Tag: Palestinians

Muslim countries don’t want Syrian Palestinians

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

If Israel says it doesn’t want to welcome any more Palestinians, the world is outraged, but here we learn that Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey don’t want them either!   Why is it that these Muslim countries don’t like their fellow Muslims?

My message to Chris Gunness of the special UN agency JUST FOR PALESTINIANS—take them in yourself!  Gunness: Israel bad! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7835050.stm

From Naharnet News:

Lebanon has placed prohibitive restrictions on the entry of Palestinians fleeing Syria, making it almost impossible for them to take refuge in the small Mediterranean country.

New measures mean Palestinians fleeing Syria will not be given visas at the border, while those who are already in the country will not have their visas renewed.

In a statement posted on his Facebook page Thursday, Interior Minister Nuhad al-Mashnouq said no visas will be issued at the main Masnaa border crossing.

Palestinians living in Syria who wish to enter Lebanon must first request a visa at the Lebanese embassy in Damascus. The request will be processed by the Lebanese General Security agency.

[….]

Human rights activists say Palestinians in Syria, who once numbered 500,000, have been targeted by both sides in the conflict, making them one of the country’s most vulnerable groups.

[….]

Turkey and Jordan, which also host large numbers of refugees from Syria, have barred entry to Palestinians.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said Thursday that, “since 9 am no Palestine refugees from Syria have been allowed to cross into Lebanon”.

Agency spokesman Chris Gunness appealed to Lebanese authorities not to block those in need of sanctuary.

I’ll never forget, and never stop reminding readers, that in 2009 the UN High Commissioner for Refugees credited Islam and Shariah law for the historical admonition to welcome the stranger.

 

Palestinian workers protesting UNRWA, want more of your money!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Demonstrations broke out in the West Bank on Sunday where Palestinian employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) are striking for higher pay.

Before you read on, check out Judy’s post on UNRWA here just a few days ago.

Then keep in mind that the US is paying approximately 25% of UNRWA’s annual budget of a billion dollars.

Here is a very interesting article from The Jerusalem Post last summer that confirms what a bunch of suckers we are in the West.  Rich Muslim countries give little to keep UNRWA going:

The total UNRWA budget for 2012 was $907,907,371. The permanent and hysterically supportive rhetoric for the “Palestinian cause” from the Muslim world might lead one to expect that UNWRA is mainly funded by Muslim countries. The truth, however, is that UNRWA is almost entirely funded by Western taxpayers. With a total of $644,701,999 in contributions, the US, EU, UK, Sweden, Norway, Germany, The Netherlands and Japan pay 71 percent of the annual UNRWA budget.

And don’t forget that the funds from the second-largest donor, the EU, are of course already composed of EU taxation of member states.

So where do the Muslim states rank? First in, at No. 15, is Saudi Arabia.  [And remember S.A. takes NO refugees—ed]

So now the Palestinian so-called “refugees” want even more of your money!

From the Jordan Times:

JALAZOUN, West Bank — At least 50 people were hurt on Sunday in a clash between Palestinian police and residents of a refugee camp protesting against a strike in a UN aid agency that has paralysed services, police and an ambulance service said.

The demonstration, in Jalazoun camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was the most violent in a series of protests over the past week stemming from a more than month-old strike for higher pay by local employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

UNRWA, which employs more than 5,000 Palestinians in 19 camps for some 730,000 West Bank refugees, has been forced to shut schools, clinics and suspend trash collection at the camps since the strike began.

“We have nothing to do with the strike and we want to make our voice heard,” said Mohammed Najar, a Jalazoun resident. “The situation in the camps cannot be tolerated: no schools, no clinics and trash is piled everywhere.”

We owe them!  We owe them!  66 years later we owe them!

Many refugees fear UNRWA is slowly disengaging from its aid activities and believe the international community owes them support since it recognised Israel amid the war that led to its founding in 1948 — during which they fled or were driven from their homes to Gaza, the West Bank and surrounding countries.

The UN agency has said it is trying to end the strike but does not have funds to meet the wage demands. It also says its employees get paid at least 20 per cent and in some cases 80 per cent more than public sector employees in equivalent fields.

Grrrr!

Learn more about Israel and refugees in our special category (142 previous posts) here.

Palestinians blame their own leadership and UNRWA for the suffering of Syrian Palestinians, not Israel this time

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Palestinian refugees from Syria protest AGAINST UNRWA in Gaza!

We learned recently that many Palestinians fleeing Syria died attempting to reach Europe via the Mediterranean.  So this first article from last week was interesting as Palestinians blamed their own factional leadership for their seeming lack of concern for the average Palestinian.   One has to read through 16 paragraphs before the word ‘Israel’ (the usual scapegoat) even appears.

Palestinians face misery in Arab countries as refugees!

From Al-Monitor (emphasis mine):

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The sinking of a boat carrying Palestinian refugees from Syria off the Malta coast on Oct. 11 resulted in the death of dozens. It also sparked angry reactions from Palestinians who considered the incident yet another chapter in the continuing suffering that Palestinians endure in and outside the occupied territories.

They directed their ire toward the Palestinian leadership for its failure to take action and assist those fleeing from Syria, or assuage the misery they face in Arab countries as refugees — a situation that has these refugees attempt maritime crossings toward Europe and risk their lives to flee the harsh conditions that they endure in host countries.

