PALESTINIAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE TO CONVENE CIVIL SOCIETY CONFERENCE AT HEADQUARTERS ON 23 AND 24 SEPTEMBER

PALESTINIAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE TO CONVENE CIVIL SOCIETY CONFERENCE

AT HEADQUARTERS ON 23 AND 24 SEPTEMBER

NEW YORK, 19 September -- The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will convene the United Nations International Conference of Civil Society in Support of the Palestinian People on 23 and

24 September at United Nations Headquarters in New York.  The holding of the Conference is mandated by General Assembly resolutions 56/33 and 56/34 of

3 December 2001.

The Committee has been increasingly concerned over the escalation of the conflict, the tragic loss of innocent lives, the serious humanitarian crisis, and the rapid deterioration of the Palestinian economy.  In the absence of a political process, the international community has to intensify its engagement with both sides, so as to bring about the resumption of negotiations on a permanent settlement.  Moreover, the Committee believes that the international community has a moral responsibility towards achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, based on Security Council resolutions

242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 1397 (2002).  The role of civil society organizations in educating their respective constituencies about the fundamental issues of the question of Palestine and in mobilizing public support for the Palestinian cause remains very important.

The theme of the International Conference is "End the Occupation!"  Its purpose is to provide civil society organizations from all regions of the world with an opportunity to exchange views on the current situation, to coordinate their activities and develop action-oriented proposals in support of the Palestinian people.  Invited panelists will make presentations on various issues regarding the role of civil society on the question of Palestine.  During a discussion period in each plenary session, non-governmental organization (NGO) representatives and all other participants will have an opportunity to express their views and discuss specific action-oriented proposals.  The official languages of the Conference are Arabic, English, French and Spanish.

The opening session will take place on Monday, 23 September, at 10 a.m. in Conference Room 4.  Statements will be made by Kieran Prendergast, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, who will read a message by the Secretary-General, Papa Louis Fall, Chairman of the Committee, a representative of Palestine and Thomas Neu, Representative of American Near East Refugee Aid.

Plenary I will start at 11 a.m. in the same conference room and discuss the current situation on the ground under the theme "The daily face of occupation". Presentations will be made by Gabi Baramki, President of the Palestinian Council

for Justice and Peace, Ramallah; Jessica Montell, Executive Director of B'Tselem,

Jerusalem and Fahed Abu-Akel, Head (Moderator) of the Presbyterian Church USA, Atlanta.  The plenary will be followed at 1 p.m. by the screening of the award-winning documentary "Promises", also in Conference Room 4.

Plenary II will begin at 3 p.m. and consider the work of civil society under occupation.  Speakers are Huweida Araf, Chairperson of the International Solidarity Movement, Washington, D.C.; Ghassan Andoni, President of Rapprochement -- the center for Dialogue and Understanding, Beit Sahour; Yehudit Har'el. Spokesperson of Gush Shalom, Tel Aviv; Lamis Andoni, Journalist, Berkeley, CA; Walid Badawi, Deputy Director of the UNDP Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People, New York; and Thomas Neu, Representative of American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA).  At its conclusion at 6 p.m., a slide and video presentation of "Artists against Occupation" will take place in Conference Room C.

Plenary III will be held on Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Conference Room 4. Presentations under the theme "Challenging the occupation" will be made by Jeff Halper, Coordinator of the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, Jerusalem; Richard Falk, Professor of International Law and Practice at Princeton University, member of the Inquiry Commission of the Commission on Human Rights; Adam Shapiro, Representative of the International Solidarity Movement, Washington, D.C.; Bruce Robbins, Professor at Columbia University, New York; Ziad Asali, President of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Washington, D.C.; and Na'eem Jeenah, Spokesperson for the National Consultative Forum on Palestine and the Palestine Solidarity Committee and President of the Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa, Johannesburg.  At 1:30 p.m., some recent documentaries will be screened in the same conference room.

Plenary IV, entitled "Ending the occupation" will see presentations by Terry Greenblatt, Director of Bat Shalom, Jerusalem; Phyllis Bennis, Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, D.C.; Pierre Galand, Chairman of the European Coordinating Committee for NGOs on the Question of Palestine, Brussels; Mercia Andrews, President of the South African NGO Coalition, Pretoria; Juan Carretero Ibañez, Secretary-General of the Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America, Havana; John Rempel, Representative to the United Nations of the Mennonite Central Committee, New York; and Nadia Hijab of the Steering Committee of the United States Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.  The plenary will be followed at 5:30 p.m. by the presentation of the final document and the closing remarks by Papa Louis Fall, Chairman of the Committee.

Invitations to participate in the Conference have been sent to civil society organizations on the mailing list of the Division for Palestinian Rights. Governments, intergovernmental organizations and United Nations agencies have been invited to attend as observers.  The report of the Meeting will later be issues as a publication of the Division.

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