NGO ACTION NEWS No. 2-3/2007 (136-137) http://unispal.un.org/ngoactionnews.nsf/1c0b3ab87dc4f2f8852568f8007759fd/b4856b56a2253879852572890061a7ee?OpenDocument North America The American University held a conference on 7 February 2007 entitled “Refugees, IDP’s, and their Right of Return”. The Palestine panel featured John Quigley, Professor of Law at Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University; and Naseer Aruri, Chancellor Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Massachusetts at Darmouth and member of the board of Directors of the International Institute of Criminal Investigations at The Hague. For further information, contact email secle@wcl.american.edu or visit the website http://www.wcl.american.edu/secle/. Al-Awda - The Palestine Right to Return Coalition will hold its Fifth Annual International Convention entitled “Uniting for the Return” on 11 to 13 May 2007, in California. For further information, contact email info@awda.org or visit Al-Awda’s website http://www.al-awda.org. American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) held a briefing on 23 January 2007 at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington D.C., entitled “US Policy Towards Israel-Palestine: 2006-2008 – Expectations and Recommendations”. Speakers included: Alon Ben Meir, Professor of International Relations at Middle Eastern Studies, New York University; Ghait Al-Omari, Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation; and Aaron David Miller, Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. For further information, contact email abaldwin@atfp.org or visit ATFP’s website http://www.aftp.org ATFP issued a press release on 23 January 2007 announcing the New Medical Humanitarian Medical Volunteer Programme for the West Bank entitled “Healing Palestinians”, which will consist of a programme rotating doctors in several West Bank hospitals in summer 2007. Brit Tzedek v’Shalom launched a new campaign in February 2007 entitled “Let’s Talk! American Jews Call for Urgent Diplomatic Engagement to Resolve the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”. For further information, contact email info@btvshalom.org or visit Brit Tzevek’s website http://www.btvshalom.org Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) sent a letter on 23 January 2007 to President Bush, signed by 30 Church leaders, encouraging President Bush to push for peace in the Holy Land. The letter has also been delivered to all Senate and House offices. CMEP also ran a full-page add highlighting the key points of the letter to President Bush in the January 30th issue of Roll Call, a Capitol Hill publication. For further information, contact email info@cmep.org or visit CMEP’s website http://www.cmep.org Common Bond Institute (CBI) will hold the 15th International Conference on Conflict Resolution (ICR) from 5 to 13 May 2007 in St. Petesburg, Russia. CBI established in 1998 the International Training Programme Transformation as an extension of the annual ICR Conferences. Currently two projects have been added to the programme: Catastrophic Trauma Recovery Training and Capacity for Peace and Democracy – Palestine, a collaborative project with Al-Azhar (?) University in the Gaza Strip and the Arab-American University in Jenin (AAUJ) to establish a Center for Conflict Resolution and Human Services, and provide a pool of visiting professors. The purpose is to help prepare future leaders in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as well as to create opportunities for community based institutions and universities to cooperate on issues that promote understanding, acceptance, reconciliation and forgiveness. Currently, a Center for Conflict Resolution has been established at Al Azhar University. Additional efforts under development include: Children’s Trauma Treatment Center in Nablus, Joint Palestinian/Israeli Trauma Treatment Training, Joint Palestinian/Israeli Peace Studies Center Network, and Joint Palestinian/Israeli Youth Encounters. For further information, contact email SOLweean@aol.com or visit the website http://www.cbiworld.org Council for the National Interest (CNI) held a presentation on 12 February 2007 entitled “Is a Two State Solution Still Possible”, by Naim Ateek, founder and Director of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem; and Jeff Halper, founder of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolition (ICAHD). The moderator was Mark Braverman, board member of the Washington Interfaith Alliance on Middle East Peace and member of Partners for Peace. For further information, contact email inform@cnionline.org or visit CNI’s website http://www.cnionline.org Foundation for Middle East Peace will hold a presentation on 28 February 2007 entitled “Israeli-Palestinian Economic and Civil Policy – A New Strategy” by Haggai Alon, Senior Policy Advisor to Israeli Minister of Defence Amir Peretz, and recently appointed as the Minister’s advisor on the fabric of life of Palestinians. In this capacity, his responsibilities include issues related to the wall and movement and access. The event will take place at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. For further information, contact email info@fmep.org or visit http://www.fmep.org. The International Coordination Network on Palestine (ICNP) issued a call for global action on 9 and 10 June 2007 entitled “The World Says No to the Israeli Occupation”. The call has been translated into several languages. Dozens of organizations and platforms around the world have already joined the initiative. For further information, contact email