7 years ago
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Palestinians mark 60th anniversary of refugee aid body
0 comments Posted by Hanguk Habibi at 4:03 PMFrom Middle East Online:
Sixty years on, UNRWA still helping 4.6 million Palestinian refugees - victims of Israel.
First Published 2009-09-25
UNITED NATIONS - The international community Thursday paid tribute to the UN relief organization UNRWA marking 60 years since it was founded to help Palestinians caught up in the Middle East conflict.
"I wish there was no need for UNRWA. I wish there was no anniversary to mark and I wish that there were not 4.6 million Palestinian refugees in need of humanitarian aid," said Jordan's Queen Rania, who is also Palestinian.
"But, you and I know, the reality is very different. Theirs is a life interrupted... a life half lived," she told a ceremony marking the body's anniversary.
The creation of Israel in 1948 led to the expulsion of 760,000 Palestinians from the land, a third of whom now live in camps dotted around the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Jordan.
"UNRWA's presence reminds the Palestinian people that they are not alone; that in their darkest hours, an international aid agency stands by their side, added the Jordanian queen.
"So, I want to record my deep gratitude to the tireless staff at UNRWA, people who have, and continue to endure indescribable hardship and danger, and risk their lives to help Palestinian refugees every day."
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas also hailed UNRWA's six decades of work in the Palestinian territories and urged the international community to step up for support for the UN-funded organization.
"The humanitarian assistance provided by UNRWA to the Palestine refugees throughout the region has proven to be indispensable for the welfare of the refugees as well as for the stability of the region as a whole, including and especially during periods of conflict, crisis and upheaval," he said.
Queen Rania also warned that the agency was on the brink of collapse through lack of funds.
"If we let UNRWA collapse, it will be the youngest that bear the greatest weight," she warned.
"If we let UNRWA collapse, we risk fueling frustrations, losing focus for peace talks and destabilizing our region further. There is so much at stake. All of us depend on UNRWA."
Official Trailer:
Amreeka video diary of writer-director Cherien Dabis.
Amreeka video diary of writer-director Cherien Dabis.
Cherien wakes up realizing her first film opens in a week. Terror sets in... (NOT that type of terror) Will her people come out to support her?
Amreeka chronicles the adventures of Muna, a single mother who leaves the West Bank with Fadi, her teenage son, with dreams of an exciting future in the promised land of small town Illinois. In America, as her son navigates high school hallways the way he used to move through military checkpoints, the indomitable Muna scrambles together a new life cooking up falafel burgers as well as hamburgers at the local White Castle.
Told with heartfelt humor by writer-director Cherien Dabis in her feature film debut, Amreeka is a universal journey into the lives of a family of immigrants and first-generation teenagers caught between their heritage and the new world in which they now live and the bittersweet search for a place to call home.
Amreeka recalls Dabis’s family’s memories of their lives in rural America during the first Iraq War. The film stars Haifa-trained actress Nisreen Faour as Muna, and Melkar Muallen plays her 16-year-old son, Fadi. Also in the cast are Hiam Abbass, Alia Shawkat, Yussef Abu-Warda and Joseph Ziegler. Written and directed by Cherien Dabis, Amreeka was produced by Christina Piovesan and Paul Barkin. Alicia Sams, Dabis and Gregory Keever were executive producers; Liz Jarvis and Al-Zain Al-Sabah were co-producers.
Amreeka made its world premiere in dramatic competition at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and played as Opening Night of New Directors/New Films, a co-presentation of The Museum of Modern Art and The Film Society of Lincoln Center. Amreeka made its debut internationally in Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.
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