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Palestinian Garment Factory Makes Protective Gear Amid Coronavirus

Nisan Ahmado

   WASHINGTON / HEBRON, WEST BANK - As Palestinian authorities step up
   their efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the West
   Bank, a garment factory in Hebron city has shifted its production from
   clothing items to masks and protective suits against the pandemic.

   Al-Mahariq factory is operating seven days a week to meet local demand
   for protective equipment in the Palestinian territories. Its workers
   say they hope their products can help their community feel safer while
   authorities report a lack of supplies to fight the contagious virus.

   "The virus is spreading all over the world, and it is closer to our
   country," Amir Zaloum, the sales manager of al-Mahariq, told VOA,
   adding that as a father he felt responsible for helping "the sons and
   daughters" in his country.

   "We have to be careful and protect our people and employees. So, we
   have started to produce the protective jumpsuits to meet the needs of
   the market and the employees in the ministries, security and police
   officers."

   The factory works 24 hours a day to produce between 200 and 300 suits
   and over 3,000 masks daily. One of its workers, Amir Al Shiehk Durra,
   said the staff run different shifts to meet local demand in Hebron.

   "I came here 20 days ago to work in this factory as they needed more
   people to help in making masks. The demand for masks is increasing and
   the number of staff joining the work is also increasing daily," said
   Durra.

   Continued operation during the pandemic means the workers are more
   vulnerable to contract the virus. The factory is taking precautionary
   measures to ensure workplace safety. Still, many workers remain
   concerned but say they see no other option.

   "Of course I am concerned every day I leave home to work," one of the
   workers, Badr Khalil Durra, told VOA. "But this is an emergency and we
   don't have an alternative in Palestine but to make these masks,
   otherwise people won't have any protective masks."

   The U.S. government Thursday said it was giving $5 million in
   assistance to help Palestinian hospitals and households cope with the
   coronavirus. Announcing the aid in a tweet, the U.S. ambassador to
   Israel, David Friedman, said "the USA, as the world's top humanitarian
   aid donor, is committed to assisting the Palestinian people, & others
   worldwide, in this crisis."

   The humanitarian assistance came as Palestinian health authorities
   earlier Thursday said that the number of registered COVID-19 cases had
   risen to 291, of them 62 recovered and two dead. The authorities said
   they were struggling to maintain the needed medical supplies, mainly
   because Israel is holding funds to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and
   because of U.S. aid cuts to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for
   Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

   UNRWA funding

   UNRWA was founded after the first Arab-Israeli war in 1949 to aid and
   protect Palestinian refugees. The agency provides education and health
   services to registered Palestinian refugees in West Bank and Gaza, as
   well as refugees living in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. As of 2019, over
   5.6 million Palestinian refugees were registered with the agency.

   The U.S. was one of the biggest contributors to UNRWA until August 2018
   when it announced that it was no longer committed to funding to the
   agency. The U.S. has accused the UNRWA of misconduct and said the
   agency needed to reform its "irredeemably flawed operations."

   The U.N. General Assembly in December renewed UNRWA's mandate for
   another three years despite U.S. and Israeli objections. Also, to
   offset the part of U.S. cuts, Canada, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the
   United Arab Emirates have stepped up their funding to the agency.
   However, the agency said it was reducing its services and needed more
   support to compensate for the U.S. aid cut.

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