Middle East 

• On 14 September, Al–Haqpublished the report “Special Focus: Israel Intensifies Forced Self-Demolitions of Palestinian Homes in Occupied Jerusalem”. According to this report, the destruction of private property, including house demolitions – in occupied territory strictly prohibited under International Law – has been a central tool to facilitate Israel’s land appropriation and dispossession of Palestinians.

• On 9 September, during an Al Mezan Center for Human Rightsworkshop experts warned of health and environmental repercussions from the Israeli bombing of Gaza’s largest agricultural chemical warehouse during the May 2021 hostilities and called for decontamination and a holistic response. The workshop was held because of serious concerns for the health of the population and environment, and the impact on the agricultural sector, within a still-unfolding environmental crisis.

• On 9 September, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Associationinformed that the Palestinian Human Rights Organization Council (PHROC), the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO), the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club, and Inaash Al-Ausurah Association had submitted a joint urgent appeal to the UN Special Procedures expressing grave concern over collective punishment of Palestinian prisoners and protected persons and urged a third-party intervention. This statement followed a press release issued by Addameer on 7 September urging the Israeli Prison Services (IPS) to safeguard Palestinian political prisoners’ rights against collective punishment and retaliatory measures.

Europe

• On 13 September, the Association France Palestine Solidaritéissued a press release calling for all Palestinian political prisoners to be protected against any risk of torture and retaliation from Israeli authorities after six Palestinian prisoners escaped the Gilboa Israeli jail on 6 September. 

North America

• On 14 September, the Foundation for Middle East Peace organized the webinar “Nakba, Mob Violence, and Inequality: the Past, Present, & Future of Palestinian Citizens of Israel”. Participants discussed how Palestinian citizens of Israel took to the streets to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinians in Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in May 2021 and how Israeli authorities and politicians reacted against Palestinian citizens in the aftermaths of the protests.

• On 2 September, Americans for Peace Now published a statement to oppose the decision by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) to register properties in the West Bank and the city of Jerusalem, a process that is likely to lead to the eviction of thousands of Palestinians from their homes. According to this statement, the Board of Directors of the JNF voted to approve a process of surveying thousands of files pertaining to past purchase deals, including 530 files pertaining to properties in the West Bank and 2,050 in Jerusalem and its environs. The purpose of the process is to register the ownership of these properties. Many of these properties are inhabited by Palestinians, who have called them home for decades.

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.