Palestine slams Israel effort to label UNRWA a ‘terrorist organisation’

The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) yesterday condemned an Israeli bill to designate the UN refugee agency (UNRWA) as a “terrorist organisation”, Anadolu reported.

The Knesset passed three bills to shut down the UNRWA yesterday and deem it a “terrorist” organisation. The bills will require two more readings before they pass into law.

Secretary-General of the PLO’s Executive Committee, Hussein Al-Sheikh, termed the decision as a “disregard for the international community and its international organisations.”

“We affirm that the Israeli occupation is the ugliest form of terrorism practised daily against the Palestinian people,” he said in a statement.

“The Knesset’s decision towards an international humanitarian organisation must be faced with an international position that supports this organisation politically, financially and morally so that it can continue its humanitarian and moral role towards the people who are victims of the Israeli occupation.”

Israel has been lobbying hard to have UNRWA closed as it is the only UN agency to have a specific mandate to look after the basic needs of Palestinian refugees. If the agency no longer exists, argues Israel, then the refugee issue must no longer exist, and the legitimate right for Palestinian refugees to return to their land will be unnecessary. Israel has denied that right of return since the late 1940s, even though its own membership of the UN was made conditional upon Palestinian refugees being allowed to return to their homes and land.

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