May 23, 2013
The week's top five must-sees,
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The week's top five must-sees,
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Description
Created in December 1949, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is a relief and human development agency, originally intended to provide jobs on public works projects and direct relief for 652,000 Arabs who fled or were expelled from Israel during the fighting that followed the end of the British mandate over Palestine. Today it provides education, health care, social services and emergency aid to 5 million Palestinian refugees from the 1948 and 1967 wars and their descendents. The agency provides aid to the refugees living in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, as well as those in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It is the only agency dedicated to helping refugees from a specific region or conflict. It is separate from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, which is the only other UN agency aiding refugees, dedicated to aiding all refugees in the world.
UNRWA was established following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War by the United Nations General Assembly under Resolution 302 of 8 December 1949. This resolution also reaffirmed paragraph 11, concerning refugees, of UN General Assembly Resolution 194, adopted and passed unopposed, supported by Israel and the Arab states, with only the Soviet bloc and South Africa abstaining. UNRWA has had to develop a working definition of "refugee" to allow it to provide humanitarian assistance. Its definition does not cover final status. Its operational definition of Palestine refugee for persons qualifying for UNRWA assistance says "whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948, and 1967 conflicts," descendants are also eligible for registration. Most of UNRWA's funding comes from European countries and the United States.
(via Freebase)
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![EU pledges 11.5 million euros to UN's Palestine refugee agency [IBA, Israel]](/images/image_cache/base-14406000/14406620/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=72960845adcb8b3510d7a4d2a8ffc6cb)
![A look at Gaza after five years of Hamas rule and Israeli siege [BBC Arabic, UK]](/images/image_cache/base-5730000/5730421/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=0f4db32dec1bb1553b839b5671139cfd)
![Palestinian prisoners end hunger strike as Israeli forces clash with protestors on 'Nakba' Day [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-4458000/4458920/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=4f53d592524d677a9b22689229044417)
![UN agencies condemn Israel's eviction of 67 Palestinians from Jerusalem [Al Jazeera, Qatar]](/images/image_cache/base-3612000/3612507/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=c5614b741a601b3e42fb0e52f0b1c5a5)
![Teachers' protest closes Gaza's UN schools [Al Jazeera, Qatar]](/images/image_cache/base-312000/312206/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=80fec5d7bcc7beea2a96d1ed2ecc2746 "Palestinian teachers stand outside the United Nation Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) headquarters in Gaza City October 5, 2011, during a protest: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem")
![Syrian army shells Latakia for third consecutive day [New TV, Lebanon]](/images/image_cache/base-311000/311467/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=ede0696d1168f552edfffbba1d3d724b)
