While President Barack Obama pressures Palestinians to re-engage in direct peace talks, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu loftily counsels President Mahmoud Abbas not to miss the opportunity, recent demolitions within the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel continue unabated and unaddressed.

“Rights in Principle – Rights in Practice, Revisiting the Role of International Law in Crafting Durable Solutions for Palestinian Refugees”
Terry Rempel, editor, xiv 482 pages (English)
BADIL, December 2009
Copyright: BADIL; ISBN 978-9950-339-23-1
Order this and other BADIL publications at: http://www.badil.org/publications
 
20 June 2010 – In 1947 as members of the newly-created United Nations engaged in vigorous debate about the future of Palestine, Arab diplomats who played an instrumental role in the development of Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees reminded their colleagues that the problem of Palestine was not a matter of ‘what to do with Palestine’, but rather, ‘a lack of regard for certain principles of international relations and human life, including the principle of self-determination, the principle of the right to live peacefully in one’s own home, and the principle of self-government in a democratic way’. Given the divergence of opinion about the best way forward in what would be the international organization’s first attempt to resolve a major issue of international peace and security, they suggested that the UN General Assembly obtain legal counsel from the International Court of Justice. A majority of members nevertheless rejected the efficacy of this approach.¹

Many Palestinians who sought refuge outside their homeland experienced further forced displacement. With their right to a nationality, identity and travel document denied by Israel, they became stateless refugees^[1] who have been particularly vulnerable to the impacts of armed conflicts and human rights violations in their respective host countries.

In the 1950s, Arab Gulf oil-producing states expelled striking Palestinian workers. When factions within the PLO challenged the power of the Hashemite Kingdom in 1970, vast numbers of Palestinians were expelled (between 18,000 and 20,000) and their camps demolished. This war, known as “Black September”, also resulted in the expulsion of the PLO from Jordan and its relocation to Lebanon.

UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Thirteenth Session
1 – 26 March 2010

Joint written statement by Adalah - The Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel; Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association;Al Mezan; AL-Dameer Association for Human Rights-Gaza; Al-Haq; Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA); Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights; International Committee of the National Lawyers Guild; Palestinian Center for Human Rights; Physicians for Human Rights-Israel; The Gaza Community Mental Health Program; The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions; The National Center for Community Rehabilitation; Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Councelling (WCLAC).

European BDS Organizations Campaigning to” Give Israel the Red Card”
7 October 2009 – 18 European organizations involved in the BDS campaign launched an effort calling on FIFA to live up to the letter and the spirit of its statutes and to seize this opportunity to prove to the world that it stands for a more just world by sending Israel an unmistakable threat of exclusion. This would be an important victory for human rights -- not only for the Palestinian people, but also for the international football community.

Badil’s International Advocacy in January-March 2010

Follow-up on the Goldstone Report, UN, New York - in November 2009, the UN General Assembly had endorsed the report of the Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (“Goldstone Report”) and called upon the Israeli and the Palestinian sides to conduct investigations into the serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in line with the Goldstone recommendations. Since then, Israel has not implemented investigations in conformity with international standards, and the Palestinian authorities have equally failed to comply with the requirements of the UN. In February 2010, three of the six months alloted to the domestic investigations had lapsed and an initial assessment was due by the UN Secretary-General. The latter, however, failed to assess the measures carried out by the parties of the conflict, and the General Assembly decided to extended the period for the investigations at the domestic level for another five (instead of the initial three) months.¹

Decision of Palestinian Leadership and International Pressure an Insult to the Victims

Statement of Palestinian Civil Society Responding to Deferral on Goldstone Recommendations Endorsement, issued by:

Adalah * Addameer * Aldameer * Al Haq * Al Mezan * Arab Association for Human Rights * Badil * Civic Coalition for Jerusalem * DCI-Palestine * ENSAN Centre * ITTJIAH * Independent Commission for Human Rights * Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre * Palestinian Centre for Human Rights * Ramallah Centre for Human Rights Studies * Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling *