UNRWA management is no longer reporting the deaths of UNRWA Palestinian staff members killed by I@r@e@ in Gaza.
UNRWA Commissioner-General reports the death of approximately 207 Palestinian staff members, but this number is incorrect. The actual figure is much higher, double or triple, around 500. This number excludes the hundreds of dependents that have not been accounted for.
According to direct reports, the bereaved families have stopped notifying UNRWA about the death due to fear of their salaries being cut off immediately.
When a staff member dies, UNRWA immediately removes them from the payroll instead of compensating them according to the Malicious Act Insurance Policy. Just a reminder: every bereaved family has the right to around 120,000 USD. UNRWA has not yet paid a penny.
The grieving families have chosen to stop reporting the death of their loved ones to safeguard their last remaining resource. Instead of fulfilling their obligations, UNRWA management further exploits the death of their staff members in their daily social media posts.
The discrimination is attributed to Western countries and allies being the only ones in charge of UNRWA senior management positions. Yesterday, the UNRWA Commissioner-General paid tribute to aid workers killed in the line of duty, stating that “… the war in Gaza broke all existing rules of war. Those responsible must be held accountable…”
Commissioner-General, could you start by taking responsibility for the families of UNRWA staff killed in the line of duty?
Wouldn’t it be better if you stopped breaking your own rules? The United Nations’ rules?
Could you explain why Palestinian staff are being discriminated against and not receiving the compensation they are entitled to?
Why not inform your audience about the thousands of dollars your Western Surge staff are being paid for doing nothing?
The funds intended for the bereaved families are now being disbursed to the international staff so they can enjoy rest and recovery.
In the meantime, the Commissioner-General continues pretending by writing more useless op-eds and firing more UNRWA staff.
With the focus of global attention now on Iran’s retaliation to the Israeli assault on the Iranian embassy in Syria, the UN Secretary-General is providing additional cover for Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. Seemingly overnight, the world’s collective gaze has swerved towards issues of ballistic missiles, belligerence, the principle of reciprocation, and Article 51 of the UN Charter.
In the midst of it all, Israel is meticulously strategizing its Rafah assault, further extending its acts of genocide without any accountability. Israel has so far killed over 42,000 Palestinians, including 15,000 innocent children and 10,000 women, while the wounded have surpassed the 80,000 mark.
Instead of focusing the world’s attention on the imminent invasion of Rafah and the continuous slaughter of the Palestinian people, the Secretary-General bewilderingly decided to spend the 5th of April emphasizing Israel as the aggrieved party.
It seems as if the Secretary-General might be indirectly supporting Israel’s acts of genocide.
In his own words, these were his opening remarks:
“This Sunday marks six months since Hamas launched its abhorrent terror attacks in Israel. The 7th of October is a day of pain for Israel and the world.
The United Nations, and I personally, mourn with Israelis for the 1,200 people, including many women and children, who were killed in cold blood. I once again utterly condemn the use of sexual violence, torture, injuring and kidnapping of civilians, the firing of rockets towards civilian targets, and the use of human shields. “
Concerning Palestinians, the Secretary-General stated:
“When the gates to aid are closed, the doors to starvation are opened”
But Mr. Secretary-General, the gates of aid are not closed. It is Israel that is blocking them.
“More than half the population – over a million people – are facing catastrophic hunger.”
But, Mr. Secretary-General, it’s not that the 2 million Palestinians are simply facing a disastrous famine. The reality is that Israel is deliberately starving them right under the world’s watchful eyes.
“Children in Gaza today are dying for lack of food and water.”
But Mr. Secretary-General, the cause of Palestinian children’s deaths is not a deficiency of water. Israel intentionally cut off any water supply to Gaza with the sole aim of killing more Palestinians.
“This is incomprehensible, and entirely avoidable.”
But Mr. Secretary-General, what is incomprehensible is how, after six months, you are quietly acknowledging the demise of diplomacy instead of denouncing the brutal killing of Palestinians.
Diplomacy which alongside the United Nations, has become at best amoral.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that the United Nations appears to show less concern with the innovative and savage methods of exterminating the Palestinians. More worryingly, any remaining vestiges of the principles of international humanitarian law seemed to have been killed along the way.
Instead, when asked yesterday about the UN’s role on the temporary pier that the US is constructing in Gaza, the Secretary-General’s spokesperson proudly stated that the UN “will support any plan to increase the delivery of aid, whether by sea, air, or, of course, most importantly, by land.”
Isn’t it baffling how the Secretary-General couldn’t manage to convince the US and Israel to provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people for a half-year, yet a US-built pier in Gaza, allegedly aimed at preserving Palestinian lives, is nearing completion?
