“A year of the most intense bombardment of a civilian population since World War II, and the severe restriction of humanitarian aid, have transformed Gaza into a dystopian horror”- UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini

In 1939 the finest generation this nation has ever seen stood up against the rise of fascism across Europe. Many paid the ultimate price in a war to defeat the racism of Nazi Germany whose policy to rid all of Europe of Jews resulted in 6 million murdered in the holocaust. This weekend we remember that generation and the millions of others who have died in wars, civilians and serving military.

What would that generation think of the current UK Government supporting and selling arms to apartheid Israel and complicit in the genocide of the people of Gaza?

“When you go home tell them of us and say –
For your tomorrow we gave our today.” – John Maxwell Edmonds

‘Lest We Forget’ – fine words which will echo around the Cenotaph and war memorials in every community across this land. But we have forgotten.

We have forgotten that the thousands of young men and women who stood up against fascism eighty five years ago did so to create a better world. That never again would the world allow the atrocity of the holocaust to be committed again. The United Nations was founded to bring nations together. To work together. Not to permit another genocide to be committed.

Today the United Nations itself is under threat. The Israeli Knesset has delivered a devastating blow against the work of the relief agency UNRWA.

On 6th November 2024  UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told the United Nations General Assembly:

“I am addressing you at UNRWA’s darkest hour. The Israeli Knesset’s legislative action poses an imminent and existential threat to the Agency. It is the latest move in a relentless campaign to delegitimize UNRWA and undermine its role providing development services and emergency assistance to Palestine Refugees.

“Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Israeli officials have described dismantling UNRWA as a war goal. The Knesset legislation serves this objective.

“However, its intention goes beyond undermining UNRWA and the United Nations. It seeks to end Palestinians’ right to self-determination, and aspiration for a just political solution. It advances efforts to shift, unilaterally, long-established parameters for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict.

“A year of the most intense bombardment of a civilian population since World War II, and the severe restriction of humanitarian aid, have transformed Gaza into a dystopian horror.

“More than 43,000 people are reported killed, most of them women and children. Thousands more lie unaccounted for under the rubble. Nearly the entire population is displaced.

“Hostages taken from Israel remain in prolonged and terrifying captivity.

“In northern Gaza, Palestinians are being burned and buried alive by airstrikes. A brutal siege and attacks on hospitals and rescue teams are denying lifesaving supplies and assistance to the population. Men and boys are being arrested and reportedly detained in undisclosed locations.

“The actions of Israeli forces and pervasive insecurity are rendering the humanitarian response untenable. Meanwhile, the occupied West Bank is gripped by escalating conflict.  Settler violence and military incursions are a daily occurrence.  Public infrastructure is destroyed deliberately, inflicting collective punishment on Palestinians.   The economy is on the verge of collapse. 

“Layered onto this unspeakable suffering, is the threat of UNRWA’s operations ending.”

And he continued:

“The Knesset legislation forbids contact between Israeli state officials and UNRWA representatives. It prohibits UNRWA operations in what it calls “the sovereign territory of the State of Israel”. Its implementation will have disastrous consequences.

“In Gaza, dismantling UNRWA will collapse the United Nations humanitarian response, which relies heavily on the Agency’s infrastructure. Glaringly absent from discussions about Gaza without UNRWA, is education. The Agency has been providing education to generations of Palestine Refugees, many of whom have achieved remarkable success in the region and around the world.

“Countless alumni have told me about the pivotal role that an UNRWA education has played in their lives.  An education that champions human rights and gender equality; and promotes tolerance and respect for cultural identity. Palestinians value education highly – it is the only asset from which they have not, until now, been dispossessed. In the absence of a capable public administration or state, only UNRWA can deliver education to more than 650,000 girls and boys in Gaza.

“In the absence of UNRWA, an entire generation will be denied the right to education. Their future will be sacrificed, sowing the seeds for marginalization and extremism.

“In the West Bank, UNRWA’s collapse would deprive at least 50,00 children of education, and hundreds of thousands of Palestine Refugees of healthcare. The Agency is the second largest employer after the Palestinian Authority, and represents an estimated five to eight percent of the GDP. Dismantling UNRWA will not terminate the refugee status of Palestinians – this status exists independently of the Agency – but it will severely harm their lives and future.”

At least 239 UNRWA personnel have been killed. Others have been detained by the Israeli Defense Forces and report being tortured.

“Today, millions of Palestine Refugees fear that the public services on which their lives depend will soon disappear. They fear that their children will be deprived of education; that illnesses will go untreated; and that social support will stop. 17,000 UNRWA personnel in the occupied Palestinian territory fear that they will lose their employment.

“The entire population of Gaza fears that their only remaining lifeline will be cut.

“Without intervention by Member States, UNRWA will collapse, plunging millions of Palestinians into chaos.

“I have three urgent requests to prevent this devastating outcome:

• First, I ask that Member States act to prevent the implementation of the legislation against UNRWA. Changes to UNRWA’s mandate are the prerogative of the General Assembly, not individual Member States.
• Second, I ask that Member States ensure that any plan for a political transition delineates UNRWA’s role. The Agency must progressively conclude its mandate within the framework of a political solution, and hand over its services to an empowered Palestinian administration.
• Finally, I ask that Member States maintain funding to UNRWA, and do not withhold or divert funds on the assumption that the Agency can no longer operate. The cost of providing critical services, including education and healthcare, during a transition will be immense.”

I am asking Member States to act in defence of Palestine Refugees and of UNRWA. To do so is to defend the United Nations, which lies at the heart of our multilateral system. It is to defend our collective future, which is today in the greatest jeopardy. – Philippe Lazzarini

Today, Saturday 9th November, islanders in Orkney will join together on the Kirk Green, Broad Street, between 1 and 2pm to remember the people of Gaza slaughtered by Israel, the hostages killed by Hamas and those still remaining in captivity, and the untold thousands of bodies decaying beneath the rubble of homes, hospitals and shelters. They welcome all who wish to join them in the call for an immediate ceasefire, the return of all hostages, and the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to people now facing a winter of starvation and disease.

Fiona Grahame