Dozens of Celebrities Send Open Letter Denouncing Trumps UNWRA Aid Cut

January 28, 2018 Articles, Features, News
UNWRA was established in 1949 after the establishment of the Israeli state displaced more than 700,000 Palestinians. (Photo: Social Media)

Dozens of public figures and celebrities have strongly condemned the US decision to cut funding to the United Nations Works and Relief Agency (UNRWA), an organization that provides life-sustaining aid to Palestinian Refugees in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and in the Diaspora.

Among the many celebrities that signed on to a statement released by the Hoping Foundation were Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Viggo Mortensen, Olivia Wilde, Gillian Anderson, and Tilda Swinton.

The signers expressed their dismay, saying,

“We wish to express our horror at the unprecedented attack on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) by US President Donald Trump. This UN institution was set up almost 70 years ago specifically to protect, and provide urgently required humanitarian relief, to Palestinian refugees. So the real target of this lethal attack is the Palestinian people themselves. It has been launched with the clear aim of dismantling their rights, by dismantling the institution that is charged with protecting them.”

UNWRA was established in 1949 after the establishment of the Israeli state displaced more than 700,000 Palestinians. Ninety percent of the indigenous population was either internally displaced or made refugees. They still wait to return to their ancestral homelands.

Until now, the list includes Alfonso Cuarón; Andrew O’Hagan; Antony Gormley; Bella Freud; Brian Eno; Claire Foy; David Morrissey; Emma Thompson; Eric Cantona; Esther Freud; Gary Lineker; Gillian Anderson; Hanif Kureishi; Hugh Grant; James Fox; Jemima Khan; Karma Nabulsi; Ken Loach; Laura Bailey; Livia Firth; Mary McCartney; Olivia Wilde; Paul Laverty; Peter Gabriel; Peter Kosminsky; Robert Del Naja; Stephen Frears; Steve Coogan; Tilda Swinton; Tracey Emin; Vanessa Kirby; Viggo Mortensen and Will Self.

Trump recently cut the US contribution to UNWRA by more than half. The budget of the humanitarian organization comes primarily from the US and European countries. Trump explained himself, saying that the Palestinians refused to work with the US.

World Leaders, 21 international humanitarian organizations and public figures around the world have condemned the US action, and pressing them to reconsider.

(PC, Social Media)

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