Recruiting Arab & International Support

Al-Rabat Declaration on the Rights of Palestinian Refugees: Massive support for Palestinian rights, including refugees' right of return, expressed by popular Arab strata during the al-Aqsa intifada resulted in the explicit dedication of the Third International Conference of the Arab Human Rights Movement to the rights of Palestinian refugees.

 Organized by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights (CIHRS), in coordination with the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights and the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network in al-Rabat/Morocco (10-12 February 2001), the Conference was attended by representatives of Arab and western governments and the Arab League, the United Nations, Arab and international experts, human rights organizations (e.g. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights) and NGOs.

The Rabat Declaration issued by the Conference urges Arab and western governments to press for a just solution of the Palestinian refugee question in accordance with UNGA Resolution 194 (right of return), and calls for international and Arab financial support of UNRWA, Palestinian NGOs and community organizations, and the Palestinian Authority. It also calls upon Arab host countries to protect the civil, social, economic and cultural rights of Palestinian refugees pending the implementation of their right of return. (See the document section for the full text of the Rabat Declaration.)

Palestinian refugee organizations and rightof- return initiatives also addressed the summit of the League of Arab States (Amman, 27-28 March). An open letter endorsed by community organizations in Palestine and Jordan calls upon Arab leaders to "fulfill their responsibilities towards the Palestinian issue and secure implementation of international law, foremost Resolution 194 (1948)," and press for international protection of the Palestinian people, including the protection of Palestinian properties in historic Palestine (occupied in 1948). (See the document section for the full text of the Open Letter.) Right-of-Return workshops and seminars were conducted by BADIL in the framework of a Week of Palestinian Culture and Identity organized in Switzerland (1 - 7 March 2001) by Sanabel, a Palestinian NGO based in Lausanne.
 Meetings with the Swiss Forum for Human Rights in Israel/Palestine, AVPJP-One Land for Two Peoples, Socialist Alternative-Solidarity, the World Council of Churches, and the Center on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) gave evidence of new interest and concern among the Swiss and the international solidarity and human rights community, as well as progressive Jewish activists and Christian organizations, about the requirements of a just solution for the plight of Palestinian refugees.

Lobbying the United Nations:
International Protection Against the background of the deteriorating situation in the 1967 occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinian demands for rapid UN intervention on behalf of Palestinian rights continue to be raised, irrespective of the selfinduced impotence shown by the international community in the first six months of Israeli violence and Palestinian uprising. The Special Commission of Inquiry (Falk Commission) formed by the UN Commission on Human Rights was welcomed in Palestine in February 2001 by the Palestinian community - and boycotted by Israel. The Commission, mandated to report to the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Commission which opened on 19 March 2001 was briefed by numerous Palestinian officials and NGOs.

BADIL and MAP (Media Alternatives on Palestine) presented an updated version of the Appeal for International Protection, Implementation of the Palestinian Right to Self-Determination and Refugees' Right of Return endorsed by some 52,000 individuals and organizations (See also al-Majdal, No. 8). BADIL also submitted and discussed with the Commission its special report Palestinian Refugees in the al-Aqsa Intifada: The Impact of the Lack of International Protection (See Refugee Protection in this issue).

 Follow-up with the Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR): Israel's policies in the 1967 occupied territories are scheduled for discussion on 4 May 2001 during the 52nd session of CESCR to be opened in Geneva on 23 April 2001. Numerous Palestinian NGOs, among them BADIL, and international partners such as the US-based Center on Economic and Social Rights (CESR), Habitat International, and the UN Liaison Office of the World Council of Churches, will use this occasion to lobby for a strong stand on Palestinian rights. Briefs and updates based on earlier submissions and reports are being prepared for states and NGOs participating in the sessions of the UN Human Rights Commission and CESCR.

BADIL Petition against Israeli Expropriation of Palestinian Private Property, 1948 - 2001. Preparations for this comprehensive petition aiming to affirm the Palestinian right to return and restitution were launched in February 2001 by BADIL's Legal Unit in cooperation with BADIL's Palestinian and international legal support team in the United States and Europe. The petition will document illustrative cases and Israeli court rulings, as well as a legal argument based on relevant international law.

BADIL Emergency Program:
al-Aqsa Intifada Israel's attempt to suppress the new Palestinian uprising by massive use of force and the unlikelihood of political change in the short term have had devastating affects on the Palestinian community in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip in general and its refugees in particular. Refugee community organizations today must accomplish an extremely difficult set of tasks: maintain the public demand and pressure for recognition and implementation of their right of return on the one hand, and on the other hand cope with the tremendous new need for daily assistance by the relatively resourceless population of the refugee camps. By March 2001 unemployment in refugee camps had skyrocketed to well above the average of 40 percent, severely inhibitating access of refugee families to adequate food, health services and education.

Death and injuries inflicted by Israeli violence as well as destruction of homes and properties, create additional need for emergency assistance through UNRWA and other international agencies. In continuation of the small-scale and community-based emergency program designed in October 2000, BADIL and its refugee partner organizations continue to try to address some of the urgent needs of the poorest sectors of West Bank refugees.

Voluntary Health Clinics in Palestinian Refugee Camps: Elehssan Society and BADIL, in cooperation with the Union of Youth Activity Centers-Southern West Bank, the Jordan Chemical Factory, and the Jerusalem Pharmaceutical Company have organized a project including six days of free medical services to refugees in the southern West Bank. Two clinic days were successfully conduced in the Bethlehem area camps of Deheishe (23 February) and 'Aida (9 March) after frequent rescheduling due to Israeli curfews and military closures. Some 600 patients, most of them children and elderly unable to obtain medical services elsewhere, received treatment and medication.

Contributions (in kind and financial) to homeless refugee families: In cooperation with the Follow-up Committee on Refugee Affairs - Southern West Bank, BADIL contributes to the provision of emergency supplies (blankets, clothes, etc.) and to the reconstruction of refugee homes damaged by Israeli shelling.