When it comes to the prominent influence of the U.S. on the United Nations, one needs only look at the legislation enacted by Presidents G. Bush and Bill Clinton.
This US law unequivocally prohibits any form of financial assistance to any international organization that recognizes Palestine as a full member. This dear reader, is the chief reason that the bid for Palestine’s full membership in the UN hasn’t been successful and will never be.
This implies that if the United Nations Security Council ever approves Palestine’s full membership, the US, which is the largest contributor to the UN, is legally bound to retract its 27% assessed contributions.
That is why the Secretary-General’s statements always start by reminding the world that we ought to condemn the 7th of October attacks and mourn those killed by Hamas while hinting that Palestinians could also be facing a mysterious famine…
The 7th of April in the UN also marked the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and the Secretary-General made sure to issue another remarkable statement:
“We will never forget the victims of this genocide. Nor will we ever forget the bravery and resilience of those who survived, whose courage and willingness to forgive remain a burst of light and hope amidst this dark chapter in human history.
Let’s ensure that the acts that began on April 7, 1994 are never forgotten — and never repeated. Anywhere.”
Yet Mr. Secretary-General, every day, every hour, every minute, every second, Palestinians are being killed in their own land. It is called Palestine. And the world is watching in silence. In cowardice.
The Secretary-General is, of course, not directly responsible for the killings of Palestinians. He, however, takes the path of least resistance and continues to offer a plethora of rationalizations and lies to conceal his cowardice and chiefly to preserve the US funding for the United Nations.
In doing so, the Secretary-General has effectively undermined any lasting faith in the virtue of multilateralism and the ethical grounding of diplomacy.
A brief while before the onset of the new Gaza war on October 7, heads of state conveyed promising declarations at the 78th United Nations General Assembly.
Unbeknownst to them, just a few days later, a devastating Genocide would tragically unfold on the Palestinian people in the Gaza strip.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s earnest endeavor in the General Assembly was to persuade the audience of his nation’s commitment to peace and progress in human rights:
“I’ve long sought to make peace with the Palestinians.
See, the Palestinians are only 2% of the Arab world.
The Palestinians must abandon the fantasy of destroying Israel and finally embrace a path of genuine peace with it.
Let me show you a map of the Middle East in 1948, the year Israel was established.
Here is Israel in 1948. It’s a tiny country, isolated, surrounded by a hostile Arab world.
For peace to prevail, the Palestinians must stop spewing Jew-hatred and finally reconcile themselves to the Jewish state. By that I mean not only to the existence of the Jewish state but to the right of the Jewish people to have a state of their own in their historic homeland, the Land of Israel. “
Judging by this morning’s obliteration of 56 residential structures and an entire community in the Northeast Gaza locality of Shujaiya, one might infer Israel is indeed steadily progressing toward its horrendous ambition: to kill the remaining 2% of the Arab Palestinian population.
Perhaps by doing so, Israel may finally achieve inner and lasting peace. With an insatiable thirst for blood, it seems that Israel will not rest until it kills every Palestinian.
And so, the Genocide continues… to an extent that Martin Griffith, the head of OCHA, made a statement yesterday that – Gaza may need a special tribunal to investigate Israel’s atrocities.
As for President Biden, addressing the General Assembly, he said the international community needed “to be able to break the gridlock that too often blocks consensus on the security council.”
Break the gridlock?
There is nothing blocking the gridlock like the US is.
Blocking consensus?
There is no one killing the consensus like the U.S is.
President Biden further cautioned the international community that:
“Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence.
But I ask you this: if we abandon the core principles of the UN charter to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected? If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?
We have to stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow”
Indeed, the USA effectively put a stop to it.
From October 7th onward, the USA utilized its veto power to reject any General Assembly and Security Council resolutions aimed at even temporarily halting the ongoing massacre.
It almost appears as if the US administration is comfortable with the idea of Israel wiping out Palestinians with impunity, under the assumption that global attention will eventually fade.
And so the Genocide goes on….
As for the European Union, it has put forward a robust proposition for reform of the Security Council and its veto power. According to them, this power was being misused, leading to a stalemate within the Security Council.
The European Union astutely highlighted the inherent conflict of interest when a P5 nation holds the capacity to veto a resolution aiming to impose sanctions against it. This observation strikes a chord of sound logic.
Emphasizing the conflict of interest, the European Union backed an initiative proposed by France and Mexico to restrict the veto power during mass atrocities.
In retrospect, however, this proposal was designed specifically with Russia in mind rather than genuinely with the aim of reforming the Security Council.
If we apply the same rationale, the United States should arguably be the first to lose its veto right, considering Israel’s conflict in Gaza is fully subsidized by the USA.
