Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on November 6, 2021

Multiple people have been killed in traffic accidents over the past weekend in Israel, with two of the accidents taking place on Highway 60.

Paramedics arrived to treat the two fatally injured men and confirmed their deaths later. Police have opened an investigation into the incident, according to Ynet.

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Furthermore, two motorcyclists were killed in separate road accidents, one occurring between Arrabe and Sakhnin, while the other happened near Beit Aryeh in the West Bank.

On Saturday morning, a cyclist and a pedestrian, both in their fifties, were killed in separate accidents - one in Rishon Lezion, and one on Highway 60 at around the same time.

MDA medics and paramedics evacuated the cyclist, who was hit by an oncoming car, to Shamir Medical Center, where his death was determined. The driver, an 18-year-old resident of Tel Aviv, was arrested on suspicion of harming and abandoning the cyclist after he turned himself into the police seven hours later.

Police traffic inspectors began investigating the circumstances of the accident, which they determined as a "hit-and-run," as the cyclist was found lying unconscious next to his bike on the side of the road on Nim Boulevard in Rishon Lezion.

The driver is currently under questioning by the police.

The death toll for people killed in accidents in Israel totals 312 this year, Ynet reported.

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Eleven people killed in road accidents over the weekend in Israel - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on November 6, 2021

Dan Perry is managing partner of the Thunder11 communications agency. He previously headed the Associated Press in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

Jonathan "Yoni" FrenkelContributor

On the surface, its impressive that Israel has nearly as many unicorns as the European Union with a population almost 50 times smaller. It may seem odd to suggest that the gap can grow still larger. And yet, it is so.

The tech ecosystem is like a flywheel. When founders sell or go public, money floods into the ecosystem in three ways. The first, obviously, is the injection of liquidity from investors.

The second effect is the creation of new investors. There is truth to the idea that the newly wealthy founders (and employees) first buy a house and then start investing in startups themselves. And third, venture capital flows to those who have shown successful innovation in the past a halo effect that is as evident in Israel as it is in San Francisco.

These things happened with early employees of companies like Google, Uber and Twitter, who became investors or founders. And a version of it is happening in Israel, where it is not uncommon for employees to manifest total conviction that they can do better than the founders who brought them riches.

Being employee No. 10 at an Israeli success story like Monday.com or SentinelOne is somewhat akin to being employee No. 15 at Uber or Instagram: The companies may offer somewhat less of a halo but not that much less. These employees-turned-founders have skills and backgrounds sought by investors. And Israeli chutzpah can sometimes do the rest.

Thats why Israel is pushing 100 unicorns privately held companies (essentially all in tech) valued at a billion dollars or more. Compare that with Europe, which has a much larger population and just 125 unicorns. It is a success so profound that it begs for explanation.

For starters, Europes business culture is far more risk-averse than Israels, for reasons grounded in its past success. There are easier ways to make a good living in much of the EU, while in Israel, with its less established legacy economy, tech entrepreneurship was long a more appealing path.

That paradigm was right for a scrappy society that has never known true peace and is composed mostly of immigrants or their children. Its an origin story that begets a spirit of adventure and also its cousins, innovation and entrepreneurship. Add to that the technology driven by the security industry and military, which are a result of the wars, and throw in mass emigration from the post-arms-race Soviet Union, and you have a story.

In a new wrinkle, add to that the COVID factor. Israel was able to come out of the pandemic somehow stronger due to an early bet on vaccines and the fact that its outside tech sector (accounting for perhaps a tenth of the workforce) was well suited for remote work. Furthermore, Israel pulled in significant VC funds during the period.

This is happening at the right time. Israeli companies, already punching above their weight in areas like cyber, fintech and SaaS, are showing tremendous promise in verticals like food tech, agritech, space tech and, of course, vaccines.

But this is where the picture grows gloomier: A major roadblock may prevent Israel from realizing this potential.

On the surface, it would appear that Israel is well equipped for supplying workers to its industry. Indeed, this data shows Israel with 135 scientists and engineers for every 10,000 citizens, more than any other developed country. But it is not enough for the demands created by the burgeoning tech sector.

