3 October 2019

Middle East

• On 2 October, BADIL – Resource Centre for Palestinian Residency& Refugee Rights issued the publication “Papers of Palestinian Youth Conference: Right of Return, Towards a Practical Approach”. The publication aims to explore and promote practical understandings of the implementation of the right of return among Palestinian youth, with the intention that “this approach will transform the cycle of theorizing and rhetoric on the right of return into a practical and viable vehicle to a just and durable peace.”
• On 2 October, Al-Haq published the report “Adaptation under Occupation: Climate Change Vulnerability in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” with the assistance of Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Palestine. The report examines the applicability of community-based climate change adaptation measures in the South Hebron Hills region and assesses the ability of the Palestinian population to adapt to climate change within the context of Israel’s prolonged occupation since 1967. It further highlights how Israel’s discriminatory policies and practices imposed in Area C of the occupied territory impede the ability of Palestinians to effectively adapt to climate change.

• On 1 October, Al-Haq, Amnesty International, Cairo Institute for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, among others, submitted a joint statement to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to express “their serious concern and disappointment that the [High Commissioner] did not transmit to the Human Rights Council, at its 42nd session, the database of all businesses engaged in listed activities related to Israel’s unlawful settlement enterprise in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), as mandated in Human Rights Council resolution 31/36 (2016.” The NGOs argue that the High Commissioner’s repeated delays in releasing the database are only promoting impunity and enabling further entrenchment and expansion of illegal settlements.

• On 27 September, during the 76th week of the Great March of Return protests, Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights issued a press release condemning continued use of live fire and other violent means by the Israeli forces in policing unarmed protests. The NGO called on the international community to condemn all violations of international law and to promptly intervene to ensure the protection of civilians from unlawful attacks in the context of the protests.

North America

• On 8 November, the Jerusalem Fund will hold its 2019 annual conference “The Deal of the Century: A Plan to Liquidate the Palestine Question” in Washington, D.C., to consider what must done to keep the issue of Palestine at the front and centre of global policy so that “it does not wither under the weight of fake economic development.”

• On 27 September, the United States based Adalah Justice Project arranged a delegation to Washington, D.C, with the Chairman of the Joint List Group in the Israeli Knesset, Jamal Zahalka, and the General Director of Adalah, Hassan Jabareen. The delegation met with members of Congress, including Senator Bernie Sanders, to urge them to support a progressive vision for Israel-Palestine rooted in justice and equality for all, regardless of race and religion. The delegation also met with think thanks and progressive groups to raise awareness of the implications of the Jewish Nation-State Law.

United Nations

• On 26 September, the Ministerial Meeting of the International Donor Group for Palestine (AHLC) held a meeting at the UN Headquarters, in the margins of the 74th General Assembly session. The meeting focused on what the donors, the international community and the Israeli and Palestinian governments should do at this critical juncture, to make progress on state building and economic developments, and encourage resumption of a political process. The meeting welcomed the willingness of the parties to continue the dialogue on outstanding fiscal issues with the objective to agree on long-term solutions; encouraged improved movement and access, and facilitation of trade in the occupied territory; and urged donors to step up support for fuel to the Gaza power plant, cash for work programmes and improved access to external markets for Gaza.

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.