Tensions in relations between Hamas and UNRWA
UNRWA employees denounce arrest of acting head of Arab Employees Union
Al Jazeera
September 26, 2011
Ahmed Fayyad – Gaza
It’s no longer a secret that there’s tension in the relations between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and UNRWA in Gaza, especially after Hamas deputies organized a protest in front of the agency’s headquarters on the background of UNRWA taking a series of measures that contradict its entrusted role, according to the protesting deputies.
Hamas’s public criticism of UNRWA follows the international agency’s suspension of one of its unionists from work, on the background of his participation in a union event attended by the Prime Minister of the dismissed government, Ismail Haniyeh.
However, the reality indicates that the suspension of the unionist was just the straw that broke the camel’s back, leading Hamas to publicly criticize the international agency after it took a series of measures contrary to the rights of Palestinian refugees in recent years, according to its critics.
Salem Salama, a deputy in the Change and Reform bloc affiliated with Hamas in the Legislative Council, says that UNRWA did not only reduce its services and tighten the noose on Palestinian refugees but also extended its hand to dismiss the head of the Arab Employees Union within it.
Deputy Salama: UNRWA has crossed red lines by shirking its responsibilities (Al Jazeera Net) Deputy Salama mentioned in his talk to Al Jazeera Net that UNRWA has gradually shirked its responsibilities and crossed red lines, punishing the head of the Arab Employees Union – who works as a school principal – for his participation ten years ago in an honors ceremony for top students attended by the nation’s symbol Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, considering that as tarnishing the agency’s reputation.
A deputy from Hamas accused UNRWA of diving into the mud of politics, stepping out of its specialization, and positioning itself in the enemy’s camp because it wronged a symbol of resistance, jihad, and the nation, according to his words.
The deputy continued saying, “Until this moment, neither Hamas nor its deputies nor its government had any pressure on the agency, and the protest is in support of Mr. Sohail al-Hindi, who was suspended by the agency from work, and a denunciation of the agency’s departure from its scope, putting itself in a political position contrary to the line of the government under its banner.”
In response to the accusations by Hamas deputies, UNRWA issued a brief statement to the media, confirming that the suspension of Sohail al-Hindi’s work for three months without pay was due to his involvement in activities outside UNRWA without obtaining the required permission according to the laws followed within it.
The agency strongly denied the statements that it attacked a symbol of the Palestinian people.
Al Jazeera Net repeatedly contacted the spokesperson for UNRWA in the Palestinian territories, Sami Mshasha, but he refused to respond to them or to their inquiries conveyed through his assistants.
Reasons for the tension
Issam Adwan, an academic specializing in Palestinian affairs and the Secretary-General of UNRWA Watch, said that the reason for the tension between Hamas and UNRWA is due to the agency’s prevention of its unionists from meeting with political figures and suppressing their freedoms, in addition to UNRWA taking a series of measures related to teaching the Jewish Holocaust to Palestinian students, changing its logo to limit its services to refugees residing in Palestine only, and a large campaign of service reductions.
The official in UNRWA Watch, which is concerned with popular oversight of UNRWA’s performance, explained that a number of actions taken by UNRWA in recent years have made it, in Hamas’s view, deviate from its professional role and immerse itself in political issues at the heart of the conflict, such as refusing to employ politically affiliated individuals or those belonging to resistance movements, which it did not do several years ago.
Adwan mentioned that UNRWA faces pressure from donors, notably the United States, to not affect Israeli interests and considerations in its dealings with Palestinian refugee issues.
The refugee affairs specialist expected that the relationship between the government run by Hamas and the agency would become more strained in the upcoming period, as UNRWA does not recognize the Gaza government and refuses to meet with its Prime Minister or any of its ministers.
Source: Al Jazeera