The 2020 High-Tech Human Capital Report from the Israel Innovation Authority and Start-Up Nation Central found that 60% of tech firms were having trouble finding workers and that there were currently 13,000 unfilled tech job openings in the country. Various recent studies found chronic shortages of engineers; September reportedly saw 14,000 engineer vacancies.

This shortfall in supply is pushing up the cost of labor, making Israeli engineers much more expensive than their counterparts in most countries. In an era of remote work, this drives employers to outsource work to countries like Ukraine and Romania, a trend that does not bode well for continuing to bottle the special sauce of Startup Nation.

Other things are moving in the wrong direction. Israeli students international test scores in math, science and reading are plummeting compared to those of other countries, largely because of massive political dysfunction: Successive governments have allowed the unimpeded growth of ultra-religious schools that often do not teach math at all.

This relates to the wider issue of the amazing expansion of the ultra-Orthodox sector, where half the men study religion full time (and most of the other half toil in a vast religious services bureaucracy) and women are dedicated to raising more than seven children each on average. Another sector that does not participate proportionately in the tech economy is the Israeli Arab one, a historically underprivileged and underfunded community that lives with high crime rates.

One obvious approach would be to encourage ultra-Orthodox Jews and Israeli Arabs to integrate into wider Israel and be given every tool. Underfunding of the Israeli Arab towns and schools must end (a process that is beginning with baby steps this year, with an Arab party joining the new coalition), and the government must order the police to crack down on rampant criminality in the sector. Funding should be denied to any schools that do not teach math or science (one of many steps needed to integrate the ultra-Orthodox).

The Israeli government should seize the initiative through public-private partnerships the very approach that in the past helped incubate and fund promising startups that would target ways to improve the education system. The goals are the same: accelerating the economy. Israel needs to tackle education with the same gusto it directed at the Iron Dome or dealing with its adversaries.

Possibilities include improving STEM education (science, technology, engineering and math), particularly in the periphery; improving teachers pay; limiting how aggressively parents can intervene; incentivizing outside programs like Fullstack Academy and other coding academies to open schools in Israel; and working with tech giants like Wix to further develop Silicon Valley-style campuses nurturing local talent.

Starting students earlier by teaching coding and programming could help units of the military focused on R&D and cognitive areas, broadening recruitment to new population groups and, in turn, creating new employees for the tech sector.

None of this will be easy, but the cost of complacency is high. To do nothing and hope for the best is worse than nothing. It would fritter away a monumental gift that the inscrutable fates have somehow bestowed upon the Jewish state.

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Israels tech sector is on the wrong track - TechCrunch

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Posted By admin on November 6, 2021

In Twelve Tribes, Michaeli isnt preoccupied with the political future of Israel and Palestine. In over 400 pages, he barely touches upon it. His interest lies in the lives and backgrounds of the diverse people living in Israel today, their personal stories, struggles and aspirations. During the course of four visits to Israel between 2014 and 2018, he traveled across the country and seems to have interviewed almost everyone he met, drawing on his journalistic skills, his Hebrew fluency and his own family connections Michaeli was raised in Rochester, N.Y., by Israeli parents, who later returned to Israel.

These illuminating conversations with a wide variety of ordinary people ultra-Orthodox Jews, Holocaust survivors, aging kibbutzniks, Ethiopian and Russian immigrants, Arab citizens of Israel, Jewish settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank fill the pages of this richly descriptive book. Michaeli allows his subjects to speak for themselves and largely eschews editorializing. He touches on many of the hot-button issues in Israeli politics, but never weighs in on them. This restraint so rare when it comes to writing about Israel is born out of a recognition that when Americans discuss Israel, they are, as he puts it, talking very often about a country that no longer exists, proposing solutions that have long since been discarded to problems that have as likely multiplied as evaporated altogether.

Viewed from afar, Israel is often seen in simplistic, even caricatured ways, whether good or bad, its complex history, society and politics reduced to talking points and slogans. It is refreshing, therefore, to read a book about the lives of actual Israelis, which brings their cacophonous voices, rather than the authors opinions, to the fore. By documenting the dizzying diversity of Israeli society, Twelve Tribes demonstrates that the countrys future, and the future of Israeli-Palestinian relations, will not be determined by politicians and diplomats in Washington, Jerusalem and Ramallah, but by the ability of Israelis and Palestinians, secular and religious Jews, natives and immigrants, to live and work together, however uneasily.

