NGO ACTION NEWS
30 April 2012


Asia and the Pacific

http://www.afopa.com.au/ Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFOPA) in Adelaide organized their latest BDS action against Seacret in the Rundle Mall on 22 April. The latest YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3EBc8Fhksc video shows the protesters’ actions. The next BDS action in the Mall will be held on 29 April. Seacret promote their products as originating from the Dead Sea. They are one of a number of Israeli companies selling such products around the world, including AHAVA. 

AFOPA on 29 April released a statement condemning Israel’s persuasion of airlines to refuse boarding most of the 1,500 pro-Palestinian activists who participated in the “Welcome to Palestine” flytilla to protest the harsh security measures restricting the movements of West Bank citizens. Israel also posted 650 soldiers at Ben Gurion airport to arrest and/or deport the few hundred protesters who did arrive. Also, peaceful Israeli activists were arrested for holding up signs saying “Welcome to Palestine.” AFOPA encouraged its supporters to protest this treatment of non-violent protesters and read Dr. Vacy Vlazna’s letter “Air France” related to the incident. 

AFOPA on 19 May will organize “Al Nakba Night,” an event to commemorate the tragedy of the Nakba and to take a close look at Christian Zionism and the role it plays in supporting Israel’s occupation of Palestine. The speaker will be Craig Neilsen, author of an internationally acclaimed book entitled “Israel-Palestine: A Christian Response to the Conflict.” 

http://www.unisa.edu.au/Business-community/Hawke-Centre/About-the-Hawke-Centre/ The University of South Australia’s Hawke Centre on 19 April organized an http://w3.unisa.edu.au/hawkecentre/events/2012events/abrahaminst.asp event entitled “Paths to a just peace for Palestine and Israel – a dialogue,” which was jointly presented by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre and the Abraham Institute. Dialogue participants included Izzat Abdulhadi, Head of the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia and Ambassador to New Zealand and the Pacific, and Meir Itzchaki, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Israel to Australia. The podcast is available on the event http://w3.unisa.edu.au/hawkecentre/events/2012events/abrahaminst.asp website. 

Europe

http://londonbds.org/ London BDS on 15 April launched several YouTube http://londonbds.org/ videos, exposing the sales practices of Dead Sea Kiosks in shopping malls, selling Dead Sea beauty products. These kiosks have attracted a lot of attention, not just for the origin of their natural resources, but also for their shady practices and coercive sales techniques. Kiosks stocking Dead Sea beauty products can be found in many malls run by Israeli companies who employ almost exclusively Israelis. These kiosks are legitimate targets for BDS campaigns, as every sale supports companies who in turn support the apparatus of oppression and apartheid policies in Israel. 

http://www.daarkom.be Daarkom: Maison des cultures maroco-flamande from 28 April to 6 May organizes a http://www.eyeonpalestine.be film festival in Brussels entitled “Eye on Palestine,” screening documentaries on the question of Palestine. 

http://www.association-belgo-palestinienne.be/ Association Belgo-Palestinienne (ABP) on 28 April organized a http://www.association-belgo-palestinienne.be/category/campagnes/osez-le-boycott/ day of public-outreach entitled “Dare to boycott: No to the disintegration of Palestine!” The public-outreach campaign will be continued on 1 May, when ABP will set up a stall on the Place Rouppe in the centre of Brussels to inform the public about potatoes imported from Israel in connection to the dispossession of Palestinian land where the potatoes are grown. 

http://viavelopalestina.be Via Velo Palestina on 1 May organizes its sixth http://viavelopalestina.be bicycle ride in Brussels to protest against the deprivation of freedom of movement of the Palestinian people and against Israel’s apartheid policy; to promote the BDS campaign; to express support for the campaign against Holding Dexia; and to demand that Israel respects international law. The ride will end on the Place Rouppe in central Brussels, where Via Velo Palestina will share a stall with Association Belgo-Palestinienne and Palestina Solidariteit. 

http://www.paixjuste.lu/ Comité Pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient (CPJPO) on 30 April organized a debate entitled “Palestine: Popular Resistance” at the National Library of Luxemburg, with activist and human rights expert SheerinAI-Araj. She represents the popular resistance against land dispossession in Al Walaja village, situated between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, which will be completely encircled by the Israeli wall once construction is completed. 

