Saudi Arabia has announced a contribution of $27 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), during a press conference held in Amman on Sunday.
Saudi Ambassador to Jordan Nayef Al-Sudairy handed the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, a check for UNRWA’s budget, in support of the agency’s programs and operations in the region.
In remarks on the occasion, Al-Sudairy said: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has historically been devoted to providing political and socio-economic support to the Palestinian cause. This includes supporting the rights of the Palestinian people in United Nations and humanitarian organizations and the historic cooperation with UNRWA through continuous support for the services it provides.”
The ambassador noted that the total Saudi support for Palestine exceeded $5.2 billion since 1999, including funding for the budgets of the Palestinian National Authority, direct support for a number of sectors related to infrastructure, health, education, food and agricultural security, as well as government, Palestinian civil society, water and environmental reform.
Al-Sudairy stressed that the security and stability of the Middle East region required a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause, in accordance with international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, as well as the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
He added that Riyadh “condemns all unilateral measures that undermine the two-state solution and calls for their immediate and complete halt.”
Sunday’s press conference, which was organized by the Saudi embassy in Amman, was attended by the head of the refugee affairs department in the Palestine Liberation Organization, Ahmed Abu Houli, the head of the Palestine Committee in the Jordanian Senate, Nayef Al-Kadi, and a number of deputies and politicians.
“Generous commitment”
“We are delighted to receive this generous contribution from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner General.
“This renewed commitment to the work of UNRWA is in line with the Kingdom’s longstanding generosity towards Palestine refugees and in solidarity with them,” he added.
Lazzarini continued: “There are few sources of stability in the lives of Palestine refugees. Access to basic services like education and primary health care are among them. Following decades of partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UNRWA looks forward to further deepening it to promote a dignified life, especially in the face of growing needs and deteriorating conditions in the Palestinian camps across the region.”
Palestinian demands
Abu Houli, for his part, called on the donor countries to follow the Saudi example and fulfill their obligations and pledges, noting that the financial donations would contribute to helping the agency overcome its financial crisis.
He also praised the Saudi support and its “stance and actions at all Arab, regional and international levels to mobilize political and financial support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).”
Jordan - in cooperation with UNRWA, Sweden, Japan and Turkey – is expected to organize a conference in support of the international agency on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings this month.
Abu Houli called on the international community and the United Nations to assume their responsibilities and move quickly to protect the agency as an international institution, and to save its financial situation “before it is too late.”
Historical Evidence
Saudi support for the Palestinian cause on all political, economic and social levels dates back to the era of King Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman, at the London Conference in 1935.
Riyadh was also present at conferences and meetings on the Palestinian issue, including King Fahd’s peace initiative at the Fez Summit in 1982, the Madrid Conference, and the Arab Peace Initiative, which was proposed by then Saudi Crown Prince, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and adopted as a unified Arab project at the Beirut Summit in March 2002.
Observers emphasize that the Palestinian issue has always been at the forefront of Saudi Arabia’s priorities. The Kingdom has called on Israel to abide by the relevant international legitimacy resolutions, which stipulate the complete withdrawal from all Arab lands occupied since 1967. It has also repeatedly urged the international community to intervene urgently to stop the Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people.
Riyadh also condemned the Israeli occupation’s construction of a separation wall, and submitted a protest note in this regard to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, in a move that ended with the court’s decision that the apartheid wall was illegal and demanded its removal.
Over the past decades, Riyadh has provided many initiatives and projects, including the King Fahd Peace Project, or the Arab Peace Project, announced during the Arab Summit held in the Moroccan city of Fez in 1982.
The project was approved by the Arab countries, and became the basis for the Madrid peace conference in 1991.
The project included a number of items, starting with Israel’s withdrawal from all the Arab lands occupied in 1967, including Jerusalem, and the removal of Israeli settlements in the occupied lands after the aforementioned year, in addition to affirming the Palestinians’ right to return to their homeland.
