Badwill Ambassador: Honorary chair of Israeli Fund for UNICEF wants Palestinian children to “suffer”

Honorary chair of Israeli Fund for UNICEF says Palestinian children, like these ones standing amid rubble of a destroyed school in Gaza, "are fed hatred towards Israel from the moment they are born."(Ashraf Amra / APA images) 

Palestinian rights campaigners are demanding the removal of Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes from the position of honorary chairwoman of the Israeli Fund for UNICEF, the United Nations’ Children’s Fund, over racist and violent comments she has made.

"During the latest Israeli attacks on Gaza, Shalom Nir-Mozes made several shockingly racist comments about Palestinians and Palestinian children," theMiddle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) said in an action alert, urging people towrite to UNICEF "asking them to remove Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes as the chairwoman of the Israeli Fund for UNICEF (IFU) and censure IFU for selecting someone so poorly suited to represent their work for children around the world."
As MECA notes, Shalom Nir-Mozes, who is the wife of Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom, has recently said:

• "How is it possible to make peace with people whosechildren are fed hatred towards Israel from the moment they are born? How is it possible to make peace with people who have it as part of their DNA to hate us? I am willing to make real peace at any price. The problem is that there is no partner. I wish I was wrong."
• "Bibi [Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister], is right, I liked when he said 'They shoot at our children and hide behind their children,’ the miserable losers. Bad enough they ruin our kids’ childhoods, I don’t understand how parents of children in Gaza allow those murderers to destroy their children."
• She additionally spoke out against a ceasefire saying "I really hope Bibi will not surrender to the pressures of our enemies and their lobby and will continue the operation until the murder of the last terrorist in Gaza. It is time that life in the [Israeli] south will start to be normal."

Earlier this year, during a previous Israeli upsurge of killing in Gaza, Shalom Nir-Mozes demanded that "It’s time even for the passive residents of Gaza to suffer the way the residents of the south are suffering."

UNICEF distances itself but fails to take action

In recent days, UNICEF has responded to an outcry over the appointment of Shalom Nir-Mozes, who will be perhaps the most prominent face associated with the organization in Israel. In response to a letter from an Israeli activist, UNICEF wrote, according to Haaretz:

"These views do not reflect the views of UNICEF. Judy Shalom Nir Mozes has recently been appointed by the Board of the Israeli Fund for UNICEF (IFU) as the 'Honorary Chair of the Annual General Meeting.’ This is a voluntary function and as such, Ms. Mozes is not an employee of the IFU. The IFU is an independent non-governmental organization, which helps mobilize funds to support UNICEF programs around the world. The Chairman of the IFU is Moriel Matalon.

This is clearly not enough. A woman who incites violence and hatred against children anywhere has no role in an international organization whose mission is to fight for the rights, well-being and health of children everywhere.
UNICEF is famous for its celebrity Goodwill Ambassadors who include actors Mia Farrow, Susan Sarandon and footballer David Beckham.
Perhaps UNICEF can now create a new category of Badwill and IncitementAmbassadors especially for Ms. Shalom Nir-Mozes?

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UNICEF: Gaza children bear the brunt of the Israeli aggression

GAZA, (PIC)-- Sigrid Kaag, the UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, has said that her organization was doing its best to rehabilitate Palestinian children in preparation for the new school year. During an inspection tour of projects implemented by UNICEF in Gaza Strip on Thursday, she explained that those children were the mostly affected category in the latest Israeli war on Gaza. The regional director underlined that her organization was striving hard to rid those children of the impact of the war in order to start a normal scholastic year. UNICEF is keen on sparing children the damaging effects of war, Kaag said, adding that respecting freedom and rights of children topped her priorities. She regretted that due to Israeli siege only quarter of Gaza Strip's needs were allowed access into the Strip.

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Situation of children in Gaza remains precarious 100 days after end of conflict

More than three months after the cessation of hostilities in Gaza, the Israeli blockade and inter-Palestinian tension are hampering recovery efforts.

"Although the conflict ended 100 days ago, children in Gaza continue to suffer, both physically and psychologically," said Patricia McPhillips, UNICEF Special Representative to the occupied Palestinian territory. "It is critical that supplies and materials needed for recovery and rehabilitation are allowed in." Ten per cent of the population in Gaza remains without electricity and nine per cent with little access to safe water. UNRWA primary health clinics in the south are recording significantly higher prevalence of water and sanitation-related infectious diseases, including acute bloody diarrhea, over the same period last year. For many households, food, fuel and cash are in short supply. According to the latest figures, 65 essential drugs were out of stock at Gaza's Central Store.

Five children have died in unexploded ordnance-related incidents since the end of the 22-day conflict and at least 14 were injured in related violence.

The fighting took a particularly heavy toll on children's psychological wellbeing. A recent United Nations study reaffirmed that mental health, anxiety and stress are the main health problems in Gaza.

Working with partners, UNICEF is ramping up psychosocial support to children and young people, providing mine-risk education in schools and communities, supporting remedial education, and organizing vaccination campaigns.

To improve maternal, newborn and child health, UNICEF is also focusing on improving skills of health care providers and caregivers –particularly in relation to managing severe malnutrition, breastfeeding and early detection of childhood illnesses.

