NGO Action News – 7 December 2023

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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.

You may find issues of the NGO Action News in Spanish here.

You may find issues of the NGO Action News in French here.

You may find issues of the NGO Action News in Arabic here.

Middle East

• On 13 December, Scientists for Palestine will hold a webinar discussion with Prof. Etienne Balibar (Paris-Ouest University) titled “Palestine, Ukraine and other wars of extermination: the local and the global.”
• On 6 December, Peace Now published an article noting that amid the war on Gaza, the Jerusalem District Planning Committee approved the plan for the construction of a new neighborhood. The article notes that the plan obstructs the last remaining corridor connecting Palestinian neighborhoods Beit Safafa and Shorafat with the rest of East Jerusalem, challenges the possibility of creating a Palestinian urban continuum in East Jerusalem, and obstructs almost every urban connection between Bethlehem and East Jerusalem. Ir Amim published a similar article and map on 4 December.
• On 5 December, Physicians for Human Rights – Israel published an article highlighting the deaths of six Palestinians in Israeli custody over recent weeks, including two in Megiddo Prison, one in Ktzi’ot, one in Ofer, and two others who were being illegally held by the military after their work permits were revoked.
• On 2 December, Al-Haq and other Palestinian human rights organizations wrote a joint letter to the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, and the UN Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect, George Okoth-Obbo, urging immediate and effective measures against genocide in the Gaza Strip.
• On 30 November, Adalah – The Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel published an infographic report on Palestinian students persecuted in Israeli academic institutions, noting that since 7 October 2023, 113 Palestinian students from 33 academic institutions sought legal consultation from Adalah regarding disciplinary proceedings initiated against them.
• On 30 November, Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights and other Palestinian human rights organizations issued a press release urging the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor to engage directly with Palestinian victims, especially in Gaza, and to issue arrest warrants to deter Israeli forces and authorities from the commission of further atrocity crimes in Gaza.

Asia and Europe

• On 7 December, Law for Palestine will hold an online panel discussion titled “Addressing the Unfolding Gaza Genocide: A Legal Perspective for Global Action.”
• Agence Média Palestine announced (in French) an event organized by several journalist unions on 7 December, in support of journalists covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to the International Federation of Journalists, at least 63 journalists and media workers have been killed since the start of the war in Gaza.
• On 5 December, Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, issued a statement calling the civilian deaths in Gaza “a stain on Israel and its allies.”
• On 5 December, Amnesty International (AI) published a report noting that US-made munitions were used by the Israeli military in two deadly, unlawful air strikes on homes full of civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip, killing 43 civilians. AI is calling for these attacks to be investigated as war crimes.

North America

• On 12 December, Defense for Children International – Palestine and American Friends Service Committee will hold a webinar to review and discuss the work of the #NoWaytoTreataChild campaign in 2023
• On 6 December, J Street issued a statement welcoming the announcement made by the Biden Administration of visa restrictions against extremist settlers who have committed acts of violence against Palestinian families in the West Bank.
• On 4 December, The Jerusalem Fund’s Executive Director, Jehad Abusalim, spoke at an event in New York titled “Genocide, Gaza, Palestine.” A recording of the event is available here (disregard log-in request).
• On 2 December, Churches for Middle East Peace issued a statement calling on the US Government to publicly support a comprehensive, bilateral ceasefire in Gaza and use its diplomatic leverage to bring a durable ceasefire to fruition.
• On 1 December, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) reported that earlier that day, United Auto Workers—one of the largest unions in the United States— joined the call for a ceasefire in Gaza and called it “a major win for solidarity between the labor and Palestinian liberation movements.”

United Nations

• On 12 December, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will hold a panel discussion with legal experts titled “2023 War on Gaza: The Responsibility to Prevent Genocide.” The event will be held at UN Headquarters in New York and livestreamed on UN WebTV.
• On 6 December, Secretary-General António Guterres sent a letter to the President of the Security Council invoking Article 99 of the United Nations Charter and warning that there is a severe risk of a collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza unless there is another humanitarian ceasefire.
• On 4 December, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini issued a statement describing the dire situation amid a resumption of the Israeli military operation and its expansion further in southern Gaza. He urged Israel to reopen Kerem Shalom and other crossings and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, noting that failure to do so violates international humanitarian law.
• On 4 December, Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, issued a statement noting that the conditions required to deliver aid to the people of Gaza do not exist, and warning that the current situation in shelters presents a “textbook formula for epidemics and a public health disaster.”
• On 4 December, the Spokesperson for Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement expressing alarm at the resumption of hostilities between Israel and Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups in Gaza, and reiterated his call for a sustained humanitarian ceasefire and the unconditional and immediate release of all remaining hostages.
• The exhibit “Palestine: A Land with a People,” which was inaugurated on 29 November and will be on display until 8 January in the Visitor’s Lobby of the General Assembly Hall in New York, is now also available to view on the UNISPAL