NGO Action News – 18 August 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
18 August 2017

Global

• On 8 August, Oxfam International announced the launch of a social media campaign “Lights on Gaza”, conducted in partnership with Palestinian digital agencies.

• The main messaging points of the #BecauseWeCare media campaign, launched by the Israel-Diaspora partnership Save Israel-Stop the Occupation (SISO) on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the occupation, have been posted on the SISO website.

Middle East

• On 16 August, Hamoked claimed that the Israeli military had carried out a punitive house demolition in the West Bank village of Kobar without responding to an objection filed by the organization, thus failing to exhaust all proceedings. Further information detailing collective punishment against the village, after one of its residents perpetrated a deadly attack against a family in the illegal Israeli West Bank settlement of Halamish, was provided by B’Tselem on 10 August.

• In relation to the threatened eviction of the Palestinian Shamasneh family from their home in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, +972 Magazine published on 13 August an article entitled “Former Attorney General stands with Palestinians facing eviction”.

• With a view to increasing recreational activities for Palestinian children in Gaza, the Zad al Khair local restaurant launched a culinary programme for children, Al Monitor reported on 11 August.

• On 8 August, Addameer issued a statement condemning the arrest of five Palestinian journalists by Palestinian security forces.

• Al Mezan issued a press release expressing concern about the worsening health conditions in Gaza and calling for action by Palestinian authorities and the international community on 8 August.

• Visualizing Palestine, Al Mezan and Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel on 7 August released an infographic “The Israeli Guide to Obstructing Justice”.

• Defense for Children International – Palestine published an article entitled “How the blockade hurts children” on 4 August. On 14 August, the organization published the account of a 13-year-old boy shot and injured by Israeli forces, who subsequently tried to recruit the child as an informant.

• On 3 August, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel announced that it had submitted a petition to Israel’s High Court of Justice in response to restrictions placed on journalists reporting on the crisis in Jerusalem.

• On 1 August, the Social and Economic Policies Monitor and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights held a conference in Ramallah and Gaza “Right to Health: Palestine 2030”. PCHR also conducted a training course in Rafah on human rights with Mujadidoun Development Society for Supporting Youth on 7-10 August.

• Al Mezan and Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel issued a joint press release “Justice Denied: Three Years After the “Hannibal Directive” in Rafah, Gaza” on 1 August.

• On 1 August, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research and the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research at Tel Aviv University released the findings of the Palestinian Israeli Pulse – Joint Poll, conducted with funding from the European Union and the Netherlands Representative Office in Ramallah.

Europe

• Palestine Solidarity Campaign released a petition on 11 August calling for an end to the blockade of Gaza. PSC branches are also organizing events Gaza Crisis Actions around the United Kingdom on 19 and 26 August to mark three years since the end of the 2014 Gaza War and to highlight the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

• On 4 August, Medical Aid for Palestinians published an update on its project to assist in the provision of physiotherapy care in Gaza. MAP also urged its supporters on 11 August to call on the UK Government to fund an appeal by UN agencies for urgent lifesaving interventions in Gaza.

North America

• On 24 August, Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) will host a webinar focusing on the possibility of an International Fund for Palestine in the method of the “International Fund for Ireland.” To view this webinar and other CMEP webinars go to http://www.cmep.org/webinars.

• On 20 August, Run for Palestine will host its annual charity run in Toronto to raise funds for humanitarian projects in Palestine.

• The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights is calling for action to oppose anti-BDS legislation in Congress.

• Using art to advance human rights, Adalah Justice Project initiated in August with the support of the Cultures of Resistance Network a multimedia project entitled “Freedom, Bound”, inspired by Black-Palestinian solidarity.

• Hussein Agha and Ahmad Samih Khalidi, two senior associate members of St. Antony’s College at Oxford University, published an article “The End of This Road: The Decline of the Palestinian National Movement” in The New Yorker on 6 August.

• The Democratic Socialists of America voted to endorse BDS at its national convention on 5 August.

• On 4 August, the Jerusalem Fund hosted in Washington, D.C., a lecture by Tareq Baconi, policy fellow with Al Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, on “Media in Gaza – Misrepresentation of a Humanitarian Crisis”.

• On 1 August, Americans for Peace Now hosted a briefing call with Daniel Seidemann regarding recent events in Jerusalem.

United Nations

• On the occasion of World Humanitarian Day on 18 August, UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development Activities Robert Piper issued a statement echoing the Secretary-General’s call for enhanced respect for international humanitarian and human rights law and demanding global action to protect civilians caught in conflict.

• On 15 August, UNRWA issued a statement expressing concern about the humanitarian impact of the threatened eviction of the Shamasneh family, a Palestinian refugee family, and appealed to the Israeli authorities to reconsider their decision.