West Bank Refugee Camp Gets Foretaste of UNRWA's Demise
UN workers clean up after the Israeli raid - AFP
Residents of Nur Shams camp in the occupied West Bank are fearful for their future after an Israeli raid this week damaged the UN agency for Palestinian refugees office there.
The 13,000 inhabitants of the camp near the northern city of Tulkarem depend heavily on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
UNRWA notably runs two schools, a clinic and sanitation services in Nur Shams.
Stunned refugees watched as workers cleared rubble from around the office, which was almost totally destroyed in an "anti-terrorist" operation on Thursday.
"For us, it's UNRWA or nothing," Shafiq Ahmad Jad, who runs a phone shop in the camp, told AFP.
"For the refugees... they look to UNRWA as their mother," said Hanadi Jabr Abu Taqa, an agency official in charge of the northern West Bank.
"So imagine if they lost their mother."
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini blamed the destruction on Israeli forces, saying they had "severely damaged" the office.
But the military firmly denied the accusations, telling AFP that the damage was "likely" caused by explosives planted by "terrorists".
The office will have to be relocated, "a significant investment" according to Roland Friedrich, the agency's head in the West Bank.
"The psychological impact, of course, is devastating," he added after speaking to residents on Saturday.
- 'Attack on right of return' -
From his phone shop whose facade was torn off, Jad watched as excavators removed rubble and technicians repaired communications cabling.
He said he believed the chaos was linked to the Israeli parliament's adoption late last month of a law banning "UNRWA's activities on Israeli territory".
Were the agency to disappear even from the Palestinian territories like Tulkarem, he said the streets would fill with even more rubbish and sick people would go without care.
"To want to eliminate it is to want to eliminate the Palestinian question," Jad said.
Fellow camp resident Mohammed Said Amar, in his 70s, said Israel was attacking UNRWA "for political ends, to abolish the right of return".
He was referring to the principle that Palestinians who fled the land or were expelled when Israel was created in 1948 have the right to return, as do their descendants.
He insisted that Palestinian armed groups did not use the UNRWA premises, which locals consider "sacred".
If the army destroyed the building, as he believed, this meant it always wanted to target it.
Nihaya al-Jundi fumed that daily life was paralysed after every raid and that impassable roads left residents isolated.
Nur Shams needs international organizations like UNRWA to rebuild, said Jundi, whose center for the disabled was damaged and where the wheelchair ramp collapsed.
The camp, established in the early 1950s, was long a fairly quiet, tight-knit community.
But in recent years, armed movements have taken root there against a backdrop of violence between Palestinians and Israelis, economic insecurity and no political horizons.
- 'They worry' -
Two days after the Israeli operation, the internet was still not repaired and some main roads remained an obstacle course.
UNRWA's operations have resumed, however.
"The first thing we do is that we make sure that we announce that the schools are open," said the agency's Jabr Abu Taqa.
"We know how important it is for us to bring the children to what they consider a safe haven," she added.
As she strolled through the camp, many anxious residents approached her.
One young man pointed to a ransacked barber's shop and asked: "What did he do to deserve this, the barber? He no longer has work, money. What will he do?"
Mustafa Shibah, 70, worried about his grandchildren. He turned his radio's volume all the way up during the raids -- but the little ones were not fooled.
"My granddaughter wakes up (from the raids) and bursts into tears," he said.
"They worry, they have trouble getting to school because of the (damaged) road."
For him, the threats to UNRWA are just the latest example of the suffering of Nur Shams residents who feel abandoned by Palestinians elsewhere.
"Why is it only us that have to pay while they dance in Ramallah and have a good life in Hebron?" he asked.
He said Israel "feels they can do anything" with no one to stop them.
A Presidential Campaign Unlike Any Other Ends on Tuesday. Here’s How We Got Herehttps://english.aawsat.com/features/5078021-presidential-campaign-unlike-any-other-ends-tuesday-here%E2%80%99s-how-we-got-here
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Atrium Health Amphitheater in Macon, Georgia, on November 3, 2024. (AFP)
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A Presidential Campaign Unlike Any Other Ends on Tuesday. Here’s How We Got Here
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Atrium Health Amphitheater in Macon, Georgia, on November 3, 2024. (AFP)
It's the election that no one could have foreseen.
Not so long ago, Donald Trump was marinating in self-pity at Mar-a-Lago after being impeached twice and voted out of the White House. Even some of his closest allies were looking forward to a future without the charismatic yet erratic billionaire leading the Republican Party, especially after his failed attempt to overturn an election ended in violence and shame. When Trump announced his comeback bid two years ago, the New York Post buried the article on page 26.
At the same time, Kamala Harris was languishing as a low-profile sidekick to President Joe Biden. Once seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party, she struggled with both her profile and her portfolio, disappointing her supporters and delighting her critics. No one was talking about Harris running for the top job — they were wondering if Biden should replace her as his running mate when he sought a second term.
But on Tuesday, improbable as it may have seemed before, Americans will choose either Trump or Harris to serve as the next president. It’s the final chapter in one of the most bewildering, unpredictable and consequential sagas in political history. For once, the word “unprecedented” has not been overused.
“If someone had told you ahead of time what was going to happen in this election, and you tried to sell it as a book, no one would believe it,” said Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster with more than four decades of experience. “It’s energized the country and it’s polarized the country. And all we can hope is that we come out of it better in the end.”
Supporters of former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump participate in a caravan to show their support in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 3, 2024. (AFP)
History was and will be made. The United States has never elected a president who has been convicted of a crime. Trump survived not one but two assassination attempts. Biden dropped out in the middle of an election year and Harris could become the first female president. Fundamental tenets about democracy in the most powerful nation on earth will be tested like no time since the Civil War.
