GAZA / UNRWA FOWLER INTERVIEW
STORY: GAZA / UNRWA FOWLER INTERVIEW
TRT: 05:45
SOURCE: UN NEWS / UNRWA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 29 JANUARY 2025, AMMAN, JORDAN / 29 JANUARY 2025, EAST JERUSALEM, PALESTINE
UNRWA - 29 JANUARY 2025, EAST JERUSALEM, PALESTINE
1. Various shots, deserted UNRWA Headquarters
29 JANUARY 2025, AMMAN, JORDAN
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Fowler, Spokesperson, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“For international staff, our visas basically were shortened so that they would end today, which is tantamount to being evicted. So, I and the remaining international colleagues who were in the compound today, we effectively, took the road, you know, hit the road, and we came to Amman.”
UNRWA - 29 JANUARY 2025, EAST JERUSALEM, PALESTINE
3. Various shots, deserted UNRWA Headquarters
29 JANUARY 2025, AMMAN, JORDAN
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Fowler, Spokesperson, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“The national staff, of course, make up the majority about our staff. They are not going to be present in the compound because of the risks that they will face, including tomorrow, when there's going to be demonstrations organized, by various Israeli movements around the compound in East Jerusalem.”
UNRWA - 29 JANUARY 2025, EAST JERUSALEM, PALESTINE
5. Various shots, deserted UNRWA Headquarters
29 JANUARY 2025, AMMAN, JORDAN
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Fowler, Spokesperson, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“Regarding the compound itself in East Jerusalem, I mean, this is a safety and security issue. We faced, last year, arson attacks. We had violent demonstrations at the outside the compound. We had regular stoning incidents, myself included, when I was working there. People throwing stones. In fact, when we had the arson attacks at the compound, while colleagues were trying to use fire extinguishers to put the fires out, we had people throwing bottles and stones at us.”
UNRWA - 29 JANUARY 2025, EAST JERUSALEM, PALESTINE
7. Various shots, deserted UNRWA Headquarters
29 JANUARY 2025, AMMAN, JORDAN
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Fowler, Spokesperson, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“This is a compound which is a United Nations compound. It's protected under the 1946 Convention on Diplomatic Locations, benefits from the usual privileges and immunities. And so, this compound should be sacrosanct. But we're a situation where there's an entirely different narrative, from you know, certain sides of the Israeli, establishment and the media, which is somehow we don't have a valid lease on this compound that we shouldn't be there. And they've published artist's impressions of what they intend to do with the site when they take it over, you know, building houses, shops, these kinds of things. So, basically building settlements there.”
UNRWA - 29 JANUARY 2025, EAST JERUSALEM, PALESTINE
9. Various shots, deserted UNRWA Headquarters
29 JANUARY 2025, AMMAN, JORDAN
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Fowler, Spokesperson, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“In East Jerusalem, we serve 70,000 patients who are at the sort of bottom of the economic ladder, the most vulnerable members of society, people who don't have, you know, access to affordable health care alternatives and use our free healthcare system. These people need us. They need these services. It's like a nightmare scenario. And it's also completely outlandish that a member state of the United Nations system would choose to undo the mandate of an organization which - let's not forget - is mandated by the UN General Assembly. So, you know, the international community to do a job of work to provide services, essentially education and healthcare to Palestine refugees, in the absence of a just and lasting solution to their plight.”
UNRWA - 29 JANUARY 2025, EAST JERUSALEM, PALESTINE
11. Various shots, deserted UNRWA Headquarters
29 JANUARY 2025, AMMAN, JORDAN
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Fowler, Spokesperson, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“We're responsible for over half of deliveries inside the Gaza Strip. Over half of the aid coming in. You know, the UNRWA, I mean, has been described repeatedly, not by ourselves, but, you know, by others as the backbone of the international aid operation. Because the rest of the aid operation is just the UN presence is just a few hundred people. Few hundred does not equal 5,000, without UNRWA being able to operate, there's a very real risk of this humanitarian operation collapsing.”
UNRWA - 29 JANUARY 2025, EAST JERUSALEM, PALESTINE
13. Various shots, deserted UNRWA Headquarters
29 JANUARY 2025, AMMAN, JORDAN
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Fowler, Spokesperson, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“The multilateral system is not perfect, but it's the system that we have. And this is a unilateral blow against multilateralism. We continue at all levels. And I know this is the case across the UN system and of course, supporters of multilateralism, supporters of UNRWA governments, different groups of countries continuing to try to convince the Israeli authorities to at least not implement this law. And at the end of the day, you nobody knows what to tell the parents of the children in the schools. Nobody knows what to tell the pupils, nobody knows what to tell the patients. What are you going to tell somebody who's on long term treatment for diabetes? Has no economic possibilities to pay for the medicine, the multiple pills that this person needs to take, you know, in the Israeli system, and, you know, they need to turn to UNRWA. What can you tell somebody like that?”