The US administration has extended $14 billion in direct military aid to Israel, which includes vast quantities of bombs and tens of thousands of 155mm artillery shells. Unfortunately, these munitions continue to be directly used to kill and maim thousands of Palestinian children.
If President Biden’s statement holds any weight, the United States should cease using its veto to block cease-fire demands and promptly put a halt to its military aid to Israel, given the significant role that US weapons and military aid play in prolonging the ongoing massacre.
And so the Genocide lives on…
While on the topic, Australia pointedly censured Russia’s manipulative ploys on food security, ones that accoring to them resulted in “millions left hungry”
It seems that the Australian government currently finds it acceptable that 2 million Palestinians lack fundamental life necessities such as food, water, electricity, and basic healthcare. Apparently, the plight of hunger among Palestinians escapes Australia’s view, along with the notion that Israel is employing food deprivation as an illegal weapon in this war.
As to the Secretary-General, he drew the international community’s attention to a crucial principle:
“When countries break the Charter’s pledge for peace, they create a world of insecurity for everyone.
Exhibit A: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The war, in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law, has unleashed a nexus of horror: lives destroyed; human rights abused; families torn apart; children traumatized; hopes and dreams shattered. “
Mr. Secretary-General,
We present you Exhibit B: Israel’s Genocide against Palestinian People.
A nexus of horror:
Children killed.
Journalists killed.
Doctors killed.
Health care professionals killed.
Professors killed.
Caretakers killed.
Disabled people killed.
Poets killed.
Mothers killed.
Fathers killed.
Animals killed.
Human rights Killed.
Families Killed.
Children traumatized.
Hopes and dreams Killed..
Mr. Secretary-General,
We present you Exhibit B:
The Killing of Palestine by the International Community
In the year following the tragic 2003 suicide attack in Baghdad, a devastating event that claimed the lives of 22 United Nations personnel, including the Secretary-General’s envoy to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, the United Nations established the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS).
The United Nations Department for Safety and Security (UNDSS) currently operates under the guidance of an Under-Secretary-General, Gilles Michaud. His chief responsibilities revolve around ensuring the safety and security of United Nations personnel, as well as the security of United Nations premises in accordance with the United Nations Security Management System (UNSMS).
Since October 7th, 2023, a disheartening reality has surfaced. Over 130 local Palestinian staff from UNRWA have tragically fallen victim to Israeli acts.
The Secretary-General conveyed his sorrow, stating, “We’ve never experienced such a significant loss in the entire history of our organization.” The weight of his words underscores the severity of this crisis.
Meanwhile, the UNRWA Commissioner-General (CG) and Spokesperson hold firm to their narrative that “No Place is Safe in Gaza.”
It’s indeed true that the reckless, inhumane bombings by Israel have turned the Gaza Strip into a danger zone. However, this narrative also cleverly veils the disappointing shortcomings of the UN Security Management System (UNSMS), the Secretary-General, and the UNRWA Commissioner-General.
More than 130 of my colleagues have already been killed, many with their families.
This is the largest single loss of life in the history of our Organization.
Some of our staff take their children to work so they know they will live or die together.
Colleagues have shared heartbreaking messages from staff members pleading for help.
The Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Safety and Security has advised me that all possible means of mitigating the risk to staff within Gaza, short of evacuation, are closed off, because of the way this conflict has evolved.
Is it possible that the Secretary-General willingly turns a blind eye to the shortcomings of his top officials? Or perhaps he is misled by false information? Regardless, his final proclamation appears to be bereft of any substantial grounding.
The claim that no effective measures exist to lessen the risk faced by UNRWA Palestinian staff in Gaza isn’t accurate.
The United Nations Security Management System and the UN Security Policy Manual state that the policies apply to “All United Nations system staff members, including temporary staff, in posts subject to international or local recruitment.”
Potential risk mitigation measures existed, yet they were left unused.
Picture this: Over the past ten years, United Nations staff around the world have been incorporated into the UN Security Management System. Yet, there has been a consistent and systemic exclusion of the UNRWA Palestinian local staff from this system. This is the reality of the discrimination being faced by these Palestinian members of the UN staff.
Upon analyzing the report, particularly the section concerning security incidents affecting UNRWA’s area personnel, you’ll find an intriguing footnote 9 that deserves careful reading:
“9. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) area personnel are not covered by the United Nations security management system. “
There it is.
The elusive part of the enigma.
The United Nations Security Management System (UNSMS) doesn’t incorporate UNRWA Palestinian staff into its security management policies.
The guidelines of the United Nations Security Management System (UNSMS) stipulate that local staff members of the UNRWA should ideally be moved to a safe haven within their duty station; this is where the international staff currently based in Gaza are housed.
