PALASTAIN CRISIS: U.N. EMPLOYEES IN GAZA HOLD PROTEST STRIKE OVER U.S. AID CUT
Schools, clinics and food
distribution centers in the Gaza Strip were closed on Monday due to a one-day
strike by the 13,000 employees of the United Nations agency that serves the
Palestinians.
The Palestinian
employees have been angered by a U.S. decision to cut its annual contribution
toward the running of the United Nations’ Relief and Welfare Agency (UNRWA),
which runs 278 schools in Gaza attended by some 300,000 students.
The UNRWA is funded
mainly by voluntary contributions from U.N. member states, with the United
States by far the largest donor. Washington announced on Jan. 16 it would hold
back $65 million - more than half its planned contribution this year - and
demanded that the agency make unspecified reforms.
Those joining
Monday’s strike said the U.S. funding cut would worsen hardship in the Gaza
Strip, and they marched to the U.N. headquarters in Gaza City waving
Palestinian flags and brandishing banners that read “Dignity is priceless”.
“I have a family of
nine and I have never felt afraid for my job like today. U.S. aid cuts will
affect the entire community,” said 59-year-old English teacher Ahmed Abu
Suleiman.
UNRWA spokesman Abu
Hasna said the agency, which has launched an international appeal for funds,
had enough money for three months of operations.
“We appreciate the
fear and concern of employees for their jobs and for possible cuts in
services,” he said.
More than half of
the two million people in the Gaza Strip are dependent on support from UNRWA
and other humanitarian agencies. Unemployment in the enclave stands at 46
percent.
The strike comes
amid Palestinian anger over U.S. President Donald Trump’s Dec. 6 decision to
recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Speaking at the
World Economic Forum in Davos last week, Trump criticized the Palestinian
leadership for refusing to meet Vice President Mike Pence during his visit to
the region and suggested such behavior provided grounds for cutting aid.
“When they
disrespected us a week ago by not allowing our great vice president to see
them, and we give them hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and support,
tremendous numbers, numbers that nobody understands -- that money is on the
table and that money is not going to them unless they sit down and negotiate
peace,” Trump said.
UNRWA was
established by the U.N. General Assembly in 1949 after hundreds of thousands of
Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes in the 1948 war that
followed the creation of the state of Israel.
Source: Reuters
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