18 February 2021

Middle East

• On 17 February, Al-Haq submitted an urgent appeal to the UN Special Procedures on intensified Israeli settler violence against Palestinians and their properties. Addressing five UN Special Rapporteurs, including the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territory Occupied Since 1967, Michael Lynk, the urgent appeal presented more than ten selected cases of settler violence attacks, which exemplify, according to Al-Haq, Israel’s institutionalised and systematic impunity for such acts.

• On 16 February, Peace Now denounced the decision of Israeli Jerusalem District Court ordering six Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah to vacate their homes within two and a half months, describing the lawsuit as part of an organized move designed to dispossess a Palestinian community of its home and establish a settlement in its place. Peace Now warned that hundreds of Palestinians in the neighborhood as well as in other Palestinian areas in Jerusalem are in a similar situation and face court proceedings.

• On 16 February, the Palestinian Human Rights Organisations Council (PHROC) issued the policy paper “United States Policy on Palestine: 2021 and Beyond” highlighting issues related to Israel’s prolonged occupation of Palestinian territory, its unlawful administration of the territory and associated violations of the rights of the Palestinian people. PHROC called on the United States to take action in line with its duties under international law.

• On 16 February, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies informed that it sent, together with Al-Haq, Al Mezan and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), a joint letter to EU Member States ahead of the upcoming 46th Human Rights Council (HRC) session, urging these States to support the HRC resolutions on Palestine – particularly on accountability and Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise.

• On 16 February, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) denounced the Israeli authorities’ decision to deny the entry of 2,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine into the Gaza Strip, which had been sent from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.

• On 12 February, Peace Now announced that the Jewish National Fund (JNF) will officially adopt plans to get Palestinians to sell it their land in the West Bank. Peace Now said that by officially declaring that it will be conducting settlement activity in the West Bank and by taking responsibility for its activities, the JNF is openly violating international law and this will put the Fund on “the list of the accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC)”.

• On 11 February, Ir Amim denounced the increase of demolitions of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the past five years, with 144 demolitions taking place in 2020 alone. The NGO explained that Israel has adopted a more aggressive policy against Palestinians by allocating more funds for demolitions and by changing planning laws so that fines against constructions without a permit become unbearable thus forcing families to accept having their homes demolished instead.

• On 9 February, Gisha – Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement shared the response of the Israeli government to a request on applications filed by students from Gaza to exit through Erez crossing in order to travel to their academic institutions, and according to which, “no room was found at this point in time to grant the request to add travel abroad for the purpose of academic studies to the list of exceptions […].” Gisha stated that Israel’s control over various aspects of life in Gaza, including Erez and Kerem Salom crossings, comes with an obligation to protect the basic rights of Palestinians living there and that these include access to academic studies.

Europe

• On 16 February, the Association Belgo-Palestinienne (ABP) hosted Cairo Institute for Human Rights advocacy officer Nada Awad for the webinar “In the Heart of Israeli Apartheid: East Jerusalem” as part of series of webinars aimed at better understanding the different dimensions of Israeli policies in the OPT.

• On 9 February, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) issued the press release “Israel Displaces More Palestinian Bedouins, Seizes their Tents in Humsa Al-Bqai’a” to denounce Israel’s seizure of tents donated by humanitarian organisations to Palestinian Bedouins in Humsa Al-Bqai’a and continuing to blockade international aid since the demolition and confiscations of 46 structures in that community in one week.

North America

• On 19 February, the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) will hold the webinar “The IHRA Definition & the Fight Against Antisemitism – Part 6: Implications and Impact of the IHRA Definition on Palestinians”. Palestinian scholars and activists will discuss the implications of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemistim for Palestinians. Speakers – including Director of Palestine Legal Dima Khalidi and Professor and Historian of the modern Middle East Sherene Seiklaly – will explore the impact of the definition, which Palestinian scholars describe as a stratagem to delegitimise the fight against the oppression of Palestinians, the denial of their rights and continued occupation of their land.

• On 16 February, Adalah Justice Project introduced the new petition “End Medical Apartheid. Tell Congress: Healthcare Is a Human Rights and Palestinians Have the Right to Vaccine Access, Health and Safety”. The petition follows Israel’s delays in transferring vaccines for medical staff in Gaza and is in response to Israel’s plan to vaccinate only Israeli citizens held in their prisons, ignoring Palestinians illegally held in Israeli prisons. Adalah called on the public to tell their representatives in the Congress that healthcare for all has no borders and to demand that Israel provide immediately the Covid-19 vaccine to Palestinians.

• On 16 February, J Street issued a press release stating its dismay at the executive committee of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) after it voted to formally allow the organisation to purchase land in the West Bank with the purpose of expanding illegal Israeli settlements. J Street called on JNF USA, which raises millions of tax-deductible dollars from Americans to fund development projects in Israel inside the Green Line, to oppose any investment by their counterpart in the OPT and to refuse to provide any further funding if this proposal is approved by the JNF board.

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.