UNRWA Palestinian staff have not been relocated.
Under this UNSMS, UNRWA should have immediately carried out a head count of the Palestinian local staff. They were unable to do so, and there was none.
Presently, UNRWA has been unsuccessful in furnishing up-to-date, precise data concerning the count of their Palestinian staff members who have been injured or lost their lives.
According to the UNSMS system, the expectation was that UNRWA would move eligible Palestinian staff from the UN, along with their family members, to a safer location near the Rafah border. Additionally, they should have been provided a daily subsistence allowance for themselves and their dependents.
Further, to be eligible for coverage under the Malicious Act Insurance Policy (M.A.I.P), it’s necessary to be included in the UN Security Management System.
In accordance with the provisions set out by the M.A.I.P, families grieving the loss of UNRWA Palestinian staff who tragically lost their lives in Gaza should have received compensation totaling about 120,000 USD. However, the reality unfolds in a starkly different manner. The Commissioner-General of UNRWA ended up providing a meager sum of 300 USD to each affected UNRWA staff member. Furthermore, the bereaved families were considered for a compensatory amount of just 3000 USD, a fraction of the original amount they were entitled to – 120,000 USD.
The truth is that it’s not the intricate facets of the conflict that result in a lack of risk-mitigation strategies for local UNRWA staff, as suggested by the Secretary-General. Rather, the root lies in the core failures at the very top of the UN hierarchy. These Palestinian staff members are excluded from the UN Security Management System, and it certainly isn’t because of how the conflict has unfolded over time.
On Tuesday, 21 November 2023, the UNRWA Commissioner-General expressed remarks to the Agency’s Advisory Committee and said:
“…regarding the exclusion of national staff from insurance coverage… he stated that this issue was closely analyzed to see if it could be addressed and that it would have enormous cost implications if it was applied to the Agency, given that most expenses were covered by extrabudgetary resources.”(excerpt from official minutes of the meeting).
The facts are clearly laid out.
It seems as though the UN is treating the lives of the UNRWA Palestinian staff as less valuable compared to their other staff members. This might be why the UN hasn’t deemed it necessary to pursue measures to alleviate risks faced by the UNRWA Palestinian staff.
Evidence is pointing towards an alarming trend of bias and discrimination leveled against UNRWA Palestinian employees – a situation that decidedly necessitates an end.
The lapses shown by the United Nations in safeguarding their Palestinian staff within the UN warrant a thorough investigation.
The UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) was created one year after the 2003 suicide bombing in Baghdad that killed 22 UN staff, including the organization’s representative in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
UNDSS is currently led by an Under Secretary-General (Gilles Michaud). He is responsible for the safety, security, and well-being of personnel and the security of United Nations premises per the United Nations Security Management System (UNSMS).
Israel has killed more than 130 Palestinian local staff of UNRWA since October 7th.
As the Secretary-General said, ‘This is the largest single loss of life in the history of our organization.’
The UNRWA Commissioner-General (CG) and Spokesperson insist on their side of the story that “No Place is Safe in Gaza.”
It is widely accepted that the immoral, indiscriminate bombing by Israel renders the Gaza Strip unsafe. However, that version disguises in reality the failures of the UN Security Management System (UNSMS), those of the Secretary-General and the UNRWA CG.
More than 130 of my colleagues have already been killed, many with their families.
This is the largest single loss of life in the history of our Organization.
Some of our staff take their children to work so they know they will live or die together.
Colleagues have shared heartbreaking messages from staff members pleading for help.
The Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Safety and Security has advised me that all possible means of mitigating the risk to staff within Gaza, short of evacuation, are closed off, because of the way this conflict has evolved.
The last sentence is not true at all. Either the Secretary-General is concealing the shortcomings of his senior management, or he is receiving misleading information.
How can the USG/DSS advise on possible means of mitigating the risk to staff within Gaza when the UNRWA Palestinian local staff were never included in the UN Security Management System?
Mr. Secretary General,
It is not true that there are no ways to mitigate the risk to staff within Gaza. There were possible means, but they were not implemented.
This is because UNRWA Palestinian local staff are systemically and unfairly excluded from the UN Security Management System that applies to all UN staff worldwide.
On page 12 of that report, (Section 2) footnote 9 reads:
“9. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) area personnel are not covered by the United Nations security management system. “
Here it is.
Presented before the General Assembly.
In your own words and those of the Secretary-General:
The UN Security Management System does not cover UNRWA Palestinian local staff.
“All United Nations system staff members, including temporary staff, in posts subject to international or local recruitment.”
