NGO ACTION NEWS January- February 2008 No. 1,2, 3 (160) http://unispal.un.org/ngoactionnews.nsf/1c0b3ab87dc4f2f8852568f8007759fd/b6ad742523ce46d68525746500467679?OpenDocument North America The Coalition for Peace and Justice in Palestine (La Coalition pour la Paix et la Justice en Palestine) held in January 2008 a vigil and a demonstration in Montreal entitled “End the Siege of Gaza, Now! For further information, contact E-Mail: ehablotayef@mcgill.ca Friends of Sabeel –North America is circulating a press release on behalf of Avaaz which is running an emergency global campaign to international, European and Arab leaders, calling on them to stop the siege in Gaza, oversee open borders and help broker a ceasefire. For further information, visit the web site: http://www.fosna.org or http://www.avaaz.org Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) & American Task Force on Palestine held a briefing on 29 January 2007 entitled “Gaza: Crisis on the Border and Policy Options” by Geoffrey Aronson, Director of Research and Editor of the Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories at the FMEP; and Mark Perry, political analyst and principal in the Conflicts Forum. For further information, contact E-Mail: info@fmep.org or visit the web site: http://www.fmep.org Foundation for Middle East Peace, Americans for Peace Now & Brit Tzedek V’Shalom held a talk and a photo exhibit on 1 February 2008 entitled “Breaking the Silence: Israeli Soldiers’ Testimony on Service in the West Bank” by Yehuda Shaul, whose experience in the IDF in Hebron let to his founding of the organization and the group’s first photo exhibit in 2004. Since then the organization has collected over 500 testimonies from current and former IDF soldiers with focus on the situation in Hebron. For further information, contact E-Mail: info@fmep.org or visit the web site: http://www.fmep.org Foundation for Middle East Peace, Americans for Peace Now and Brit Tzedek V’Shalom will hold a task on 8 February 2008 by Menaclem Klein, advisor to Israeli delegates in the Oslo talks and part of the Israeli team that drafted the Geneva Initiative, and author of “A Possible Peace between Israel and Palestine – An Insider’s Account of the Geneva Initiative”, at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a press release on 26 January 2008 entitled “Israel/Gaza: Israel Blockade Unlawful Despite Gaza Border Breach”. The press release states that “The sudden opening to Gaza’s border with Egypt has changed, for the time being, only one of the many indices of Israel’s control over essential aspects of life in Gaza”. For further information, visit the web site: http://www.hrw.org Institute for Palestine Studies issued a new issue of the Journal of Palestine Studies containing the following articles: “Conceived by Law: The Legal Foundations of Resolution 242” by Michael Lynk; “Forty Years without Resolve: Tracing the Influence of Security Council Resolution 242 on the Middle East Peace Process” by Omar Dajani; “Forty Years after 242: A ‘Canonical Text in Disrepute?” by Richard Falk; Security Council Resolution 242 and the Right to Repatriation” by John Quigley; and “People without Borders for Borders without People: Land, Demography, and Peacemaking under Resolution 242” by Jamil Dakwar. For further information, contact E-Mail: policynotes@palestine-studies.org The Palestine Center will hold a presentation on 5 February 2008 entitled “The Future of Palestinian-Israeli Negotiations: Is Peace still Possible” by Ahmad Tibi, Knesset member, member of the Arab Nationalist Party, Ta’al. For further information, contact E-Mail: info@palestinecenter.org or visit the web site: http://www.thejerusalemfund.org The Palestine Center will hold an evening lecture series from 6 to 27 March 2008 entitled “Palestine, the Middle East and the United States”. Lectures include: “Legacy of the 1948 Nakba, by Michael Fishbach, Professor of History, Randolph-Macon College; “US Diplomacy in the Middle East” by Marwan Kraidy, Associate Professor, Anneberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania; “US Foreign Policy Toward the Middle East, by Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development, University of Maryland; and “Palestine, the Middle East, the US and International Law” by Daoud Khairallah, Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University & School of Advanced International Studies, John Hopkins University. The Rebuilding Alliance is raising funds for food and medical supplies for partners in Gaza at the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme to purchase a specific list of medicines in Egypt. For further information, contact E-Mail; dbw@rebuildingalliance.org or visit the web site: http://www.RebuildingAlliance.org Asia Australians for Palestine and Women for Palestine are supporting the campaign “Candles for Gaza”. The organizations are sending candles to UNRWA Headquarters in Amman. For further information, contact E-Mail: sonja.karkar@womenforpalestine.com or visit the web site: http://www.australiansforpalestine.org Peace Malaysia issued a press release in January 2008 informing that it will be sending food and medicine to the Gaza Strip through the Gaza Humanitarian Fund. The organization will also provide medical services using its Doctors for Palestinians who continue to cross over the Rafah border. For further information, contact E-Mail: ramkarthigasu@gmail.com Europe Amnesty International issued a press release