NGO Action News – 15 March 2019

Civil Society and the Question of Palestine

15 March 2019

Middle East

  • On 14 March, Mossawa Center – The Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel organized the Annual Legal Status Conference in Nazareth, to discuss the dissolution of the Joint List and the status of the Palestinian Arab community within Israel ahead of the elections. Representatives of the four political parties headed by the Palestinian Arab minority in the Knesset met in one platform to discuss their political future in Israel. Among the expert speakers was Ilan Pappe.
  • On 14 March, Al-Haq issued a press release to call on UN Member States to support the release of the UN database on businesses engaged in activities in Israeli settlements, in response to an earlier communication by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Bachelet informing about a delay in the release of the UN database. Al-Haq reminded UN Member States of the illegality of Israel’s settlement enterprise; and stressed that the database was a tool to facilitate the regulation of business activities and to warn them of potential legal and other risks as a result of their operations and relationships.
  • On 14 March, B’Tselem denounced the barring of wounded Gazan protesters to access medical care outside Gaza. The NGO criticized the rule according to which Israel declared it would not allow persons injured while participating in the Great March of Return, to leave Gaza for medical treatment in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), Israel or Jordan.
  • On 13 March, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights concluded a training course on human rights and democracy in Gaza. The training focused on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants and additional protocols, basic concepts of international humanitarian law, international protection of journalist in armed conflicts, in addition to mechanisms of monitoring and documenting international humanitarian law violations.
  • On 13 March, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to condemn Israel’s Jewish Nation-States Law during an Interactive Dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues in Geneva. Adalah appealed to the UN body to demand that Israel repeals the law due to its racially discriminatory impact on Palestinian citizens of Israel.
  • On 13 March, Gisha published an article “Unemployment rate in Gaza reaches new record-high of 52 percent in 2018”. According to Gisha, the increasing unemployment rate in the past year is a reflection of worsening living conditions in the Strip; and should serve as “a wake-up call for a shift in policy.” Gisha referred to measures that Israel should take to immediately alleviate the situation, such as small-scale trade, removal of the ban on exit of Gaza residents and of the restrictions on marketing Gaza goods in the West Bank.
  • On 11 March, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights issued a press release to condemn increased Israeli violations against fishermen in the Gaza Strip, after Israeli naval forces opened fire at Palestinian fishermen on 10 and 11 March. Al Mezan condemned the violence against fishermen and stressed that “the constant harassment, detention, and shooting were part of an unlawful closure policy, which amounted to a prohibited collective punishment.”
  • On 11 March, B’Tselem denounced the “cleansing of East Jerusalem” as Israel “removes more Palestinian families, hands over their homes to settlers.” It stated that Israel does not consider the residents of East Jerusalem as individuals with equal rights, instead seeking to evict them from their homes when they “stand in the way of the state’s objective to judaize Jerusalem.” B’Tselem explained that Israeli authorities do not invest in infrastructures and services in Palestinian neighborhoods and do not allow residents of Jerusalem who married residents from the West Bank or Gaza to live in the City, as part of a policy to “cleanse” it.
  • On 7 March, Addameer released an article “International Women’s Day: Palestinian female prisoners still crave for freedom”. Addameer highlighted that 10,000 Palestinian women have been arrested and detained by Israeli occupation forces since the beginning of the occupation 50 years ago. The article denounces the deterioration in detention conditions, including torture and ill-treatment during interrogation and punitive transfers. Addameer underlined that Israel was accountable for Palestinian female detainees in the context of occupation law.

North America

  • The Columbia University Center for Palestine Studies will host Ben White, author of “Cracks in the Wall: Beyond Apartheid Palestine/ Israel”, on 28 March to discuss how opposition to Israeli policies is growing within Jewish communities and among Western progressives, while the rise of populist movements around the world has confused traditional party lines on the question and how the Palestinian-led boycott campaign continues to gain momentum.
  • The Center for Constitutional Rights announced it will sponsor the 2019 NYC Gaza 5k, an annual walk/run hosted by UNRWA USA. Funds from the race are donated to the UNRWA Community Mental Health Programme (CMHP) to support thousands of Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip affected by psychological trauma.

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.

 

2019-03-15T17:15:53-04:00

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