6 July 2018

Middle East

• On 3 July, Al Mezan Center For Human Rights issued a statement condemning the continuous use of lethal and other excessive force by Israeli forces against demonstrators, journalists and paramedics. Reportedly, on 29 June, Israeli forces opened fire at Palestinian protesters along the fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip, killing two protesters and injuring 146 others. Twenty-five children, one woman, and two paramedics were among the injured and one child was killed. At least 57 of the injured were hit by live fire.
• On 2 July, BADIL released its 27th Bulletin “Understanding the political underpinnings of UNRWA’s chronic funding crisis”, calling upon the UN General Assembly and the wider international community to “take urgent action to remedy the Agency’s financial deficit.” The NGO previously issued statements on the intensified attacks against UNRWA by Israel and the U.S. administration and called for a strategic approach by the international community.
• On 1 July, HaMoked issued a reply to the updating notice submitted by Israel to the High Court of Justice, which listed its proposed solutions for the difficult conditions and extreme overcrowding in the joint building of the Ministry of Interior’s Population and Immigration Authority and the Employment Services – the only offices where Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem can receive services. HaMoked replied that the new measures announced by the State such the opening a new sub-branch “will not help the situation.”
• On 26 June, Al-Haq informed that it delivered a statement on 22 June at the 38th Regular Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council discussion on advancing women’s rights in the economic sphere through access and participation in information and communication technologies. Al-Haq’s statement highlighted the human rights abuses and systematic cyber violence that Palestinian women human rights defenders are subjected to due to their role in challenging Israel’s unlawful occupation.

Europe

• On 25 June, the UK-based Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) briefed Labour MP Marsha De Cordova, an outspoken disability rights campaigner, on the situation in Gaza and Lebanon as well as the UNRWA crisis. PRC highlighted the increasing attacks by Israeli forces on Palestinians, which are leading to permanent injuries.

North America

• On 29 June, Human Rights Watch (HRW) deplored Israel’s refusal to participate in the adoption of its own Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report and urged the country to nonetheless implement all accepted recommendations. HRW stated that since its last UPR in 2012, Israel has further cemented a two-tiered discriminatory system that treats Palestinians separately and unequally. The regime of institutionalized discrimination applies to virtually every aspect of life, including freedom to build, access to resources, security of legal status and freedom of movement.

United Nations

• On 3 July, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed deep concern at reports that the Palestinian Bedouin community of Khan al Ahmar-Abu al Helu was set to be demolished by the Israeli authorities in the coming days. The community is home to 181 people – more than half of them children – and is one of the 46 Bedouin communities in the central West Bank that the UN views as being at high risk of forcible transfer due to an environment generated by Israeli practices and policies that coerces people and communities to move.
• On 30 June, UNRWA issued a statement highlighting the impact of lack of funding on the housing crisis for Palestine refuges displaced from Yarmouk. “A particular concern are the Palestine refugees who found temporary shelter in previously abandoned homes in Yalda, Babila and Beit Sahem (YBB), which they are now being asked to leave. As residents have started to return to these abandoned homes, between 1500 and 1700 Palestine refugee families have been asked to pay rent or move elsewhere” read the statement.
• On 29 June, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 expressed alarm at the deterioration of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, saying reports received during his visit to the region last week painted the most dispiriting picture yet of the situation on the ground. “After years of creeping Israeli de facto annexation of the large swathes of the West Bank through settlement expansion, the creation of closed military zones and other measures, Israel appears to be getting closer to enacting legislation that will formally annex parts of the West Bank in violation of international law,” he said.
• On 27 June, the Prime Minister of Malaysia committed to launch the UNRWA “Dignity is Priceless” campaign in his country. The launch of the campaign will serve as a catalyst for facilitating increased private giving in the country in support of UNRWA and Palestine refugees.
• On 26-28 June, the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) jointly convened an international conference on “The Question of Jerusalem after 50 years of Occupation and 25 years of the Oslo Accords” in Rabat, Morocco. The Chair Summary can be found via the link.
• On 25 June, the Secretary-General commended UNRWA for its invaluable contribution to the urgent humanitarian needs of millions of Palestine refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. He was speaking during the pledging conference for UNRWA where he also thanked donors for the $200 million in new funding for the urgency.

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.