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association on the occasion of Palestinian Prisoners’ Day on 17 April issued a joint http://www.addameer.org/etemplate.php?id=460 statement signed by twelve other Palestinian civil society organizations, calling for continued solidarity with Palestinian prisoners who are on mass hunger strike. 

http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/ The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) in a – HYPERLINK http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8377:pchr-condemns-continued-israeli-attacks-against-palestinian-fishermen-in-gaza-&catid=36:pchrpressreleases&Itemid=194 press release on 30 April condemned continued Israeli attacks against Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip, and expressed concerns over the latest of attacks, as Israeli naval troops have arrested six fishermen and confiscated their fishing boat and equipment. 

http://jahalin.org/about-the-jahalin/ The Jahalin Association launched a http://www.jahalin.org/ website, which represents the definitive online support system for the Jahalin's campaign to remain on land they have lived on since being forcibly displaced from their lands in the Negev Desert in 1951, by Israeli forces. The Jahalin Bedouin are Palestinian, and the PLO is just beginning to realize the strategic nature of the land on which the Jahalin have been living for some 60 years. The Jahalin Association is in its development stage and issued a call for funding, which would allow them to register the organisation and carry out a legal advocacy project, with a healthcare component, to support the community's campaign against the forced displacement. 

http://www.madacenter.org/index.php?lang=1 The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) on 26 April released its http://www.madacenter.org/report.php?lang=1&id=1156&category_id=13&year=2012 report for the month of March on Israeli and Palestinian violations of media freedoms in the OPT. 

North America

http://www.brookings.edu/saban.aspx The Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings published an analysis http://www.brookings.edu/%7E/media/Files/rc/papers/2012/02_middle_east_elgindy/02_middle_east_elgindy_b.pdf paper entitled “The Middle East Quartet: A Post-Mortem” analyzing the use and effectiveness of the Middle East Quartet. In late January, after five rounds of exploratory discussions, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators failed to meet the Middle East Quartet's deadline for resuming direct negotiations. With this latest blow to peace, is it time to rethink the place of the Quartet—the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations—in the peace process? Have the group's actions over the past decade been beneficial or detrimental to the quest for peace? And, if the Quartet should not be the one to shepherd the process along, then who should be? Khaled Elgindy addresses these questions in this analysis. 

http://www.amnesty.org/ Amnesty International on 17 April expressed concern at the reported punitive measures against the Palestinian prisoners on hunger-strike. We remain very concerned about reports that detainees have been denied access to independent doctors, and that some have been punished because of their decision to go on hunger strike -- including by being placed in isolation, fined, or otherwise ill-treated by Israel Prison Services officers, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director Ann Harrison said.
http://www.onevoicemovement.com/ OneVoice activists on 26 April launched http://www.onevoicemovement.com/ campaigns in Israel and Palestine, asking their leaders, “What about the Arab Peace Initiative?” Exactly ten years ago, the 22 Arab League member states came together in Beirut to propose a historic peace plan to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. The http://onevoicemovement.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=dd27a789c14bd9408fad796fd&id=a645fb46fa&e=fe8b5774af Arab Peace Initiative (API) offered a comprehensive resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the normalization of relations between Israel and its Arab neighbours. The initiative represented an abrupt about-face, from the League's refusal to engage with Israel to the potential for a new era of regional stability and cooperation. While not an end-point for negotiations, the document sets a positive new starting point. The API has largely been ignored. The offer, however, is still on the table, and now, OneVoice youth activists are asking its supporters to http://www.onevoicemovement.com/ Act Now to draw public attention – and political leaders – toward this historic opportunity.

http://adalahny.org/page/130/adalah-ny-statement Adalah-NY on May 1 will join the Global Justice working group of Occupy Wall Street and friends for the May Day march in New York City. Adalah calls on its supporters to bring an Occupy Wall Street, Not Palestine sign and join them in the streets. The rally will start at Union Square and proceed to Wall Street. 

