NGO Actions News
May-June 2008 No. 14 (164)
North America
Brit Tzedek v’Shalom – Jewish Alliance for Justice & Peace will hold its 2008 Grassroots Leadership Training Institute and National Advocacy Days from 21 to 24 June 2208, in Washington D.C. Yossi Beilin, member of the Knesset and principal architect of the Geneva Accors will deliver the key note address. For further information, contact E-Mail: info@btvshalom.org or visit the web site: http://www/btvshalom.org
The Palestine Center will hold on 28 May 2008 a briefing and book signing of “Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation”, by Saree Maksidi, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, UCLA. For further information, contact E-Mail: info@palestinecenter.org or visit the web site: http://www.thejerusalemfund.org
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation will hold from 25 to 28 July 2008 its 7th Annual National Organizer’s Conference.
Europe
Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) held on 14 May 2008 fundraising event entitled “Palestinian Student Night”, for a project aimed at sending an underpriviledged student to the An Najah University in Nablus. IPSC also held a benefit concert for Gaza. The organization held on 17 May a national demonstration entitled “Nakba: 60 Years of Dispossession”. For further information, contact E-Mail: info@ipsc.ie
Trocaire hosted on 15 May 2008 events commemorating the Nakba, in Dublin and Belfast. For further information, contact E-Mail: emurray@trocaire.ie
The Edinburgh Festival will present in August 2008 the art installation “The Nakba Project - The Journey of the Soul” by Scottish artist Jane Frere. The installation comprises thousands of tiny figures in a state of suspension symbolizing the Palestinian refugees. For further information, visit the web siteL http://www.returnofthesoul.wordpress.com
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem
The Palestine Festival of Literature, a project of Engaged Events, a UK charity, was held from 7 to 11 May 2008. The event was entitled “The Power of Culture vs the Culture of Power”, with the presence of 17 world renowned writers. Patrons include: Nobel Prize winners Chinua Achebe, Harold Pinter, Seamus Heaney, and Booker Prize winner John Berger and Mahmoud Darwish. Partners included: The British Council, the A.M.Qattan Foundation, Bethlehem University, Birzeit University, the Ford Foundation, the Arab Fund for the Arts and Culture and UNESCO. For further information, contact E-Mail: palfestinfo@gmail.com or fionam@fmcm.co.uk or carolmichel@hotmail.com or visit the web site: http://www.palestinefitfest.org
The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will hold the United Nations International Meeting on the Question of Palestine on 3 and 4 June 2008, at the Dolmen Hotel, in Qawra, Malta. The theme of the Meeting is “Advancing the peace process – Challenges facing the parties”. Its objective is to foster greater support by the international community for the creation of a climate conducive to the advancement of the permanent status negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. In three plenary sessions, participants will discuss the impact of the settlement construction on the current political process and the need for the parties to meet Road Map commitments, as well as the effects of the construction of the wall in the Occupied West Bank, and the importance of finding a solution to the question of Jerusalem. For further information, visit the web site: http://www.un.org/dpts/dpa/ngo/index.html
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The NGO Action News is a bi-weekly newsletter issued by the Division for Palestinian Rights of the United Nations Secretariat and intended to provide information on worldwide NGO activities relevant to the question of Palestine. Organizations interested in sharing information about their activities through this newsletter may contact the Division for Palestinian Rights at:
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Room S-3350 Fax: (212) 963-4199
New York, NY 10017 E-mail: dprngo@un.org
Please be advised that the final decision with regard to selecting material for inclusion in the newsletter rests with the Division for Palestinian Rights. The Division cannot take responsibility for the accuracy of the information provided to it by contributing organizations.