Under the UNSMS, the UNRWA local staff should have been relocated to a safe haven within the duty station (base of International staff currently in Gaza).
They were not, hence the large number of UNRWA Palestinian fatalities.
Under this system, UNRWA should have immediately carried out a head count of the Palestinian local staff. They were unable to do so, and there was none.
There are no possible means of mitigation risk for UNRWA local staff due to the failures of the entire UN senior leadership to include those staff under the UNSMS.
On Tuesday, 21 November 2023, UNRWA CG, addressing the Advisory Committee of the Agency, stated
“…regarding the exclusion of national staff from insurance coverage… he stated that this issue was closely analyzed to see if it could be addressed and that it would have enormous cost implications if it was applied to the Agency, given that most expenses were covered by extrabudgetary resources.” (excerpt from official minutes of the meeting).
There it is in plain words.
UNRWA Palestinian lives are cheaper than the rest of the UN staff, which may explain why the UN didn’t find it fitting to explore measures to mitigate risk for those staff.
The Secretary-General did not dare to use the word Genocide to describe the 24-hour live Israeli eradication of Palestinian babies and children in Gaza. According to his spokesman, it’s not up to the SG to determine this, but to the legal entities of the United Nations.
So, the ICC prosecutor, Mr. Karim Khan, was honored by an Elon Musk-like visit organized by Israel. Even though he was invited to visit Gaza to verify Israeli war crimes against the Palestinian people, the ICC prosecutor chose to settle for the Israeli version.
Mukesh Kapila wrote an article recently to persuade readers that Israel’s mass atrocities in Gaza cannot be classified as Genocide.
According to him, “the destructive ferocity of the Israeli action in Gaza cannot, by itself, be designated as genocidal.”
That is incorrect.
Article II of the Convention defines Genocide as ANY of the following acts ANY of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national or ethnical as such:
a. Killing members of the group;
b. Causing serious bodily or mental harm;
c. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
Israel exceeded all the thresholds above by far.
Thus, Israel is committing a GENOCIDE.
Mr. Kapila further contends that if Israel wanted to eliminate Gazans “…we would not expect it to send warning messages to civilians to exit military operation areas, nor to accept evacuation routes or agree to humanitarian ceasefire and relief provision.”
Warning message?
Even Reuters was quoted stating: “Israel orders Gazans to flee, bombs where it sends them.”
Mind you, Israel has just declared the UN Humanitarian Coordinator Lynn Hastings persona non-grata because she made a statement highlighting the catastrophic situation in Gaza.
Kapila concludes by saying that even if a strand “of extremist Israeli politics expounds violent hate against Palestinians.. there is nothing to suggest that this is a formalized Israeli state policy”
Mind you, yesterday Israel president Isaac Herzog said: “This war is not only a war between Israel and Hamas, it’s a war that is intended, really, truly, to save Western civilisation. To save the values of Western civilization.”
Herzog and Israel’s narrative are repellent beyond belief for any person, nation, or civilization.
If this is indeed what Western civilization is, thank you. We do not wish to be converted.
The United Nations must come to terms with the fact that many of its staff and members of its wider family disagree with its leadership and stance on the Gaza war.
To what extent can United Nations staff remain silent when the tenets of the Organization they have sworn office to are decimated and violated daily?
The principles of international humanitarian law and human rights are nonexistent.
The principles of independence and impartiality have been trampled upon.
Asha Bradley a member of the World Food Programme family, writes:
“The trauma of having a genocide livestreamed to us was compounded by our Western governments’ and media support for horrendous violence under a false narrative of ” Israel’s right,” but I was also becoming aware that the abandonment of the people of Gaza had infected the humanitarian sphere, well at least, THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME.
WFPs sole duty is to uphold people’s right to food and provide food assistance. In the case of Gaza where 100% of the population is facing starvation, WFP has been uncharacteristically quiet.”
How ethical, impartial, and moral is Cindy McCain?
WFP staff thinks she is not and they are demanding her resignation.
In response to staff protests, the Secretary-General’s spokesperson reiterated the SG’s complete confidence in Cindy McCain.
In the meantime, Israel has now canceled the visa of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator Lynn Hastings because she made a statement highlighting the catastrophic situation in Gaza.
The SG’s spokesperson reiterated the Secretary-General’s complete confidence in Lynn Hastings.
There is a significant difference, however, between McCain and Hastings.
Hastings was fulfilling her obligations as an international civil servant for the United Nations.
McCain was serving the interests of other countries.
