16 mar 2014
The Gaza Ministry of Interior has banned a Fatah festival in support of President Mahmoud Abbas, a Fatah official said Sunday.
Fatah Central Committee Member Amal Hamad said that Hamas' decision to ban the festival -- which was to take place in Gaza City's Square of the Unknown Soldier --- was damaging to the Palestinian cause.
Hamad said the ban weakened negotiations, which she said were a form of resistance.
"It is time for Hamas to side with the Palestinian people ... who defend their rights and hold on to their national principles," she said.
A spokeswoman for the Hamas movement did not answer calls seeking comment.
The division between Fatah and Hamas began in 2006, when Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections.
In the following year, clashes erupted between the two Palestinian factions, leaving Hamas in control of the Strip and Fatah in control of parts of the occupied West Bank.
The groups have made failed attempts at national reconciliation for years, most recently in 2012, when they signed two agreements -- one in Cairo and a subsequent one in Doha -- which have as of yet been entirely unimplemented.
Fatah Central Committee Member Amal Hamad said that Hamas' decision to ban the festival -- which was to take place in Gaza City's Square of the Unknown Soldier --- was damaging to the Palestinian cause.
Hamad said the ban weakened negotiations, which she said were a form of resistance.
"It is time for Hamas to side with the Palestinian people ... who defend their rights and hold on to their national principles," she said.
A spokeswoman for the Hamas movement did not answer calls seeking comment.
The division between Fatah and Hamas began in 2006, when Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections.
In the following year, clashes erupted between the two Palestinian factions, leaving Hamas in control of the Strip and Fatah in control of parts of the occupied West Bank.
The groups have made failed attempts at national reconciliation for years, most recently in 2012, when they signed two agreements -- one in Cairo and a subsequent one in Doha -- which have as of yet been entirely unimplemented.
Raialyoum newspaper said Egypt has tense relations with Palestinian President Abbas due to his confrontations with dismissed Fatah leader, Mohammed Dahlan. The newspaper quoted Egyptian sources, described as “authorized”, that Abbas talked with Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi about the necessity of revival of the Palestinian reconciliation. El-Sisi responded: “ let us not talk about the Palestinian reconciliation; we have to talk about Fatah reconciliation.”
The sources pointed out that el-Sisi meant Fatah internal confrontations, especially with Dahlan. Abbas responded: "Fatah is OK", el-Sisi replied: “No, Fatah is not OK.”
The sources added that el-Sisi wanted to deliver a message to President Abbas that he should cancel the decision of dismissing Dahlan and let him rejoin Fatah.
The newspaper noted that el-Sisi received Dahlan at the headquarter of the Ministry of Defense in Cairo in reference to supporting and adopting him as the man of Egypt in Palestine.
In a relevant vein, the newspaper said that the reasons behind the anger of Egypt over Fatah are reports said that Nabil Shaath, a Fatah leader, said during his recent visit to the Gaza Strip a month agothat what happened in Egypt in June 2013 is a military coup.
Some rumors said Egypt put Shaath on the banned list from entering Cairo although he denied the reports.
The sources pointed out that el-Sisi meant Fatah internal confrontations, especially with Dahlan. Abbas responded: "Fatah is OK", el-Sisi replied: “No, Fatah is not OK.”
The sources added that el-Sisi wanted to deliver a message to President Abbas that he should cancel the decision of dismissing Dahlan and let him rejoin Fatah.
The newspaper noted that el-Sisi received Dahlan at the headquarter of the Ministry of Defense in Cairo in reference to supporting and adopting him as the man of Egypt in Palestine.
In a relevant vein, the newspaper said that the reasons behind the anger of Egypt over Fatah are reports said that Nabil Shaath, a Fatah leader, said during his recent visit to the Gaza Strip a month agothat what happened in Egypt in June 2013 is a military coup.
Some rumors said Egypt put Shaath on the banned list from entering Cairo although he denied the reports.
Update 16 mar 2014
It is impossible not to be touched by the apocalyptic scenes emerging from the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk in Damascus, besieged and cut off for months. The images are at once epic and personal. Row upon row of gaunt faces, serried ranks of grimy, raged figures; the delicate, hunger-ravaged features of children waiting in line for an UNRWA food parcel; the face of a mother creased in grief for a deceased child; tears of joy as a father is reunited with a long-lost daughter; these are the vignettes of inhumanity that have become the regular fare of nightly news bulletins.
While the cameras have followed the conflict as they ever do, aid budgets have followed the cameras. International funding abhors a news vacuum. Donors like their cash to be in the news headlines and so UNRWA's appeal to the international community to fund our emergency work in Syria to the tune of over 400 million U.S. dollars, has found a generous response among donor governments. That's the relatively good news and we are grateful.
The bad news is that UNRWA works in other places where, like Syria, there are emergencies that have become protracted, but from where, unlike Syria, the cameras have moved on. Gaza is one of those places.