UNRWA - 29 JANUARY 2025, EAST JERUSALEM, PALESTINE
15. Various shots, deserted UNRWA Headquarters
UNRWA spokesperson Jonathan Fowler today (29 Jan) said implementation of the Israeli Knesset law banning the Palestine Refugee Agency’s operations, constitutes “a unilateral blow against multilateralism.”
Speaking via video teleconference from Amman, Fowler said, “for international staff, our visas basically were shortened so that they would end today, which is tantamount to being evicted. So, I and the remaining international colleagues who were in the compound today, we effectively, took the road, you know, hit the road, and we came to Amman.”
The national staff, he said, “are not going to be present in the compound because of the risks that they will face, including tomorrow, when there's going to be demonstrations organized, by various Israeli movements around the compound in East Jerusalem.”
The East Jerusalem compound itself, Fowler said, “is a safety and security issue," noting that last year, it suffered arson attacks. He said, "we had violent demonstrations at the outside the compound. We had regular stoning incidents, myself included, when I was working there. People throwing stones. In fact, when we had the arson attacks at the compound, while colleagues were trying to use fire extinguishers to put the fires out, we had people throwing bottles and stones at us.”
He said, “this is a compound which is a United Nations compound. It's protected under the 1946 Convention on Diplomatic Locations, benefits from the usual privileges and immunities. And so, this compound should be sacrosanct. But we're a situation where there's an entirely different narrative, from you know, certain sides of the Israeli, establishment and the media, which is somehow we don't have a valid lease on this compound that we shouldn't be there. And they've published artist's impressions of what they intend to do with the site when they take it over, you know, building houses, shops, these kinds of things. So, basically building settlements there.”
The spokesperson said, “in East Jerusalem, we serve 70,000 patients who are at the sort of bottom of the economic ladder, the most vulnerable members of society, people who don't have, you know, access to affordable health care alternatives and use our free healthcare system. These people need us. They need these services. It's like a nightmare scenario.”
He said, “and it's also completely outlandish that a member state of the United Nations system would choose to undo the mandate of an organization which - let's not forget - is mandated by the UN General Assembly. So, you know, the international community to do a job of work to provide services, essentially education and healthcare to Palestine refugees, in the absence of a just and lasting solution to their plight.”
Turning to Gaza, Fowler said, “we're responsible for over half of deliveries inside the Gaza Strip. Over half of the aid coming in. You know, the UNRWA, I mean, has been described repeatedly, not by ourselves, but, you know, by others as the backbone of the international aid operation. Because the rest of the aid operation is just the UN presence is just a few hundred people. Few hundred does not equal 5,000, without UNRWA being able to operate, there's a very real risk of this humanitarian operation collapsing.”
He said, “we continue at all levels. And I know this is the case across the UN system and of course, supporters of multilateralism, supporters of UNRWA governments, different groups of countries continuing to try to convince the Israeli authorities to at least not implement this law.”
Fowler said, “at the end of the day, you nobody knows what to tell the parents of the children in the schools. Nobody knows what to tell the pupils, nobody knows what to tell the patients. What are you going to tell somebody who's on long term treatment for diabetes? Has no economic possibilities to pay for the medicine, the multiple pills that this person needs to take, you know, in the Israeli system, and, you know, they need to turn to UNRWA. What can you tell somebody like that?”
The Knesset legislation approved overwhelmingly by Israeli parliamentarians on 28 October last year, would prohibit the country’s authorities from having any contact with UNRWA and bar the agency from operating within Israel itself.
When the legislation is implemented, Israel will no longer issue the agency’s staff with work or entry permits, and coordination with the Israeli military, essential for the safe passage of aid, will no longer be possible.
UNRWA is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The United Nations General Assembly established UNRWA in 1949 with a mandate to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to registered Palestine refugees in the Agency’s area of operations pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.
UNRWA operates in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, The Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Tens of thousands of Palestine refugees who lost their homes and livelihoods due to the 1948 conflict continue to be displaced and in need of support, nearly 75 years on.