UNRWA USA and Palestinian Americans request meeting with Sen. James Risch and Rep. Michael McCaul to discuss their hold on food assistance for refugees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 24, 2023

MEDIA CONTACT:
Laila Mokhiber, Director of Communications
laila@unrwausa.org

(202) 223-3767 

WASHINGTON DC – Today, UNRWA USA Executive Director, Mara Kronenfeld, along with a group of Palestinian Americans, requested a meeting with Senator James Risch and Representative Michael McCaul ahead of the August congressional recess. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the need for their immediate release of $75 million in food assistance for refugees in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These funds, which have already been provided in the FY2023 State, Foreign Operations appropriations bill, have been blocked from obligation by Sen. Risch and Rep. McCaul.

On July 12th, UNRWA USA, along with 24 other major civil society actors, wrote Sen. Risch and Rep. McCaul requesting their release of these funds, noting that “a devastating humanitarian crisis looms with more than 1.2 million people potentially left without food as early as mid-September, including hundreds of thousands of innocent children.” Nearly two weeks later, the hold remains, leaving the fate of over a million refugees hanging in the balance.

Kronenfeld continued, “It is hard to understand the justification for allowing innocent people, particularly children, to go hungry when Congress anticipated this situation last year and specifically provided for it in the FY2023 foreign aid funding bill.” 

Three out of four people in Gaza, who have no other options for food, rely on international assistance and the situation is already critical following the announcement by the World Food Programme of its suspension of food assistance to over 200,000 Palestinians due to a severe lack of funds.

“You hold in your hands the power to make an immediate and life-saving impact on over a million Palestine refugees who rely on this food for their very survival,” Kronenfeld passionately concluded.

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UNRWA USA National Committee (UNRWA USA) is an independent nonprofit organization that provides support for the humanitarian work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). UNRWA USA lifts up the voices, experiences, and humanity of Palestine refugees to secure American support for resources essential to every human being, for the promise of a better life. US taxpayers are eligible for tax deductions for donations made through UNRWA USA. 

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