Middle East

• On 28 September, Al-Haq informed that its Center for Applied International Law had concluded orientation courses on “The International Law and its Applications in the OPT”. Twenty law students from different Palestinian universities participated in the events held in Ramallah on 20-23 September.

• On 27 September, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and other organizations informed that 21 Palestinian, African and regional human rights organizations had sent a letter to representatives of African permanent missions during the 48th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to protest against the recent accreditation of Israel as an observer state to the African Union.

• On 24 September, 7amleh issued a press release welcoming the decision by Facebook’s Oversight Board to restore news content related to the recent bout of violence in Palestine and Israel initially removed by Facebook under its Community Standard on Dangerous Individuals and Organizations. The Board had now noted that the content removal had not been necessary and was an unjustified restriction of freedom of expression on a subject of public interest. The press release further criticized Facebook for lacking transparency in the enforcement of its own community standards, particularly in relation to Arab and Muslim communities.

• On 23 September, Al-Haq issued a press release informing that the organization had sent on 22 September letters to the United Nations Permanent Representatives of several States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) urging them to promote and advance cooperation between the UN Security Council and the Court. The NGO also mentioned that, until January 2022, the Council Presidency will be occupied by States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC, representing a unique opportunity to strengthen the cooperation between the Council and the ICC in particular on issues related to the Question of Palestine.

• On 23 September, BADIL published a press statement from the Global Palestinian Refugee Network criticizing the framework agreement signed by UNRWA to receive resumed US funding. According to the statement, the framework requires UNRWA to censor the Palestinian curriculum in its school, which is allegedly in contradiction with the independence and the impartiality of humanitarian assistance.

• On 22 September, Physicians for Human Rights informed on their website that they had sent a letter to the Israeli Minister of Defence, to the Director General of the Ministry of Health, to the Attorney General, and to the Military Advocate General, asking for an investigation to be initiated into alleged crime against medical staff and facilities committed during the recent the recent Israeli military operation in Gaza.

Europe

• On 27 September, Association Belgo-Palestinienne issued a statement (in French) to inform that the European Commission had registered on 8 September a European citizen initiative calling to end trade with illegal settlements in occupied territories, including in Palestine.

North America

• On 23 September, the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) issued a press release criticizing the approval by the US Congress of $1 billion of military funding to Israel. However, the organization also stressed that several Congress Representatives had voted against the bill or voted present.

• On 23 September, J Street published a statement welcoming the introduction of a new bill in the US House of Representatives that, according to the NGO, embraces several actions the US government could take in order to truly support a peaceful two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and an end to the occupation of Palestinian territory. Americans for Peace Now also issued a statement on the same day, supporting the introduction of this bill, but USCPR criticized this act as perpetuating an unconditional military funding.

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.