In the last six months of 2013, the unemployment rate in Gaza went from just under 28 percent to over 38 percent -- in six months. For refugees the official unemployment rate is 41 percent, for youth 56 percent and for refugee women an astounding 88 percent. The criteria used for this data means that underemployment is not captured; persons aged 15 years and above who worked at least one hour per week are considered employed and so not included in these statistics. Imagine for a moment what that has meant for families in Gaza.
While there are no images from Gaza as compelling as those from Yarmouk -- nor is the situation that desperate -- the people here having been living under siege-like conditions for more than six years. It is this blockade which was imposed in earnest in June 2007 that destroyed Gaza's previously dynamic, productive and trade-oriented economy, along with its capacity to create jobs. The vast majority of the population has been pushed into food insecurity, with no other choice but reliance on assistance. Until the blockade is lifted and access to Gaza's traditional markets -- the West Bank and Israel -- is secured, any sustainable recovery of the local economy remains elusive. The vicious cycle of unemployment, food insecurity and aid dependency, and consequently the de-development of the Gaza Strip, will continue. A graph of economic volatility for Gaza's economy over the past decade looks like Liberia or Sierra Leone's.
The recent dramatic deterioration in the situation here was triggered by the changes in Egypt last year and the closure of the tunnels that linked Gaza and its Southern neighbor. These tunnels formed a necessary lifeline for Gaza given the poverty here -- goods are cheaper from Egypt, particularly fuel and basic foods -- and for items that Israel will not allow to freely enter, the most important being construction materials. Material for the private sector came through the tunnels at the rate of some 7,500 MT per day, fueling the only portion of the economy that was creating any jobs. The closure of the tunnels has meant the effective end of private sector construction.
UNRWA and other international actors could make up some of that job loss through our own construction projects but we have been limited in our ability to do so by Israel practices. In the third quarter of 2013 UNRWA construction projects generated over 5,000 jobs, but imports of construction materials were suspended in October 2013, and as of February 2014 only some of our projects were re-approved by the Israeli authorities and resumed. We have almost USD $40 million worth of projects Israel had already approved that are ready to go and an additional 38 projects worth over USD $111 million pending approval from Israeli authorities so we can import the necessary construction material. Given the opportunity we could put thousands of Gazans back to work and reduce reliance on aid to survive.
UNRWA is mandated to provide services to the Palestine refugees in Gaza, who make up more than 70 percent of the population of some 1.8 million. In trying to meet the humanitarian demands created by this manmade crisis, UNRWA provides food assistance to over 800,000 people; two out of every three refugees and almost half the overall population. In 2000, when the economy was functioning more normally, only 80,000 refugees required food assistance from us. We provide this assistance based on need, and vigorously target to ensure it gets to the neediest, but given the changes here over the past months we expect our food aid caseload to increase by 10 to 20 percent over the course of this year, to near one million people.
At a time when circumstances would dictate an expansion of aid we are facing a hole in our emergency budget of about $30 million USD. That's about a quarter of our overall budget, mainly for food aid. Should no additional, unexpected contributions materialize, UNRWA will be forced to significantly cut back its emergency operations in the Gaza Strip. We have already had to take very difficult decisions, including the suspension of our school feeding program, which provided one meal per day to the nearly quarter of a million UNRWA students in Gaza.
Donor fatigue is understandable. UNRWA would prefer to spend money on human development in Gaza, particularly our education program, as opposed to emergency aid to mitigate the impact of man-made policies such as the illegal blockade. But the Agency has no choice but to continue to assist those paying for the consequences of these unresolved political issues.
I end on a note of warning. We have repeatedly seen desperation in Gaza lead to violence. There are rockets which we in the UN repeatedly condemn, but there are many other forms of violence in Gazan society that are related directly and indirectly to the economic predicament of the people here. We in UNRWA have ourselves been the subject of violent attack because of perceived service cuts. At a time when the peace process is on everyone's lips it behooves us all to address the underlying causes of Gaza's violence, but barring the political will to accomplish this, we must ensure that basic humanitarian needs continue to be met.
It is impossible not to be touched by the apocalyptic scenes emerging from the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk in Damascus, besieged and cut off for months. The images are at once epic and personal. Row upon row of gaunt faces, serried ranks of grimy, raged figures; the delicate, hunger-ravaged features of children waiting in line for an UNRWA food parcel; the face of a mother creased in grief for a deceased child; tears of joy as a father is reunited with a long-lost daughter; these are the vignettes of inhumanity that have become the regular fare of nightly news bulletins.
While the cameras have followed the conflict as they ever do, aid budgets have followed the cameras. International funding abhors a news vacuum. Donors like their cash to be in the news headlines and so UNRWA's appeal to the international community to fund our emergency work in Syria to the tune of over 400 million U.S. dollars, has found a generous response among donor governments. That's the relatively good news and we are grateful.
The bad news is that UNRWA works in other places where, like Syria, there are emergencies that have become protracted, but from where, unlike Syria, the cameras have moved on. Gaza is one of those places.
