Thousands of UN schools staff strike for third time in Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM // Employees at about 240 United Nations schools in the Gaza Strip have gone on strike for the third time in little more than a month to protest against the punishment of a teacher with alleged unauthorised links to Hamas.

Suheil Al Hindi was suspended from his teaching duties by the UN's Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in September for reportedly organising an event attended by Hamas officials. That was in breach of the UN agency's policy of barring participation in political activity without first obtaining permission.

UNRWA's 7,500 teachers and other staff members, who educate 220,000 Gazan pupils, began their five-day strike on Sunday. An unnamed person associated with UNRWA's Arab Workers' Union, which is headed by Mr Hindi, told the Agence France-Presse news agency that it would last until Thursday over this "unjust" decision.

Chris Gunness, UNRWA's spokesman, implored agency employees to halt the strike, warning that it was "playing dangerously into the hands of those who seek to defund and destroy UNRWA".

"We urge the union to call off this action and put the refugees at the centre of UNRWA's agenda," he said.

UNRWA has played a vital role in providing medical and educational services in Gaza, as well as to millions of refugees scattered across the region. The organisation also has helped compensate for the Hamas government's inability to provide basic services to the Israeli-blockaded territory's 1.7 million residents.

Hamas members, however, have long been critical of what they see as the organisation's western teaching principles. Some also have vociferously opposed its proposals to teach Palestinian youth about the Holocaust.

Such ideological opposition probably added force to this and previous strikes protesting Mr Hindi's September suspension.

While Hamas says it would not directly involve itself, Ismail Haniyeh, the Islamist group's prime minister in Gaza, said during a strike earlier this month that the group "cannot stand and watch silently UNRWA's rejection of the demands of the employees".