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Finding New Ways to Write About and Grapple With Israel - The New York Times

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Posted By admin on November 6, 2021

A 38-year-old man was shot dead on Friday in the northern city of Nahariya, raising the death toll of murder victims in the Arab community to 106.

>>>Israel's other epidemic: Violence in the Arab community threatens entire country

Mahmoud Hasarma, a resident of the village of Ba'ana in northern Israel, was found next to his car after he had been shot with 10 bullets to his upper body, medical sources said.

Magen David Adom rescue service paramedic Amit Orenstein said: "The wounded man was lying unconscious and suffering from a bleeding wound to his body. We performed medical tests but he was without signs of life and we had no choice but to determine his death."

An investigation has been launched to clarify the circumstances of the suspected murder case, and a search for suspects is underway,according to the police.

Last month, a relative of Hasarma's, Salim Hasarma, was shot dead in a parking lot near a house in Ba'ana. About two years ago, another member of his family, Ibrahim Hasarma, was shot dead in the same village.

According to statistics from the Abraham Initiatives Association, 106 Arabs have been murdered in Israel since the beginning of the year. 13 of those killed are women and 51 of the murdered were under the age of 30. In 87 of the cases the murder weapon was a firearm.

In addition to these, seven civilians were killed by police, and a Druze policeman was killed after being run over by an Arab citizen.

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Israeli killed in north is 106th victim of violence in the Arab community this year - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on November 6, 2021

After over three years, Israels Knesset finally passed a budget, averting the possibility of immediate early elections and allowing the IDF to finally have enough funds to prepare itself for a confrontation with Iran.

The NIS 609 billion ($194 b.) budget for 2021 is the first one Israel has passed since 2018, and Israels defense establishment will receive NIS 58 b, an increase of NIS 7 b.

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Israel considers Irans nuclear program as the number one concern. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi has publicly said that the military is preparing fresh operational plans for a potential military strike against Tehran.

US President Joe Bidens administration has said it is still seeking a joint US-Iranian return to compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. On Wednesday, Irans chief negotiator Ali Baqeri Kani said that Tehran had agreed to meet in Vienna to restart negotiations on 29 November.

Even so, prior to the passing of the budget, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Tuesday that it will allow Israel to develop new capabilities, operational plans and technologies to take on all threats we face.

Gantz, who was speaking during the laying of the cornerstone for Elbit Systems new technological campus at Ramat Beka in the Negev Desert, said that what is being developed by Israeli defense industries will assist the IDF in becoming more accurate, powerful and lethal.

This power is especially necessary during these days when our enemies, under Iranian leadership, are trying to grow stronger and to undermine regional stability, he said.

With tensions continuing to rise with Iran, Gantz noted that Israels defense establishment is committed to safeguarding a strong, stable, fortified Israel and ensuring that Iran does not develop an existential threat to Israel. We will continue to act with responsibility and to safeguard our independence of action in any place and sector, and secure Israeli citizens."

In order to move central aspects of Kohavi's Momentum multi-year plan forward, the military had to divert funds, carry out internal cuts and make changes in priorities. Changes in force design also saved the military funds and strengthened units with more assets.

According to reports, the budget increase would go toward purchasing various types of manned aircraft, intelligence-gathering drones and unique munitions needed for a possible attack against Irans nuclear program, which would target numerous heavily fortified underground sites.

In October, Gantz defended the defense budget increase, saying that the lack of a budget has to a certain extent damaged our ability to act, and our ability to have efficient communication and build up our forces in a more effective way.

Israel, he said, is challenged militarily on many fronts, and therefore there is great importance to approving a defense budget.

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Israel finally has a budget, and so does the IDF - analysis - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on November 6, 2021

The ring could date back to as early as the third century C.E. Dafna Gazit / Israel Antiquities Authority

Archaeologists in Israel have discovered an amethyst and gold ring dated to as far back as the seventh century C.E.and possibly much earlier.

The team found the ring in Yavne, south of Tel Aviv in central Israel, at a site that was home to a huge wine-making operation during the Byzantine era, reports Stuart Winer for the Times of Israel. The location is particularly striking given ancient lore regarding amethysts.

Many virtues have been attached to this gem, including the prevention of the side effect of drinking, the hangover, says Amir Golani, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), in a statement.

