At the end of October 2024, Israel’s parliament voted to ban the UN's Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa) from operating within Israel and occupied East Jerusalem. While most of Unrwa's projects take place in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, it relies on agreements with Israel to operate. Thus, on a practical level, the ban on interacting with Israeli officials means it is now almost impossible for the agency's staff to operate effectively. Joining the show to discuss the Unrwa ban and the broader issues of when, why, and how states obstruct Humanitarian Assistance is Dr. William Plowright, an Assistant Professor of International Security at the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University, where he teaches on the MSc Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding and MSc Defence, Development and Diplomacy. Before joining Durham Will spent nearly a decade working in operational management in the humanitarian sector, for Doctors Without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontieres, in various countries and situations of armed conflict, mass displacement, detention, and disease outbreaks. He has just published a new book entitled “War on Rescue: The Obstruction of Humanitarian Assistance in the European Migration Crisis”, where he describes, analyses, and explains why and how governments block assistance to people in times of crisis. To learn more about our guest, Dr. Will Plowright, see his website at https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/william-plowright/

More information on Dr. Will Plowright's book "War on Rescue: The Obstruction of Humanitarian Assistance in the European Migration Crisis”, can be found at https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501778353/the-war-on-rescue

Music: The Good News by SHANTI from https://tunetank.com/track/263-the-good-news/