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UN schools for Palestinians reopen despite US funding cut
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, Aug 29, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Tens of
thousands of Palestinian children returned to United Nations-run schools on
Wednesday after the summer holidays, though major US cuts have thrown their
funding into jeopardy beyond next month.
Children wearing chequered uniforms and backpacks thronged schools across
the Palestinian territories for the first classes of the new school year, AFP
correspondents reported.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said all 711
schools it runs for 526,000 pupils in Gaza and the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon
and Syria would reopen in the next few days despite the $300 million US
funding cut.
Fears raised by UN chief Antonio Guterres that the schools might not be
able to reopen at all have failed to materialise, but UNRWA warned it might
still be forced to close them again in a month if additional new funding is
not found.
“At the moment, we do not have enough money to keep the schools open after
the end of September,” UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness told AFP.
“At the end of September, UNRWA will be running on empty for all its
services, including schools and medical facilities.”
In 2017, the United States, which is traditionally the largest single donor
to UNRWA, contributed more than $360 million.
But so far this year, it has given just $60 million following President
Donald Trump’s decision to withhold aid to the Palestinians.
– ‘There is fear’ –
Parents expressed deep concern about the uncertainty hanging over their
children’s education.
“We are afraid of the schools closing,” Soha Abu Hasara told AFP in Gaza
City as she dropped her children off for their first day back in the
classroom.
“There is fear and the situation is not stable, and there is tension within
UNRWA,” she added.
Pupil Hala Muhanna, 11, said her “message to the world is that no-one has
the right to close schools.”
“Even if they take away our schools we will bring them back, and we will
become more knowledgable than any other country,” she said.
UNRWA was formed to support 750,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled
from their homes during the 1948 war that accompanied the creation of Israel.
With their descendants, they now number more than five million across the
Middle East.
The United States has sought to use its aid to pressure the Palestinian
government into resuming dealing with it after a nearly nine-month rupture.
The Palestinians have boycotted the US administration since it recognised
Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last December.
Last week, Trump cancelled a further $200 million in aid projects for
Palestinians not funded through UNRWA.
Senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi accused the US president of
“cheap blackmail”.
– US criticises school curriculum –
Israel and the United States accuse UNRWA of perpetuating the Israel-
Palestinian crisis by maintaining the idea of the right of return — that
Palestinians will be able to return to the homes from which they fled.
Palestinians see the US embassy move and efforts to change the mandate of
UNRWA as attempts to strip them of their rights.
On Tuesday Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the United Nations, again attacked
the Palestinian leadership.
“There’s an endless number of refugees that continue to get assistance, but
more importantly, the Palestinians continue to bash America. This is the
government, not the people.”
She cited reports that UNRWA’s school curriculum includes unjust criticism
of Israel and the United States, claims which the agency rejects.
“UNRWA can stay there, and we will be a donor if it reforms what it does.
If it goes and makes sure that they’re not doing those teachings in
textbooks, if they actually change the number of refugees to an accurate
account, we will look back at partnering them.”
Gunness pointed out that the US could not force the agency to change its
mandate, as that would need a vote at the United Nations General Assembly.
“If one member state decides to reduce our funds that doesn’t change our
mandate, it just means we have less money to do it,” he said.
BSS/AFP/RY/1938 hrs