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STORY: UN / UNRWA WEST BANK
TRT: 03:54
SOURCE: UN NEWS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 19 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Close up shot, UN flag
19 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Roland Friedrich, Director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank:
“What happened yesterday was indeed unprecedented. Yesterday in the morning, Israeli security forces, accompanied by municipality personnel, forcefully entered our education training center in Qalandiya and ordered it to be closed. And that vocational training center provides training to more than 350 vulnerable Palestinian youth from all over the West Bank. It's located in what Israel considers the sovereign territory of the state of Israel. According to international law, it's occupied territory. And after about three hours of discussion, Israeli security forces and the municipal representatives left. And we were able to resume education at that place. But it's unprecedented. It's the first time that an educational installation in East Jerusalem was forcefully entered by Israeli security forces.”
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
3. Close up shot, UN flag
19 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Roland Friedrich, Director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank:
“And at the same time, in the morning, employees of the Israeli government paid visits to three schools in the occupied East Jerusalem and threatened to close them, ask for additional information, and in one came the case came with the police. So again, it's another breach of privileges and immunities of UNRWA.”
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
5. Close up shot, UN flag
19 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Roland Friedrich, Director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank:
“Now, the Qalandiya training center resumed activities today. It was a shocking experience since security forces carrying guns entered this facility. Of course, staff were afraid. Our students were afraid. But fortunately, we were able to resume operations today concerning the free schools in East Jerusalem. One of them had to be evacuated yesterday because students and staff were afraid. But we managed to resume educational activities in all three schools today.”
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
7. Close up shot, UN flag
19 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Roland Friedrich, Director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank:
“We try to provide alternative means of learning. But clearly this is an unprecedented situation of displacement. And it's not easy to reach all the children and their families. They are, of course, dislocated and traumatized, and we're very concerned that there is no clear entry to this operation that would allow us to reopen the schools and get the children where they belong. And this is in a safe space in our school.”
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
9. Close up shot, UN flag
19 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Roland Friedrich, Director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank:
“And we have a very robust human rights, tolerance-oriented curriculum, probably unique in the region. In the Gaza Strip, for instance, we used to provide education for more than 300,000 kids. Now, the 600,000 children that have been out of education for more than a year and a half, deeply traumatized, living in misery. And everybody should have an interest to make sure that these children have access to education, quality education as quickly as possible. And we're committed to doing this to the extent possible. And, in fact, we did start the emergency education program in Gaza, and we're rolling it out now. And we've got more than 200,000 kids who signed up for these emergency education programs in Gaza going forward. So, there is nobody else in Gaza who can provide education at the moment other than UNRWA.”
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
11. Close up shot, UN flag
19 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Roland Friedrich, Director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank:
“When it comes to the West Bank. As I said, 50,000 children in our schools, mostly from poor backgrounds, living in areas of conflict, in areas where there's a lot of poverty, particularly the refugee camps. And we are continuing to provide those services, and we'll do that as long as possible.”
An interview with Roland Friedrich, Director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) condemned what it called an “unprecedented” breach of its facilities in East Jerusalem, after Israeli security forces forcibly entered a vocational training center and threatened the closure of multiple schools.
Speaking to UN News via video call from Bonn, Germany, Roland Friedrich, Director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank, described the incident, which took place on Feb 18, as the first time Israeli forces had forcefully entered an educational installation in East Jerusalem.
“What happened yesterday was indeed unprecedented,” Friedrich said. “Israeli security forces, accompanied by municipality personnel, forcefully entered our education training center in Qalandiya and ordered it to be closed.”
The Qalandiya vocational training center serves over 350 vulnerable Palestinian youth from across the West Bank. While Israeli authorities consider the location to be within Israel’s sovereign territory, “according to international law, it’s occupied territory,” Friedrich said.
After “three hours of discussion,” Israeli forces and municipal officials left the premises, allowing the center to resume operations. However, Friedrich stressed that the event had caused significant fear among staff and students.
“It was a shocking experience since security forces carrying guns entered this facility. Of course, staff were afraid. Our students were afraid,” he said.
In addition to the Qalandiya raid, Israeli government officials visited three UNRWA-run schools in occupied East Jerusalem that same morning, Friedrich said.
“Employees of the Israeli government paid visits to three schools and threatened to close them, asked for additional information, and in one case came with the police,” he explained, calling the actions “another breach of privileges and immunities.”
One of the schools had to be temporarily evacuated due to fears among students and staff. However, UNRWA managed to resume educational activities at all three schools by Feb 19.
Friedrich warned that these actions were exacerbating an already dire situation for Palestinian children.
“This is an unprecedented situation of displacement,” he said. “We try to provide alternative means of learning, but clearly, it’s not easy to reach all the children and their families. They are, of course, dislocated and traumatized.”
Turning to the broader challenges facing Palestinian students, Friedrich highlighted the critical state of education in Gaza, where conflict has kept “600,000 children out of school for more than a year and a half.”
“They are deeply traumatized, living in misery. And everybody should have an interest in making sure that these children have access to quality education as quickly as possible,” he said.
Despite the challenges, Friedrich noted that UNRWA had launched an emergency education program in Gaza, enrolling more than 200,000 children so far. “There is nobody else in Gaza who can provide education at the moment other than UNRWA,” he said.
In the West Bank, Friedrich emphasized that UNRWA remains committed to serving “50,000 children in our schools, mostly from poor backgrounds, living in areas of conflict, in areas where there’s a lot of poverty, particularly in refugee camps.”
Despite increasing restrictions, the agency is determined to continue to provide essential education. “We are continuing to provide those services, and we’ll do that as long as possible,” Friedrich said.
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