NGO Action News – 04 June 2014

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
04 June 2014

EUROPE

• Café Palestine is organizing the event Palestine Refugees: what future lies ahead? in Brussels on 5 June 2014. Matthias Burchard, Director of UNRWA’s Representative Office to the EU and Mohammed Khatib, a Palestinian activist, will speak.

• The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) is organizing a youth journey for justice to the West Bank on 2-10 August 2014.

• Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) is organizing the event Cycle for MAP to raise money to support Palestinians, on 7 September 2014. MAP also announced that there were a few tickets left to attend their Gala Fundraising Dinner on 5 June 2014 featuring the American/Palestinian comedian Maysoon Zayid. Lastly, MAP took part in a panel discussion about the crisis facing Palestinian refugees at an event on the margins of the 67th World Health Assembly in Geneva on 20 May 2014.

• Palestina Solidariteit (Belgium) is proposing an international summer camp to explore Palestinian past and present, on 1-10 August 2014.

• Rotterdam Voor Gaza is hosting a screening on 4 June 2014 of the documentary film Where Should the Birds Fly. The film directed by Fida Qishta is a first-hand account of the aftermath of the 2008-2009 Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip. The film will also be screened in Amsterdam on 5 June 2014 at an event organized by Nederlands Palestina Komitee.

• StopG4S is organizing a protest outside the G4S multinational security company’s Annual General Meeting on 5 June 2014 in London. A petition calling on G4S to withdraw from Israeli prisons, and end its involvement with Israel’s human rights abuses will be handed over.

• War on Want issued a statement on 29 May 2014 announcing that the Gates Foundation had sold down its shares in the G4S company.

ISRAEL AND PALESTINE

• The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) posted on 28 May 2014 the short documentary 3 Homes by Omri Shenhar which depicts the struggles of three Palestinian families living in East Jerusalem.

• B’Tselem published a photo blog on 1 June 2014 to document the demolitions of homes of the Palestinian Id’eis community in the Jordan Valley.

• Defence for Children International Palestine (DCI-P) updated its Detention Bulletin on 2 June 2014. At the end of April, a total of 196 Palestinian children were imprisoned and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system, a decrease of 3 percent from March 2014.

• Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement published Gaza, Tel Aviv, Gaza a new short film by Itamar Rose placing ordinary Israelis in the roles of those enforcing the criteria on travel from the Gaza Strip. Gisha also released a new update on 25 May 2014 about Gaza’s unemployment rate, the highest since late 2009.

• The Israeli Committee Against House Demolition (ICAHD) rebuilding camp will take place 3-18 August 2014 near Jerusalem.

• MIFTAH -The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy posted on 29 May 2014 a special report about a recent training programme it organized together with Oxfam-Novib and entitled Institutionalizing Security Council Resolution 1325 to Achieve Peace and Security for Palestinian Women.

• The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) released its latest Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory covering the period 22 to 28 May 2014. It also released its first quarterly report on the same issue for the year 2014.

• The Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC) issued its latest bulletin on 29 May 2014.

• Israeli and Palestinian Human rights organizations along with the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs issued a statement on 1 June 2014 requesting the immediate intervention from EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton concerning the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike.

MIDDLE EAST

• Al Jazeera posted on 18 May 2014 a new interactive visual entitled Gaza: A Life Under Siege.

NORTH AMERICA

• The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is preparing for its 34th National Convention. It will be held on 12-15 June 2014 in Arlington, Virginia. Jeff Halper(ICADH co-founder), Johnathan Kuttab (Al-Haq co-founder), Noura Erakat (Jadaliyya e-zine) and Delinda C. Hanley (Washington Report on Middle East Affairs) will, amongothers, speak at the event.

• The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) will honour the achievements of Palestinian Americans at its Annual Gala on 18 November 2014 in Washington.

• The Arab Resource & Organizing Center organized the visual and performing art event Our Roots and Our Might: Palestinian Visuals on 30 May 2014 in San Francisco. For more information about the event please write here.

• Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) published its latest bulletin on 30 May 2014 under the title Pope Francis Boosts Morale In Bethlehem. Also, CMEP’s Board of Director’s Study Tour to Palestine and Israel will take place 8 November – 15 November 2014. Custom-created by CMEP this dual narrative travel experience offers a unique vantage point on peace building efforts in Israel and Palestine. Brochure is available here as well as the registration form.

• Go Palestine is now accepting applications for its 2014 Summer Camp for Diaspora Palestinian youth and friends aged 14-17 years old.

• Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) are convening on 6 June 2014 an event to promote and support a new documentary in production:Skating in Palestine – Spotlight on Qalqilya in Berkeley (CA).

• The Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) released a new fact sheet on 22 May 2014 entitled Bethlehem & East Jerusalem: Cities under Siege.

• J Street is convening its National Summit in San Francisco on 7-8 June 2014. Registration will close on 3 June. The opening night (free event) will begin with a behind-the-scenes look at Mideast diplomacy with Salam Fayyad (former Palestinian Prime Minister), Gabriela Shalev (Former Israeli Ambassador to the UN) and Daniel Kurtzer (Former US Ambassador to Israel and Egypt).

• The Presbyterian Church (USA) will decide at its biennial General Assembly held in Detroit on 14-21 June 2014 whether or not to stop investing in Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions and Hewlett-Packard, 3 companies that profit from the Israeli occupation. Interfaith Partners in Action launched a petition to support divestment and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation ismobilizing its supporters to assist its allies at the Presbyterian Church.

• The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation will be holding its Annual National Organizers Conference in San Diego, CA, on 19-21September 2014. Confirmed speakers include Ali Abunimah, co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of The Battle for Justice in Palestine, and Marjorie Cohn, former president of the National Lawyers Guild.

• The Voice of Palestine posted on 31 May 2014 an interview with Palestinian artist Rehab Nazzal about her exhibit titled Invisible which features images of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, among other art pieces that portray the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Currently on display at the Karsh-Masson Gallery of Ottawa’s City Hall, Invisible garnered international attention as well as a positive response by the Canadian public and other artists when Israel’s Ambassador to Canada publicly condemned the exhibit.

UNITED NATIONS

• The International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People has a Twitter account and an official hashtag #2014forPalestine. Share the word and let us know about your International Year plans at 2014forPalestine@un.org!

• OCHA OPT has a new Barrier Portal focusing on the 2004 ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

• The UN Palestinian Rights Committee held its 361st Meeting at the United Nations on 2 June 2014, the day a new Palestinian Unity Government was sworn in.

• The UN Secretary-General issued a statement welcoming the announcement of a Palestinian Government of National Consensus, on 3 June 2014.

• UNRWA launched on 2 June 2014 its #giveforfood campaign to help the over 1 million Palestine refugees who are unable to afford even their minimum food requirements. Please click here to support the campaign which will run until 28 July.