on 21 January 2008 entitled “Israel must allow basic necessities into Gaza”, regarding Israel’s decision to block all fuel supplies and other restrictions which have effectively prevented entry or exit of people and goods from and to the Gaza Strip since June 2007. According to the organization “more than 40 seriously ill patients have died since the Israeli authorities closed Gaza’s borders, so denying them access to hospital treatment abroad, but now the entire Gaza population is at risk as electricity and fuel supplies run out”. For further information, contact E-Mail: press@amnesty.org or visit the web site: http://www.amnesty.org Amnesty made a public statement on 31 January 2008 entitled “Gazans climbs over the Egypt-Gaza border”. The statements says: “Egypt has the right to secure its border with Gaza, but a return to the situation whereby the Gaza-Egypt border – Gazan’s only means of passage to the outside world – is completely sealed, as it has been for the past seven months, is not acceptable … Whatever agreement about the management of the border is reached between the Governments of Egypt and Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas de-facto administration in Gaza, it must respect fully the fundamental rights of the population of Gaza”. Amnesty also stated its concern about the decision by Israeli Government not to indict police officers who killed 13 demonstrators at the beginning of October 2000. Association Belgo-Palestinienne held three demonstrations in January 2008 against the siege of the Gaza Strip. For further information, contact E-Mail: abp.eccp@skynet.be or visit the web site: http://www.association-belgo-palestinienne.be Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding (CAABU), the Center of Lebanese Studies and Stacey International will hold a presentation on 6 February 2008 entitled “Palestine in Perspective: 60 Years” by Michel Edde, politician and former Chairman of the Maronite League; Chris Doyle, Director of CAABU; Samir Khalaf, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for Behavioural Research at the American University of Beirut; and Yossi Mekelberg, Associate Fellow of the Middle East Programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs and a lecturer in International Relations and Politics at Webster University’s London Campus. The event will be chaired Eugene Rogan, Director of the Middle East Centre at St. Anthony’s College at Oxford. For further information, contact E-Mail: marketing@stacey-international.CO.UK or visit the web site: http://www.caabu.org Palestine Solidarity Movement held on 26 January 2008 the “End of Siege of Gaza” demonstration opposite 10 Downing Street as well as other demonstrations in other UK cities. http://youtube.com/watch?v=6Yh0_f4O34o Palestine Solidarity Movement, Palestinian Forum in Britain, British Muslim Initiative, Palestinian Return Centre, Friends of Al Aqsa, Stop the War Coalition, Friends of Lebanon and Jews for Justice for Palestinians will hold another demonstration on 9 February 2008 to “End the Siege in Gaza”, opposite No. 10 Downing Street. The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) held an emergency seminar on 23 January 2008 entitled “The Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza”, at the House of Commons – as part of the activities organized by the European Campaign for the Lifting of the Sanctions Against Gaza. For further information, contact E-Mail: prc@prc.org.uk or visit the web site: http://www.prc.org.uk Trocaire issued a press release on 25 January 2008 entitled “Irish-EU Policy on Gaza has failed so far”. The organization delivered a petition signed by over 3,000 people to Minister Dermot Ahern calling on the Irish Government to take a more active role in the Middle East. The petition was the result of a campaign of a public awareness campaign run by the organization last year to highlight the impact of 40 years of Israel occupation of the Palestinian Territory. For further information, contact E-Mail: EMurray@trocaire.ie or visit the web site: http://www.trocaire.org Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem The Alternative Information Center (AIC) , Bat Tfason, Gush Shalom, The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), Physicians for Human Rights and The Women’s Coalition for Peace issued a press release on 21 January entitled “Gaza: An Israeli Call for Urgent Action”. The press release states that “the very legal framework invoked by the Israeli Government to carry out the military action – declaring Gaza a hostile entity within a conflict short of war – has absolutely no standing in international law”. For further information, visit the web site: http://www.gush-shalom.org The Alternative Information Center issued a paper based on a presentation entitled “Oppressing to be on the Safe Side: The Situation of East Jerusalem Palestinians” by Lubna Masarwa, Social Movements Coordinator of the AIC, at the third annual Alternative Conference to the Herzliya Conference entitled “Security - for Whom? Security and Information Withholding Policies”, which took place on 22 January 2008, in Haifa. The paper states that just the last year alone, the Israeli Government cancelled the residency status of more than 1,500 inhabitants of East Jerusalem for security reasons – a 200% increase from the previous year. The Alternative Information Center issued the video cast entitled Jerusalem Diaries: Isolated Communities – The Sheik Saed Neighbourhood