MIDDLE EAST: U.N. agencies and NGOs appeal for a record 453 million dollars in humanitarian aid for Palestinians

U.N. agencies together with 14 NGO's (non governmental organizations) appealed on Thursday (December 7) for donors to provide $453.6 million in emergency humanitarian aid for the occupied Palestinian territories next year as poverty deepens amid a financial crisis. The appeal is the largest ever launched for Palestinians in the territories and comes on top of $384 million sought for this year, the United Nations said. "You may look at this appeal at its size and think this is massive huge, I can assure you there are no extras in this appeal. This meets the basic needs as we see, as we assess as we observe as we consult, as we monitor. This reflects the current situation here in the west Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem," the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Kevin Kennedy told reporters. The United Nations said the deterioration was linked to the financial woes faced by the Palestinian Authority, which is led by the militant Islamic group Hamas who defeated Fatah in legislative elections in January of 2006. The United States and Europe imposed crippling sanctions on the administration when Hamas took power in March because of the group's refusal to recognise Israel and renounce violence. Israel has also withheld tax and customs receipts. "The appeal which we launched last year around this time was for 215 million dollars, meaning less than half of what today we are asking for. Then there was a positive mood after the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and some settlements in the northern West Bank," Julliette Touma from the Information and Advocacy Unit of OCHA (UN Humanitarian Coordinator office) told Reuters. The UN prepared and displayed a short documentary in which they interviewed and showed people at work in areas where some of this aid is going to. "Closed off from Jerusalem these people can not be with us today to let you know how important this assistance is to them but more so to convey to you their deep desire to live dignified and self reliant," Allegra Pacheco Assistant Director of OCHA in Occupied Palestinian Territory said as she introduced the documentary. "The people are tiered of this flour and bread business. We believe in God and he provides for us right? but if you relate to us as humans you need to do one thing for us while we are sitting here under constant siege. You need to build us factories or create jobs for us in agriculture or any other field which you can supervise. We are happy to receive a our monthly salary once we finish the work," Abed AlTamimi, a recipient of aid from Hebron says at the end of the documentary. On top of the Western sanctions, Palestinians say Israeli settlements, military checkpoints and a barrier cutting into the West Bank have also hit their economy because they seal off towns from workplaces, schools and agricultural fields. Israel says the barrier and checkpoints are needed to prevent militant attacks. Palestinians dismiss the barrier as a land grab. In Gaza, residents say Israel's frequent closures of the strip's border crossings have paralysed life. Israel says it imposes the measures for security reasons. "It's an indicator of the current humanitarian situation in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem and of course this comes out of many things as you know out of conflict internal strife, political turmoil, volatility, the continued problems in the region which have a direct humanitarian impact and really a direct impact on every child woman and man in Palestine," Kevin Kennedy told Reuters when asked why the appeal so high. Israel and Palestinian militant groups declared a truce in Gaza on Nov. 26 in the wake of a crushing five-month-old Israeli army offensive. The international community hopes the shaky ceasefire can revive peace negotiations that foundered in 2000, just before the start of a Palestinian uprising.

ITN Source | December 8, 2006

Tags:. .defeated. .consult. .desire. .monitor. .indicator