Observance of International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People, 29 November

NEW YORK, 26 November (Division for Palestinian Rights) — The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will hold a special meeting in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People in Conference Room 2 of the North Lawn Building at 10 a.m. on Monday, 29 November, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 32/40 B of 2 December 1977.

The speakers at the special meeting include the Chairman of the Committee, the President of the General Assembly, the Deputy Secretary-General, the President of the Security Council, the representative of Palestine, the Chairman of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, and other representatives of intergovernmental and civil society organizations.  The meeting will be webcast.

In observance of the Solidarity Day, a cultural performance entitled The Gaza Monologues will be presented by the Ramallah-based Ashtar Theatre in Conference Room 2-NLB, immediately after the special meeting.  Some 25 young people will narrate personal statements written by children in Gaza in the wake of the 2008-2009 Israeli offensive.

All Member States and Observers have been invited to attend the special meeting.  United Nations family organizations, intergovernmental and civil society organizations have also been invited to attend.  The proceedings, including the texts of messages of solidarity with the Palestinian people received in connection with the observance of the Day, will be published in a Special Bulletin of the Division for Palestinian Rights of the United Nations Secretariat. 

Also, under the auspices of the Committee, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is presenting a photo exhibit entitled “Summer Games in Gaza”.  The exhibit was made possible with the generous support of the Government of Finland.  An opening ceremony for the exhibit will take place at 6 p.m. on 29 November at the North-East Gallery of the Public Lobby of the General Assembly building.  At the ceremony, remarks will be made by Abdou Salam Diallo (Senegal), Chairman of the Palestinian Rights Committee; Jarmo Viinanen, Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations; Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations; and John Ging, UNRWA Director of Operations in Gaza.  The opening ceremony will be followed by a performance of additional “Gaza Monologues”, as well as a reception hosted by the Chairman of the Palestinian Rights Committee.

For additional information, please contact Yosuke Kobayashi at the Division for Palestinian Rights of the United Nations Secretariat, tel.: +1 917 367 7019.

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For information media • not an official record