Researchers made the find near a warehouse used to store wine at the production facility, reports Rossella Tercatin for the Jerusalem Post. They were able to date the landfill where it was unearthed to the seventh centurya tumultuous time when the Byzantine Empire lost control of the region to Arab Muslim forces.The ring itself may predate this period. As Haaretzs Ruth Schuster writes, its generally impossible to directly date inorganic objects like metal and gems through methodslike carbon dating.

Similar gold bands with inlaid amethysts were common in the Roman world and may have been worn by a member of Yavnes elite as early as the third century C.E. By the seventh century, the ring found at the winery could have been an heirloom handed down over many generations.

Both men and women wore similar rings. Whoever owned the jewelry would have been a person of wealth and high status.

Finding an ancient ring with a semi-precious stone intact is rare, Golani tells Anshel Pfeffer of the London Times. Its size and ostentatiousness indicates it belonged to someone who wanted to flaunt their wealth.

In the statement, archaeologist Elie Haddad, a co-director of the IAA excavation, says, It is possible that the splendid ring belonged to the owner of the magnificent warehouse, to a foreman, or simply to an unlucky visitor, who dropped and lost their precious ring, until it was finally discovered by us.

The IAA has been conducting large-scale excavations at Yavne ahead of a construction project. In addition to the winemaking facility, theyve found artifacts including a colorful, 1,600-year-old mosaic and an intact, 1,000-year-old chicken egg (which researchers subsequently broke by mistake). Last year, teenage volunteers working on a dig in the city discovered a trove of hundreds of coins from 1,100 years ago.

Per Haaretz, the word amethyst comes from the Greek word amethystos, meaning not intoxicating, and is related to medhu, meaning mead. Ancient Greeks sometimes incorporated amethysts into wine glasses or wore the gems while drinking in hopes of avoiding intoxication. The connection between amethysts and sobriety dates back at least to the time of the Greek poet Asclepiades of Samos, who was born around 320 B.C.E. and mentioned the phenomenon in a poem, according to the Gemmological Association of Great Britain.

Because of their blood-like hues, amethysts, like rubies, were believed in the ancient world to contain energy and healing powers, Golani tells the Times.

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Ancient Amethyst Ring Found in Israel May Have Been Worn to Ward Off Hangovers - Smithsonian

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Posted By admin on November 6, 2021

In ajointstatement, the experts calledthedecision a frontal attack on thePalestinianhuman rights movement, and on human rights everywhere.

Silencing their voices is not what a democracy adhering to well-accepted human rights and humanitarian standards would do, they add.

Callingupon the international community toact, theyarguethat anti-terrorism legislation mustneverbe used to unjustifiably undermine civil liberties.

According to them, the UNSecurity Council, the GeneralAssemblyand the Human Rights Council have allbeen clearaboutthis issue.

The misuse of counter-terrorism measures in this way by the government of Israel undermines the security of all, thegroup of 17experts said.

The sixPalestinianorganizationsbeing redesignatedareAddameer, Al-Haq,Defensefor Children International Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, theBisanCenterfor Research and Development, and the Union ofPalestinianWomen Committees.

Among those groups theywork with arewomen and girls, children, peasant families,prisonersand civil society activists, all of whom face increased levels of discrimination and even violence, the experts said.

According to the UN experts,these organisations speak the language of universal human rights.

They use a rights-based approach to theirwork, including a gendered analysis, to document human rights abuses of all kinds in Palestine, including business-related human rights abuses, theysaid.

Theredesignationas terrorist organisations, in effect, bansthe work of these human rights defenders, and allowsthe Israeli military to arrest their staff, shutter their offices, confiscateassetsand prohibit their activities.

In atleastone case,according to the experts, thedecision may have been taken as a form of reprisal for cooperation with UN entities.

TheIsraeli military has frequently targeted human rightsdefenders in recent years, as its occupation has deepened, its defiance of international law has continued and its record of human rights violations has worsened, the experts say.

They note that mostinternational and Israeli human rights organisations facechallenges, butalsoargue thatPalestinianhuman rights defendershave always encountered the severest constraints.

Finally, the experts call upon the international community to use its full range of tools to request that Israel reversesthis decision.

