$ 3alestinian high school threatened b\ 7rump funding cuts

LEBAN2N - At Beirut¶s Galilee Secondary School, around 50 3alestinian teenagers are crammed into a single classroom in a haphazard arrangement of desks. The paint comes off walls scrawled with notes from generations of kids who studied here.

For decades, 3alestinian refugees in Lebanon have been inculcated with the idea that their education is key. In a country where they are at best secondclass citizens, learning is their best bet to escape poverty. At recess, the teenagers disperse into social cliques, gather around smartphones and exchange banter across the basketball court. “So, what are you going to get me for 9alentine¶s day"” one boy jests as he sits next to a girl who, embarrassed and laughing, takes refuge behind her long hair.

But when asked about recent 8S funding cuts to the 8nited Nations agency that runs their school, the puckish teenagers take on an altogether different tone. “It¶s a violation of our human rights, which America claims to teach us,” 11th grader Sally Sabah tells CNN’s Ben :edeman. “Isn¶t it enough that we don¶t have a home" :e don¶t have anything right now in Lebanon just because we¶re 3alestinians. They¶re going to take away the thing that we care about the most, which is our education.”

For 3alestinian refugees in Lebanon ± most of whom are descendants of those displaced from historic 3alestine in the Arab-Israeli war of 1 48-4 and denied return ± opportunities are few and far between, and possibly about to get worse.

Last month, the 8S administration informed the 8N 5elief and :orks Agency 8N5:A ± the agency tasked with assisting 3alestinian refugees ± it was cutting its funding to the organization. The 8S will release $60 million to 8N5:A and indefinitely withhold $65 million, State Department spokeswoman +eather Nauert announced last month.

8N5:A¶s operations in Lebanon and Syria, where the agency provides free education and healthcare to tens of thousands of 3alestinian refugees, bore the brunt of the cuts, losing access to all 8S funds to the agency.

8N5:A says that funding cuts by its largest single donor have sparked its “most serious financial crisis in its 70-year history.” Its budget deficit now stands at $243 million. They warn that the deficit will have “a huge impact on the daily lives of millions of vulnerable 3alestine refugees.” “:e cannot use any of the 8S¶s contribution,” 8N5:A Lebanon director &laudio &ordone tells CNN. “This is regrettable. The 8S has been our top donor, and the most reliable donor for decades effectively. And we very much hope that they will reconsider this decision.”

(CNN)