The world cannot abandon people of Gaza

Ihave been working remotely as a volunteer for seven years to assist a United Nations Relief Works Agency-sponsored co-op of 250 women in Gaza. The women make exquisite, embroidered items that they sell internationally and in Gaza and the West Bank. The majority of women who work in this co-op tell us they are often the only breadwinners in their extended families, as it is extremely difficult for men to find work in Gaza.

Since the attacks of Palestinians by Israelis started on Oct. 7 after the Hamas attacks on Israel, the embroidery center has been at risk. The center’s purpose was to store thread and cloth, which the women staff distributed to the refugee camps. Then they collected embroidery that the center’s own seamstresses sewed into Palestinian dresses.

At the same time, the largest refugee camp in Palestine, Jabalia, with a population of about 100,000 refugees, has been bombed four times, and this is where many of the women who work in the co-op live with their families. Most often the embroiderers are older women who learned their craft from their elders. We fear many of the embroiderers and their families have lost their lives.

When the Balfour Declaration was established in 1917 by the machinations of the British government, it was the result of blatant colonialism and occupation. This was the beginning of displacement and statelessness for Palestinians.

Then, in 1948, UNRWA was established by the United Nations as a response to the displacement of 750,000 Palestinians, the murders of approximately 13,000 people and the destruction of 530 villages known in Palestine as the Nakba, or catastrophe. Five-and-a-half million people are registered Palestinian refugees, and UNRWA helps these populations primarily with education, health care and social services as well as other protections and assistance.

UNRWA employs about 13,000 employees, more than 150 of whom have been killed by the Israeli military.

Twelve employees of UNRWA have been accused of working for Hamas. UNRWA administrators assure us these people have been fired from their jobs and that these accusations are being examined.

Ironically, just when the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel should “take all measures within its power” to halt acts that contribute to genocide and to aid Gaza to end its suffering, suddenly the focus turned on UNRWA, accused of being an arm of Hamas. Even if 12 employees are guilty of supporting Hamas, the percentage of 12 of 13,000 employees is an absolutely infinitesimal number. Currently and alarmingly, at least 16 donor countries have decided to withdraw funds for UNRWA without clear reason for such a move.

The women with whom I have worked for the past seven years are, with their children, terrorized and traumatized. At least, thus far, they are still alive. They have lost everything: their homes, their land, their jobs, their funds. They are starving and ill. As of Feb. 2, at least 27,131 Palestinians have been killed with 11,300 children dead.

Why don’t we listen to UNRWA, the sole organization in the world that was granted the immense responsibility to ensure survival of the entire population of Gaza for 76 years? Here is what UNRWA tells us: “Withdrawing funds from UNRWA is perilous and would result in the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza, with far-reaching humanitarian and human rights consequences in the occupied Palestinian territory and across the region. The world cannot abandon the people of Gaza.”