Interviews conducted by Al-Monitor with a number of Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and abroad have revealed the extent of frustration with the Palestinian leaders’ inability — regardless of political affiliation — to protect, defend and provide them with a dignified life.

Ramallah resident Mohamed al-Arkoub affirmed his conviction that Palestinian factions were unable to provide their people with a minimum level of services, both locally and abroad.

“I don’t think that anyone is interested in protecting us; neither the Palestinian Authority (PA) nor any organization or faction. Their primary concern revolves around their own partisan interests, and they pay no attention to the concerns of Palestinians,” he said in a phone interview with Al-Monitor.

Read it all!

But, consider the possibility that the ‘leadership’ wants to see them continue to suffer for media consumption in the West!

Syrian Palestinians protest UNRWA!

UNRWA stands for United Nations Relief and Works Agency and is the UN body specifically designated to take care of one “refugee” group—Palestinians.  The controversial agency, created in 1949, now receives millions of dollars annually from you—US taxpayers—to take care of Palestinians.   All other refugees in the world come under the purview of the UN High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR).  If you go to our ‘Israel and refugees’ category, Judy has written a lot about UNRWA and its critics and the fact that all other refugees from the period have long been resettled, but not the Palestinians.

Now this:  Palestinian refugees from Syria protest UNRWA in Gaza!

From Ma’an News Agency:

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Palestinian refugees from Syria demonstrated Monday in front of UNRWA headquarters in the Gaza Strip, protesting against the agency’s “delay” in fulfilling its responsibilities towards Palestinian refugees from the conflict.

Protesters called upon UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees displaced by the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, to provide a “good and dignified life” through the provision of housing and employment for Palestinians fleeing the 31-month-old conflict in Syria.

Head of the Committee of Refugees affairs in Gaza, Mahmoud al-Shawish, said that around 1000 Palestinians who fled the conflict in Syria now endure a “difficult situation” in Gaza, where they sought refuge.

Every time I see a story like this one, I get annoyed all over again about the UNHCR telling us that Islamic tradition (of kindness to strangers) has had the greatest positive impact on international refugee law.  See my 2009 post here.  Then tell us why (again!) Saudi Arabia takes no refugees!

Malta: Questions swirl about whether Libyan milita-men shot at refugee-loaded boat causing it to sink

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We mentioned the second Mediterranean boat-sinking in just over a week, here.  Now there are allegations that the boat was fired-on by Libyans.

Survivors (looks like mostly young men) arrive in Valletta on Maltese patrol boat.
Photo: (AFP/Matthew Mirabelli)

The UN is asking for an explanation and at least Malta’s Prime Minister is trying to get some negotiations underway with Libyan Prime Minister,  Ali Zidan.

But, this is what I don’t get, why doesn’t the world community, with the UN leading the way, demand that the Libyan government stop these boat launchings on their side of the Mediterranean in the first place?

The UN could then use its state-of-the-art refugee camp in Jordan, Al Azraq, by safely transporting these would-be mariners to it.

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune (emphasis mine):

VALLETTA, Malta — Syrian survivors of the latest shipwreck involving migrants in the Mediterranean Sea claim Libya’s coast guard fired on their boat after reaching it a couple of hours out of port, the U.N. refugee agency said Monday.

The survivors of last Friday’s shipwreck have told UNHCR that the Libyans opened fire after ordering the boat to stop, damaging the hull and wounding four people, the U.N. agency’s spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said from Geneva.

“The boat took on water, and people started coming up from below, which could have contributed to the capsizing, according to witness testimony,” Fleming said. She added that the four wounded were treated by doctors among the refugees on board.

UNHCR has asked Libya for an explanation based on the survivor accounts and the fact that people with bullet wounds have been among the more than 200 people rescued and taken to Malta and Italy.

The bodies of 34 people have been recovered, but survivors have told the U.N. that 400 to 500 people were on board, meaning more than 200 could still be missing.

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zidan denied the allegations in a press conference Sunday during a visit by Malta Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to discuss the wave of refugees arriving by boat from Libya in Malta and Italy. He pledged an investigation.

UNHCR has expressed concern that Syrians escaping civil war are facing a perilous sea journey to reach safety in Europe.

In a related story, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah expressed his sorrow at the large number of Palestinians who were also on the doomed ship.

Another boat carrying illegals sank in Mediterranean on Friday

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This one was launched from Egypt.  Note in my previous post, about the other sinking on Friday, that the graphic we found doesn’t even show launches from Egypt.  And, this story, with a death toll of a meager twelve illegal aliens (compared to the two recent sinkings) wouldn’t be post-worthy except for the mention of who the migrants are (or at least the living ones that have been interviewed).

From Reuters at NBC:

Twelve people died when a boat carrying illegal migrants and Syrian refugees sank off Egypt’s northern coast on Friday, security and medical sources said.   [And, if one is Syrian apparently one is not also an illegal migrant—ed]

“The Egyptian coast guards saved 72 Palestinians, 40 Syrians and four Egyptians,” one security source said. The circumstances of the accident and the nationalities of the deceased were not yet known.

Palestinians!

We are accustomed to hearing about the Africans and more recently the Syrians trying to get into Europe, but Palestinians!  Are these asylum seekers or invaders?