ICNPcall@gmail.com International Crisis Group issued a press release with the speech delivered by Gareth Evans at the Concluding Plenary Session of the Madrid + 15 Conference on 12 January 2007, entitled “Towards Peace in the Middle East: Addressing Concerns and Expectations”. For further information, visit the Group’s website http://www.crisisgroup.org The Israel-Palestine Working Group will hold a presentation on 23 February 2007 entitled “Israel-Palestine: A Challenge to Human Rights” by Jeff Halper, Coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions”. The event will take place at the Church Center in New York City. For further information, contact email johanisek@presbyun.org or visit the website http://www.pcusa.org/peacemaking/un One Voice issued a press release on 25 January 2007 informing that One Voice youth leaders and staff from Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory spoke by satellite in front of 1,000 world leaders and dignitaries at a special World Economic Forum session. PA President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and Vice-Premier Shimon Peres responded from the podium to One Voice representatives in Ramallah, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. For further information, contact email darya@onevoicemovement.org or visit One Voice’s website http://www.onevicemovement.org Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) held a presentation on 1 February 2007 by Mona and David Halaby, who spent several months living in Jerusalem and travelling in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. MECA has taken small groups to the West Bank, Gaza and Israel. The organization will organize a new trip in August 2007. For further information, contact email meca@mecaforpeace.org or visit MECA’s website http://www.mecaforpeace.org NYU Students for Justice in Palestine, Falasteen and the Arab Students Association at Columbia University, Action Wednesdays Against the War, Adalah-New York, The Coalition for Justice in the Middle East, The Palestine/Israel Educational Project, Al-Awda New York, New Jersey Solidarity, Activists for the Liberation of Palestine, International Solidarity Movement – New York City, and WESPAC organized the 3rd Annual Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) from 10 to 18 February 2007, a week-long series of events featuring lectures, film screenings and cultural activities. For further information, contact email israeliapartheidweek@yahoo.com or visit the website http://www.endisraeliapartheid.net Palestinian American Congress issued a statement in January in support of the Palestinian National Unity. A petition is being circulated by an ad hoc committee of Palestinians in the diaspora. For further information, contact email qumsi001@hotmail.com or visit the website http://thepetitionsite.com The Palestine Center issued a press release on behalf of the United Palestinian Appeal (UPA) and the Welfare Association requesting immediate assistance with an Emergency Food Drive for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. For further information, contact email contact@helpupa.com or visit the UPA website http://www.helpUPA.com The Palestine Center will hold a presentation on 27 February 2007 entitled “Neo-Liberal Apartheid: Lessons from the Crisis of South African Liberation” by Andy Clarno, Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the University of Michigan, Ann Harbor. He will examine the relations between globalization and the political transitions in South Africa and in Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territory since the early 1990s. The Center has announced the following presentations in March 2007: “Legacy of the 1948 Catastrophe” by Michael Fishbach, Professor of History at Randolph-Macon College; “US Policy Toward the Middle East” by Edward Peck, former US Ambassador to Iraq; “US Media Coverage of the Middle East”, by Robert Jensen, Professor of Journalism, the University of Texas at Austin; “Palestine, the Middle East, the US, and International Law” by Amjad Attalah, President, Strategic Assessments Initiative; and “Political Islam and the New World Order” by Dr. Nathan Brown, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment and professor of political science and international affairs and director of the Middle East Studies Program at the George Washington University. Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center will hold its Second International Conference on 19 to 29 July 2007 in Jerusalem entitled “40 Years in the Wilderness: 40 Years of Occupation”. For further information, visit Sabeel’s website http://www.sabeel.org Tawassul for Palestinian Arts and Culture issued a press release in February 2007 announcing the following events: a play entitled “News from Palestine”, by Genevieve Cora Fraser at Harvard University; a presentation entitled “The Occupation and the Mind: Practicing Psychiatry in Palestine”, by Dr. Samah Jabr from Jerusalem at MIT; and a Youth Video Workshop in Palestinian Refugee Camps, a project which culminated in 19 videos produced by children aged 10 to 16 years old, who created the stories, the scripts, filmed and edited the videos. For further information, contact email tawassulMA@gmail.com US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and United for Peace and Justice issued a call for a rally, teach-in, and grassroots lobbying day on 10 and 11 June 2007, in Washington, D.C. More than 80 groups have endorsed the political demands of the mobilization. For further information, contact email or visit the Campaign’s website