In the last six months of 2013, the unemployment rate in Gaza went from just under 28 percent to over 38 percent -- in six months. For refugees the official unemployment rate is 41 percent, for youth 56 percent and for refugee women an astounding 88 percent. The criteria used for this data means that underemployment is not captured; persons aged 15 years and above who worked at least one hour per week are considered employed and so not included in these statistics. Imagine for a moment what that has meant for families in Gaza.
While there are no images from Gaza as compelling as those from Yarmouk -- nor is the situation that desperate -- the people here having been living under siege-like conditions for more than six years. It is this blockade which was imposed in earnest in June 2007 that destroyed Gaza's previously dynamic, productive and trade-oriented economy, along with its capacity to create jobs. The vast majority of the population has been pushed into food insecurity, with no other choice but reliance on assistance. Until the blockade is lifted and access to Gaza's traditional markets -- the West Bank and Israel -- is secured, any sustainable recovery of the local economy remains elusive. The vicious cycle of unemployment, food insecurity and aid dependency, and consequently the de-development of the Gaza Strip, will continue. A graph of economic volatility for Gaza's economy over the past decade looks like Liberia or Sierra Leone's.
The recent dramatic deterioration in the situation here was triggered by the changes in Egypt last year and the closure of the tunnels that linked Gaza and its Southern neighbor. These tunnels formed a necessary lifeline for Gaza given the poverty here -- goods are cheaper from Egypt, particularly fuel and basic foods -- and for items that Israel will not allow to freely enter, the most important being construction materials. Material for the private sector came through the tunnels at the rate of some 7,500 MT per day, fueling the only portion of the economy that was creating any jobs. The closure of the tunnels has meant the effective end of private sector construction.
UNRWA and other international actors could make up some of that job loss through our own construction projects but we have been limited in our ability to do so by Israel practices. In the third quarter of 2013 UNRWA construction projects generated over 5,000 jobs, but imports of construction materials were suspended in October 2013, and as of February 2014 only some of our projects were re-approved by the Israeli authorities and resumed. We have almost USD $40 million worth of projects Israel had already approved that are ready to go and an additional 38 projects worth over USD $111 million pending approval from Israeli authorities so we can import the necessary construction material. Given the opportunity we could put thousands of Gazans back to work and reduce reliance on aid to survive.
UNRWA is mandated to provide services to the Palestine refugees in Gaza, who make up more than 70 percent of the population of some 1.8 million. In trying to meet the humanitarian demands created by this manmade crisis, UNRWA provides food assistance to over 800,000 people; two out of every three refugees and almost half the overall population. In 2000, when the economy was functioning more normally, only 80,000 refugees required food assistance from us. We provide this assistance based on need, and vigorously target to ensure it gets to the neediest, but given the changes here over the past months we expect our food aid caseload to increase by 10 to 20 percent over the course of this year, to near one million people.
At a time when circumstances would dictate an expansion of aid we are facing a hole in our emergency budget of about $30 million USD. That's about a quarter of our overall budget, mainly for food aid. Should no additional, unexpected contributions materialize, UNRWA will be forced to significantly cut back its emergency operations in the Gaza Strip. We have already had to take very difficult decisions, including the suspension of our school feeding program, which provided one meal per day to the nearly quarter of a million UNRWA students in Gaza.
Donor fatigue is understandable. UNRWA would prefer to spend money on human development in Gaza, particularly our education program, as opposed to emergency aid to mitigate the impact of man-made policies such as the illegal blockade. But the Agency has no choice but to continue to assist those paying for the consequences of these unresolved political issues.
I end on a note of warning. We have repeatedly seen desperation in Gaza lead to violence. There are rockets which we in the UN repeatedly condemn, but there are many other forms of violence in Gazan society that are related directly and indirectly to the economic predicament of the people here. We in UNRWA have ourselves been the subject of violent attack because of perceived service cuts. At a time when the peace process is on everyone's lips it behooves us all to address the underlying causes of Gaza's violence, but barring the political will to accomplish this, we must ensure that basic humanitarian needs continue to be met.
15 mar 2014
Quartet Representative Tony Blair met Friday with a high-level UK business delegation in Jerusalem to discuss the latest plans to kick-start Palestinian economic growth. The discussion followed a bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, in Jerusalem, and forms part of the ongoing work to catalyze private sector-led growth in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, as part of the Initiative for the Palestinian Economy (IPE).
Blair told them that the IPE is “a very ambitious plan for changing the Palestinian economy.”
Meeting with the delegation at a crucial time in the negotiations for a framework agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, he added that “it is important to put the economics in the context of how the politics and economics are supposed to work together. There is never any substitute for the political process. Economics cannot take the place of politics. On a deeper level, unless the political process moves forward, the economics tends to bound up with the political difficulties.”
The IPE is the result of intensive evaluation by a team of policy advisers, economic analysts and international domain experts under the leadership of Blair, and in support of renewed Palestinian-Israeli political negotiations.
The Quartet Representative praised the resilience of the Palestinian business community, saying that despite all the challenges over the years, remarkable things have already been achieved.