In doing so, McCain was directly violating the standards of conduct of the international civil service, namely Article 8:
“If the impartiality of the international civil service is to be maintained, international civil servants must remain independent of any authority outside their Organization; their conduct must reflect that independence. It cannot be too strongly stressed that international civil servants are not representatives of Governments, nor are they proponents of their policies.
and Article 42:
“There may be situations in which the behavior of an international civil servant may reflect on the Organization. International civil servants must therefore bear in mind that their conduct and activities outside the workplace, even if unrelated to official duties, can compromise the image and the interests of the organizations.”
Mr. Spokesman,
Confidence must be well-earned and well-placed.
A UN official who has lost the confidence of his staff must leave.
In a mail sent to all WFP staff, WFP Staff Union conveyed the grave concerns of the staff over WFP’s position in Gaza, and the perceived ambiguous stance of the Executive Director, advisors and Leadership Group on the war and on the attendance of Ms. McCain at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada.
The Staff Union sent a request for clarification to the Ethics Office. Note that the Ethics Office reports to the Secretary-General who personally cleared the appointment of Cindy McCain.
The Staff Union recalled that those staff who reported misconduct in good faith should be protected from retaliation.
“Whether or not the UN itself has taken up a position the use of starvation as a weapon should not prevent WFP, which has always been a leader in the pursuit of the right to food, from continuing to fight for that right.. We invite our leadership to take up this request”
Shoutout to WFP staff who dared to denounce double standards within the Ethics Office and the United Nations.
The principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence are fundamental to humanitarian action. Humanity means that human suffering must be addressed wherever it is found, with particular attention to the most vulnerable.
In 2014, following the Gaza war, UNRWA imposed disciplinary measures for Gaza staff who posted on social media about the rights of Palestinians while Israel was indiscriminately killing their families. This was done at the request of the US Administration.
Mr. Secretary-General,
Will you direct your Ethics Office to uphold the same standard of impartiality and neutrality for Cindy McCain, or will she be absolved owing to her U.S. nationality?
As Israel continues its ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, the United Nations is losing its last shred of morality.
The Israeli government has informed the UN that it will not renew the visa of Lynn Hastings, the U.N. resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Israeli government has asked the U.N. to appoint a replacement that can gain their trust.
To put it differently, someone who wouldn’t dare to blame Israel, as Hastings bravely did. Hastings was merely fulfilling her obligations by exposing the humanitarian crisis imposed by the Israeli government.
In other words, the UN is now actively seeking an obedient and submissive official to replace Hastings to appease Israel. Someone who, according to Israel, is impartial enough to blame everything on the Palestinians, even their own Genocide.
As for UNRWA, the U.S. Administration has already nominated an American Deputy Commissioner General. The new DCG will be busy investigating the local staff of UNRWA to satisfy Israel’s latest unsubstantiated accusations of lack of neutrality. Will the new UNRWA DCG dare to investigate Israel’s bombing of 82 UNRWA schools, centers, and shelters, as well as the indiscriminate killing of some 150 UNRWA Palestinian local staff?
Yesterday, as the fiercest bombardments resumed, the UNRWA CG had one thing to say: ‘Very sad days ahead’, effectively abdicating his role as the UNRWA Humanitarian Head in Gaza.
In UNHQ NY, the Secretary-General’s Spokesman was busy fielding questions from journalists about the WFP Head, Cindy McCain, defending her fiercely, even though WFP didn’t manage to airdrop a single box of aid for the Palestinian people under her leadership.
When one journalist asked the SG’ Spokesman how worried was the SG about UN staff in Gaza, the Spokesman replied:
“Extremely”
The death toll for UNRWA staff is currently close to 150.
Yesterday, on one of the most horrific days of Israeli bombardment and indiscriminate killing of civilian Palestinians, the SG issued a two-line statement:
“I deeply regret that military operations have started again in Gaza. I still hope that it will be possible to renew the pause that was established.”
Subsequently, he was seen at COP28 telling world leaders that it was:
“Not too late to stop the climate crisis and that they could still prevent planetary crash and burn. But we need leadership – cooperation – and political will. And we need it now.”
Mr. Secretary-General,
If the United Nations cannot prevent the total crash and destruction of 365 sq km of Gaza, how can we prevent the ‘planetary crash’?
How will you prevent the “planet’s burn” if the United Nations is unable to prevent the live burning of 2 million Palestinian people?
Mr. Secretary-General,
The only place you should be in at this moment, you and your UN leaders, is Gaza. Nowhere Else.
Yesterday, the Commissioner General of UNRWA pinned a new tweet on X praising his UNRWA colleagues as the “true heroes” as they continue to “put on their UN vest and go to work every day.”
UNRWA’s senior management rushed to post many videos and statements on social media praising the dedication of UNRWA Palestinian local staff who have remained committed to their communities.
UNRWA’s local staff in Palestine are undoubtedly the true heroes.
