NGO Action News – 12 May 2017

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 May 2017

Global

• On 11 May, Human Rights Watch stated that delaying yet again the decision on whether to allow the Israel Football Association to continue holding games in settlements meant FIFA would continue to be in violation of its own rules (“FIFA: Delay of Israeli Settlement Club Decision Sets Back Reform”).

Middle East 

• Several organizations are offering alternative travel tours in Israel and Palestine. From 28 July to 8 August, Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights informed about a tour under the theme “Beyond the Headlines: An Alternative Tour of Israel & Palestine”. On 23 June and 19 May, Ir Amim will conduct Jerusalem Study Tours. The next West Bank Tour led by Machsom Watch – Women for Human Rights and against the Occupation – is scheduled to take place on 14 May. Upon request, tailored West Bank tours are also conducted by the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions (ICAHD) and the Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC), the latter with a focus on the differential impact of the occupation on Palestinian women.

• On 30 May, the deadline for enrolment in the Mada Summer School for Critical Palestine/Israel Studies expires. The eight-day course is scheduled to take place in Haifa the first week of August.

• On 27 May, Peace Now is organizing a demonstration in Tel Aviv under the theme “Two States One Hope – A Demonstration against 50 Years of Occupation”.

• On 9 May, Addameer-Prisoner Support and Human Rights Organization strongly criticized restrictions on attorney visits affecting Palestinian prisoners who went on hunger strike on 17 April.

• On 9 May, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) reported on their ongoing legal efforts to reduce “the excessive and discriminatory detention periods applicable to Palestinian residents of the Occupied Territories”.

• Citing press reports, on 8 May, Peace Now Settlement Watch and Ir Amim alerted about possible critical developments regarding settlement expansion in East Jerusalem.

• On 6 May, The Palestinian Center for Human Rights issued a press release denouncing the alleged force-feeding of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike.

Europe 

• On 12 May, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign launched “From Balfour to the Nabka”, a series of events to mark the 100^th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration and the 69^th anniversary of the Nabka.

• On 10 May, Medical Aid for Palestinians issued a press release claiming that two Palestinians living in Gaza, a 59-year-old man and a five-year-old girl, died after being denied permits to travel to East Jerusalem for medical treatment.

• On 10 May, the Palestinian Return Centre called on voters in the United Kingdom to urge candidates in the upcoming elections to put accountability, justice and equality at the centre of policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

• The European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP) has called for an evaluation of the LAW TRAIN project of the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon2020 aimed at harmonizing and sharing interrogation techniques between Israel, Belgium, Portugal and Spain. 

North America 

• On 23 May, the Jerusalem Fund in Washington D.C. will host a screening of three short films from The Freedom Theatre: “Stories of Life and Resistance under Occupation”.

• Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) has launched a campaign (“Deadly Exchange-Ending US-Israel Police Partnerships, Reclaiming Safety”) advocating for safety based on justice.