http://www.endtheoccupation.org WESPAC Foundation will hold its Annual Westchester Film Festival from 9 to 11 March. On 10 March, the organization will screen the documentary “A Palestinian Woman”, by Andrew Courtney and Emily Perry, at the Westchester Performing Arts Theater in White Plains. A discussion will follow the film. The documentary brings a closer view to the conditions isolating Palestinians within their communities because of the wall. For further information, contact email courtney6@optonline.net Women in Black held on 5 and 6 February 2007 silent candlelight vigils outside the Israel Philharmonic Concert at Disney Hall, Los Angeles. The organization also wrote a letter to the Philharmonic, signed by some 1,000 groups and prominent individuals all over the world, including Silvia Tennebaum, step-daughter of Israel Philharmonic co-founder William Steinberg. For further information, contact email http://www.wib-la.org. Europe L’Association Belgo-Palestinienne held a demonstration on 9 February 2007 under the slogan “Fourty Years, It is Enough!” in front of the Israeli Embassy, in Brussels. For further information, contact email abp.eccp@skynet.be Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) issued a press release on 31 January welcoming the release of the House of Commons Select Committee for International Development’s report into Development Assistance to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Much of the report deals with the economic and humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians under occupation and the failing in Britain’s and the international community response to the crisis in the OPT. The report highlights that the decision to boycott and sanction the elected Palestinian Authority has been counterproductive. The Committee also highlights the need for the EU to ensure that the Palestinians can export their goods freely without unfair treatment from Israel. The Committee urged the EU to consider using the EU-Israel Association Agreement as a “lever for change and to consider suspending the Agreement until there are further improvements in access arrangements”. For further information, contact email doylec@caabu.org or visit CAABU’s web site for the full text of the report: http://www.caabu.org. The European NGO Coordinating Committee on the question of Palestine (ECCP) issued a press release informing about two seminars organized by ECCP and War on Want (UK) at the World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya. On 21 January 2007, a seminar entitled “Palestine and the Call for Sanctions on Israel” took place. Speakers included: Jamal Juma of Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign; Iman Hamouri, Palestinian Network of NGOs; Sergio Yahni of the Alternative Information Center; Nadie Iddle of War on Want; Robert Kissous of the Association France Palestine Solidarité. On 22 January, the second seminar was entitled “40 Years are Enough! End the Israeli Occupation”. Speakers included: Alessandra Mecozzi, European Trade Union (CGIL, FSU, CGT); International Confederation of Trade Unions; Nihad Bokaee of OPGAI; John Hilary of War on Want – UK campaign “Enough”; Ghada Zghaiar of Coalition for Jerusalem; Michel Warschawski of the Alternative Information Center; Salim Vally of the Palestine Solidarity Committee in South Africa; Senator Pierre Galand, Chairman of the ECCP; and Luisa Morgantini, a member of the European Parliament. For further information, contact email eccp@skynet.be Independent Jewish Voices, a newly created organization, is a network of individuals from a variety of backgrounds. The organization has published an advertisement in The Time and in the Jewish Chronicle, as well as a statement signed by dozens of prominent intellectuals, rabbis, and other personalities, among them scholars Eric Hobsbaum and Avi Shlaim, Lady Helen Darendorf, designer Nicole Fahri, Rabbi David Goldberg, Nobel Prize Winner Harold Pinter, and film directors Stephen Fry and Mike Leigh. For further information, visit the website www.independentjewishvoices.org. International Solidarity Group (ISM) issued a press release on informing that the Boycott Israeli Goods Campaign (UK) held on 10 February 2007 a mass picket of the UK Carmel Agrexco depot in opposition to the sale of Israeli goods and in support of the Palestinian farmers who are not able to market their goods internationally. Agrexco is the largest exporter of settlement produce for sale overseas and the UK is the most important foreign market for Israeli fresh produce. Palestinian workers in the settlements receive half the pay of Israelis. For further information, visit ISM’s website http://www.palsolidarity.org The group Massive Attack will play three benefit concerts in February in aid for the Hoping Foundation in London and Birmingham. The organization was founded to offer support to Palestinian children living in refugee camps. Its aim is to generate possibilities giving refugee children a better future. It focuses specifically on small grassroots organizations, such as youth centers, local committees, and centers for disabled. It also supports libraries and summer schools, was well as theatre, music, art and dance groups. For further information, visit the website http://www.hopingfoundation.org Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) issued a press release announcing a vigil on 10 February 2007 in front of 10 Downing Street to protest against the demolition of part of the structure along the wall of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The initiative is supported by several