Featuring: Illana Feldman (George Washington University), Gwyn Lewis (UNRWA), Diba Abu Nejila (humanitarian professional)
In this session we will focused on Palestinian refugees – one of the core issues of the conflict and which under the Olso Accords was to be resolved in the context of permanent status talks between Israelis and Palestinians. We examined how Palestinians became refugees, the role and development of UNRWA as the organization responsible for Palestinian refugees, and the debate around the continued status of many Palestinians as refugees today.
This webinar is Part 5 of an 8-part series of webinars hosted specifically for U.S. Congressional staff. Find out more information on past and upcoming webinars in this series here.
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6:52-12:01 Ilana Feldman on who Palestine refugees are and their history.
12:30-15:09 Gwyn Lewis on the establishment of UNRWA and its role serving Palestine refugees.
15:38-19:09 Diba Abu Nejila on conditions for Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip.
20:05-25:30 Gwyn Lewis on the political attacks UNRWA faces.
27:08-30:17 Diba Abu Nejila on what UNRWA means for Palestinians in Gaza, particularly children.
30:23-32:11 Ilana Feldman on what UNRWA has meant to Palestinian refugees across five different fields of operation.
33:40-40:09 Ilana Feldman on anti-UNRWA rhetoric and bad faith accusations.
41:02-43:20 Diba Abu Nejila on refugee identity among Palestinians and refugee self-identification.
44:15-47:24 Gwyn Lewis on UNRWA versus UNHCR; what would happen if another organization took over the Palestine refugee question.
49:19-55:12 Ilana Feldman on how we can arrive at a political resolution for Palestine refugees.
56:38-1:00:51 Gwyn Lewis on UNRWA’s biggest challenges today.
1:03:04-1:05:25 Diba Abu Nejila on UNRWA’s mental health support for Palestinian refugees living in Gaza.
1:06:10-1:09:10 Gwyn Lewis on funding cuts to UNRWA by the Trump administration.
1:12:03-1:14:28 Ilana Feldman on claims that Palestinian refugees are illegitimate due to historic exile of Jewish populations from Arab states.