He said that the Palestinian economy had a number of advantages, including the fact that the Palestinian business community offers great opportunities for partnership, a stock exchange that does well, and a banking system in relatively good shape.
He also pointed out that the Palestinian government wants to encourage investment, and that the people are eager to make it work. Mr. Blair added that the private sector is at the heart of the IPE, and those who have come and invested in the Palestinian economy have done well.
Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Lord Livingston, led the business delegation, which included representatives from GlaxoSmithKline, the London Stock Exchange, ASOS, TalkTalk Group, KiWi Power and others.
Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister, Mohammed Mustafa, also addressed the meeting, laying out some of the constraints faced by the Palestinians, as well as highlighting the unrealized potential of the Palestinian economy.
“We need to, as Palestinians, do our best to leverage it and develop it further, so we can create not only a strong, independent state, but also economic independence,” he said, and went on to stress the importance of Israel taking vital measures to enable the Palestinian economy.
Dr Mustafa added that: “the Palestinian government sees the future Palestinian state as an important component not just of the regional economy, but also of the global economy.”
He said that the Palestinian Authority knows that the way forward must be through private sector-led growth. The Palestinians have worked very hard to make the best of the resources they have, he said, and through “perseverance, resilience and determination” they will ensure that the economy goes from strength to strength.
The Jerusalem-based Office of the Quartet Representative (OQR) is spearheading the initiative, which is designed to bring about transformative change and substantial growth in the Palestinian economy, as well as creating tens of thousands of jobs. The plan rests on three key components: the private sector, international financial institutions and “political enablers” that will remove restrictions and grant the Palestinian Authority wider access to resources and allow it more control over its affairs, allowing the Palestinian side to develop its capacity to make the economic plan a reality.
At Thursday’s meeting, policy advisors from the OQR set out the strategy for three of the eight sectors included in the IPE: Construction, ICT and light manufacturing. Other sectors included in the initiative are: agriculture, tourism, building materials, energy and water.
The meeting followed a major conference on the Initiative for the Palestinian Economy, held in Prague on the weekend. The conference brought together representatives from some 30 international organizations as well as Palestinian business people, and laid out potential projects and opportunities for investors in the Palestinian territories.
Blair told them that the IPE is “a very ambitious plan for changing the Palestinian economy.”
Meeting with the delegation at a crucial time in the negotiations for a framework agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, he added that “it is important to put the economics in the context of how the politics and economics are supposed to work together. There is never any substitute for the political process. Economics cannot take the place of politics. On a deeper level, unless the political process moves forward, the economics tends to bound up with the political difficulties.”
The IPE is the result of intensive evaluation by a team of policy advisers, economic analysts and international domain experts under the leadership of Blair, and in support of renewed Palestinian-Israeli political negotiations.
The Quartet Representative praised the resilience of the Palestinian business community, saying that despite all the challenges over the years, remarkable things have already been achieved.
He said that the Palestinian economy had a number of advantages, including the fact that the Palestinian business community offers great opportunities for partnership, a stock exchange that does well, and a banking system in relatively good shape.
He also pointed out that the Palestinian government wants to encourage investment, and that the people are eager to make it work. Mr. Blair added that the private sector is at the heart of the IPE, and those who have come and invested in the Palestinian economy have done well.
Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Lord Livingston, led the business delegation, which included representatives from GlaxoSmithKline, the London Stock Exchange, ASOS, TalkTalk Group, KiWi Power and others.
Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister, Mohammed Mustafa, also addressed the meeting, laying out some of the constraints faced by the Palestinians, as well as highlighting the unrealized potential of the Palestinian economy.
“We need to, as Palestinians, do our best to leverage it and develop it further, so we can create not only a strong, independent state, but also economic independence,” he said, and went on to stress the importance of Israel taking vital measures to enable the Palestinian economy.
Dr Mustafa added that: “the Palestinian government sees the future Palestinian state as an important component not just of the regional economy, but also of the global economy.”
He said that the Palestinian Authority knows that the way forward must be through private sector-led growth. The Palestinians have worked very hard to make the best of the resources they have, he said, and through “perseverance, resilience and determination” they will ensure that the economy goes from strength to strength.
The Jerusalem-based Office of the Quartet Representative (OQR) is spearheading the initiative, which is designed to bring about transformative change and substantial growth in the Palestinian economy, as well as creating tens of thousands of jobs. The plan rests on three key components: the private sector, international financial institutions and “political enablers” that will remove restrictions and grant the Palestinian Authority wider access to resources and allow it more control over its affairs, allowing the Palestinian side to develop its capacity to make the economic plan a reality.
At Thursday’s meeting, policy advisors from the OQR set out the strategy for three of the eight sectors included in the IPE: Construction, ICT and light manufacturing. Other sectors included in the initiative are: agriculture, tourism, building materials, energy and water.
