50 YEARS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Palestinians Dispossessed
This is an international conference being held in Jerusalem on June 7-9, 1998, on the 50th anniversary of the destruction of Palestine. It's sponsored by the Palestinian NGO known as LAW a human rights organization composed of lawyers.
Conference Agenda and Information
Working groups
Human Rights Advocates - judges, lawyers Parliamentary advocates - ministers and parliamentary groups, NGOs with a governmental lobbying focus Campaigning organizations - international and regional solidarity organizations Palestinian information group - journalists and other media, web site maintainers.
Day 1
Panel: Palestinians Dispossessed 1948 - Oslo
This panel will examine the historical events surrounding 1948 with an emphasis on the key human rights violations that remain unresolved. Speakers will also sketch the development of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict over the last 50 years with reference to critical points such as the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967 and the Oslo Accords.
Workshops
Refugees
This workshop will discuss the issue of Palestinian refugees from 1948 and 1967 in reference to the internationally recognized demands of right of return and restitution. Why have previous strategies for addressing the refugee question failed? What are the implications of Oslo and how can we strengthen networks and advocacy on behalf of refugees today? Those who remained - Palestinians inside Israel Palestinians living inside Israel face discriminatory laws and difficult social and economic conditions. This workshop will examine attempts to redress this situation by Palestinians inside Israel and also strategies for strengthening links with Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories.
Jerusalem
Jerusalem represents the political, economic, social and religious center of Palestinian life. This workshop will examine the policies of successive Israeli governments in annexing Jerusalem. Why has Israel been so successful in this process and what are the options for Palestinians and others to respond to this today?
Lunch
Workshops
The role of Israeli human rights organizations after Oslo Israeli human rights organizations have played an important role in alerting the Israeli public of the human rights violations in the occupied territories and fostering public debate around these issues within Israel. What is their role following the Oslo agreements and how can their links with Palestinian human rights organizations be strengthened?
Israeli settlement and land policy
In the West Bank and Gaza, Israel has used a myriad of connected policies such as house demolition, bypass road construction, settlement expansion and land confiscation to clear large areas of a Palestinian presence. This process has accelerated after the Oslo agreements were signed in an attempt to predetermine the status of land in any final status negotiations. This workshop will reflect on previous strategies of resistance to this and options for the future.
Military Occupation of West Bank and Gaza
The military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza has been marked by the most serious violations of human rights by the Israeli Occupation forces. Today, the Israeli government is discussing a law that will remove their responsibility for injuries and deaths caused during the Intifada. What are the human rights mechanisms that can be brought to bear on the Israeli government to redress these violations?
Prisoners
Today, more than 4000 Palestinians remain in Israeli jails. Many have been detained without charge or fair trial and have undergone torture. How can we build an effective local and international campaign to free these political prisoners and end the use of illegal methods of detention and interrogation?
Working groups meet
Day 2
Panel
After Oslo
This panel will examine the economic, social and political context of the successive Oslo Accords and their results today. How can we strengthen democracy and the rule of law in Palestinian society today? What assessment can we make of these agreements today and what means are likely to bring Israel to a just settlement of the conflict?
Workshops
The Palestinian human rights movement
The Palestinian human rights movement has a long history in resisting the occupation and alerting the world to abuses by the Israeli Occupation forces. What strategies have been effective in the past and what new approaches do we need today? How should the HR movement relate to the Palestinian Authority and its abuses?
Palestinian Economy
A strong, independent Palestinian economy is vital for any future Palestinian state. However, today Palestinians face massive unemployment, entrenched poverty and continued closure. What is the state of the Palestinian economy today and its relationship with the Israeli economy? What has been the impact of the Paris Agreement and other economic protocols? What are the necessary steps to rebuild the Palestinian economy?
International law and the IV Geneva Convention
As an occupying power Israel has violated many of its responsibilities and commitments under international law. What pressure can be put on Israel to comply with international legal standards and the IV Geneva Convention to which it is a signatory?
Israeli resistance movements against the occupation
Throughout the occupation, movements within Israel have stood in solidarity with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Following Oslo, this solidarity has faced many difficulties and challenges. What is the role of these movements and how can their links with Palestinians be strengthened today?
Lunch
Working groups meet
Public meeting in refugee camp
Day 3
Panel
Working groups present plans
Working groups finalize activities/projects/strategies
Theatre performance
Day 4
Tours
Other 50 Years events
Cultural Competition
To coincide with the conference, LAW is organizing a competition to promote human rights and Palestinian culture. The competition has been advertised and is currently underway. It will run until 15 March 1998 and will cover 5 fields. Participants will submit their entries in one or more of the 5 fields, which will be judged by an independent panel of 5 Palestinian cultural experts. The experts will be selected from both inside and outside the region All entries submitted will be displayed at the 50 Years Conference and at a later date in a local gallery. Prizes will be awarded in each category with winners announced during the conference. The winning songs and poems will be performed at evening performances during the conference.
Research project - 5 years after Oslo
In addition, LAW is currently carrying out a research project to document the everyday life of Palestinians. Palestinians from all areas and walks of life will be interviewed and their stories recorded in a book that will examine the impact of the peace process on their lives. This project will look at the human side in the period following the Oslo Accords - particularly assessing the continuing aspects of the conflict and how these have impacted on Palestinian life. Theatre Performance As part of the 50 years conference, we have organized for the play Sahmatah will be brought to the region and presented. The script for Sahmatah is based on oral histories gathered from residents of the village of Sahmatah, which was destroyed in the autumn of 1948. Co-writer and director Hanna Eady grew up in the village of Buqayh, a few miles from the site of Sahmatah in the Upper Galilee. In Buqyah some of his neighbors were refugees from Sahamatah--people who had lived for fifty years within sight of the ruins of their village.
LAW - the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment
PO Box 20873 Jerusalem, via Israel
Tel: (972) (2) 5812364/5824559
Fax: (972) (2) 5811072
email: lawe@netvision.net