The Palestine National Council (PNC) called upon world parliament to reject and condemn US decision, and call for its continued support to UNRWA, to declare its rejection of US pressure that aims at ending UNRWA’s financial contribution, and to back, support the orientation to UN General Assembly and Security Council to confront the US decision on UNRWA, through taking all necessary and due decisions on this regard.
The demand came in identical letters sent by PNC Speaker Saleem Za’anoun to more than ten regional and international unions and associations.
PNC stresses that UNRWA is the international witness on the issue of Palestinian refugees and their right to return to their homes and property, that they had been displaced since 1948. UNRWA, therefore, became more than an agency. It is the title, sanctuary and the responsible body, as the international community had decided, as well as the international expression of the recognition of injustice and oppression inflicted upon them by ethnic cleansing, transfer, Israeli robbery of their homeland and property and depriving them of all essentials of decent life.
PNC pointed out that the UN agency provides services to about 5.9 million registered Palestine refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, including education, health care, relief, social services, infrastructure, camp improvement, community support, microcredits and emergency response, including in times of war, until their suffering is resolved by return to their homes and compensation, in accordance with the principles and rules of international law and the UN Resolution 194, which has been confirmed by resolutions of the Security Council and General Assembly more than 150 times.
PNC clarified, in its letter, that the US administration is exerting pressure and blackmail on states to prevent provision of material, moral, health and educational aid and assistance and to stop all that contributes to the assistance of the Palestinian refugees. Thus the US administration is taking another step in undermining the legal regime of the international organization, violating provisions of international law and international legitimacy.
PNC stressed that cutting the entire U.S. aid to the UN agency reveals the falsity and lying of American allegations, claiming that it cares about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, where refugees constitute a majority of the population. The American decision, in fact, means expelling tens of thousands of employees from their jobs, leaving hundreds of thousands of pupils and students on the streets and depriving them of health and social care. By this decision, the US administration has reneged on its international commitment and responsibility to UNRWA over the past 70 years.
PNC pointed out that the American decision is part of the series of American decisions and attitudes hostile to the Palestinian people, particularly, the American decision recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, its attempts to separate Gaza from the West Bank, and at last, its decision to cut off all aid to UNRWA. Thus the US is a partner and proxy of occupation in implementing its plans to destroy the basics of peace and stability by removing all permanent status issues off the table, including issues of the right to return of Palestinian refugees and occupied Jerusalem, which are the most important issues of the final settlement.