Today, Sunday 23 May 2010, nine sites prepared for the summer games program annually organized by UNRWA were attacked.
Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights condemns the attack and calls on the Gaza Government to uphold its responsibility to investigate this attack and to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Al Mezan warns of the increase in attacks that harm the individual freedom of citizens.
Al Mezan asserts that the Gaza Government is fully liable for the safety and security of the summer games’ utilities and the participant children.
    According to Al Mezan's field investigations, at approximately 2:30am on Sunday 23 May 2010, 30 masked, armed men broke into nine sites prepared for the activities of summer games for UNRWA.
These sites were established on the beach in the Al Sheikh Ejleen neighborhood, west of Gaza City.
  According to UNRWA sources and information available to Al Mezan, the armed men cuffed the guard of the site.
They beat him and blindfolded him.
Then, the armed men took the guard outside the site and closed the coastal main road, which is opposite the UNRWA sites.
This road connects the Gaza districts with each other.
The armed men tore up the plastic covers that surrounded the sites, destroyed water tanks and sat fire to the main site, which consists of a store and an administrative site.
The armed men then left the site.
The nine sites are about 18 donums (a donum is equal to 1000 square meters).
These sites are leased from the Municipality of Gaza.
About 4500 children were supposed to benefit from these sites.
540 persons, who are graduated from universities and are unemployed, were supposed to work there.
  Al Mezan has received a copy of a press release published by the Ministry of Interior in Gaza in which the Ministry announced that it had already opened an investigation into the incident and it is following with great concern the investigation.
The Ministry expressed its wonder at 'the UNRWA media for exaggerating the incident [and] the serious concern the media has given this incident and the negligence of other basic issues, such as the siege…'  (informal translation of the Arabic version)   On Friday 21 May 2010, leaflets dated 19 May 2010 were circulated on the internet and in mosques following the Friday mass prayer around the Gaza Strip.
These statements defamed UNRWA and threatened UNRWA's director, education director and his assistant.
  Al Mezan condemns the charges against the UNRWA Palestinian and international directors.
The charges do not have any grounds.
Parents are the sole parties responsible for deciding whether or not their children would participate in the summer games.
School directors do not have the authority to force students to participate in these camps.
UNRWA, upon a popular request, separated the boys and girls camps to encourage parents to send their children to these camps.
Al Mezan asserts the importance of the summer games for the children as an important opportunity to practice sport and other activities, and to deal with the psychological pressure that the Palestinian children suffer from the siege, poverty and violence which prevail in the Gaza Strip.
    Al Mezan views the attack against summer camps as a dangerous issue and warns of the increase in attacks, which damage individual freedoms.
Al Mezan calls on the Gaza Government to: ·         Find the perpetrators of this attack and to promptly bring them to justice.
·         Provide full protection to children and their summer camps, particularly the activities of the summer games.
·         To prevent the provocative, defamatory campaign against UNRWA.
·         Confront all the violations of individual and public freedoms.
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Ends