However, the narrative of UNRWA senior management does not accurately depict the situation.
The harsh reality is that UNRWA Palestinian staff were left with no choice. Just like Israel imposed a total blockade of Gaza, UNRWA senior management confined their entire 13000 Palestinian local staff to stay in the North of Gaza.
They neglected to protect them from the indiscriminate bombing, leaving them without a place to hide or a means of escape.
During the first days of the war, a few international staff quickly fled Gaza, leaving behind some 13000 staff with no information, no support, no directives, no nothing…
All 13000 Gaza staff received only one message from the Acting Deputy Commissioner General. It read,
‘In these extremely unprecedented and tough times, this is to enable staff to make appropriate decisions in the circumstances. We pray for everyone’s safety at this time.”
Pray?
This is how UNRWA senior management treated the 13000 Palestinian local staff.
They prayed.
And this is what transpired next.
Amal (name changed), an UNRWA teacher, rushed to leave her home from Jabaliya with her two kids and husband and moved without any protection to the south. She couldn’t find a place to shelter because the shelters were overcrowded and unsafe. She tried to contact UNRWA headquarters, but no one answered her. Finding no place to shelter, she slept on the streets with her family, on the pavement, and the roads.
Khaled (name changed), a social worker, received a WhatsApp message from a relative working with another UN organization informing him that his organization was relocating local staff to the South. Khaled rushed to contact his supervisor, but his supervisor was nowhere to be found. He called another UNRWA international official who shockingly told him that “he was only responsible for international UNRWA staff safety and security and not the Palestinian ones and that he was too busy to be bothered.”That night, Khaled’s house was bombed, and he died with his wife and kids in the rubble of their own home.
Alaa’ (name changed), a nurse wanted to move to the Khan Younes Training Center. According to what she heard, other UN agencies designated the center as relatively secure and the UN gave its coordinates to the Israeli side as a refuge for local staff. The journey from the North to the South was dangerous, and Israel was bombarding those fleeing on the main Salaheddin road in Gaza. Alaa’ reached out to her Director (an UNRWA international staff) to request transportation in an armored UN vehicle to the KYTC. The International Director stated that she could not assist her, and that taxis were still functioning, transporting civilians to the border. Alaa and her children took the dangerous Salaheddin road on their own. When they reached their destination later that day, she observed the International Director alone inside the UNRWA armored vehicle with ample room beside her.
Suha (name changed) and her four children left Gaza and headed towards the south. She attempted to reach out to UNRWA headquarters in search of guidance, but senior management did not give the Palestinian staff in Gaza any hotline number to call. She found no place to stay, so she hid under a tree and tied a blanket to her children’s hands to keep them together.
Throughout the war, UNRWA Palestinian staff were left alone by senior management. Their bravery in navigating alone without any advice, directive, or support during this war is heroic.
However, it came at a significant price.
All other UN agencies operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territories included their Palestinian local staff under the UNDSS security arrangements and provided a designated safe haven and safe transportation except UNRWA Palestinian staff.
All other UN agencies operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territories have completed a headcount for their local staff, except for UNRWA Palestinian staff.
To date, there is no headcount of Palestinian staff at UNRWA.
The headcount for the UNRWA international staff was, however, completed. Most of them work from home abroad while receiving a daily subsistence allowance.
The number of UNRWA Palestinian staff who were killed has now reached 126, and that number is likely to go up. Many of these staff members lost their lives, along with their entire families and dependents. Many of them are still under the rubble.
It is imperative to investigate the unacceptable failures of senior management in planning for the security and safety of Palestinian staff.
The lack of emergency preparedness in an emergency-designated duty station is astounding. UNRWA Palestinian local staff were left with no protection, no directives, and no support.
Praising them on social media as “real heroes” is not sufficient.
The Secretary-General is responsible for fulfilling the rights of UNRWA Palestinian staff under the rules.
1- The UNRWA Palestinian staff are entitled to danger pay:
This allowance is payable as a monthly sum currently at 1640 USD per month to internationally-recruited and locally recruited staff whenever staff are present Gaza, whether or not they report to duty. Currently, UNRWA has only paid danger pay to its international staff, but not to its local staff in Palestine.
2- The UNRWA Palestinian staff are entitled to payment of daily subsistence allowance (DSA):
Under the UNDSS security policies, UNRWA staff should have been relocated to either the Khan Yunis Training Center or a designated safe haven in the south. The Director of Human Resources should have authorized payment of DSA for an initial period of 30 days. He has not done so. The daily rate of DSA in Gaza is currently 168 USD. This entitles each UNRWA local staff member to receive 5040 USD for the first month of the war. Instead, the Commissioner-General has granted permission to disburse 300 USD/month to each staff member. On the other hand, UNRWA international staff have been paid daily DSA even though they have been working remotely from outside Gaza in the comfort of their own homes.
