6 May 2021

Middle East

• On 3 May, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights issued the press release “World Press Freedom Day: PCHR Demands Protection for Media Freedoms and Accountability for Israeli Crimes against Press”, highlighting that Palestinian journalists suffer under persistent targeting and persecution by the Israeli occupation forces “in an attempt to silence the press, hide the truth, and enjoy complete control over its victims” and that such action “is a violation of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law, particularly Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

• On 3 May, B’Tselem published the article “Since pandemic, has Israel allowed almost no Palestinians out of Gaza for medical treatment” highlighting that through a very restrictive anti-Coronavirus policy “Israel shirked its duty to allow ill residents access to essential treatment unavailable within the Gaza Strip, and left them to their fate.”

• On 1 May, Al Mezan Center For Human Rights issued the press release “International Workers’ Day in Gaza: labor force participation dropping and no redress on the way” on the “bleak picture of the situation of Palestinian workers in the occupied Palestinian territories and in the Gaza Strip in particular, primarily because of the pandemic’s profound impact on the already-faltering Palestinian economy.”

• On 1 May, Al-Haq issued the report “Captive Markets, Captive Lives: Palestinian Workers in Israeli Settlements” that examines the experiences of Palestinian workers in Israel’s unlawful settlement enterprise in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Al-Haq illustrates Israel’s reliance on the Oslo Accords to maintain control over the occupied Palestinian population and deepen their fragmentation, while holding the Palestinian economy captive, in what amounts to “economic annexation”.

• On 30 April 2021, Al-Haq informed that the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC); Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies; and Habitat International Coalition – Housing and Land Rights Network had submitted a joint submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Mr. Michael Lynk, “laying out the framework for the illegality of Israeli colonial settlements, which are key to Israel’s settler-colonial and apartheid regime, and analysing their impact on the Palestinian people’s rights”. The joint submission is pursuant to a call for input ahead of the Special Rapporteur’s report on the issue, which will be presented to the Human Rights Council in its 47th Session (21 June – 9 July 2021).

• On 30 April, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights issued a press release “General Elections Postponed, PCHR Understands the Decision and Holds Israel Responsible” in which it emphasized that “allowing Jerusalemites to practice their right in the general elections, including their right to vote, run for elections and election campaigning, constitutes the centerpiece for enabling Palestinians to enjoy their right to self-determination and the right to choose their representatives, which should not be in any way ignored or denied” and stated the NGO’s belief that “the current moment is a turning point in the history of the Palestinian cause and reveals the real intentions of the Israeli occupation on one hand and the credibility of the international community on the other in terms of its support for the two-state solution and Palestinians’ right to self-determination.”

North America

• On 6 May, the Foundation for Middle East Peace is holding the event “Jerusalem on the Verge: Dispossession & Violence in Sheikh Jarrah” featuring Aseel AlBajeh (Al Haq) and Budour Hassan (author and journalist). On 10 May, FMEP will organise an event on “The Palestinian Nakba: What Happened in 1948 and Why It Still Matters” with a keynote address by US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib; and on 12 May the event “The PLO & the Palestinian Diaspora: Reviving a Source of Power” featuring Zaha Hassan (Carnegie Endowment for Peace), Nadia Hijab (Al Shabaka) and Inès Abdel Razek (Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy).

• On 6 May, The Jerusalem Fund is hosting the 2021 Hisham Sharabi Memorial Symposium, where Michael Arria, Omar Baddar, and Lamis Deek will discuss their thoughts on how the new Biden administration will impact the future of Palestine, how Trump altered the right on the question of Israel, increasing support for Palestine among Democratic voters, and the current dynamics and politics on the ground in Palestine.

United Nations

• On 6 May, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace, Tor Wennesland issued a statement on the surge in tensions and violence in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in which he reiterated that Israeli security forces “must exercise maximum restraint and use lethal force only when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life,” expressed his worry about “the eviction of Palestine refugee families in Sheikh Jarrah and other neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem,” and urged Israel “to cease demolitions and evictions, in line with its obligations under international humanitarian law.”

• On 30 April, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace, Tor Wennesland issued a statement on the postponement of the Palestinian Legislative Council elections. He expressed his understanding of “the disappointment of the many Palestinians who have so clearly expressed a desire to exercise their democratic rights after nearly 16 years without elections[,]” stated that “[t]he holding of transparent and inclusive elections throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in East Jerusalem as stipulated in prior agreements remains essential for renewing the legitimacy and credibility of Palestinian institutions and opening the path to re-establishing Palestinian national unity” and highlighted that “[s]etting a new and timely date for elections would be an important step in reassuring the Palestinian people that their voices will be heard.”

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.