NGO Action News – 15 September 2016

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.

NGO Action News
15 September 2016

– On 6 September, the Council of Palestinian Human Rights Organizations together with the Palestinian Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs issued an urgent call for the immediate release of hunger-striking Palestinians held under administrative detention.

– On 11 September, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel) informed about the rejection of a petition jointly filed with the Israel Medical Association (IMA) and others with the Israeli High Court of Justice requesting the repeal of legislation which allows the force-feeding of prisoners on hunger strike. Despite of the court decision, Chief of the IMA Dr. Leonid Eidelman, in a letter co-signed by the IMA Ethics Committee Chief, urged Israeli doctors to refuse to take part in force-feeding prisoners.

– On 13 September, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) welcomed the findings of an independent investigation into claims of antisemitism made against members of Students for Justice in Palestine active on City University of New York campuses.

– On 16 September, the screening of the film “The Occupation of the American Mind” at the Jerusalem Fund will be followed by a Q & A session with executive producer Sut Jhally.

– On 6 October, the Centre for Palestine Studies at Columbia University will present Federico Busonero’s The Land that Remains, a presentation of a book of photographs of the West Bank commissioned by UNESCO.

– From 2 to 8 September, the Argentinian Committee of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (Comité Argentino de Solidaridad con el Pueblo Palestino) and the Federation of Argentinian-Palestinian Entities (Federación de Entidades Argentino-Palestinas) organized in Buenos Aires a Week of Solidarity with Palestinian Political Prisoners. The opening panel featured Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Nora Cortiñas, one of the founders and leaders of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (mothers of the “disappeared”). The event included a photographic exhibition and a visit to the Chamber of Deputies of Argentina and brought former Latin American and Palestinian prisoners together.

– On 1 September, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) launched a fundraising campaign to support the Dunya Women’s Cancer Centre in Ramallah which provides services to Palestinian women with breast cancer.

– On 14 September, the Women’s Boat to Gaza (WBG) flotilla set sail from Barcelona to Gaza. In an open letter addressed to Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, 55 Members of the European Parliament called on the EU to act to ensure the safe passage of the two boats and to pressure Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza.

– From 14 through 16 September, Gate48/Platform for Critical Israelis in the Netherlands is organizing in Amsterdam in cooperation with the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research a three-day symposium entitled “Securitizing Worlds: a Critical Look at the Israeli Global Security Industry.”

– The final report of the UN International Conference in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace “Peace is possible-frameworks for a way forward” held in Geneva was posted online.