organizations. For further information, contact email prc@prc.org.uk or visit PRC’s website http://www.prc.org.uk The Sir Hotung Programme in Law, Human Rights and Peace Building in the Middle East at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) held a presentation on 29 January 2007 entitled “Negotiations in the West Bank and Gaza: A View from the World Bank” by Nigel Roberts, former World Bank Country Director for the West Bank and Gaza from 2001 to 2006. On 28 February, there will be another presentation entitled “Israel’s Demographic Demons and their Effects on its Palestinian Citizens” by Manal Hazzan, a human rights lawyer working with Israeli and Palestinian NGOs, including Hamoked – The Center for the Defense of the Individual and the Society of St. Ives, The Catholic Human Rights Legal Center. SOAS also held another presentation on 8 March entitled “Shared Stories: A Palestinian-Israeli Dialogue” by Paul Scham of the Middle East Institute, Washington, D.C. For further information, contact email sh84@soas.ac.uk or visit SOAS’s website http://www.soas.ac.uk/lawpeacemideast Latin America The Arab Cultural Center issued a press release informing about the 9th Brazilian-Palestinian Congress that took place from 26 to 29 January 2007 in Porto Alegre. A message from President Lula da Silva was read at the opening session. The event was attended by high officials of the Brazilian Government. The forthcoming Palestinian Latin America’s Congress (COPLAC), to be held in the second semester of 2007, was announced at the occasion. For further information, contact email aeclem@hotmail.com The Arab Cultural Center issued a press release informing that on 3 February 2007 a motion of support for the BDS Campaign was passed at the National Congress of the Youth Section of the CUT, Brazil’s largest trade union. Asia Women for Palestine announced the launching of the book “Letters by Palestine: A Volunteer in a Refugee Camp Writes to his Children” by Fabrizio Galimberti, an economist and volunteer worker at Aida Refugee Camp, in Bethlehem. All the royalties from the book will be donated to the Lajee Center, a community center run by volunteers in the Aida refugee camp for the benefit of young people there. For further information, contact email sonja.karkar@womenforpalestine.com Women for Palestine issued in February two Special Reports: one entitled “Jewish Settlement goes up in Muslim Quarter”, describing the Jewish expansion into the Palestinian areas within the Old City; and another entitled “ Israel’s Provocations threaten Holy City”. Australians for Palestine issues weekly briefings to all members of Parliament. For further information, contact email info@australiansforpalestine.com or visit the website: http://www.australiansforpeace.org Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem Asociación para la Cooperación con el Sur (ACSUR) Las Segovias, Campaign for the Children in Palestine (CCP), Centro Regionale d’Intervento per la Cooperazione (CRIC), Cooperacione Internationale Sud-Sud, Diakonia, Handicap International, Italian Coalition of Solidarity (ICS), Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC), Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP-UK), Médecins du Monde (France), Médicos del Mundo (Spain), Mennonite Central Committee, Paz y Tercer Mundubat (PTM), Save the Children (Sweden), Swedish Cooperative Center (SCC), Swedish Organization for Individual Relief (SOIR), Terre des Hommes (Italy), United Nations Association for International Service (UNAIS) issued a call to the UN organizations with humanitarian and development programmes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and working directly with Palestinian communities. The call expressed concern about the mandate, structure and operation of the UN Register of Damage caused by the construction of the wall. The call claims that the Register is only a technical tool for registration of individual damage claims, omitting collective damage, such as to public lands, natural resources, civil infrastructure, common-held properties and environmental harm, as well as non-material damage, such as effects on mental health and family life. The call also objects to the Register’s operation being based in Vienna, rather than the Occupied Palestinian Territory, where a fully operational presence would be more effective. For further information, contact email pcc@palnet.com The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) issued a press release informing about the US speaking tour in February and March 2007 by Mohammed Khatib, leading member of Bil’in’s Popular Committee Against the Wall, a principle organizer of Bil’in two-year-long non-violent struggle to prevent the construction of the wall and to block the expansion of neighbouring settlements; and Feryal Abu Haikal, a recently retired headmistress of the Qurtuba School in the heart of Hebron’s old city. The school has served as a model of non-violent resistance by continuing to function. For further information, visit the website http://www.palsolidarity.com Ir Amin issued its report of January 2007 entitled “Beyond the Wall”, informing that one quarter of Jerusalem’s Palestinian population - some 55,000 residents – will be separated from the city because of the wall. The report states that “this call into question Israel’s claim that security alone dictated the barrier’s route, and points to the political and demographic considerations behind it”. The report also examines the wall’s impact on Jerusalem and its implications for Israel’s long- term interests. For further information, contact