UNRWA staff ‘won’t go anywhere’ despite being forced to close the East Jerusalem complex
For about two months, protests have been held outside the East Jerusalem complex, an area containing many Israeli settlements.
The situation became tense on Thursday night when Israelis lit fires at two locations on the campus. Mr. Fowler was one of the few employees in the office at the time.
Smoke and rocks
“The fire alarm went off and we looked out the window and I saw smoke billowing at the top of the building,” he said, speaking from Amman, Jordan after leaving Jerusalem on Thursday night.
When my colleagues came to put out the fire and prevent it from spreading, they were “stoned by a group of young people gathered on the opposite street.”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the block, another fire broke out in the fence next to the gas station. UNRWA vehicle.
“If that fire spread to the gas station, I’m terrified to think what would happen to the houses and apartment complexes living nearby. We would be in a situation of absolute disaster.”
From fiery rhetoric to ‘real fire’
Even the UN Secretary General António Guterres and UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini condemned the attack, which followed a protest just days before it turned violent.
“People were gathering and started taking wooden sticks and rocks, and there was some banging on the gate,” Mr. Fowler said, recalling Tuesday’s protest. “And the police are just there in the background.”
Although the investigation into the fire is ongoing, he pointed to the broader issue of rising tensions around UNRWA’s work following the war in Gaza.
“There is a sense that this type of behavior has been encouraged, encouraged and emboldened by inflammatory rhetoric,” he said. “Therefore, We went from inflammatory rhetoric to real fire within days.”
‘A territory of menace’
Mr. Fowler said the protests against UNRWA had been “called for by various organizations and individuals,” including one of Jerusalem’s deputy mayors, and there had been no notable increased presence. of the police despite repeated protests.
While supporting freedom of speech, “even if we disagree with the content of what is being shouted at us,” he said things have “sort of moving into the territory of intimidation.”
Protesters blocked gates to the United Nations complex, and in one case, surrounded a staff member’s car while brandishing toy weapons. Buses transporting UN staff were slapped on the hips and spat at, and people on the buses were filmed.
Weakened and unprotected
To date, employees have not encountered any threats outside of work hours. “We must sincerely hope that we will not reach that level,” he said.
Mr. Fowler emphasized that Israel, as the occupying power, has the responsibility to ensure appropriate protection of United Nations facilities.
“We feel this is not happening,” he said. “There is clear evidence and it partly in the context of a wider campaign against UNRWA, essentially aimed at weakening the agency; things like using the law to try to argue that legally we have no right to be on our property.
‘Not going anywhere’
Although the East Jerusalem facilities are currently closed, he emphasized that employees will not be hindered in carrying out their work. They made a “COVID-like” pivotwhere people work from home or other locations.
“It complicates our operations at a time when, of course, we have to be fully focused on unprecedented levels of violence in the West Bank and, needless to say, enormous levels of humanitarian crisis , unprecedented in the Gaza Strip.”
Mr. Fowler emphasized that the mission of UNRWA, established by the United Nations General Assembly nearly 75 years ago, is to provide services to Palestinian refugees, including health care, education and social support.
“We are proud of our work. Many of us are very passionate about our work,” he said.
“We do it because we are mandated by the United Nations system to do something. Until that mission no longer exists, we won’t go anywhere, no matter what anyone wants to say.”
He added that in response to hostilities against UNRWA, there had been a number of “strong public statements” from donors to the agency, saying “enough is enough”.
