “The liquidation campaigns ranged from questioning the agency’s effectiveness and performance, to demonizing and accusing it of terrorism, and then transferring its powers to international and local institutions not assigned by the United Nations, until the situation finally came to accuse UNRWA of not being impartial and of not having participated in terrorism during the events of October 7 and their consequences.
Under Trump’s rule, the decision to liquidate and dry up UNRWA’s funding sources became clear, and this coincided with the incitement campaigns carried out by Israeli officials in recent years, which led to current legislation prohibiting UNRWA activity in Israel and the approval of another law. prohibiting any contact with him, according to Al-Azza.
Regarding the serious repercussions resulting from the ban on the agency’s work, Center Director Badil indicated that “the end of UNRWA’s work will directly affect the services that Palestinian refugees receive in the occupied territories, services of which they are increasingly needed in light of the continuing activities of UNRWA. the war of extermination in Gaza.
Because this UN agency has enough skills and experience to care for millions of refugees, and has enough records, headquarters and staff to provide its services, no other party will be able to compensate for his absence or accomplish his tasks, according to Al-Azza.
As for the strategic danger – which Al-Azza considers the most important – it consists of abandoning international responsibility towards the Palestinian refugees and liquidating their cause, thus reducing the burden of the international community towards refugees outside Palestine and removing refugee protection. live inside.
Hinge station
According to political scientist Omar Assaf, the recent Knesset decision represents a turning point in the history of UNRWA, and it is not unlikely that it will be applied to the West Bank since the occupation explicitly states that it is subject to to its sovereignty.
Assaf believes that immediate and broad action is necessary because the decision has dimensions that are not only related to education, health and relief. Rather, there is “a political dimension, which is an attempt to eliminate one of the evidences of the situation”. asylum crime, and later an attempt to end the camp phenomenon.
He also expects additional financial burdens for the Palestinian Authority with the enactment of Israeli legislation, without ruling out at the same time that Israel bears the financial burdens in the Jerusalem area, “and thus interfering – for example – in school programs, such as the Palestinian curriculum are now taught in the agency’s schools.
Assaf added that the possibility of Israel taking responsibility for refugee affairs has a political dimension: “There are a number of refugees in the Shuafat camp, located within the borders of the Jerusalem municipality, and Israel could therefore try to deprive its residents of services. and try to deny them refugee status.
Incitement and violence
Aryeh King, deputy mayor of the occupation municipality, is considered one of the most prominent instigators of UNRWA and its Jerusalem-based employees. After the law banning it was finally approved, he summoned his supporters on his Facebook page to a celebratory rally yesterday, Wednesday, in front of the agency’s headquarters in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, and wrote: “Without lots of words and statements, all you have to do is have a glass of wine and say thank you to everyone who helped.
King had previously described the headquarters as a “ticking time bomb in Jerusalem” and repeatedly called for demonstrations in front of it, including attacks, burning, shouting slogans and raising inflammatory banners.
As for the former mayor of the occupation, Nir Barkat, he also announced during his mandate a plan to liquidate the UNRWA institutions in Jerusalem. He said at the time that the municipality intended to build schools affiliated with it to accommodate students receiving their education there. in the agency’s schools in the Shuafat camp, saying it is the only camp in the West Bank that falls under the influence of the municipality.
The international agency provides services to more than 110,000 Palestinian refugees in Jerusalem. Its headquarters is located in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, known in Israel as “Ma’alon Dafna”. The agency has a refugee camp in the Jerusalem governorate called Shuafat. and Qalandia.
On October 10, Israeli Army Radio announced that there was an order to confiscate the land on which the agency’s headquarters is located and allocate it to the construction of settlement units, while the newspaper “Israel Today” said the UNRWA headquarters area in Jerusalem would be confiscated. build 1,440 housing units and the project is in the preparation phase.
Al-Azza claims that if Jerusalem residents one day wake up without the presence of the headquarters and its services, this means “taking away international responsibility from Palestinian residents inside Jerusalem and leaving them entirely under Israeli sovereignty.”