United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

UNRWA calls Israeli TV portrayal of Palestinian refugees a 'stack of lies'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gili Izikovich - August 11, 2010 - 12:00am

The United Nations' relief agency for Palestinian refugees, lashed out Tuesday at the Israel Broadcasting Authority for airing what it called a a dishonest portrayal of the organization on Saturday in "Ro'im Olam" on Channel 1 television. The news magazine's anchor and the journalist behind the segment have fired back.

Playing politics: summer camp for Gaza's children
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

The boys sitting in the shade of an awning erected on a Gaza beach are only half listening to the man addressing them through a megaphone. After all, school's out for the summer and there is football to be played and the sea to be swum in. Some of the 100 or so boys whisper among themselves, others are busy burying their own or a friend's legs in the hot sand. But when the man asks, "What is our slogan?" they snap to attention, responding in unison: "Resistance!"

UNRWA criticizes Palestinian infighting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
June 28, 2010 - 12:00am

The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) called on the different Palestinian factions Sunday to stop the infighting in order to solve a developing electricity crisis in Hamas-run Gaza. "It is such a tragedy that, on top of all the other crises that we have in the Gaza Strip, we now have a crisis of electricity," John Ging, director of UNRWA in Gaza, was quoted by AFP as saying.

Hamas, UNRWA compete over entertaining Gaza children
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Saud Abu Ramadan - June 16, 2010 - 12:00am

Mohamed Atallah, a teacher and one of the mentors in a major summer camp run by the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) on Gaza beachside insisted that mentors are not teaching school children any politics, but only entertaining them. On Sunday, UNRWA inaugurated its own summer camps in the Gaza Strip to entertain refugees' schoolchildren. Streets of Gaza City saw UNRWA vehicles and hundreds of UNRWA children holding summer camps flame.

Suspects of torching UN summer camp detained: Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Hamas authorities arrested a number of people suspected of torching a UN-run summer camp in Gaza City earlier this week, the interior ministry of deposed Hamas government announced Tuesday. The suspects are being interrogated, a statement sent to reporters by the ministry said. There has been no more information about the number of the detainees or the group they are affiliated to. Ihab Al-Ghussein, the ministry's spokesman, told Xinhua that he can't reveal more before the questioning is over.

US donates $1.4 million to UNRWA
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 20, 2010 - 12:00am

US Embassy officials in Damascus, the Syrian government, and UNRWA inaugurated a newly constructed community centre that will benefit some 144,000 Palestinian refugees living in the Syrian capital's Yarmouk refugee camp on Wednesday. A statement issued by the US State Department said America contributed 1.4 million US dollars for the community centre's construction.

West Bank health and economy up a bit, Gaza down
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 19, 2010 - 12:00am

With a failing economy, rising unemployment and deteriorating power, sanitation and health facilities, the health of Gaza's population continues to worsen, according to a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report. In contrast, modest improvements have been made in the West Bank. As a consequence of Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, 98 percent of industrial operations have been shut down since 2007 and there are acute shortages of fuel, cash, cooking gas and other basic supplies.

Palestinian girls win award for sensor cane at Intel fair
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 18, 2010 - 12:00am

Three Palestinian teenagers from the UNWRA school in the Askar refugee camp in Nablus were the first Palestinians to win an award on Monday at the Intel Science and Engineering Fair in San Jose in California. Aseel Abu Aleil, Noor Alarada and Aseel Alshaar picked up a special award in applied electronics, having competed against 15,000 finalists from around the world, a statement read.

Camp committees: UNRWA reduced aid by 70%
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 9, 2010 - 12:00am

West Bank refugee camp committees have accused UNRWA of reducing food aid to Palestinian refugees by 70 percent. Following an emergency session of Nablus and northern West Bank refugee camp committees, Nablus-area refugee camp coordinator Ibrahim Saqr said UNRWA had not adhered to its duties laid out in previous agreements. "After two months, the emergency support program failed to cope with the demands of needy families in refugee camps and has several shortcomings which were reported to more than one UN official on several occasions," said Saqr.

Palestinian refugees need more service from UNRWA: poll
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Syria expected more services from U.N. Refugees Works Agency ( UNRWA), according to the results of a poll, released here on Thursday. The poll was conducted from October 17 to 25, 2009 by the Beirut-based Organization for the Right of Return (Thabit), Palestinian Return Center (PRC) in London and Damascus-based Palestinian Return Community (Wajeb). It showed that among the 1,460 Palestinian refugees participating the poll, 92 percent of those in Lebanon and Syria support UNRWA's work, though 85 percent said that its work is "not enough".

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United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East