These civil society organisations are the canaries in the human rights coalmine, alerting us to the patterns of violations, reminding the international community of its obligations to ensure accountability, and providing voices for those who have none, they conclude.

Special rapporteurs and other independent UN rights experts are appointed by the Human Rights Council. They are neither paid for their work, nor UN staff, andare independent of any government or organisation, and serve in their individual capacity.

On Sunday, TorWennesland, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said that he wasdeeply concernedby the continued Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

His statementfollows the announcement bythe Israeli authoritiesoftenders for the construction of more than 1,300 housing units in the occupied West Bank.

Mr.Wenneslandreiteratedthat all settlements are illegal under international law, remain a substantial obstacle to peace, and must cease immediately.

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UN experts condemn Israels designation of Palestine ...

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Posted By admin on November 6, 2021

Mohammed Daadas, 13, dies in hospital after being shot by Israeli troops during protests against illegal settlements.

Israeli troops have shot and killed a 13-year-old Palestinian boy during weekly protests against the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian officials.

The Palestinian health ministry said Mohammed Daadas died in hospital on Friday after being shot in the stomach. Six other Palestinians were treated at the scene of confrontations in the village of Beit Dajan, east of Nablus, after inhaling tear gas launched by Israeli troops, the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance service said.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the incident.

Separately, two other Palestinians were wounded on Friday in clashes in Beita, another West Bank village where locals have struggled for months to dislodge Israeli settlers and the military from a hilltop.

It came days after Israel announced it would advance plans for 3,000 more illegal homes for Jewish settlers in the West Bank, despite international criticism.

Israel has also advanced plans to build about 1,300 homes for Palestinians in the West Bank, but critics viewed the move as an attempt to parry global condemnation of settlement construction.

Israel seized the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and hardline Israelis, including Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, view Palestinian land in the West Bank as a heartland of Jewish history.

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have since moved into settlements that are regarded illegal under international law.

Bennett has ruled out formal peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, saying he prefers to focus on economic improvements.

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Israeli forces kill Palestinian boy in occupied West Bank - Al Jazeera English

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Posted By admin on November 6, 2021

By Dalia Hatuqa on November 5, 2021

In Palestine, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated many challenges women face, leading to higher levels of domestic violence, alarming rates of emotional and psychological distress, increased domestic responsibilities, and lower female participation in the national labor market. Women in Palestine are subject to various social hurdles that impede their ability to advance in the formal employment sector, and must endure the negative implications of restrictions imposed by Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. This is particularly disconcerting given that, as of 2021, only 23 percent of Palestinian women aged 25-49 were employed.

Research by the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) indicates the rates of poverty and unemployment among women and female-led households have increased, especially in the besieged Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment rate among women during the first quarter of 2020 was 37 percent, compared to 20 percent of men. Both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, who, to a certain extent, govern the Palestinian territory, imposed strict restrictions in work settings to stem the spread of the coronavirus, in addition to closing down private and public schools and day care centers. This enhanced both domestic and professional burdens on women, and has taken place within the wider context of poverty, loss of income, and a declining standard of living.

The obstacles to progress in female labor force participation in Palestine existed prior to the pandemic. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), they were registering higher unemployment rates, lower wages, while also being subject to increased discrimination and gender-based segregation. The negative implications of the pandemic on mobility and employment retainment had a disproportionate impact on women in the workforce. Travel bans and quarantine and lockdown measures impeded womens ability to move freely and heightened the pressure on enterprises, in particular small- and medium-sized ones, in sustaining their businesses.

In general, the public and private sector in Palestine must place gender equality at the core of their response strategy and focus on implementing gender-responsive policies. This includes investing in childcare, particularly the availability and affordability of daycares, as they are a source of employment themselves, especially for women, enable women to work outside of the home, and encourage a more equitable distribution of household chores between men and women. The public and private sectors can also focus on tackling domestic violence and work- and gender-related harassment, which also increased during the pandemic, to ensure fair access to and engagement of women in paid employment positions.

The Palestinian government in the West Bank in particular has put forth a national emergency response plan to temper the impact of the pandemic on the economy. The Ministry of Womens Affairs proposed an emergency response plan that outlines interventions to support women, including the provision of financial aid to the most vulnerable groups. These efforts will promote economic recovery for all segments of the population and encourage more equitable economic development.