in East Jerusalem” by Sergio Yahni. “According to the Clinton proposal, all neighbourhoods populated by Palestinians in the greater Jerusalem region are to be incorporated by the Palestinian State – but in practical terms, this framework creates isolated enclaves of Palestinian populations surrounded by the wall. Some of these enclaves, such as Sheik Saed, are dividing Palestinian population from Palestinian population. The Israeli Supreme Court determined that the path of the wall should be changed and not isolate Sheik Saed. However, immediately following the decision of the Supreme Court, the IDF began building a barbed wire fence. According to the organization, “if the Clinton proposal for dividing Jerusalem is implemented, many other Arab neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem which have already become isolated by the wall, will share a similar fate, becoming secluded island enclaves under titular Palestinian sovereignty. Al-Khader Popular Committee Against the Wall held a demonstration on 18 January 2008 to protest the construction of the wall in the town of Al-Khader south of Bethlehem, which will expropriate more than 20,000 dunams of the town’s land. The demonstration will also be joined by international and Israeli peace activists. For further information, contact E-Mail: abusaliba@yahoo.com Al-Haq issued a press release on 21 January 2008 entitled “End the Siege in Gaza”. The press release states the ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip, forced Gaza’a only power plant to shut down, which will affect the provision of medical care and sanitation services. For further information, contact E-Mail: media@alhaq.org or visit the web site: http://www.alhaq.org Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights issued a press release on 22 January 2008 entitled “Israel Maintains its Programme of Population Transfer as More Palestinians are Forcibly Displaced from their Homes and Lands”. The press release states that since the beginning of 2008, over 200 Palestinians in the West Bank have become internally displaced as result of home demolitions and evictions. For further information, contact E-Mail: info@badil.org or visit the web site: http://www.badil.org B’Tselem issued a press release on 3 January 2008 entitled “Azzun’Atmah Gate still closed at night, despite army’s promise: Two women forced to give birth in a car”. For further information, visit the web site: http://www.btselem.org Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights announced that the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam will host an exhibition from 1 March 2008 to 4 January 2009 on “Palestine 1948 and the Nakba”. For further information, visit the web site: www.tropenmuseum.nl The Civic Coalition for Jerusalem for Defending the Palestinians’Rights in Jerusalem held a demonstration on 22 January 2008 in front of the European Commission building in Jerusalem, calling on the European Union to immediately intervene to stop Israel from pursuing its actions against the Palestinians. At the occasion, The Coalition for Jerusalem also delivered a statement to the European Delegation in Jerusalem. The Coalition is composed of about 40 organizations and several prominent Palestinian figures. For further information, contact E-Mail: arouria@jwelfare.org or visit the web site: http://www.ccdprj.ps Defence for Children International and Save the Children UK issued in January 2008 a “Special Report on Children in Gaza”. For further information, visit the web site: http://childrightsmonitor.org Defence for Children International – Palestine Section issued a press release on 21 January condemning “the recent escalation of violence in Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip, and expressed its grave concern about the life and safety of the civilian population, especially children, residing in Gaza”. “Children make up 55% of the population in Gaza and are severely affected by the sanctions. In addition to the suffocation of the Gaza population, Israeli military operations conducted in the Strip since the beginning of the year have already resulted in the deaths of seven children, four of whom were not participating in any combat activity; and another 59 children were injured in these operations, and some of them in a critical state.” For further information, visit the web site: http://www.dci-pal.org The East Jerusalem YMCA and Trocaire Ireland is conducting a seven months project for training farmers and community based organizations in the Bethlehem area. For further information, visit the web site: http://www-jai-pal.org Gisha: Legal Center for Freedom of Movement issued a press release on 21 January 2008 entitled “Not Spin – Israel Intentionally Turned-off the Lights – As early as 3 January , Israel was alerted to the severe shortage in industrial diesel – but refused to relent from its punitive measures”. “Human Rights Groups submitted an urgent request to the Supreme Court demanding that the State allow Gaza residents to receive the industrial diesel necessary to produce electricity – This is an intentional crisis, well planned in Advance”. For further information, contact e-Mail: Tania@gisha.org or visit the web site: http://www.gisha.org Gisha issued another press release on 28 January 2008 entitled “Israel’s Relief – Fuel Cuts of Up to 81% - New Electricity Cuts Beginning February 7”. The organization also prepared a document which provides a preliminary description