Bethlehem - Ma’an - UNRWA’s Hebrew language outreach program titled Building Understanding: Epitaph of a Dead Warehouse, was cancelled by Acre festival authorities in the last days before the UN organization was to present photos and films of their work in Palestine.

The agency had prepared a multimedia theatrical performance that documented the “dramatic last day of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s warehouse in Gaza which was destroyed during the fighting in Gaza on 15th of January 2009,” a program for the evening read.
“[The production] has already been shown in Tel Aviv and Sderot where it was well received,” UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said in a statement. “We presented the piece to the Acre Festival authorities a couple of months ago and they gave an immediate green light and it is surprising that the play should be cancelled by the Festival authorities just hours before our first performance here.”

The festival also booted UNRWA’s photo exhibit and another film from the program.

Israeli warplanes used white phosphorus bombs during the end of their war on Gaza. Dozens hit a UN warehouse in the area, burning the building and most of the humanitarian supplies inside.

A UN inquiry into the war found Israel guilty of warcrimes and asked that the country pay 11.2 million US dollars in damages to UN buildings including the warehouse and dozens of schools that were also targeted.