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Kuwait's Palestinian children conf. part of continuous supportive legacy

By Abdulsallam Al-Sallat

KUWAIT, Nov 11 (KUNA) -- The international conference on the suffering of Palestinian children, which will be hosted by Kuwait on November 12 and 13, is part of the Kuwaiti continuous supportive legacy towards the Palestinian cause.
Long before the 1948 Palestinian exodus, Kuwaitis have been supporting Palestinians against occupiers. In 1936, the first committee supporting the Palestinian people was established by Kuwaitis who gathered donations for Palestine.
Beyond 1948, Kuwaitis have opened their country to receive Palestinians after they were exiled from their homeland by Jewish elements that formed the Zionist state of Israel.
Kuwait's international stance on the Palestinian cause was very visible and in 1963 then Foreign Minister and current Amir of Kuwait His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah said that Palestinians have the right to return to theire own lands.
In 1964, Kuwait had donated a sum of one million Sterling Pound in support of the second Arab summit's resolution that called for the formation of a free Palestinian army.
Kuwait renewed its international stance on the issue when again His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, then Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called on Israel to withdraw from occupied Palestinian lands.
The Gulf country was a key supporter of the first Palestinian intifada in 1987, allowing Palestinians in Kuwait to open funds and gather donations for their cause.
In 1996, Kuwait provided a sum of USD 25 million was provided to autonomous Palestinian regions.
Kuwait repeated the act, donating USD 25 million in 1999 to the Palestinian national authority. The same year saw a USD 1.5 million Kuwaiti donation to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
In 2000, Kuwait's late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah donated USD 150 million to support the Palestinian Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa intifada. In December of the same year, Kuwait called on the UNSC to end the continuous suffering of the Palestinian people by the hand of the brutal Israeli state.
Between 2002 and 2005, Kuwait donated millions of US Dollars to support Palestine and UNRWA.
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah donated USD 30 million in 2006 to support the Palestinian people.
Kuwait pledged in 2007 to provide USD 300 million at the Paris donors conference for Palestine.
In 2008, Kuwait signed with the World Bank an agreement to offer Palestinians a sum of USD 80 million.
During the Arab social and economic summit in 2009, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah pledged USD 34 million to cover the expenses of UNRWA. The same year saw Kuwait donating USD 200 million to reconstruct the Gaza Strip, which suffer throughout the years from brutal Israeli military aggressions.
Kuwait decided in 2011 to increase its contributions to UNRWA by USD 1.5 million.
Kuwait and the World Bank inked again an agreement in favor of development in Palestine. The agreement was worth USD 50 million.
In 2013, Kuwait donated USD 15 million to UNRWA, which helped Palestinians affected by the Syrian crisis.
Kuwait announced a USD 10 million donation in 2014 to help the Palestinians.
During the donors conferences for Syrian held in 2013, 2014 and 2015 in Kuwait, the GCC nation donated USD 50 million to help Palestinians effected by the ongoing regional crisis.
Kuwait covered the educational expenses for some 500,000 Palestinian students at UNRWA schools, providing USD 15 million for this cause.
While co-organizing the Syrian donors conference in London, Kuwait donated USD five million for Palestinians entangled in the crisis in Syria.
According to official statistics by the Kuwaiti government, Kuwaiti donations to UNRWA since it was established in 1949 had reached around USD 162 million. (end) aas.gta