of the Israeli High Court decision on 30 January authorizing fuel and electricity cuts to the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Coalition Against the Siege - Gush-Shalom, Coalition of Women for Peace, Combatants for Peace, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), New Profile, Hadash, Balad, Adalah, Tarabut/Hitahbut, Alternative Information Center (AIC), Bat Shalom, Anarchists Against the Wall, Physicians for Human Rights, Committee for Israeli-Palestinian Dialogue, Machsom Watch, The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, Mental Health Workers for Human Rights, Bat Tzafon for Peace and Equality, Gisha, Yesh Gvul, “On the Left Side”, ActiveStills, The Students Coalition (Tel Aviv University) in coordination with the Palestinian coalition organized in January 2008 a relief convoy containing sacks of flour, food supplies and other essential products, especially water filters to be distributed in Gaza by their Palestinian partner, The End of Siege Campaign. Organizers of the convoy have appealed to the army for immediate permission for the goods to be allowed in the Gaza Strip. For further information, contact E-Mail: angela@icahd.org or visit the web site: http://www.gush-shalom.org Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) held a presentation on 23 January 2008 entitled “Israel and Palestinian Strategic Options vis-à-vis Gaza” by Sufyan Abu Zaida, Former Minister for Prisoners’ Affairs and Professor at Al-Quds University; Gideon Grinstein, Founder and President of Re’ut Institute; and Khalil Shikaki, Director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey; and Gershon Baskin, Co-CEO, IPCRI, in Jerusalem. For further information, contact E-Mail: gershon@ipcri.org or visit the web site: http://www.ipcri.org Jerusalem Inter-Church Centre (JIC) issued a statement on 22 January 2008 entitled “In the Name of God, End the Siege in Gaza”, by the Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. For further information, contact E-Mail: yusef66jrs@yahoo.com, communication@caritasjr.org or visit the web site: http://www.caritasjr.org Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) issued a press release on 21 January 2008 entitled “PCHR calls on the International Community to Prevent a Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza”. For further information, contact E-Mail: pchr@pchrgaza.org or visit the web site: http://www.pchrgaza.org PCHR is publishing a series of “Narratives Under Siege” on its web site. The short articles are based on personal testimonies and experiences of life in the Gaza Strip. PNGO (The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations) issued an urgent appeal on 22 January 2008 calling “to Terminate the Israeli Siege of the Gaza Strip”. For further information, contact E-Mail: pngonet@pngo.net The Palestinian Circus School will hold the “Circus behind the Wall” from 2 to 17 February 2008 in Belgium and France. For further information, contact E-Mail: info@palcircus.ps or visit the web site: http://www.palcircus.ps Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHR) issued a press release on 9 January 2008 informing that four Arab-Israeli members and a convoy of medical supplies have entered Gaza. The delegation visited Shifa Hospital and members of the medical system and human rights organizations collected information on health impacts of the siege and expressed solidarity. For further information, contact E-Mail: Miri@phr.org.il or visit the web site: http://www.phr.org.il Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme issued a press release on 24 January 2008 calling “for an immediate cessation of collective punitive measures against the civilians”, describing the medical situation in the Gaza Strip as a result of power cuts. The Gaza European Hospital and Nasser Hospital have declared an emergency status due to depletion of their generators’s fuel reserves. From 56 Primary Health Care facilities in Gaza, 26 have no generators, and 19 others are not operating due to depletion of their generators’s fuel reserves. Transparency Palestine – The Coalition for Integrity and Accountability (AMAN) has initiated a campaign to mobilize Transparency International’s 70 branches across the world against the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip. Transparency issued a report in February 2008 entitled “Besieged and in Darkness Gaza Calls to Save Gaza”. For further information, contact E-Mail: Ghada@aman-palestine.org or visit the web site: http://www.aman-palestine.org The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will hold the UN Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People on 19 and 20 February 2008, at the Radisson Hotel, in Amman, Jordan. By organizing this event, the Committee wishes to build on the positive momentum created by the Annapolis Conference and the Paris Donors’ Conference and support all the efforts to mobilize international assistance to the Palestinian People. The Seminar should provide an opportunity to assess the socio-economic and humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory; discuss the United Nations, international and regional response to the needs of the Palestinian people; and exchange views on the immediate and long-term steps that need to be taken on the road to Palestinian economic recovery. For further information, visit the web site maintained by the Division for Palestinian Rights: www.un.org/depts/dpa/ngo/index/html