NGO Action News – 12 March 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
12 March 2014

EUROPE

• L’Association belgo-palestinienne is organizing in Brussels on 22 March 2013 a carnival entitled Unmask the oranges of occupation .

• CAABU is organizing a private briefing with UNRWA’s Director of Operations in Gaza, Robert Turner on 14 March 2014 at the Boardroom of the Arab British Centre. Please contact Joseph Willits, willitsj@caabu.org, for more information and to RSVP.

• Le Comité pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient (CPJPO), Fairtrade Lëtzebuerg and Slow Food Luxembourg are organizing the event CarréRotondes : Zestes amers on 12 March 2014.

• The European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine posted on 10 March 2014 the annual EU Heads of mission’s report on the Gaza Strip.

• The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) is hosting human rights activist and journalist Eva Barlett on 29 March 2013 in Dublin for a talk about the situation in the Gaza Strip. As well, IPSC is organizing an open meeting on 13 March 2014.

• Medical Aid for Palestinians issued a press release on 28 February 2014 calling on the British public and the UK Government to apply all available pressure to bring an immediate end to Israel’s systematic demolition of Palestinian homes and structures in West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and to fulfil its legal and moral obligations under international law.

• Palestinagruppen i Stockholms is co-organizing the festival 2014 Cinema Palestine on 23 March 2014.

• The Palestinian Return Centre, the General Secretariat of the Palestinians in Europe Conference and the Palestinian Forum announced the launch and preparation for the 12thPalestinians in Europe Conferenceto be held in Paris on 3 May 2014.

• The Palestine Solidarity Association of Sweden and Isolera Israel are organizing on 13 March 2014 the event Culture and Politics against Israel’s Occupation of Palestine with Palestinian spoken word artist Rafeet Ziadah.

• The Palestine Solidarity Campaign launched a new initiative on 12 March 2014 asking its supporters to contact UK Prime Minister David Cameron and demand him to recognize Palestinian rights and the urgent need to end Israel’s violations of international law; to call for an immediate and final lifting of the Gaza blockade, to exclude settlement goods from UK markets; and to ban all military sales and imports to and from Israel.

• Mairead Maguire (1976 Nobel Peace Prize) said on 8 March 2014 that she would support the BDS movement until the Palestinian right to self-determination is recognized by Israel.

ISRAEL AND PALESTINE

• The Alternative Information Center (AIC) is organizing a two-day field visit on 15-16 March 2014 in the Jordan Valley.

• Breaking The Silence (BTS) posted on 9 March 2014 on its Facebook page a photo series by Daniel Roth, who recently joined BTS on a tour in Hebron. Photos are available on Daniel’s blog.

• One Voice Palestine and the Palestinian Center for Research and Strategic Studies (PCRSS) organized on 20 February 2014 a town hall in Qalqilya with 150 activists and political and military elites on security issues in a final status agreement, presenting Palestinians with an opportunity to engage with their leaders on one of the core aspects of the conflict.

• The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) released its latest weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory covering the period 27 February to 5 March 2014.

• The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council issued a statement on 10 March 2014 expressing its deep concern about the continued deterioration of living conditions of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.

NORTH AMERICA

• Americans for Peace Now, Churches for Middle East Peace and the Foundation for Middle East Peace are organizing the event Crossing the Divide: How Zionism and Palestinian Nationalism Can Coexist on 24 March 2014 in Washington DC with Rabbi Arik Ascherman and Zakaria Sadeh (Rabbis for Human Rights). For more information and to RSVP please contact: info@fmep.org.

• The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) issued on 10 March 2014 on the occasion of its 10th anniversary a detailed set of explanations of exactly what AFTP is, what it does and why.

• Friends of Sabeel – North America (FOSNA) delivered on 5 March 2014 an open letter to Pope Francis signed by over 200 bishops, clergy, members of religious orders, and theologians asking the Pope to speak out against the targeting and systematic abuse of Palestinian children by the Israeli military. FOSNA’s supporters can now add their names in support to the petition.

• Friends of Sabeel – North America is organizing a two-day conference, Voices for Justice and Peace in the Holy Land, on 21-22 March 2014 in Pleasant Hill (CA). Illan Pappé(Exeter University), Omar Barghouti (Researcher and human rights activist), Richard Falk (Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the OPT) will speak at the event. Please register here.

• KinderUSA is hosting in Pasadena (CA) its annual fundraiser Food Four Thought, Food for the Soul and Food for Gaza on 19 April 2014 with guest speakers Laila El-Haddad(Gaza Mom, The Gaza Kitchen) and Ali Abunimah (Electronic Intifada). Registration is available here.

• The Middle East Institute hosted in Washington DC a discussion on 11 March 2013 about the current status of the peace process. The talk featured three veteran peace process experts – Daniel Levy, Director, Middle East and North Africa Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations; Aaron David Miller, Vice President for New Initiatives and Distinguished Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; and Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development, University of Maryland.

• OneVoice International Youth Leaders Mattan Peretz (OneVoice Israel) and Obada Shtaya (One Voice Palestine) spoke on 3 March 2014 to NPR’s Pittsburgh affiliate, 90.5 WESA, about the concerns of everyday Israelis and Palestinians, prevailing views on the peace talks, and the importance of grassroots action to realize the two-State solution.

• Philly FOSNA is organizing a two-day conference in Philadelphia on 28-29 March 2014 entitled The Role of the US in Israel-Palestine: Current Realities & Creative Responses.Ali Abunimah(The Electronic Intifada), Phyllis Bennis (Institute for Policy Studies), Riham Barghouti (Adalah-NY) and Josh Ruebner (US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation) will speak at the event along with other experts. Please register online here.

• Ali Abunimah (Electronic Intifada) is on a US tour for his book The Battle for Justice in Palestine until 23 April 2014.

GLOBAL

• Amnesty International published a new report entitled Syria: Squeezing the life out of Yarmouk: War crimes against besieged civilianson 10 March 2014. The report reveals that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been carried out on Palestinian and Syrian civilians in Yarmouk refugee camp, on the outskirts of Damascus.

UNITED NATIONS

• The Arab League and the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) jointly appealed on 10 March 2014 for international support to the Palestinians. The two sides convened a meeting under the co-chairmanship of the League’s Secretary General Nabil Elaraby and CEIRPP Chairman Abdou-Salam Diallo.

• 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 released its latest Weekly Report on the Protection of Civilians covering the period 25 February to 3 March 2014.

• The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) launched a Thunderclap for Syria. More than 130 organizations support the initiative which lasts until 18 March 2014. Add your voices #WithSyria #LetUsThrough.

• The Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, James W. Rawley, voiced in a statement on 11 March 2014 his deep concern at reports that three Palestinians died in separate security-related incidents in the West Bank within a 24-hour period, and called for restraint by all concerned.