3 March 2017

· In a statement issued on 2 March, the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) condemned as excessively lenient the 18-month sentence handed down to Israeli soldier Elor Azaria, convicted of manslaughter for the killing of a 21-year old wounded Palestinian.

· On 3 March, UK-based Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) called on supporters to continue raising concerns about the blockade of Gaza with MPs in order to draw attention to the denial of permits to parents of children undergoing treatment at hospitals in East Jerusalem.

· On 11 March, the Vancouver International Women in Film Festival will present the movie “Trip Along Exodus” followed by a discussion with Hind Shoufani, the film director. The film tells the story of her father, Dr. Elias Shoufani, who in the early 1970s left his academic career in the United States to join the PLO in Beirut.

· Throughout March, the Middle East Children’s Alliance is sponsoring a Dabke and Hip-Hop tour of the Shoruq children’s group from Dheisheh refugee camps near Bethlehem in the U.S. The tour will include performances in California, Georgia, Ohio, Connecticut and New Jersey.· From 1 March through 16 April, Churches for Middle East Peace is conducting in partnership with the Rebuilding Alliance a campaign to raise awareness about the electricity crisis in Gaza and to bring light to Gaza.

· On 8 April, the Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFOPA) is hosting in Adelaide a cooking demonstration by Palestinian Chef Laila El-Haddad, co-author of the “The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey”.

· On 17 March, the UN Palestinian Rights Committee will organize an interactive briefing by Hanan Ashrawi, member of the Executive Committee of the PLO, as a side event during the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). It will be held from 11:00 – 13:00 in the Trusteeship Council Chamber of the UN Headquarters in New York. The RSVP and registration deadline is 14 March 2017.

· On 16 March, the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine is holding a CSW side event during the regarding “Palestinian Women’s Economic Reality”. The event will take place from 16:45 – 18:00 in Conference Room B of the UN Headquarters.

· On 3 March, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the OPT Michael Lynk and UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders Michel Forst expressed concern about Israel’s growing constraints on human rights defenders.

· OHCHR stated that while the prosecution and conviction of IDF soldier Azaria were very welcome steps towards accountability, the lenient sentence risked undermining confidence in the justice system and reinforcing the culture of impunity.