Middle East

• On 14 February, Scientists for Palestine will hold a webinar discussion with Annemarie Jacir, a renowned Palestinian filmmaker, who will discuss Palestinian cinema, culture, and the multi-layered intersections of historical and political perspectives.
• From 10 to 12 February, the Institute for Palestine Studies and the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies will hold The Second Annual Palestine Forum, which will feature some 70 academic research papers and symposia addressing the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and challenges facing the Palestinian national project.
• On 7 February, Al-Haq, Al Mezan, and other Palestinian human rights organizations sent a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, calling for an inquiry into the failure of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide to address the ongoing atrocities perpetrated by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza.
• On 7 February, B’Tselem, HaMoked, Yesh Din, and other Israel-based civil society and human rights organizations issued a statement calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, delivery of humanitarian aid into and throughout Gaza, and the immediate release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip. The statement also called on the international community to ensure that those responsible for violations of international law be held accountable.
• On 5 February, Al-Shabaka published an article titled “The Continuation of Zionist Settler Colonialism,” arguing that alongside efforts to starve and kill Palestinians in Gaza, the Israeli regime is also working to expel them from their land altogether as a continuation of the Zionist settler colonial project.
• On 1 February, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Al-Haq, and Al Mezan published an article titled “Room 376, Ibn Sina Hospital, Jenin: A Multilayered Crime of Extrajudicial Killings in a West Bank Hospital,” detailing a recent incident in which Israeli forces disguised as civilians in medical attire killed three Palestinian men at a hospital in Jenin.

Asia and Europe

• On 6 February, the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) sent a letter to British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf, expressing concern and disappointment regarding the decision by the governments of the UK and Scotland to defund UNRWA. In the letter, the PRC calls on the UK and Scottish authorities to reconsider this decision and avoid complicity in Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people.
• On 5 February, the Association Belgo-Palestinienne issued a press release (in French) highlighting a recent poll in which three out of four Belgians were in favor of stopping arms transfers to Israel.
• On 5 February, Amnesty International published an article detailing a spike in the use of unlawful lethal force by Israeli forces against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as the world’s attention is focused on Gaza.

North America

• On 16 February, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace will hold a virtual event titled “U.S. Policy and the Israel-Hamas War,” which will feature Ambassador David Satterfield, US State Department special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues.
• On 8 February in New York City, The People’s Forum will hold a film screening of the documentary “Israelism” followed by a discussion. The film focuses on a movement of young American Jews that are seeking to redefine Judaism’s relationship with Israel.
• On 8 February, the Arab Center in Washington DC will hold an event titled “Arab Public Opinion of the Gaza War and US Policy” to present the findings of a survey it conducted with the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, to gauge public opinion in 16 Arab countries about the Israeli war on Gaza and perceptions of the US role and policies toward the war.
• On 6 February, Human Rights Watch published an article noting that Jordanian authorities had arrested and harassed scores of Jordanians who had participated in pro-Palestine protests or engaged in online advocacy since October 2023, bringing charges against some of them under a new controversial cybercrimes law.
• On 2 February, Americans for Peace Now issued a statement calling on the US Congress to ensure that legislation that would send additional assistance to Israel would also provide humanitarian assistance to address the crisis in Gaza and ensure that recipients of foreign assistance adhere to US and international human rights laws.
• On 1 February, the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights launched a campaign urging US citizens to call the State Department and members of Congress to demand that they reinstate funding to UNRWA and call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
• On 1 February, J Street issued a statement welcoming the Executive Order issued by President Biden addressing settler violence in the West Bank, which the President determined was “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.” The Executive Order includes measures to sanction individuals responsible for settler violence, including freezing their US assets.
• On 31 January, the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention issued a statement expressing concern over the decision of several nations to suspend funding to UNRWA, which it said represented a shift by several countries from potential complicity in genocide to direct involvement in engineered famine.

Latin America

• Juventud Árabe de Bolivia announced that the Convención Árabe Latinoamericana 2024 (in Spanish) will take place from 28 to 31 March in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and will feature cultural events as well as panels and round tables to discuss the current situation in Palestine.
• In Mexico, the Plataforma Común por Palestina (in Spanish) will hold a march in Mexico City on 11 February to call for an end to the genocide in Gaza.
• On 10 February, the Red de Solidaridad con Palestina/Costa Rica will hold the Festival por la Paz para Palestina (in Spanish), featuring lectures, poetry and musical performances to raise awareness of the situation in Gaza and stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine.
• On 1 February, the Comité Argentino de Solidaridad con el Pueblo Palestino issued a statement (in Spanish) condemning genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and rejecting President Milei’s visit to Israel and the relocation of Argentina’s embassy to Jerusalem.

United Nations

• On 7 February, Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, issued a statement expressing concern that the encroachment of the war into Rafah risked claiming more lives and hampering a humanitarian operation that was already limited by insecurity, damaged infrastructure, and access restrictions.
• The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) released a brief video titled “2023: A year in review,” which highlights the CEIRPP’s commemoration of the 75^th anniversary of the Nakba and its continued efforts to advocate for the rights of the Palestinian people.
• On 5 February, Secretary-General António Guterres announced that he had appointed an independent Review Group—in consultation with UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini—to assess whether the Agency is doing everything in its power to ensure neutrality and respond to allegations of serious breaches when they are made.
• On 2 February, UN Human Rights experts issued a press release expressing concern over the decision by some 18 countries to suspend funding to UNRWA, and urging donors to rally around the Agency and maintain their support.
• Since 1976, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People has had 25 studies prepared for, and under, its guidance. They have recently been compiled on the UNISPAL website in English, Spanish, and Arabic.