http://jstreet.org/about J Street announced that starting the week of 6 May, J Street Locals are holding “Future of Pro-Israel” http://act.jstreet.org/event/FPI_Events/search/?akid=1354.214002.w4TUHL&rd=1&t=2 campaign launch events in over 35 cities across the US and asked its supporters to join the organization in one of these cities and learn about its upcoming campaign plans, share their own organizing ideas, and sign-up for one of J Street’s Future of Pro-Israel 2012 Action Teams. The statement explained that recently, Irving Moskowitz, the Florida-based millionaire best known for building Jewish settlements in Arab East Jerusalem, contributed $1,000,000 to American Crossroads, the SuperPAC created by former Bush adviser Karl Rove. That was just the latest seven-figure gift from a single donor, well-known for his right-wing views on Israel, in the 2012 campaign. Of course, Moskowitz's contribution pales next to the $20 million Sheldon Adelson has provided to Newt Gingrich's SuperPAC, Winning Our Future. J Street said that we should all be deeply concerned that a handful of far-right funders and groups like Bill Kristol's Emergency Campaign for Israel are turning Israel into a partisan wedge issue with no regard for the actual impact on the future peace and security of the country and its neighbors. That's why J Street launched the Future of Pro-Israel campaign: to represent and give voice to Americans who have a different vision for what it means to be pro-Israel today. 

Global

http://www.wftucentral.org/?page_id=5&language=en The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) on 17 April organised the
Day of the Palestinian Political Prisoners and International Action Day calling for the immediate release of all political prisoners held in Israeli jails. Within this framework the General Secretary of WFTU addressed a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon and the United Nations High Commisioner for Human Rights, Mr. Navanethem Pillay.

United Nations

The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, Maxwell Gaylard, on 18 April released a http://reliefweb.int/node/490863 statement on evictions in East Jerusalem. He condemned the eviction of two Palestinian families from their adjacent homes in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Beit Hanina and said that the An Natsha family were registered refugees with UNRWA, who had reported previous harassment and intimidation by settler groups. The property was now sealed, and the personal belongings of the families had been removed.

http://unctad.org/en/Pages/AboutUs.aspx The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), prior to its Thirteenth session in Doha, organized a panel discussion in Geneva on 19 April entitled “Sustaining the Palestinian economy under occupation - The role of Arab cooperation.” Mahmoud Elkhafif, Coordinator of Assistance to the Palestinian people at UNCTAD, summarized the outcome in a – HYPERLINK http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2012/04/palestinian-economy-constraints-of-prolonged-occupation-and-isolation-from-the-arab-world-unctad-xiii-press-conference.html press conference. 

http://www.unrwa.org/index.php UNRWA and http://www.unocha.org/ OCHA on 22 April issued a joint http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=1324 press release condemning Israeli demolitions of refugee family housing. The statement said that 67 Palestine refugees, more than half of them children, were forcibly displaced as a result of the eviction or demolition of their homes and other civilian structures. In one incident on 18 April, the Israeli authorities demolished the homes of seven refugee families in the Palestinian community of Al Khalayleh, displacing them for the third time in six months. The following day, the Israeli authorities demolished and confiscated emergency tents provided by humanitarian actors in response to the demolitions. 

http://www.unrwa.org/index.php UNRWA on 24 April held an inauguration ceremony to officially hand over 223 housing units it constructed with a USD 7 million donation from the Dutch Government. The units will provide new shelter to over 1,300 Palestinians living in Gaza’s Khan Younis refugee camp. 

http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/home.htm The UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People on 2 May will be showing the http://www.thisismylandhebron.com/ film “This is My Land… Hebron” at UN Headquarters. The film documents the situation in Hebron, a large city in the middle of the occupied West Bank. Hebron is respected by Muslims, Jews and Christians as a holy city, but it is also the center of daily frictions between its Palestinian inhabitants and Israeli settlers. Hebron is home to 160,000 Palestinians and a colony of 600 settlers who live in the city center protected by some 2,000 Israeli soldiers.