email amos@ir-amin.org.il or visit Ir Amin’s website http://www.ir-amin.org.il Israeli Committee Against House Demolition (ICAHD) invited in February Judge Juan Guzmán, who prosecuted late President Pinochet for his actions in the 1970’s in Chile, to visit Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory and to study the feasibility of international legal action against the demolition of Palestinian homes. Mr. Guzmán gave two lectures to activists and lawyers: one at the Alternative Information Center in Beit Sahour, and the other at the Ambassador Hotel in Jerusalem. According to ICAHD, Israel has destroyed some 18,000 Palestinian homes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Gaza, since 1967. For further information, contact email angela@icahd.org or visit ICAHD’s website http://www.icahd.org. Israel/Palestine Center for Research & Information (IPCRI) issued a call for Israeli-Palestinian peace based on two-state solution. Several events will be held in key capitals around the world on 5 June 2007, which will mark the 40 anniversary of the Israeli occupation. For further information, contact email gershon@ipcri.org or visit IPCRI’s website http://www.ipcri.org IPCRI will hold a presentation on 28 February 2007 entitled “What’s happening in Jerusalem – the wall, settlements, excavations, the Museum of Tolerance and more” by Danny Seidemann of Ir Amim; and cartographer Khalil Toufakji. IPCRI issued a press release on 14 February 2007 informing about the Working Paper entitled “With Hamas in Power: Impact of Palestinian Domestic Developments on Options for the Peace Process” by Khalil Shikaki, Professor at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University. For further information, visit the website http://www.brandeis.edu/crowncenter The Civic Coalition for Defending the Palestinians’ Rights in Jerusalem issued its January report submitted by the Land Research Center (LRC) and the Jerusalem Center for Democracy & Human Rights (JCD). The report includes information on confiscation of land, expansion of settlements, the wall, demolishing of houses, closures, and violations of holy places. For further information, contact email arouria@jwelfare.org or visit the Coalition’s website http://www.ccdprj.ps. Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) issued in February the Joint Statement of the Palestinian Civil Society to the World Social Forum 2007. For further information, contact email pngonet@pngo.net. PNGO issued an appeal on 20 February 2007 to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the US Government to “Intercede to Stop the Destruction of the Mughrabi Quarter Pathway in the Old City of Jerusalem”. The appeal states that “the wall and settlement activities, especially in and around East Jerusalem, is passing a critical threshold: Soon, no viable Palestinian State will be possible”. This activity is exacerbated by the current excavations unilaterally done by Israel in the Old City. Repeated appeals by the Waqf Administration in Jerusalem and Jordan to reinforce the ramp, which constitutes part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, were turned away by the Israeli authorities. The Coalition for Jerusalem calls on the US Government and the international community to urge the Israeli Government to stop the excavations work, which aim at demolishing the historic pathway; to enable the Islamic Waqf to assume its rights and responsibilities to consolidate the pathway; and to convene a team of international professionals to examine the pathway and provide expert advice on ways to consolidate it. Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, the Palestinian labour federations, vocational and professional trade unions held a press conference on 12 February 2007, to announce the Workers’ Boycott Call for solidarity with Palestinian workers. The call was endorsed by the General Union of Palestinian Workers, Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, the Coalition of Independent Democratic Trade Unions and other professional unions. For further information, contact email global@stropthewall.org or visit the website http://www.stopthewall.org. Peace Now held a demonstration on 18 January 2007 in protest of settlers’ actions against the Palestinians in Hebron and to reopen the Shuhada Road to the Palestinians. According to the organization, 500 settlers control the lives of 35,000 Palestinians in Hebron. For further information, contact email info@peacenow.org.il or visit Peace Now’s website http://www.peacenow.org.il United Nations The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will hold the United Nations International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace, under the theme “Re-launching the Israeli-Palestinian peace process – Challenges and vision”, at FAO Headquarters, Rome, 22 and 23 March 2007. The objective of the Meeting is to support international efforts aimed at achieving peace in the Middle East, focus the world community’s attention on the question of Palestine, and emphasize the importance and urgency of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the establishment of an independent State of Palestine based on the pre-1967 borders, living side-by-side with Israel in peace and security. The Meeting will also look into how the conflict affects relations between Muslims and Western societies, and provide an opportunity for an interreligious and intercultural dialogue in this regard. For further information, visit the web site maintained by the Division for Palestinian Rights: http://www.un.org/depts/dpa/ngo/index.html