Offices of UNRWA, a UN body established only to deal with the roughly 800,000 Arabs who left Israel during the 1948 War of Independence, were closed by the protests in Lebanon last Thursday and Friday, over a new policy requiring the "refugees" to pay a limited co-payment on medical treatment.
Now on Sunday the popular committees of the Palestinian "refugee camps" in Judea and Samaria announced they will harass UNRWA over its decision to replace its food distribution program in the "camps" with a cash card system.
Husni Odeh, a spokesperson for the committees, told Ma'an News Agency that they had informed UNRWA of the protest, which is to last from Monday until Friday.
As part of the protest the "refugees" will block UNRWA cars from moving inside Judea and Samaria, will close all UNRWA warehouses, social affairs offices, and "camp" directors' offices in the region.
According to Odeh, the crippling protest follows several warnings to the UNRWA demanding it retract its decision to change the benefits.
But ironically, the change actually ends up providing the "refugees" with even more perks - instead of the $111 per year granted in the form of a food basket, the new program gives $130 a year through the cash card in four annual cycles. (Read More)
