NGO Action News – 02 April 2018

This newsletter informs about recent and upcoming activities of Civil Society Organizations affiliated with the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. The Committee and the Division for Palestinian Rights of the UN Secretariat provide the information “as is” without warranty of any kind, and do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, or reliability of the information contained in the websites linked in the newsletter.

NGO Action News
2 April 2018

Global

• Following the Palestine Land Day protests in Gaza on 30 March, during which 17 Palestinians were killed and hundreds injured, Amnesty International called on the Israeli authorities to stop the use of lethal and other excessive force. The organization further called for independent and effective investigations to be launched immediately. Human Rights Watch stated that the incidents raised “serious questions about Israel’s longstanding use of live ammunition to police demonstrations”. Prior to the demonstrations, Americans for Peace Now had called on the Israeli security forces to exercise restraint, reaffirming the right of Palestinians to hold non-violent protests.

Middle East

• On 31 March, Adalah-The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights sent an urgent letter to Israel’s Attorney General Mandelblit requesting that criminal investigations be immediately opened into the killings in Gaza of the day before. B’Tselem pointed out that shooting unarmed demonstrators was illegal.

• On 25 March, Peace Now released its annual report on settlement construction in the West Bank excluding East Jerusalem “17% Above Average Yearly Growth, Three Quarters in Isolated Settlements”.

• On 23 March, the 6th Palestine Marathon took place in Bethlehem, sponsored by the Palestine Olympic Committee. Approximately 7,000 runners from 72 countries participated.

• On 22 March, the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) and the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) issued the position paper “Ongoing Campaign to Silence, Delegitimize, and De-fund Palestinian Civil Society Organizations and Human Rights Defenders”, calling on international partners to continue supporting their work.

• BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights has made its engagement and submissions at the 7th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (27 February to 24 March) available online.

North America

• On 8 April, Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon, Executive Director of Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), will speak in Washington, D.C., at “An Easter Gathering”, hosted by the PLO General Delegation to the United States.

• On 27 March, Columbia University in New York hosted a conversation with former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on regional developments and prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

• On 27 March, the Arab Center Washington DC hosted a panel discussion on “Trump’s Policy Reversals on Palestine: Political and Legal Ramifications” with Yousef Munayyer, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights; William B. Quandt, University of Virginia; John Quigley, Ohio State University; and Shibley Telhamy, University of Maryland.

Latin America

• The Federación Palestina de Chile, in cooperation with the Palestine International Institute in Amman, is offering youth in Chile’s Palestinian diaspora community scholarships (“Beca Mahmoud Darwish”) for Arabic courses in Jordan. Further information about the programme and the deadlines for application is available online.

United Nations

• On 30 March, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed deep concern about the events in Gaza and called for an independent and transparent investigation into the incidents reported.

• On 28 March, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People held its 389th meeting at UN Headquarters in New York. The Committee was briefed by UNRWA’s representative in New York on recent developments and the Agency’s current financial crisis. The Committee further approved the programmes of the UN Forum on the Question of Palestine “70 Years after 1948 – Lessons to Achieve a Sustainable Peace”, scheduled to take place on 17 and 18 May at UN Headquarters in New York; and the International Conference on the Question of Jerusalem “The Question of Jerusalem after 50 Years of Occupation and 25 Years of the Oslo Accords”, scheduled to take place in Rabat from 26 to 28 June.

• Online registration for the UN Forum on the Question of Palestine “70 Years after 1948 – Lessons to Achieve a Sustainable Peace” on 17 and 18 May is open.