7 May 2020

Middle East

• On 6 May, Adalah – The Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights informed about its filing of a petition to Israel’s Supreme Court against the government’s continued imposition of emergency coronavirus regulations. Adalah argued that the government, via its continued imposition of these emergency regulations, is exceeding the limits of its authority and that the Israeli parliament must be involved in legislating laws relating to the pandemic.

• On 5 May, the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) and other organizations worldwide including Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine issued a joint letter to the International Labor Organization (ILO) Director-General, Mr. Guy Ryder, on the protection of Palestinian workers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The NGOs called on ILO to send an urgent letter to Israel’s Ministers of Labour and Health, calling on the occupying authorities to provide Palestinian workers with three months’ wages during the emergency period, and to take all necessary measures to guarantee their healthcare coverage.

• On 5 May, Al Haq and the Global Action Network (GLAN) published the report “Business and Human Rights in Occupied Territory: Guidance for Upholding Human Rights”. The report addresses the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights including human rights due diligence procedures by businesses in the specific conflict-affected context of occupation and closely examines the economies of “the situations of occupation in Russian-annexed Crimea, Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara, and Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory.”

• On 5 May, the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC) published its report “WCLAC’s Response to COVID-19 and Women’s Rights Violations in Palestine: A Situational Report”.

• On 4 May, Gisha – Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement called on Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) to facilitate repairs to essential medical equipment in the Gaza Strip. Gisha reported that importers of medical equipment in Gaza have unsuccessfully tried to coordinate the shipment of equipment abroad for repairs and reminded the Israeli authorities that any items already approved for entry into Gaza could be approved for exit via the same process.

• On 1 May, B’Tselem issued a press release on the occasion of International Workers’ Day, denouncing Israel’s continuing abuse of Palestinian workers’ rights during the COVID-19 pandemic. B’Tselem explained that after the pandemic had begun, Israel had announced that Palestinians from the West Bank who wished to continue working in Israel would not be allowed to return to the West Bank for fear of infection. Workers who chose to return because of the difficulty of being away from their families did not receive any compensation such as unemployment benefits or grants; those who remained in Israel had no medical insurance and should they have to return to the West Bank for treatment they risked losing their jobs.

Europe

• On 30 April, Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights (LPHR) issued a briefing on “the urgent imperative for the UK government to ensure application of international law in response to Israel’s imminent illegal annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank and its policy of illegal settlement expansion”. The actions outlined included the ban on Israeli settlement goods from entering the UK marketplace and preventing UK companies from operating in and trading with settlements.

• On 29 April, Save the Children published the report “Danger is Our Reality: The Impact of Conflict and the Occupation on Education in the West Bank of the Occupied Palestinian Territory”. The NGO, which surveyed over 400 children across the West Bank, found that attacks on education threatened children’s emotional well-being, their sense of security, ability to learn, relationships with their families and teachers, and how they felt about the future.

North America

• On 6 May, Americans for Peace Now spokesperson Ori Nir and Palestinian Journalist Daoud Kuttab published the article “American Jews: You are Desperately Needed in the Fight Against Annexation”. Both authors denounced the Israeli move to unliterally annex area in the occupied West Bank as “a formula for pushing Israelis and Palestinians further into perpetual occupation and conflict, while furthering instability across the entire Middle East,” adding that “annexation would lead to a situation of not only de-facto but also de-jure apartheid in the West Bank.”

• On 4 May, J Street welcomed the release of a new letter in which 32 leading US foreign policy professionals urged Democratic leaders to ensure that the party’s 2020 platform included an explicit commitment to Palestinian rights alongside Israeli security, and opposition to the ongoing Israeli occupation and potential unilateral annexation in the West Bank.

United Nations

• On 5 May, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People issued the statement “Annexation is a Threat to the Two-State Solution”, calling on Israel to heed the UN Secretary-General’s recent call for a Global Ceasefire and the long-standing demand for a halt to its illegal actions and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including all measures aimed at entrenching the occupation and annexing territory. The Committee also called on Israel to ensure full respect for the human rights of the Palestinian civilian population under its control, and to provide humanitarian access and assistance, including to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

• On 1 May, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territory Occupied Since 1967 Michael Lynk issued a press release warning that the new Israeli coalition government’s plan to proceed with annexing significant parts of the occupied West Bank, including the Jordan Valley, would create “a cascade of bad human rights consequences.” The Special Rapporteur also warned that the United Nations and its Member States could no longer just offer criticism without consequences and should review “its extensive menu of sanctions and countermeasures to stem this march towards further illegality.”

• On 1 May, the NGO Branch of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs announced that it is currently accepting applications from NGOs that wish to apply for ECOSOC consultative status. Complete applications must be received by 1 June 2020 if an NGO wishes to be considered by the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs this year.

 

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.