The NEU was shocked to hear that Israeli Security Forces (ISF) forcibly entered the UNRWA[1] Kalandia Training Centre (KTC) in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday 25 August when around 20 UNRWA staff members were on site. We understand that Israeli officials subsequently made public statements indicating that the premises had been seized by the Israeli authorities.
The NEU condemns this unauthorised incursion by the ISF into a United Nations (UN) facility, without the authorisation or consent of the UN. The KTC is a UN facility protected by the privileges and immunities afforded to it under international law and its inviolability must be fully respected.
The Kalandia Training Centre is UNRWA’s oldest vocational training centre and has served thousands of Palestine refugees for more than seven decades. The centre provides hundreds of Palestinian students from refugee camps across the occupied West Bank with access to free vocational education and a pathway towards greater economic independence.
The NEU demands that the inviolability of the Kalandia Training Centre is respected and that all other UN premises are protected from unauthorised entry and seizure.
[1] UNRWA is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. It was established by the UN General Assembly in 1949 with a mandate to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to registered Palestine refugees in the agency’s area of operations. It supports Palestine’s refugees with the provision of quality services in education, health care, relief and social services, protection, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance. UNRWA operates in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.