A school in Jordan run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees welcomed back its students on Sunday (September 2), defying a decision by the United states to halt all funding to the agency.
The US announcement on Friday that it will no longer support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has deepened a cash crisis at the agency, and heightened tensions with the Palestinian leadership.
The 68-year-old UNRWA provides services to nearly 5 million Palestinian refugees across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank and Gaza. Most are descendants of the roughly 700,000 Palestinians who were driven out of their homes or fled the fighting in the 1948 war that led to Israel's creation.
During a ceremony celebrating their first day back in classrooms, students waved pompoms and cheered with excitement.
But one student at the school, Ahmad Baker, said he was “concerned about the future of our education.”
The United States, by far UNRWA's biggest donor, slashed funding earlier this year, paying out only $60 million of a first installment in January, and withholding $65 million. It had promised $365 million for the whole year.
Washington said the agency needed to make unspecified reforms and called on the Palestinians to renew peace talks with Israel.
During a news conference held at the school in Amman, UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Kraehenbuehl, said the decision to withhold funding was political.
“It is very regrettable that this decision was taken, and I want to make very clear here that it was taken, in my understanding, for reasons that are political in nature, and have nothing to do with UNRWA's performance,” he said.
Kraehenbuehl also blamed the continuation of 70-year conflict on failure by the political parties and the international community.
The agency, in an attempt to continue providing its services, will now ask existing donors for more money, and seek new sources of income.
REUTERS
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