However, lack of access continues to hamper recovery efforts.

Gaza has been under a blockade for 22 months. In March, an average of 132 trucks entered Gaza every day, compared with 475 in May 2007, one month before the Hamas takeover.

Since the cessation of hostilities:

- Destroyed and damaged homes, schools and health facilities can not be reconstructed or repaired due to Israeli restrictions against cement imports.

- Damaged water and sanitation systems still lack repair materials.

- UNICEF educational supplies, including teacher training and early childhood development kits, as well as recreational material including music instruments, have not been allowed in.

Children have also been affected by internal Palestinian tensions. Of particular concern is a dispute since 22 March affecting medical referrals for urgent care not available in Gaza. According to the World Health Organisation, at least three patients have died while waiting to exit Gaza for medical treatment. UNICEF welcomed news on Monday of positive moves on the ground to resolve the crisis.

In addition, there have been reported incidents of children being trained or used by Palestinian militant groups. Children should not be used for political or military purposes.

"Children are the innocent victims of this conflict," McPhillips said. "All parties to the conflicts must put children's interests first."

Israel's military operation from 27 December to 18 January killed or injured one out of every 225 Gazans. Some 431 children were killed and 1,872 wounded, accounting for roughly a third of all casualties. Thirteen Israelis were killed, including three civilians.

About UNICEF

UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, safe water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

For further information, please contact:

Abdel-Rahman Ghandour, UNICEF Regional Office in Amman, +962-79-700-4567, arghandour@unicef.org

Marixie Mercado, UNICEF occupied Palestinian territory, +972-547-787-604, mmercado@unicef.org

Patrick Mc Cormick, UNICEF Media, Tel: + 212 326 7452. E-mail: pmccormick@unicef.org

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UNICEF Rejects Support From Israeli Billionaire Known for Constructing Settlements on Palestinian Lands

Diamond Mogul, Lev Leviev, Facing Increasing Pressure for Human Rights Violations
By Adalah-NY: The Coalition for Justice in the Middle East
Media Contact: media@adalahny.org

New York, NY, June 19, 2008 – A senior advisor to UNICEF’s Director said in a letter today that UNICEF will reject all partnerships with, or financial support from, Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. Leviev had previously provided UNICEF with support by sponsoring fundraising events in France. Leviev’s past support for UNICEF is featured in a number of places on his company’s website (www.leviev.com).

UNICEF’s rejection of Leviev’s support followed meetings with Adalah-NY, letters from organizations and Palestinian communities advocating a boycott of Leviev’s companies, and a visit by UNICEF officials to Jayyous, one of the Palestinian communities where a Leviev company is building Israeli settlements. Leviev’s diamond-mining companies in Angola have also been accused of serious human rights abuses.

Abdullah Abu Rahme, a community leader from the West Bank village of Bil’in, said, “We welcome UNICEF’s decision to hold one of the companies that has been building Mattityahu East settlement accountable for attempting to destroy our community. Our village has engaged in a three and a half year nonviolent campaign to save our land, and an international boycott is an important complement to our weekly protests. This is a victory, but we need many more like it.” Leviev’s companies have also recently built homes in the settlements of Maale Adumim and Har Homa, both of which cut off East Jerusalem from the West Bank.

A June 19 letter to Adalah-NY from Chris De Bono, senior communications advisor to UNICEF’s Executive Director, stated: “Yesterday we confirmed that UNICEF has concluded that it will not consider partnerships - direct or indirect - with Mr. Lev Leviev or any of his corporate entities, and will not accept financial or other support that we know is from him or his corporate entities. The concerned parts of the UNICEF family, including our national committees, have been advised of this.” (See the full UNICEF letter: adalahny.org/images/stories/unicef-leviev.pdf) The letter followed a June 18th meeting at UNICEF’s New York headquarters with representatives from Adalah-NY.

In a previous March 25, 2008 letter to Adalah-NY, UNICEF explained that Leviev had indirectly supported UNICEF three times, “each time as a sponsor of fundraising activities organized by the French magazine Gala in support of UNICEF.” In the same letter UNICEF expressed its support for UN resolutions stating that Israeli settlements violate international law. Then in April, UNICEF received letters demanding that it reject all support from Leviev from Jewish Voice for Peace, Defence for Children International-Palestine, the villages of Jayyous and Bil’in, The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Campaign, and Jews Against the Occupation.

The Mayor of the West Bank village of Jayyous, Mohammed Taher Jaber, commented: “UNICEF officials visited us in May and saw the terrible impacts on our children of the theft of our farmland for the expansion of Zufim settlement by Leviev’s company Leader. We thank UNICEF for upholding international law, and supporting children’s rights, and we call on other organizations to do the same.”

When contacted by Adalah-NY in January, Oxfam International announced publicly that it had not received support from Leviev, contrary to press reports and information on one of Leviev’s websites, and that it would not accept his support in the future due to Leviev’s companies’ settlement construction. Dubai has also recently announced that it would not allow Leviev to open planned jewelry stores in the Emirate following boycott calls issued by Adalah-NY and Palestinian communities.

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