Anne Irfan
Lecturer, University College LondonDr Anne Irfan is an academic expert on the modern Middle East, Palestinian refugee rights, and colonial displacements.
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A joint initiative between the University of Bergen
and CMI – Chr. Michelsen Institute
Palestinians, UNRWA, and the international refugee system
19.02.2025
12:15 - 13:15English
Who is who in the Middle East: What is UNRWA and why does its role matter?
DG ECHO Since Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023, Israel has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza, in a war widely recognized as genocidal.
With a shaky ceasefire now in place, the Israeli parliament has intensified the crisis by criminalising the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The agency is the primary service provider for Palestinians and runs schools, hospitals and relief services across the Middle East. The United States has now banned any US funding for UNRWA as part of its plans for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
Amidst accusations of UN antisemitism and support for terrorism, the question remains: what is UNRWA and why does its role matter?
Drawing on original research at UNRWA’s usually closed archive, this talk will examine the agency’s history and politics to explain its significance. In the process, it will debunk contemporary myths about the UN’s role in Palestine – and explain why refugee rights remain central to understanding the Middle East.
Facebook eventEvent info.
Bergen GlobalJekteviksbakken 31, Bergen
19.02.2025
12:15 - 13:15
English
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Pelle Valentin Olsen
Associate Professor, UiBPelle Valentin Olsen is a cultural, social, and transnational historian of the modern Middle East. His research and teaching focus on the history of leisure, labor, gender, sexuality, popular culture, and cultural production.
Read moreAnne Irfan
Lecturer, University College London
Dr Anne Irfan is an academic expert on the modern Middle East, Palestinian refugee rights, and colonial displacements.
Dr Anne Irfan is Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Race, Gender and Postcolonial Studies at University College London (UCL). She is author of the book Refuge and Resistance: Palestinians and the international refugee system (Columbia University Press, 2023) and has written extensively on Palestinian refugee history and politics.
Pelle Valentin Olsen
Associate Professor, UiB
Pelle Valentin Olsen is a cultural, social, and transnational historian of the modern Middle East. His research and teaching focus on the history of leisure, labor, gender, sexuality, popular culture, and cultural production.
He focusses specifically on Iraq, but his work simultaneously explores transregional and transnational connections, highlighting everyday perspectives and voices often left out by traditional political and state-centered histories.
He received his PhD with honors from the University of Chicago in 2020. Previously, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Roskilde University in Denmark, where he worked on the ‘Entangled Histories of Palestine and the Global New Left’ project.
Bergen Global is a joint initiative between the University of Bergen and Chr. Michelsen Institute that addresses global challenges.
