- Title: UNRWA concerned over plan to shut its East Jerusalem operation
- Date: 11th October 2018
- Summary: JERUSALEM (OCTOBER 10, 2018) (REUTERS) UNRWA SCHOOL STUDENTS GOING TO SCHOOL IN SHU'FAT REFUGEE CAMP LOGO OF UNRWA ON SCHOOL BUILDING STUDENTS STANDING IN LINE AT SCHOOL PLAYGROUND TEACHER GIVING LESSON IN CLASS / STUDENTS RAISING HANDS TO SPEAK STUDENT RAISING HAND TO SPEAK TEACHER SPEAKING TO STUDENTS IN CLASS STUDENT WRITING IN NOTEBOOK TEACHER MARKING STUDENTS' NOTEBOOKS VARIOUS OF WEST BANK BARRIER JERUSALEM (OCTOBER 7, 2018) (REUTERS) JERUSALEM MAYOR NIR BARKAT SITTING AT DESK IN OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) JERUSALEM MAYOR, NIR BARKAT, SAYING: "It's a useless organisation that must vanish from the world and the reality of UNRWA in Jerusalem is that they are providing services, duplicate services to municipal services which are far inferior to the services that the municipality is giving and the reality is that once this issue came up, we prepared a plan of how to upgrade and replace the UNRWA services in the city of Jerusalem to a small amount of Jerusalem residents in health, in education, in sanitation and a couple of other practical services that are provided by the municipality." JERUSALEM (OCTOBER 10, 2018) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF UNRWA SCHOOL AT SILWAN NEIGHBOURHOOD / STUDENTS AT ENTRANCE VARIOUS OF STUDENTS PLAYING IN SCHOOL YARD STUDENTS PLAYING IN YARD / AQSA MOSQUE IN BACKGROUND UNRWA SPOKESPERSON, SAMI MSHASHA AT HIS DESK (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNRWA SPOKESPERSON, SAMI MSHASHA, SAYING: "These remarks are disturbing, but it is not the end of the world. UNRWA is continuing its work, UNRWA is not for sale and we will not go to home. There are basic services that we should provide and the political failure to solve the Palestinian refugees issue should not reflect on UNRWA." VARIOUS OF MSHASHA WRITING AT HIS DESK (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNRWA SPOKESPERSON, SAMI MSHASHA, SAYING: "They (Jerusalemites) are paying taxes but they receive a very small part of services. Therefore, UNRWA's role here is fundamental because they need these services in the absence of comprehensive municipal services. Therefore, despite the financial crisis UNRWA wants to send two messages about its presence in Jerusalem, the first one is: keep sending your (residents of Jerusalem) children to UNRWA-run schools, keep benefiting from UNRWA's health and relief services. The second message is: because of the financial crisis, part of our services have deteriorated. Our schools, clinics and other locations need maintenance. Therefore the international community should support UNRWA's presence in Jerusalem." EXTERIOR OF SHU'FAT REFUGEE CAMP'S HEALTH CENTRE MAN AND CHILDREN AT HEALTH CENTRE CHILD AT CENTRE VARIOUS OF RESIDENT OF SHU'FAT REFUGEE CAMP, ALI HAWWASH, AT CENTRE RECEIVING TREATMENT DOCTOR SPEAKING TO PATIENT, RESIDENT OF SHU'FAT REFUGEE CAMP, JAMEEL AL-JULANY AT CENTRE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT OF SHU'FAT REFUGEE CAMP, ALI HAWWASH, SAYING: "I like UNRWA (services) better than the municipality (services) because the municipality does not even work in Shu'fat (outskirts of Jerusalem), with no checkpoint or anything. They charge us for the taxes and water (bill) and they do not do their job here, even in Shu'fat and Beit Haneena (outskirts of Jerusalem)." VARIOUS OF WOMEN AT CENTRE PHARMACIST WORKING AT UNRWA HEALTH CENTRE CHILD AT WINDOW OF PHARMACY / MAN HANDING MEDICINE TO WOMAN STANDING WITH CHILD (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT OF SHU'FAT REFUGEE CAMP, JAMEEL AL-JULANY, SAYING: "We do not accept this. The UNRWA has been covering needs and meeting our demands for years. People are not able to cover their expenses and financial commitments." VARIOUS OF TRACTOR COLLECTING GARBAGE GARBAGE VARIOUS OF UNRWA TRUCK COLLECTING GARBAGE VARIOUS OF AL-AQSA MOSQUE / AUDIO OF CALL TO PRAYERS HEARD IN BACKGROUND
- Embargoed: 25th October 2018 17:38
- Keywords: East Jerusalem UNRWA Israel Palestinian refugees
- Location: JERUSALEM
- City: JERUSALEM
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA00191MH8PH
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The United Nations agency that provides support to Palestinian refugees expressed concern over a plan by the mayor of Jerusalem to shut down its operations in the city.
Mayor Nir Barkat said last week he had developed a plan to end the Jerusalem operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and to replace them with Israeli services, provided by the local municipality.
"It's a useless organisation that must vanish from the world and the reality of UNRWA in Jerusalem is that they are providing services, duplicate services to municipal services which are far inferior to the services that the municipality is giving," he said.
UNRWA aids Palestinians displaced by the 1948 war of Israel's founding and to millions of their descendants.
The organisation's Jerusalem spokesperson, Sami Mshasha, said that the remarks were disturbing but asserted that UNRWA will continue to operate.
"UNRWA is continuing its work, UNRWA is not for sale and we will not go to home," Mshasha said.
The U.N. agency has faced a financial crisis since the U.S. in August announced it was cutting aid to the body, calling it an "irredeemably flawed operation".
Palestinians refugees who receive services from UNRWA in East Jerusalem rejected Barkat's remarks about replacing UNRWA services with municipality services.
"I like UNRWA (services) better than the municipality (services) because the municipality does not even work in Shu'fat (outskirts of Jerusalem), with no checkpoint or anything. They charge us for the taxes and water (bill) and they do not do their job here," said Ali Hawwash from Shu'fat Refugee Camp.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has in the past called for UNRWA to be dismantled.
Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its capital. The government's Central Bureau of Statistics says it has a population of 900,000, including about 340,000 Arabs.
Palestinians, with broad international backing, seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they want to establish in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2018. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None