NGO Action News – 20 November 2025

This newsletter informs about recent and upcoming activities of Civil Society Organizations working on the question of Palestine. 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. 

Middle East 

• On 20 November, Al-Shabaka issued the Policy Memo “Trump’s UNSC Resolution 2803: Repackaged Colonial Rule”, in which the NGO argues that “the UNSC resolution repackages colonial control over the Palestinian people in Gaza, who have faced more than two years of genocide at the hands of the Israeli regime. Rather than seize this moment to pursue justice and accountability and set a precedent for humanity, the UN – through its Security Council – has once again chosen to contravene its own norms and principles in the face of US pressure.”

• On 18 November, BADIL issued a press release informing about the publication of its recent position paper “The Decisive Plan: The Israeli Regime’s Blueprint for Colonial Expansion and Palestinian Subjugation”, in which the NGO outlines how the “Decisive Plan” of Israeli Minister Smotrich, which he had presented in 2017, has been institutionalized by the Israeli government as its operative strategy to impose full sovereignty over the West Bank and “consolidate colonial domination across all of Mandatory Palestine”. 

• On 15 November, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights published the article “Israeli Government-Backed Violence: Settlers Set Fire to Mosque and Shopping Center in the West Bank”, in which the NGO condemns these attacks and states that they are part of a wider strategy of violence carried out by settlers under the protection of the Israeli security forces, aimed at displacing the indigenous population and forcibly subjugating the land. 

• On 13 November, Al-Haq informed about its latest submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, in which according to the NGO it details how Israel’s surveillance architecture – spanning widespread use of facial recognition technology (FRT), database‑driven policing, and dense city‑wide CCTV networks – has entrenched its settler-colonial apartheid system and severely curtailed the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people, including the freedoms of association and peaceful assembly. 

• On 13 November, the Institute for Palestine Studies published the blog entry “Palestinian Mortality Under Occupation: Israel as the Primary Driver of Death”. In it, the authors analyze the fatality statistics from the Gaza War and conclude that “[w]hat emerges is not merely a medical emergency but an ecological and political one, a slow, cumulative violence that reshapes birth, death, and the very possibility of regeneration in Gaza, both true manifestations of biopolitical and necropolitical control.”

• On 12 November, Al-Haq issued the statement “Our Legal Challenge Against the UK’s Licensing of Weapons to Israel Concludes, But Our Fight for Justice and Accountability for the Palestinian People is Far From Over”. In the document, the NGO informed that the Court of Appeal in London (UK) had rejected its request for an appeal in the long-running claim, initially launched in December 2023 against the UK government, concerning the UK’s continued licensing of F-35 parts into the global supply chain reaching Israel. Al-Haq informed that it would continue its work to hold all perpetrators of violations committed against the Palestinian people accountable and called upon UK members of parliament to engage with the government to ensure that it would abide by its obligations under international law. 

Africa, Asia and Europe  

• On 18 November, Agence Media Palestine published an interview (in French) with the Palestinian NGO 7amleh “Censure sur les réseaux sociaux et guerre informationnelle : rencontre avec l’ONG 7amleh”. The piece focuses on the NGO’s efforts to document how Big Tech companies, as well as social media platforms, implement internal regulations that undermine the protection of Palestinian human rights and prevent pro-Palestinian speech from being as free as pro-Israeli speech. 

North America 

• The Center for Palestine Studies at Columbia University informed that it is screening, on 20 November, the film “The Encampments” followed by a conversation about the fight for free speech on campus. On 1 December, the Center will hold “An evening with Mosab Abu Toha”, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Palestinian writer from Gaza.

• On 18 November, the Foundation for Middle East Peace published the video conversation “Jewish Institutions and Anti-Zionism”, in which FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor spoke with Arielle Angel, editor-in-chief of Jewish Currents, and Alissa Wise, Founding Director of Rabbis for Ceasefire, about Jewish navel-gazing, Jewish institutions, and growing the anti-Zionist movement. 

United Nations 

• On 4 December, the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will organize a screening of the film “The Voice of Hind Rajab” at UN Headquarters in New York, in the Trusteeship Council Chamber at 1-3 p.m., followed by a discussion with the director, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania at 3-5 p.m. The panel discussion will be broadcast live on UN Web TV. The film blends actual recordings and scripted performances to tell the devastating story of Hind Rajab, a Palestinian girl trapped and dying under Israeli military fire, and the first responders who tried to save her. “The Voice of Hind Rajab” won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, where it received the longest standing ovation in film festival history. The film is Tunisia’s official submission for the 98th Academy Awards with executive producers including Brad Pitt, Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix, Alfonso Cuarón, and Jonathan Glazer. The film is led by actors Saja Kilani, Motaz Malhees, Amer Hlehel, and Clara Khoury. 

• On 25 November, the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will hold a special meeting on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People at UN headquarters in New York, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event will offer an opportunity for Member States, regional organizations and civil society to share messages of solidarity with the Palestinian people. All Member States and Observers, United Nations organizations, and intergovernmental and civil society organizations are invited to attend. The event will be webcast on UN Web TV. Similar events will take place at UN offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna as well as other locations throughout the world. 

• On 19 November, the Bureau of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People held its annual meeting with the President of the General Assembly (PGA). The focus was on seizing the momentum created by the 2025 Two-State Solution Conference and the New York Declaration, towards the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, as well as the PGA’s efforts to galvanize Member States around the rule of law and accountability for violators. 

• On 17 November, the Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, issued a Note to Correspondents on the on the adoption of the resolution on Gaza by the Security Council, which read: “The adoption of the resolution on Gaza by the Security Council is an important step in the consolidation of the ceasefire, which the Secretary-General encourages all parties to abide by. It is essential now to translate the diplomatic momentum into concrete and urgently needed steps on the ground. The United Nations is committed to implementing the roles entrusted to it in the resolution, scaling up humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of civilians in Gaza and supporting all efforts to move the parties toward the next phase of the ceasefire. The Secretary-General commends the continued diplomatic efforts of Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye, the United States, and regional states. The Secretary-General underlines the importance of moving towards the second phase of the U.S. Plan, leading to a political process for the achievement of the two-State solution, in line with previous United Nations resolutions.”