Dear friends,
This week's NGO Action News has just been published. The newsletter summarizes activities undertaken or planned by civil society organisations across the globe as well as UN action on the question of Palestine over the week. Please feel free to inform us about your activities and publications by emailing us at palestinianrights@un.org and to forward this newsletter to your supporters. We welcome your organization's contributions, questions or comments.
Best wishes,
Division for Palestinian Rights
Department of Political Affairs
United Nations
UNISPAL website: unispal.un.org
Global
· On 9 December, United Cities and Local Government (UCLG), at its World Council meeting in Hangzhou (China), reaffirmed the supremacy of international law to stabilize international relations, put an end to conflictand maintain the special status of Jerusalem.
Middle East
· On 15 December, Gush Shalom and other groups organized a demonstration in Jerusalem under the theme “Jerusalem is the Capital to both Peoples: Palestinians and Israelis March Together in Protest and Hope”.
· On 14 December, Addameer reported an increase in arrests by Israeli security forces operating in the West Bank as well as raids conducted on Palestinian university campuses.
· On 12 December, the Palestinian Human Rights OrganizationsCouncil (PHROC) issued a statement, calling on EU Member States to respect the legal status of Jerusalem and abide by their obligations under international law.
· On 12 December, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research published the results of an opinion poll conducted in cooperation with the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip from 7 to 10 December.
· To mark International Human Rights Day on 10 December, Al-Haq released a short video providing a snapshot of human rights violations in the OPT through the example of life in the village of Nabi Samwil, located in the Jerusalem Governorate, in Area C of the West Bank. The organization called upon individuals and States to consider ways to realize the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in the world,including for Palestinians in the OPT, within Israel and in the Diaspora.
· On 10 December, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) published its annual “SituationReport: The State of Human Rights in Israel and the Occupied PalestinianTerritories”.
· On 10 December, AlMezan Center for Human Rights held the specialized workshop “Violence in Classrooms: The Reasons and the Solutions”. Participants included the Parent’s Council of UNRWA schools, UNICEF, OCHA and Defense for Children International (DCI)-Palestine.
· Al Mezan and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights posted on their website's joint statements on the question of Jerusalem by Arab civil society organizations.
· On 5 December, B’Tselem published a new report “Maiden Israel: Exploiting Palestinian Land for Treatment of Israeli Waste”.
· As part of a project implemented in partnership with EuroMed Women, on 2 December, Miftah-The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue & Democracy organized a meeting to discuss ways forward to strengthen the representation of youth and women in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
North America
· On 11 December, CARE urged the U.S. Government not to overlook the humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza amid the decision to move the U.S.embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The organization expressed concern that the decision would create a new obstacle to resolving a conflict that had resulted in Palestinian families living as refugees for the last 70 years.
· On 5 December, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) criticized that recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital violated the prohibition of the acquisition of territory by force and the duty of States not to recognize an unlawful situation.
· Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) has compiled on its website the statements issued by its members following the U.S.recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Further statements on the question of Jerusalem by faith-based and other organizations are available on the Palestine Portal.
Europe
· On 14 December, Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights (LPHR) wrote a letter to the British Foreign Office, requesting its urgent action to prevent the forcible eviction of the inhabitants of three Palestinian West Bank communities (Umm al-Jamal, Ein al-Hilweh and Jabal al-Baba). On 5 December, LPHR published a briefing on forcible transfer which coincided with the parliamentary debate on the effect of Israeli demolitions on Palestinian communities, held on 6 December.
· On 13 December, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) warned that the U.S. declaration on Jerusalem may have far-reaching consequences for its humanitarian work to protect the rights of Palestinians and prevent their forcible displacement.
· On 8 December, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) expressed concern that Israeli policies and practices in East Jerusalem were creating a coercive environment, forcing Palestinians out of the city. MAP called on the British Government to redouble efforts to ensure a just peace, based on accountability for all violations of international humanitarian law in East Jerusalem.
United Nations
· On 14 December, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People met to discuss diplomatic action to reaffirm the status of Jerusalem under international law and the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people. In addition,the Chair of the Committee drew attention to UNRWA’s current funding shortfall and launched an urgent appeal to donors to close the gap.
· On 11 December, UNRWA published a video message by its Commissioner General Pierre Krähenbühl, assuring Palestine refugees that despite the challenging financial situation, services would continue without interruption until the end of 2017. Supporting Palestine refugees was not a matter of charity, he stated,but of rights, respect, hope and dignity.
· On 11 December, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, launched events to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, highlighting current challenges and UNESCO’s contribution. The statement delivered by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the occasion is available online.
· The Verbatim Record of the UN Security Council emergency meeting on the situation in the Middle East including the Palestinian question, held on 8 December, is available online.
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