“A Cultural Occupation?” UNRWA’s Human Rights, Conflict Resolution and Tolerance Programme: Perspectives from Balata Camp
Abstract
This study centres on HRE in the Palestinian context, specifically the Human Rights, Conflict Resolution, and Tolerance (HRCRT) Programme instituted by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Working from a critical perspective, the study seeks firstly to examine this curriculum in relation to the broader discourses around Israel/Palestine and secondly to explore Palestinian responses. The study employs a combination of qualitative research methods, including document analysis of UNRWA’s policy framework and curriculum materials, as well as focus groups/interviews conducted with teachers and students in the West Bank. The study finds evidence that UNRWA’s HRCRT curriculum, premised on a profound misunderstanding of the ‘problem’ in Israel/Palestine, seeks not to assist learners in claiming their rights, but rather to reform Palestinian attitudes and ‘culture.’ Perceptions of this curriculum among the students and teachers interviewed are largely negative, and across all demographic groups, broad agreement is evident that UNRWA’s curriculum fails to meet students’ needs by refusing to engage with, or even acknowledge, Palestinians’ daily reality of ubiquitous rights violations.
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ISSN 2049-9558
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