The meeting followed a major conference on the Initiative for the Palestinian Economy, held in Prague on the weekend. The conference brought together representatives from some 30 international organizations as well as Palestinian business people, and laid out potential projects and opportunities for investors in the Palestinian territories.
Robert Turner Director, United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza
By Robert Turner Director, United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza
It is impossible not to be touched by the apocalyptic scenes emerging from the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk in Damascus, besieged and cut off for months. The images are at once epic and personal. Row upon row of gaunt faces, serried ranks of grimy, raged figures; the delicate, hunger-ravaged features of children waiting in line for an UNRWA food parcel; the face of a mother creased in grief for a deceased child; tears of joy as a father is reunited with a long-lost daughter; these are the vignettes of inhumanity that have become the regular fare of nightly news bulletins.
While the cameras have followed the conflict as they ever do, aid budgets have followed the cameras. International funding abhors a news vacuum. Donors like their cash to be in the news headlines and so UNRWA's appeal to the international community to fund our emergency work in Syria to the tune of over 400 million U.S. dollars, has found a generous response among donor governments. That's the relatively good news and we are grateful.
The bad news is that UNRWA works in other places where, like Syria, there are emergencies that have become protracted, but from where, unlike Syria, the cameras have moved on. Gaza is one of those places.
In the last six months of 2013, the unemployment rate in Gaza went from just under 28 percent to over 38 percent -- in six months. For refugees the official unemployment rate is 41 percent, for youth 56 percent and for refugee women an astounding 88 percent. The criteria used for this data means that underemployment is not captured; persons aged 15 years and above who worked at least one hour per week are considered employed and so not included in these statistics. Imagine for a moment what that has meant for families in Gaza.
While there are no images from Gaza as compelling as those from Yarmouk -- nor is the situation that desperate -- the people here having been living under siege-like conditions for more than six years. It is this blockade which was imposed in earnest in June 2007 that destroyed Gaza's previously dynamic, productive and trade-oriented economy, along with its capacity to create jobs. The vast majority of the population has been pushed into food insecurity, with no other choice but reliance on assistance. Until the blockade is lifted and access to Gaza's traditional markets -- the West Bank and Israel -- is secured, any sustainable recovery of the local economy remains elusive. The vicious cycle of unemployment, food insecurity and aid dependency, and consequently the de-development of the Gaza Strip, will continue. A graph of economic volatility for Gaza's economy over the past decade looks like Liberia or Sierra Leone's.
The recent dramatic deterioration in the situation here was triggered by the changes in Egypt last year and the closure of the tunnels that linked Gaza and its Southern neighbor. These tunnels formed a necessary lifeline for Gaza given the poverty here -- goods are cheaper from Egypt, particularly fuel and basic foods -- and for items that Israel will not allow to freely enter, the most important being construction materials. Material for the private sector came through the tunnels at the rate of some 7,500 MT per day, fueling the only portion of the economy that was creating any jobs. The closure of the tunnels has meant the effective end of private sector construction.
UNRWA and other international actors could make up some of that job loss through our own construction projects but we have been limited in our ability to do so by Israel practices. In the third quarter of 2013 UNRWA construction projects generated over 5,000 jobs, but imports of construction materials were suspended in October 2013, and as of February 2014 only some of our projects were re-approved by the Israeli authorities and resumed. We have almost USD $40 million worth of projects Israel had already approved that are ready to go and an additional 38 projects worth over USD $111 million pending approval from Israeli authorities so we can import the necessary construction material. Given the opportunity we could put thousands of Gazans back to work and reduce reliance on aid to survive.
Source: Huffington Post
UNRWA is mandated to provide services to the Palestine refugees in Gaza, who make up more than 70 percent of the population of some 1.8 million. In trying to meet the humanitarian demands created by this manmade crisis, UNRWA provides food assistance to over 800,000 people; two out of every three refugees and almost half the overall population. In 2000, when the economy was functioning more normally, only 80,000 refugees required food assistance from us. We provide this assistance based on need, and vigorously target to ensure it gets to the neediest, but given the changes here over the past months we expect our food aid caseload to increase by 10 to 20 percent over the course of this year, to near one million people.
At a time when circumstances would dictate an expansion of aid we are facing a hole in our emergency budget of about $30 million USD. That's about a quarter of our overall budget, mainly for food aid. Should no additional, unexpected contributions materialize, UNRWA will be forced to significantly cut back its emergency operations in the Gaza Strip. We have already had to take very difficult decisions, including the suspension of our school feeding program, which provided one meal per day to the nearly quarter of a million UNRWA students in Gaza.
Donor fatigue is understandable. UNRWA would prefer to spend money on human development in Gaza, particularly our education program, as opposed to emergency aid to mitigate the impact of man-made policies such as the illegal blockade. But the Agency has no choice but to continue to assist those paying for the consequences of these unresolved political issues.