The private sector, meanwhile, should implement policies to mitigate the adverse impacts of the pandemic on womens participation in the labor force. This includes institutional capacity-building to ensure recovery plans address the specific needs of women, such as flexible working hours and paid family leave, and devising funding tools to support those who have lost their income and continue to be affected by pandemic-related restrictions.

The goal of increased womens participation in the workforce requires the engagement and action of stakeholders at all levels. Until policies are enacted to protect and support womens formal employment in Palestine, and the greater Middle East and North Africa region, they will be vulnerable to job loss and restrictions on their mobility and independence.

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Women, Work and COVID-19 in Palestine - occupied Palestinian territory - ReliefWeb

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Posted By admin on November 6, 2021

Marking the annual olive-harvesting season, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the Near East (UNRWA) West Bank Field Office organized an olive picking event in the West Bank town of al-Walaja. The village is located four kilometres northwest of Bethlehem and is home to some 2,600 registered Palestine refugees.

The annual olive harvest season is a key economic, social and cultural event for Palestinians, and a festive moment for family and friends coming together. However, every year, farmers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, face threats of various kinds by settlers, including but not limited to physical assaults and intimidation, destruction, uprooting and vandalism of olive trees, theft of crops and harvesting tools.

In addition, the West Bank Barrier and the associated gate and permit regime are additional obstacles for Palestinian farmers facing access and movement restrictions, that have severe consequences for the living conditions and livelihoods.

To mitigate the impact of some of these challenges, UNRWA, along with other humanitarian partners, have carried out activities to protect and support Palestine refugee farmers. This year UNRWA has dedicated a day to assist a refugee family with olive picking while at the same time providing olive harvesting tools and a protective presence to deter potential settler attacks.

This year, in addition to UNRWA staff members, students from the UNRWA Al Walaja School participated in the event. The Deputy Director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank, Ms. Kate ORourke highlighted the importance of the Agencys engagement with and continuous support to Palestine refugees. It is exceptionally important for us to have this activity, both to reaffirm our solidarity and commitment to protection for the Palestine refugee community in Al Walaja, and to participate in such an important part of Palestinian cultural heritage, Said Ms. ORourke.

Also speaking at the event, the Head of the Al Walaja village council, Mr. Khader Araj thanked UNRWA for the participation in picking olives and added, "UNRWA staff participated in picking olive trees on approximately thirty dunums of land that are currently under threat of confiscation. This participation is part of the many contributions made by UNRWA to the residents of Al Walaja village, over the past years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2012, UNRWA has implemented four Community-Driven Protection Projects in al-Walaja, including opening an agricultural road, rehabilitating a water spring, rehabilitating the UNRWA school located there, and providing support to farmers during the olive harvest season.

Al Walaja is surrounded by the West Bank Barrier on three sides and neighbours the illegal Israeli settlement of Har Gilo. It is also adjacent to the Area B West Bank towns of Beit Jala and Bethlehem. The Barrier has disconnected Al Walaja from some 1,000 dunams of agricultural lands, now on the other side the Barrier. In an advisory ruling, the International Court of Justice stated that the Barrier is in violation of Israels obligations under international law and called on Israel to cease its construction and dismantle build up sections.

Background Information:

UNRWA is confronted with an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support has been outpaced by the growth in needs. As a result, the UNRWA Programme Budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall. UNRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agencys Programme Budget. UNRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large shortfalls, are funded through separate funding portals.

UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 with a mandate to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to registered Palestine refugees in the Agencys area of operations, namely the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. Thousands of Palestine refugees who lost both their homes and livelihood because of the 1948 conflict have remained displaced and in need of significant support for over seventy years. UNRWA helps them achieve their full potential in human development through quality services it provides in education, health care, relief and social services, protection, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance and emergency assistance. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Sami MshashaDirector of Communications, Arabic Language SpokespersonMobile: +972 (0)54 216 8295Office: +972 (0)258 90724Email: s.mshasha@unrwa.org

Tamara AlrifaiUNRWA SpokespersonMobile: +962 (0)79 090 0140Email: T.ALRIFAI@UNRWA.ORG

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UNRWA supports Palestine refugee farmers in the West Bank during olive harvest season [EN/AR] - occupied Palestinian territory - ReliefWeb

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