NGO Action News – 5 and 12 January 2018

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
5  and 12  January 2018

Global

• From 2 to 3 March, Oxford University’s Refugee Studies Center is organizing at the British Institute in Amman a course on “Palestine Refugees and International Law”.

• Referring to their support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs has decided to bar members of 20 civil society organizations from entering Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. According to press reports of 7 January, the organizations listed include the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Jewish Voice for Peace as well as the BDS movements in Chile and South Africa.

Middle East 

• Zochrot is calling for proposals for films to be screened at the sixth edition of the 48mm Film Festival “From Nakba to Return”, scheduled to take place in Tel Aviv in December 2018. The deadline for submission is 15 May 2018.

• On 11 January, Peace Now reported the decision by the Israeli Civil Administration’s Higher Planning Committee to approve a total of 1,122 new housing units in 20 illegal Israeli settlements and outposts throughout the occupied West Bank.

• Based on monitoring activities conducted since 2005, Yesh Din-Volunteers for Human Rights released an update on “Law Enforcement on Israeli Civilians in the West Bank”. The document features the findings of the organization regarding investigations by the Israel Police of offences perpetrated, among others, by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank.

• On 4 January, Hagai El-Ad, executive director of B’Tselem, wrote for the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz the op-ed “Israel’s Show Trial of Ahed Tamimi”.

• On 4 January, Addameer and other Palestinian human rights organizations issued a statement condemning a bill sanctioning capital punishment for acts of terrorism, approved by the Knesset in its first reading the same day.

• The Royal Jordanian Film Commission is inviting Arab filmmakers to participate in the short-film competition “We are Jerusalem”. The deadline for submission is 21 January.

• On 30 December, Badil published its third report on issues related to corporate responsibility in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, focusing on “EU-Israel Trade: Promoting International Law Violations”.

North America

• As part of its “A Cry for Home” advocacy campaign on Palestine and Israel, the Central Mennonite Committee (MCC) Canada has issued fact sheets on international law, home demolitions, settlements, detention and refugees. 

• Under the theme “Facing the Nakba”, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) has developed a multimedia curriculum to support workshops on the history of the Nakba and its present-day implications in the Israeli-Palestinian context. 

• Tatreez & Tea has announced its “2018 Traditional Palestinian Embroidery Arts Education Programme”. Information on the dates and locations of workshops planned in the United States is available online.