3- The families of the UNRWA Palestinian staff are entitled to compensation under the Malicious Act Insurance Policy (M.A.I.P):
Under the MAIP, the families of the 126 deceased UNRWA Palestinian staff are now entitled to a total amount of approximately 15 million USD. Each bereaved family is entitled to receive roughly 120,000 USD. The bereaved families have not received a single penny from UNRWA senior management.
During the recent UNRWA Advisory Commission on November 21, the UNRWA Commissioner-General stated that UNRWA had obligations towards the host governments that it intended to fulfill. He asserted that he heard the call for action and supported it.
Unfortunately, the M.A.I.P policy cannot be applied retroactively since it is conditional on several measures such as compliance with security directives.
The Director of Human Resources and senior management must be held accountable for failing to inform the Palestinian staff of the applicable policies and excluding them from MAIP coverage.
Nothing but discrimination, incompetence, and disregard for the lives of Palestinian local staff…
In the meantime, there is a lack of transparency regarding the OCHA 1.2 billion humanitarian appeal for Gaza.
Neither OCHA nor the UN has published any figures on the total funds received so far. Yesterday, a journalist asked the SG Spokesperson about the total funds received so far, but the spokesperson was unable to provide an answer.
You can get an idea from the transcripts of the noon highlights:
Question: Okay. I’m going to ask two updates. First one, sorry. First one is the appeal… the OCHA appeal, the 1.2 billion humanitarian appeal. How does that work?
Spokesman: I don’t have the numbers with me, but as I’ve told you, I think, Dezhi, the…
Question: I tried. I even donated, but I still cannot find the figure.
Spokesman: Okay. Then we will help you find where your money went.
Question: Thank you. Yeah. Really…
Spokesman: I won’t ask you how much you donated, but we do appreciate your donation. [laughter]
Laughter.
Mr. Spokesman, I can help you figure out the places where this money sometimes goes amiss. At times, it struggles to find its way, which is towards the Palestinian refugees.
Sometimes, like in the aftermath of the 2014 Gaza war and the ensuing Emergency Appeal, when generous donors responded swiftly, the emergency funds went amiss. Part of this money was used by an UNRWA international staff member posted in Gaza to build a gym because he wanted to maintain his shape while working in a complex duty station.
There was no oversight internally or externally for how the Emergency Appeal Funds were drawn upon. Part of these funds have not gone to their destined beneficiaries: the Palestinian people.
A third of UNRWA budget is funded by the US Administration, which in turn has significant leverage on senior appointments, operations, and oversight. There are those who may question why KSA and other GCC major donors have reduced their funding for UNRWA. Despite their desire to insist on political motives, the fact is that these countries have repeatedly requested expense monitoring reports and have not received any. As a result, they reduced their funding.
UNRWA’s survival and relevance are more crucial today than ever before.
In order to fulfill its mandate, UNRWA needs to be accountable to the Palestinian refugees and to the Palestinian staff. In addition, it must decrease its reliance on US funds and strive to regain the trust of Arab and other donors.
Establishing an independent oversight mechanism and board is the only way to achieve that. The host governments and representatives of donor countries must have independent experts sitting on these boards, reviewing, inspecting, and reporting to donors.
For this to happen, there must be accountability first. UNRWA Palestinian staff have the right to receive answers and for their rights to be respected and fulfilled.
I ask the Secretary-General to establish an independent external inquiry commission to investigate the failure of UNRWA senior management to include UNRWA Palestinian staff under the UNDSS Security Policies and the M.A.I.P.
I ask the Secretary-General to publish daily updated figures for the OCHA Emergency Appeal for Gaza.
I ask the Secretary-General to compensate the families of the deceased UNRWA staff by paying them 15 million compensation from the OCHA emergency appeal fund.
I call on UNRWA Commissioner-General to pay the local staff of UNRWA their entitlements to danger pay.
I call on UNRWA Commissioner-General to pay the local staff their entitlements to DSA.
I ask the Secretary-General to uphold the principles of equal treatment and non-discrimination.
Today, November 29th marks the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people.
This day serves as a reminder that approximately 6 million Palestinian refugees are still dispersed throughout the region. The recent Gaza war resulted in the forced displacement of over one million Palestinians and the death of thousands of children, women, and men.
Mr. Secretary-General, the Palestinian staff of the UN are also Palestinian refugees.
The United Nations must not discriminate against its own Palestinian staff and must act swiftly to fulfill its obligations towards them.
