After the Israeli Knesset passed two bills on October 28, 2024, aiming to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from operating across all occupied Palestine, ARDD engaged its Global Network of Experts on the Question of Palestine (GNQP) to explore possible paths forward. Throughout November, interactive and substantive discussions addressed the implications of the ban, its broader geopolitical context, and the critical challenges UNRWA faces. A key focus was the preservation of Palestinian refugee records, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding archives and accelerating document digitization efforts.
The significance of this decision goes beyond UNRWA’s future, as it appears to align with Israel’s broader eliminatory agenda. Discussions highlighted that continued international inaction has not only emboldened Israel but also undermined the very foundations of international law. More concerning, current frameworks suggest that international law has at times reinforced Israel’s actions rather than challenging them. Israel’s efforts to discredit and replace global institutions further reflect the growing fragility of the post-World War II international order. This crisis is exacerbated by the failure of Western powers—its architects and supposed guardians—to uphold the system’s principles when it comes to Israel. Their reluctance to enforce these standards raises profound questions about the legitimacy and future of international governance, posing an existential challenge to its credibility and effectiveness.
Compounding this crisis is the recent outcome of the 2024 United States elections. Trump’s return to the presidency is expected to accelerate US disengagement from the United Nations, resulting in significant cuts to UNRWA’s already strained funding. Members of the GNQP noted Trump’s transactional approach to foreign policy, predicting a worsening of the genocidal situation in Gaza, an unchecked expansion of Israel’s colonization of the West Bank and creeping annexation of Jerusalem. While Trump’s policies may bring short-term intensification of violence, his focus on pragmatic, self-serving deals could also reshape regional alliances, particularly with Gulf countries, as part of a broader effort to sideline the question of Palestine. The collapse of the Palestinian Authority and increased Israeli pressure on Palestinian governance were also raised as likely outcomes.
The urgency of the situation demands a shift from rhetoric to concrete action. While states’ official positions often conflict with their inaction, participants stressed the need for member states to impose economic and diplomatic pressure on Israel, challenge Israeli narratives, and safeguard UNRWA’s work. It is a pivotal moment: the international community must decide whether to uphold its moral and legal obligations or allow this ban to further erode the already weakened system of international accountability. Without decisive intervention, the erasure of Palestine will continue unchecked, with devastating consequences for the global order and Palestinian lives. To this end, priority should be directed to action focused on strengthening grassroots movements to achieve long-term goals, such as the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign to push for practical diplomatic and economic countermeasures, including sanctions and the suspension of Israel’s participation in international forums. This must be underpinned by channeling efforts towards the ongoing and growing efforts to diplomatically isolate Israel and reframe Palestine within settler-colonial and imperialist frameworks should be prioritised at the civil society and grassroot movement levels.
At the same time, it is paramount to safeguard history and identity against Israel’s relentless destruction of Palestine and its indigenous tapestry. In this context, UNRWA has revived its Historical Archives Project–which started in 2005–comprising 30 million documents dating back to the Nakba, aims to preserve and digitize vital records such as family files, births, and marriages. Plans are in place to develop tools to retrace family trees for 6 million registered refugees by 2025, while the eUNRWA application now enables refugees to access and update records remotely.
As Israel’s genocidal campaign against Palestine continues unabated, with the dismantlement of UNRWA being a key tactic, strategic planning and collaboration with UNHCR, and partnerships with academics to ensure the preservation of the archives are vital efforts to create a counter-hegemony in defense of Palestinian history and identity, stories and Palestinians’ inalienable rights to return to their land.
