AMSTERDAM
The attacks on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) are part of Israel's 75-year effort to erase Palestinians from history, within the broader context of the genocide in Gaza, said the former UNRWA official.
Lex Takkenberg, who held various senior positions at UNRWA for 31 years, spoke to Anadolu about Israel's ongoing attacks on UNRWA, the restrictions during his tenure, and the increasing pressures in recent times.
Takkenberg, who co-authored the book "Palestinian Refugees in International Law" with UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese, stated that Israel's targeting of UNRWA is part of a plan to "erase" the physical presence of the Palestinian people, their institutions, education system, and history.
Israel's troubled relationship with UNRWA
Takkenberg, an international lawyer, noted that Israel's relationship with UNRWA has been problematic since 1967.
“… It's quite rapidly discovered that Israel always had a sort of hatred-love relationship with the UN. And that, of course, extended to UNRWA.
"One of the first things that Israel took offense at was the textbooks used by UNRWA in its schools, which were textbooks from Egypt and Jordan, respectively, that contained elements Israel considered anti-Semitic,” he added.
Israel then began attacking the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and it started censoring the textbooks, creating a whole "drama" around it, also involving UNESCO, Takkenberg added.
The 65-year-old said that Israel had claimed UNRWA staff in Gaza and the West Bank were involved in "terrorist activities."
"UNRWA always said, ok, give us the evidence and we will take immediate action," he said.
"There was a recurrent pattern that Israel gave the allegations, and published the allegations, but never provided solid evidence.
"And that has continued even with respect to the most recent attacks under opened investigations and even sort of in the interest of the agency terminated the staff members concerned as out of an abundance of portion,” he added.
Takkenberg noted that Israel's attacks on UNRWA escalated with the arrival of the new government and after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
On the very day the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued its first interim ruling in the genocide case, Israel raised the claim that some UNRWA staff were involved in the Hamas attack last October, he said.
Highlighting the importance of the UN agency, which has 30,000 employees in the region, Takkenberg said that it is a major public service provider offering education, healthcare, social services, microfinance, and housing support.
"Whenever there is renewed conflict in the region, UNRWA also becomes the lifeline, providing emergency support.
"In Gaza, UNRWA is still the backbone of the entire humanitarian system, trying to help the survivors of the genocide literally to survive,” he stressed.
Symbol of Palestinians' right to return
Highlighting the symbolic importance of UNRWA for the Palestinian people, Takkenberg said that twelve months before the establishment of the agency, the UN General Assembly had decided that the Palestinian refugee issue should primarily be resolved through the right of return and had adopted Resolution 194 in 1948.
He explained that this resolution foresaw allowing Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.
In doing so, the international community and the General Assembly affirmed the right of return, which stemmed from the illegality of ethnic cleansing and the forced expulsion of refugees in Palestine, he added.
Blocking UNRWA is violation of international law
The Dutch national emphasized that Israel is violating the Genocide Convention and the ICJ's interim decisions by making UNRWA's operations impossible.
Israel is also violating the ICJ advisory opinion that declared the occupation illegal and ordered Israel to withdraw from the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the entire Gaza Strip, he added.
Noting that UNRWA has requested the UN General Assembly and the Security Council to protect the organization's mandate, staff, and operations in the face of Israeli attacks, Takkenberg underlined that Israel is targeting not only UNRWA but all UN institutions.
Israel has continued a devastating offensive on Gaza since an attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas in October 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Nearly 43,700 people have since been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, and over 103,000 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the ICJ for its deadly war on Gaza.
*Writing by Muhammed Enes Calli in Istanbul
