The Foreign Policy Commission of the National Council will discuss, Monday April 29 and Tuesday April 30, Swiss contributions to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which are currently still blocked. A question of great importance which arouses exceptional mobilization in the country.
Will Switzerland stop its contributions to UNRWA, the UN organization which helps Palestinian refugees? It is a decision of rare political significance that the CPE, the Foreign Policy Commission of the National Council, is preparing to take, which is due to meet on Monday April 29 and Tuesday April 30 in Bern.
The UDC is leading the fight against the agency, which is accused by Israel “to employ more than 400 terrorists» in connection with Hamas and the massacres of October 7. “The organization does not guarantee that the funds paid will arrive safely.», also specified the influential parliamentary group leader Thomas Aeschi, this Saturday April 28 in Le Temps.
The vote, which promises to be uncertain, will indicate the meaning of the final decision of the Federal Council, which should fall at the beginning of May.
In the meantime, an unprecedented mobilization has been organized in the country. Several petitions launched by the PS, Amnesty International and NGOs have gathered tens of thousands of signatures to call on the government to continue supporting UNRWA. Nearly 250 personalities from all political sides have also signed an appeal to this effect which is due to appear this Monday, April 29 in the country’s main newspapers. It is an understatement to say that the question divides Switzerland.
Why is it important? The Federal Council is hesitant to resume its annual contribution of 20 million francs to the UN agency which employs 13,000 people in Gaza, and is headed by the Swiss Philippe Lazzarini. The latter was received in Bern at the end of March by parliamentarians to defend the agency’s position in the face of Israeli accusations, but Federal Councilor Ignazio Cassis openly shunned him.