And that’s not to mention the backdrop of simultaneous conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, hacking by foreign governments, an increasingly normalized blizzard of misinformation and the intimate involvement of the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.
For now, the only thing the country can agree on is that no one knows how the story will end.
Trump rebounded from disgrace to the Republican nomination
Republicans could have been finished with Trump after Jan. 6, 2021.
That's the day he fired up his supporters with false claims of voter fraud, directed them to march on the US Capitol while Congress was ceremonially certifying Biden's election victory, and then stood by as rioting threatened lawmakers and his own vice president.
But not enough Republicans joined with Democrats to convict Trump in an impeachment trial, clearing a path for him to run for office again.
Trump started planning a comeback even as some leaders in his party hoped he would be eclipsed by Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, or Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who served as Trump's ambassador to the United Nations.
In the year after Trump announced that he would run against Biden, he faced criminal charges four times. Two of the indictments were connected to his attempts to overturn his election defeat. Another involved his refusal to return classified documents to the federal government after leaving office. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all the charges, and none of those cases have been resolved.
However, a fourth indictment in New York led to Trump becoming the first president in US history to be criminally convicted. A jury found him guilty on May 30 of falsifying business records over hush money payments to a porn star who claimed they had an affair.
Supporters listen to Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump as he speaks during a campaign rally at the Atrium Health Amphitheater on November 03, 2024 in Macon, Georgia. (Getty Images/AFP)
None of it slowed Trump, who practically ignored his opponents during the primary as he barreled toward the Republican presidential nomination. A mugshot from one of his arrests was adopted by his followers as a symbol of resisting a corrupt system.
Trump's candidacy capitalized on anger over inflation and frustration about migrants crossing the southern border. He also hammered Biden as too old for the job even though he's only four years younger than the president.
But Democrats also thought Biden, 81, would be better off considering retirement than a second term. So when Biden struggled through a presidential debate on June 27 — losing his train of thought, appearing confused, stammering through answers — he faced escalating pressure within his party to drop out of the race.
As Biden faced a political crisis, Trump went to an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. A young man evaded police, climbed to the top of a nearby building and fired several shots with a semiautomatic rifle.
Trump grabbed at his ear and dropped to the stage. While Secret Service agents crowded around him, he lurched to his feet with a streak of blood across his face, thrust his fist in the air and shouted “fight, fight, fight!” An American flag billowed overhead.
It was an instantly iconic moment. Trump's path to the White House seemed clearer than ever — perhaps even inevitable.
Harris gets an unexpected opportunity at redemption
The vice president was getting ready to do a puzzle with her nieces on the morning of July 21 when Biden called. He had decided to end his reelection bid and endorse Harris as his replacement.
She spent the rest of the day making dozens of phone calls to line up support, and she had enough to secure the nomination within two days.
It was a startling reversal of fortune. Harris had flamed out when running for president four years earlier, dropping out before the first Democratic primary contest. Biden resuscitated her political career by choosing her as his running mate, and she became the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president.
But Harris' struggles did not end there. She fumbled questions about immigration, oversaw widespread turnover in her office and faded into the background rather than use her historic status as a platform.
All of that started to change on June 24, 2022, when the US Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortion enshrined by Roe v. Wade. Harris became the White House's top advocate on an issue that reshaped American politics.
US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris walks on stage as she arrives for a campaign rally at Michigan State University's Jenison Field House in East Lansing, Michigan, on November 3, 2024. (AFP)
She also proved to be more nimble than before. Shortly after returning from a weeklong trip to Africa, her team orchestrated a spur-of-the-moment venture to Nashville so Harris could show support for two Tennessee lawmakers who had been expelled for protesting for gun control.
Meanwhile, Harris was networking with local politicians, business leaders and cultural figures to gain ideas and build connections. When Biden dropped out, she was better positioned than many realized to seize the moment.
The day after she became the candidate, Harris jetted to Wilmington, Delaware to visit campaign headquarters. Staff members had spent the morning printing “Kamala” and “Harris for President” signs to tape up next to obsolete “Biden-Harris” posters.
There were 106 days until the end of the election.
The battle between Trump and Harris will reshape the country While speaking to campaign staff in Wilmington, Harris used a line that has become a mantra, chanted by supporters at rallies across the country. “We are not going back,” she declared.
A mariachi performer wears a pin for Democratic candidate for president US Vice President Kamala Harris at an election event for her and Democratic candidate for US Senate Ruben Gallego at Ocotillo in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, 03 November 2024. (EPA)
It's a fitting counterpoint to Trump's slogan, “make America great again,” which he has wielded since launching his first campaign more than eight years ago.
The two candidates have almost nothing in common, something that was on display on Sept. 10, when Harris and Trump met for the first time for their only televised debate.
Harris promised to restore abortion rights and use tax breaks to support small businesses and families. She said she would “be a president for all Americans.”
Trump took credit for nominating the justices that helped overturn Roe, pledged to protect the US economy with tariffs and made false claims about migrants eating people's pets. He called Harris “the worst vice president in the history of our country.”
Harris was widely viewed as gaining the upper hand. Trump insisted he won but refused a second debate. The race remained remarkably close.
Pundits and pollsters have spent the final weeks straining to identify any shift in the candidates' chances. Microscopic changes in public opinion could swing the outcome of the election. It might take days to count enough votes to determine who wins.
The outcome, whenever it becomes clear, could be just another surprise in a campaign that's been full of them.