I end on a note of warning. We have repeatedly seen desperation in Gaza lead to violence. There are rockets which we in the UN repeatedly condemn, but there are many other forms of violence in Gazan society that are related directly and indirectly to the economic predicament of the people here. We in UNRWA have ourselves been the subject of violent attack because of perceived service cuts. At a time when the peace process is on everyone's lips it behooves us all to address the underlying causes of Gaza's violence, but barring the political will to accomplish this, we must ensure that basic humanitarian needs continue to be met.
By Robert Turner Director, United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza
It is impossible not to be touched by the apocalyptic scenes emerging from the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk in Damascus, besieged and cut off for months. The images are at once epic and personal. Row upon row of gaunt faces, serried ranks of grimy, raged figures; the delicate, hunger-ravaged features of children waiting in line for an UNRWA food parcel; the face of a mother creased in grief for a deceased child; tears of joy as a father is reunited with a long-lost daughter; these are the vignettes of inhumanity that have become the regular fare of nightly news bulletins.
While the cameras have followed the conflict as they ever do, aid budgets have followed the cameras. International funding abhors a news vacuum. Donors like their cash to be in the news headlines and so UNRWA's appeal to the international community to fund our emergency work in Syria to the tune of over 400 million U.S. dollars, has found a generous response among donor governments. That's the relatively good news and we are grateful.
The bad news is that UNRWA works in other places where, like Syria, there are emergencies that have become protracted, but from where, unlike Syria, the cameras have moved on. Gaza is one of those places.
In the last six months of 2013, the unemployment rate in Gaza went from just under 28 percent to over 38 percent -- in six months. For refugees the official unemployment rate is 41 percent, for youth 56 percent and for refugee women an astounding 88 percent. The criteria used for this data means that underemployment is not captured; persons aged 15 years and above who worked at least one hour per week are considered employed and so not included in these statistics. Imagine for a moment what that has meant for families in Gaza.
While there are no images from Gaza as compelling as those from Yarmouk -- nor is the situation that desperate -- the people here having been living under siege-like conditions for more than six years. It is this blockade which was imposed in earnest in June 2007 that destroyed Gaza's previously dynamic, productive and trade-oriented economy, along with its capacity to create jobs. The vast majority of the population has been pushed into food insecurity, with no other choice but reliance on assistance. Until the blockade is lifted and access to Gaza's traditional markets -- the West Bank and Israel -- is secured, any sustainable recovery of the local economy remains elusive. The vicious cycle of unemployment, food insecurity and aid dependency, and consequently the de-development of the Gaza Strip, will continue. A graph of economic volatility for Gaza's economy over the past decade looks like Liberia or Sierra Leone's.
The recent dramatic deterioration in the situation here was triggered by the changes in Egypt last year and the closure of the tunnels that linked Gaza and its Southern neighbor. These tunnels formed a necessary lifeline for Gaza given the poverty here -- goods are cheaper from Egypt, particularly fuel and basic foods -- and for items that Israel will not allow to freely enter, the most important being construction materials. Material for the private sector came through the tunnels at the rate of some 7,500 MT per day, fueling the only portion of the economy that was creating any jobs. The closure of the tunnels has meant the effective end of private sector construction.
UNRWA and other international actors could make up some of that job loss through our own construction projects but we have been limited in our ability to do so by Israel practices. In the third quarter of 2013 UNRWA construction projects generated over 5,000 jobs, but imports of construction materials were suspended in October 2013, and as of February 2014 only some of our projects were re-approved by the Israeli authorities and resumed. We have almost USD $40 million worth of projects Israel had already approved that are ready to go and an additional 38 projects worth over USD $111 million pending approval from Israeli authorities so we can import the necessary construction material. Given the opportunity we could put thousands of Gazans back to work and reduce reliance on aid to survive.
Source: Huffington Post
UNRWA is mandated to provide services to the Palestine refugees in Gaza, who make up more than 70 percent of the population of some 1.8 million. In trying to meet the humanitarian demands created by this manmade crisis, UNRWA provides food assistance to over 800,000 people; two out of every three refugees and almost half the overall population. In 2000, when the economy was functioning more normally, only 80,000 refugees required food assistance from us. We provide this assistance based on need, and vigorously target to ensure it gets to the neediest, but given the changes here over the past months we expect our food aid caseload to increase by 10 to 20 percent over the course of this year, to near one million people.
At a time when circumstances would dictate an expansion of aid we are facing a hole in our emergency budget of about $30 million USD. That's about a quarter of our overall budget, mainly for food aid. Should no additional, unexpected contributions materialize, UNRWA will be forced to significantly cut back its emergency operations in the Gaza Strip. We have already had to take very difficult decisions, including the suspension of our school feeding program, which provided one meal per day to the nearly quarter of a million UNRWA students in Gaza.
Donor fatigue is understandable. UNRWA would prefer to spend money on human development in Gaza, particularly our education program, as opposed to emergency aid to mitigate the impact of man-made policies such as the illegal blockade. But the Agency has no choice but to continue to assist those paying for the consequences of these unresolved political issues.
