Letter
USCCB-CRS Letter Concerning Aid Funding for Palestinians, October 26, 2018
USCCB-CRS Letter Concerning Aid Funding for Palestinians, signed by Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, Chairman, Committee on International Justice and Peace and Sean L. Callahan, President & CEO, Catholic Relief Services, October 26, 2018
In recent weeks, the Administration directed USAID to reprogram over $200 million in bilateral FY2017 funds intended for humanitarian projects in Gaza and the West Bank, and $25 million intended for the East Jerusalem Hospital Network, as well as to withhold $300 million in U.S. funding for UNRWA. We urge you respectfully to reconsider these decisions and reinstate U.S. funding for basic human needs to Palestinians.
The programs in question serve as an essential lifeline for the Palestinian people. In Gaza, for instance, where half the population is living in poverty, these decisions will drastically reduce access to basic health care and social services. The cuts will also eliminate employment programs for youth in a territory that has over fifty percent unemployment. These cuts may also cause the East Jerusalem hospital network to turn away people seeking lifesaving kidney dialysis sessions and cancer treatments. Finally there is a very real possibility that UNWRA will have to close up to 700 schools in the near future, despite additional contributions from other countries.
These funding cuts will have a direct impact on Catholic institutions serving vulnerable populations in the Holy Land, further eroding a Christian presence in the region. Those directly or indirectly impacted by these cuts include Catholic Relief Services, Caritas Jerusalem, Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem, Bethlehem University, and the Missionaries of Charity in Gaza.