Dozens of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon held a protest today, Wednesday, in front of the regional office of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Beirut, rejecting its decision to suspend a number of employees for "showing solidarity with the people of Gaza." The demonstration was called by the Palestinian factions' alliance in the refugee camps in Lebanon under the title "No Compromise on Our National Belonging."
Participants included several Palestinian refugees, students, educational staff, and workers from UNRWA, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter. The protesters condemned the punishment of agency employees due to their national affiliations and raised placards that read: "No to punishing employees for their national affiliation," and "Netanyahu and Dorothy Klaus (the director of UNRWA's regional office) are two sides of the same coin," along with "No compromise on our national belonging" and "We want freedom, not fictitious rights."
In a speech during the protest, Fathi Sharif, the suspended director of Deir Yassin Secondary School, stated that UNRWA's policies towards employees "will not lead to submission or compromises on nationalism and belonging." Sharif, who is also the head of the teachers' union, viewed the decision from the director of UNRWA's regional office, Dorothy Klaus, and Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, as a result of yielding to pressure from Western embassies.
The protest was part of activities scheduled for Wednesday as part of a week of protests organized by the coalition and the workers' union, which included closures of UNRWA schools and offices across all regions, except for health and environmental sectors.
UNRWA imposed disciplinary measures against Fathi Sharif, the head of the workers' union and director of the Deir Yassin Secondary School in the Burj al-Shimali camp in southern Lebanon, and teacher Raef Ahmed, who is the deputy president. The agency suspended Sharif for three months without pay and referred him for investigation for organizing a fundraising campaign to support the people of Gaza, which the agency considered a "violation of neutrality."
Additionally, Sharif was required to hand over all work-related materials and was barred from entering UNRWA facilities. UNRWA was established by a resolution from the United Nations General Assembly in 1949 and is mandated to provide assistance and protection to refugees in its five operational areas: Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip, until a just solution to their plight is achieved.
According to UNRWA's latest data, the total number of registered Palestinian refugees in Lebanon reached 489,292, living in 12 camps scattered throughout Lebanese territory. Meanwhile, the Lebanese government, represented by the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, conducted a census in 2017, concluding that there were 174,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
