By the Gazette Editorial Board Don't let us down. This was a touching and extremely expressive outcry on the part of l4-year old Palestinian pupil, Ahmed Bakr, who was invited to address the Arab League Council meeting attended by 18 foreign ministers this week. He was appealing to the Arabs, with their national commitments and human conscience, to back the Palestinians, who have been facing a series of US atrocities against them in recent months. Bakr, who attends one of the UNRWA schools in Jordan, was quite aware of what it meant for Palestinian children to be deprived of their right to receive education. The US' cutting of the funds it provides to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) has drawn world condemnation because when, as the biggest donor, the US pulls back from supporting an organisation of a humanitarian nature, then it is deliberately abusing the rights of some 5.3 million Palestinian refugees for a strictly political purpose. The US has in fact provided sufficient proof that it intends to remove the topic of refugees from the negotiating table when and if it presents the Palestinians with a so-called peace deal. The Trump Administration has already excluded Jerusalem from any future talks by recognising the city as Israel's capital. The UNRWA, which was created by the UN General Assembly in 1949, has operated in poor areas in the West Bank and Gaza and in refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. It provides education to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children and is involved in health and many other humanitarian services. It seems that the Trump Administration has no regard for human beings who refuse to kneel down to US demands based on Israel's dictates which, in turn, violate the right of the Palestinians to a decent life. The organisation is seeking to make up for a huge shortfall of funds in the wake of the US decision. Some countries have been quick to respond in assisting the UNRWA in its present financial crisis including Germany, Japan, India and China which have pledged to boost their funding of the organisation. Moreover, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have committed themselves to paying an additional $50 million each. The Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Abul Gheit has advocated the need for a diplomatic plan to garner further world support for the UNRWA to secure the funds needed for the organisation to carry on its mission. Moreover, Jordan earlier said that it would host a fundraiser at the UN headquarters in New York this month in favour of the UNRWA. According to Pierre Krahenbuhl, the commissioner-general of the UNRWA, the organisation is seeking to make up some $200 million in deficit. The US decision regarding the UNRWA should serve as a turning point for the Palestinian cause. The Trump Administration has so far made clear its intention to liquidate the cause. It has moved its embassy to Jerusalem, cut aid from the Palestinian Authority and the UNRWA and has of late closed the PLO office in Washington. What more does the Arab nation and do peace-loving countries need to prompt them to act to secure the Palestinians' right to an independent state?