I end on a note of warning. We have repeatedly seen desperation in Gaza lead to violence. There are rockets which we in the UN repeatedly condemn, but there are many other forms of violence in Gazan society that are related directly and indirectly to the economic predicament of the people here. We in UNRWA have ourselves been the subject of violent attack because of perceived service cuts. At a time when the peace process is on everyone's lips it behooves us all to address the underlying causes of Gaza's violence, but barring the political will to accomplish this, we must ensure that basic humanitarian needs continue to be met.
14 mar 2014
An elderly woman died on Friday as a result of injuries sustained during an explosion in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip a day earlier.
Gaza Strip Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra told Ma'an that Aisha al-Hamadeen, 62, died as a result of serious injuries she sustained during the blast on Thursday.
Al-Qidra added that five people had been injured in an explosion in Beit Hanoun on Thursday night, including the woman as well as two children.
The cause of the blast was not immediately clear.
On Tuesday, four people were killed and six others suffered injuries after an explosion in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, a medical official said.
Gaza Strip Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra told Ma'an that Aisha al-Hamadeen, 62, died as a result of serious injuries she sustained during the blast on Thursday.
Al-Qidra added that five people had been injured in an explosion in Beit Hanoun on Thursday night, including the woman as well as two children.
The cause of the blast was not immediately clear.
On Tuesday, four people were killed and six others suffered injuries after an explosion in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, a medical official said.
Sheikh Salah Shehadah
The Hamas movement said Thursday that President Mahmoud Abbas revealed “dangerous information” in a speech Wednesday addressing the Fatah revolutionary council.
In a statement, Hamas added that ousted Fatah leader Muhammad Dahlan was aware beforehand of an Israeli plan to target and kill senior leader of Hamas’ military wing Sheikh Salah Shehadah.
The Hamas movement said Thursday that President Mahmoud Abbas revealed “dangerous information” in a speech Wednesday addressing the Fatah revolutionary council.
In a statement, Hamas added that ousted Fatah leader Muhammad Dahlan was aware beforehand of an Israeli plan to target and kill senior leader of Hamas’ military wing Sheikh Salah Shehadah.
Muhammad Dahlan
Shehadah was killed in July 2002, after an Israeli F16 plane fired a 1-ton bomb at a building in Gaza City he was hiding in. At least 15 civilians were killed in the attack and more than 100 others were injured.
Quoting Hamas spokesman Salah al-Bardawil, the statement highlighted that Abbas’ remarks were very dangerous and “need a comprehensive investigation.”
In a speech in front of the Fatah council, Abbas accused Dahlan of being involved in the murder of six outstanding Palestinian leaders including Shehadah of Hamas.
Shehadah was killed in July 2002, after an Israeli F16 plane fired a 1-ton bomb at a building in Gaza City he was hiding in. At least 15 civilians were killed in the attack and more than 100 others were injured.
Quoting Hamas spokesman Salah al-Bardawil, the statement highlighted that Abbas’ remarks were very dangerous and “need a comprehensive investigation.”
In a speech in front of the Fatah council, Abbas accused Dahlan of being involved in the murder of six outstanding Palestinian leaders including Shehadah of Hamas.
Westminster University in London hosted on Thursday an international academic conference themed "Europe and Palestine, past, present and future." The Palestinian Return Center in London organized the conference in partnership with the department of politics and international relations at Westminster University.
Noted academics, international experts and policy makers addressed the European role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and discussed strategic plans in order for Europe to play a more central role in ending the Palestinian plight.
In an opening speech, head of the Return Center Mohamed Hamed talked about the goals of the conference, and Europe’s historical connection with Palestine, its current position on key issue and how it could emerge as a stronger player in any future resolution to the conflict.
Noted academics, international experts and policy makers addressed the European role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and discussed strategic plans in order for Europe to play a more central role in ending the Palestinian plight.
In an opening speech, head of the Return Center Mohamed Hamed talked about the goals of the conference, and Europe’s historical connection with Palestine, its current position on key issue and how it could emerge as a stronger player in any future resolution to the conflict.
12 mar 2014
British and Irish activists launched two international campaigns in solidarity with Palestinian football through two websites assigned for registering and participating in exposing the violations of the Israeli occupation against the sport and athletes in Palestine. The first campaign, launched recently under the name of "red card", aims to collect the largest number of activists around the world to force the International Federation of Football "FIFA" to expel the Israeli football Association , as FIFA is an ethical organization that does not accept the membership of racists and criminals against humanity.
“Membership of Israeli Football Association should be stopped until Israel respects Palestinian human rights and international law and allow the Palestinian players to practice their activities locally and internationally without restrictions.” the official discourse of the campaign stated.
The campaign listed the harassments of Israeli occupation authorities against Palestinian athletes. A case in point the Israeli restrict of movement of the Palestinian players and prevent them from aids, experts and playing with other teams inside and outside Palestine. The authorities banned the establishment of sport facilities and expose the players to discriminatory campaigns, too.
The activists carried out a similar campaign with the participation of famous Muslim players in the world demanding a ban on granting Israel the honor of hosting the UEFA Youth League which was held in June 2013.
