Middle East

• On 6 April, Al-Haq published a joint press statement of the six organizations classified by Israeli Authorities as “terror organizations” in 2021, calling for countries and intergovernmental organizations to take concrete action against Israel’s continued harassment and criminalization of Palestinian human rights defenders and civil society organizations. This statement was presented following a meeting organized on the same day by the Carter Center in Ramallah to support the affected organizations.

• On 5 April, Al-Haq published a statement of the Palestinian Digital Rights Coalition welcoming the filing of a lawsuit in France by the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), the Human Rights League (LDH) and Palestinian-French lawyer and human rights defender Salah Hammouri against the Israeli Surveillance tech NSO Group. The statement further reads that NSO Group has been using this spyware illegally to hack and infiltrate Hammouri’s phone. The statement further informs that the use of Israeli NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware had been blacklisted in countries including the US. Its use is part of a broader campaign of Israel to smear, shrink and minimize the space for civil society and human rights work, including through delegitimizing Palestinian human rights groups and human rights defenders. Several organizations published this statement as well, including JLAC, 7amleh and Addameer.

• On 4 April, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) published an article supporting the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s concluding observations on Israel. CIHRS informed that these observations highlighted pre-existing systematic and structural discriminations, following the Committee’s review of Israel’s implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In their joint submission and subsequent engagement, CIHRS and partners called on the Committee to build on mounting recognition by global civil society, UN treaty bodies, and Special Procedures that Israeli officials are committing the crime of apartheid. Furthermore, Al Mezan issued an article supporting the adoption by the United Nations Human Rights Committee of its concluding observations on Israel, which call on Israel to lift the blockade and closure of the Gaza Strip, end practices of collective punishment, and ensure accountability for persistent Israeli human rights violations committed during successive military operations against Gaza.

• On 1 April, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) published an article welcoming the United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution A/HRC/49/L.26, “Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice.” PCHR recalled that this resolution stressed the imperative of credible, timely and comprehensive accountability for all violations of international law in order to attain justice for the victims and establish a just and sustainable peace. Al-Haq published an article as well to inform of its submission to 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council of several statements under several agenda items.

Europe

• On 4 April, the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP) published an article reporting that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 published a report stating that “Israel has imposed upon Palestine an apartheid reality in a post-apartheid world.” ECCP stressed that the Special Rapporteur joins organisations like Al Haq, Yesh Din, B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International in concluding that Israel is guilty of the crime against humanity of Apartheid.

North America

• On 13 April, the Center for Palestine Studies of Columbia University, Scientists for Palestine and the Bisan Center for Research and Development will organize a lecture by Honaida Ghanim (Birzeit University) on “Post-justice, exceptionalism, and the normalization of apartheid”. This event is the second session of the Bisan Lecture Series and will explore the concept of post-justice as a product of unequal power relations and resting on in-deep oriental racism toward the Palestinian, facilitating colonization and apartheid through various tools that emphasize the “exceptionalism” of the colonizer.

• On 4 April, Americans for Peace Now (APN) published an article informing that the Israeli Supreme Court issued a ruling on 30 March, giving the residents of al-Walaja six more months to come up with an agreed-upon zoning plan, following previous refusals of the Israeli authorities to create such plan. The homes of 38 Palestinian families have been under demolition orders in this East-Jerusalem community, a situation affecting over 300 residents. APN emphasized that this decision resulted from American diplomatic pressure, following interventions by Members of Congress.

• On 31 March, the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) published the podcast “Palestinian Politics, Arab Normalization, & Escalating Violence: A Deep Dive with Dalia Hatuqa”. In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP speaks with preeminent journalist Dalia Hatuqa (multimedia journalist specializing in Israeli/Palestinian affairs) about Palestinian domestic politics, the recent normalization “summit” in the Negev, and the long-feared/long-predicted escalation of tensions/violence in the entire area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.

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.