Protest In Gaza Over UNRWA’s Code Of Conduct Recognizing Gay Rights: It Started With Gender Equality, Now They Demand Rights For Groups That Do Not Exist Among Our People

On September 16, 2023, Mayadeen TV (Lebanon) aired a report about opposition in Gaza to the new UNRWA Code of Conduct, which the reporter said promotes homosexuality and asserts that there are homosexuals among UNRWA employees and the refugees. Muhammad Shwadeh of the UNRWA Workers Union said that "it started" with equality between men and women and now the UNRWA are demanding equality for "groups that do not exist among the Palestinian people." Mahmoud Khalaf, who is the coordinator of the Joint Refugee Committee, demanded that the Code of Conduct be withdrawn and that UNRWA apologize to the Palestinian people.

Reporter: "Palestinians have widely rejected the Code of Conduct released by UNRWA's Ethics Office, which promotes homosexuality and claims it exists among [UNRWA] employees, as well as among the refugees. The union of UNRWA workers declared that this Code of Conduct runs counter to the lofty values upheld by UNRWA and champions deviant notions that are alien to the culture of Palestinian society."

Muhammad Shwadeh: "There has been collaboration with some enemies of the Palestinian people in order to introduce some notions, under the pretext that [UNRWA] needs funding. Some countries condition their funding of UNRWA on the introduction of these notions. It started with the concept of gender and with equality between men and women, and has now reached the point of [demanding] rights for groups that do not exist among – and indeed, are alien to – the Palestinian people."

Reporter: "The Joint Refugee Committee considered the text of the Code to be a dangerous violation and a perpetuation of UNRWA's signing of the Framework Agreement. The committee warned against the continuation of this measure, which is aimed at promoting moral perversion, and stressed that it would not allow [UNRWA] to go through with these schemes to water down the values of [Palestinian] society."

Mahmoud Khalaf: "We categorically reject this Code of Conduct, and we will not allow it to be circulation to the workers and the refugees. We demand that it is rejected immediately, and that [UNRWA] apologizes to the Palestinian people for this blunder, and for the attempt to present this Coed of Conduct with rights for homosexuals."

Reporter: "The Palestinian factions, workers unions, and women's rights organizations have demanded that UNRWA does not spread the culture of homosexuality, and present it as a value of equality in society."