“Membership of Israeli Football Association should be stopped until Israel respects Palestinian human rights and international law and allow the Palestinian players to practice their activities locally and internationally without restrictions.” the official discourse of the campaign stated.
The campaign listed the harassments of Israeli occupation authorities against Palestinian athletes. A case in point the Israeli restrict of movement of the Palestinian players and prevent them from aids, experts and playing with other teams inside and outside Palestine. The authorities banned the establishment of sport facilities and expose the players to discriminatory campaigns, too.
The activists carried out a similar campaign with the participation of famous Muslim players in the world demanding a ban on granting Israel the honor of hosting the UEFA Youth League which was held in June 2013.
Senior sources in Hamas movement denied press allegations that the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad had refused a request by Khaled Mishaal, the political bureau chairman of Hamas, to leave Qatar. The sources said Hamas’s relations with Qatar and all other Arab and Islamic countries are based on mutual respect.
They stressed that Mishaal did not table a request for leaving Qatar in the first place, adding that the news report was utterly baseless.
Media websites claimed that the Emir of Qatar had turned down a request by Mishaal to leave Doha and that Mishaal had tabled the request via the director of the Qatari intelligence apparatus.
They stressed that Mishaal did not table a request for leaving Qatar in the first place, adding that the news report was utterly baseless.
Media websites claimed that the Emir of Qatar had turned down a request by Mishaal to leave Doha and that Mishaal had tabled the request via the director of the Qatari intelligence apparatus.
11 mar 2014
Source in Hamas said that Emir Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani rejected a request made by the President of Hamas political bureau , Khaled Mishal , to leave Doha, capital of Qatar. The source told " Al Quds Al Arabi "newspaper that Mishal’s request to leave the country , with the rest of Hamas bureau members residing with him , came in order to prevent an aggravation of the disagreement between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain, following the decision of those countries to withdraw their ambassadors from Doha .
According to the source, the request was transferred to Emir Tamim through the Director of Qatari National Intelligence , Ghanem al-Qubaisi , who met with Hamas political bureau recently .
Mishal justified his request to avoid the pressure by Saudi Arabia and the UAE on Doha to abandon Hamas, stop supporting it financially, and ask the President and members of the political bureau to leave it.
The newspaper pointed out that Emir Tamim reiterated his refusal to leave Mishal Doha during a telephone call with Palestinian Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh yesterday .
" Al Quds Al Arabi " pointed out that Mishal was thinking of Beirut or Khartoum to stay in if he was allowed to leave Doha .
After Hamas succeeded restoring its relations with Iran, the presence of Hamas leadership in Doha and the support received by Qatar are one of the contentious issues between Qatar and Saudi Arabia , UAE and Bahrain
According to the source, the request was transferred to Emir Tamim through the Director of Qatari National Intelligence , Ghanem al-Qubaisi , who met with Hamas political bureau recently .
Mishal justified his request to avoid the pressure by Saudi Arabia and the UAE on Doha to abandon Hamas, stop supporting it financially, and ask the President and members of the political bureau to leave it.
The newspaper pointed out that Emir Tamim reiterated his refusal to leave Mishal Doha during a telephone call with Palestinian Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh yesterday .
" Al Quds Al Arabi " pointed out that Mishal was thinking of Beirut or Khartoum to stay in if he was allowed to leave Doha .
After Hamas succeeded restoring its relations with Iran, the presence of Hamas leadership in Doha and the support received by Qatar are one of the contentious issues between Qatar and Saudi Arabia , UAE and Bahrain
Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani
Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani has reaffirmed his country's support for Palestinians in Gaza, the Palestinian government in the strip said on Sunday.
In a statement, the Palestinian government said Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh phoned the Emir and hailed his continued support for Palestinians and the Palestinian cause. Haniyeh said that during the conversation the Emir reiterated his support to Gaza and its residents.
The Emir said that his country's support for Gaza is a "principle which is not changeable".
According to the statement, the Emir stressed that the Palestinian cause is "central" to his country and reassured him that Qatar would remain a supporter of Gaza.
"Steady stances of Qatar towards the Palestinian cause and the support of Gaza will not change," the Emir told Haniyeh. He also told him that the region is experiencing a state of "ordeal and hardness".
Source: MEMO
Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani has reaffirmed his country's support for Palestinians in Gaza, the Palestinian government in the strip said on Sunday.
In a statement, the Palestinian government said Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh phoned the Emir and hailed his continued support for Palestinians and the Palestinian cause. Haniyeh said that during the conversation the Emir reiterated his support to Gaza and its residents.
The Emir said that his country's support for Gaza is a "principle which is not changeable".
According to the statement, the Emir stressed that the Palestinian cause is "central" to his country and reassured him that Qatar would remain a supporter of Gaza.
"Steady stances of Qatar towards the Palestinian cause and the support of Gaza will not change," the Emir told Haniyeh. He also told him that the region is experiencing a state of "ordeal and hardness".
Source: MEMO