Palestine

Photo: The Palestinian Monitor

The military raid on the offices in Ramallah of the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO, member of Social Watch), Women’s Union and Addameer “adds to the Israeli record of continuous violation” of the international humanitarian law and human rights treaties, and proved once again that the occupation “is the major (…) obstacle” that prevents the Palestinian society from reaching its development, stated the Arab NGO Network for Development.

Photo: Press TV

Amjad al-Shawwa of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO, focal point of Social Watch in the occupied territories) says the Israeli regime is responsible for the deteriorating sanitary conditions in the besieged Gaza Strip, Press TV reported.

Fishing port in Gaza. (Image: Press TV)

Israeli keeps on putting pressure on fishermen in the Gaza Strip at the height of the fishing season. Nearly a dozen Palestinian fishermen were arrested by Israeli forces off the coast since mid-April. The Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO, focal point of Social Watch in the occupied territories) warns that those Israeli policies are worsening the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Ziad Abdel-Samad (ANND).

The “Arab Uprisings” and the civil society in the Arab region have a relevant role on campaigning and advocating to end the Israeli occupation and on support for building an independent Palestinian state, said Ziad Abdel-Samad, director of the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND, a member organization of Social Watch), participating in a discussion on ‘Sustaining the Palestinian Economy Under Occupation: the Role of Arab Cooperation,’ organized last week by Unctad’s Assistance to the Palestinian People Unit in Doha.

Palestinians stranded at the Rafah border crossing to Egypt. (Photo: Asmaa Waguih/IRIN)

Sources: Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, UN News Centre.

Eleven Egyptian human rights organizations condemned this week the Israeli attacks against the civil population of Gaza and against Egyptian military personnel in the last days, and demanded that the U.N. Security Council conduct "a fair investigation" with the aim to "bring those responsible to trial". One of the signatory groups is the Egyptian Association for Community Participation Enhancement, focal point of Social Watch.

Crowded buses at one of the rare times Rafah Crossing has been open. (Photo: Muhammad Sabah/B'Tselem)

Source: International Solidarity Movement

Dozens of Arab and international organizations and leading personalities have joined this week an urgent call launched from Gaza to permanently re-open the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which remains tightly restricted despite the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February. 

Waiting in the Erez Crossing. (Photo: Rima Merriman/ Electronic Intifada)

Source: PressTV: http://bit.ly/mQW8F2 
and http://bit.ly/p3cJhc

The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO, focal point of Social Watch) warned about a rise in the number of residents in Gaza looking for medical treatment in the West Bank who are arrested by Israeli forces at the Erez crossing. 

"Dignity", a ship of the Freedom Flotilla. (Photo: Free Gaza Movement)

Sources: WAFA, Petra, Palestine Chronicle.

The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO), which represents hundreds of civil society organizations and is a focal point of Social Watch, condemned in a statement issued this Saturday the Greek government decision of banning a ship travelling with the Freedom Flotilla II from sailing to Gaza, describing it as “unfortunate.”

Sources
Al-Haq
Occupied Palestine blog

The human rights organisation Al-Haq expressed its grave concern about a surge of the violence against the Palestinian population of the West Bank. The arson of a mosque in the village of al-Mghayyer committed by local Jewish settlers last week is part of the ongoing trend, intensified by the impunity, warned this group based in Ramallah and member of the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO, focal point of Social Watch in the occupied territories).

(Photo: Free Gaza Movement.)

Sources
International Solidarity Movement
PNGO: http://bit.ly/muPYVc and http://bit.ly/jntOK6

Convened by the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO, focal point of Social Watch), hundreds of people gathered in Mina, the port of Gaza City, to honour the nine Turkish activists killed by Israeli forces that attacked the Freedom Flotilla on 31 May 2010. At the same time, the organisation made its complaints to the authorities in Ramallah about the new legal restrictions to its activities imposed by the government of President Mahmoud Abbas.

Source: PNGO

The Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO, focal point of Social Watch in Gaza and the West Bank) denounced the brutal repression suffered last Sunday by peaceful demonstrators at the hands of Israeli forces. The protests were convened to commemorate the sixty-third anniversary of the Nakba, the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian when the State of Israel was created. Israeli soldiers used live bullets against the demonstrators.  

Source: PNGO (http://www.pngo.net)

The Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO, focal point of Social Watch in Gaza and the West Bank) welcomed the national reconciliation agreement that put an end to the tragic stage of division between the two major political parties, Fatah and Hamas. 

Source: PNGO

The Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO) condemned the kidnapping and killing of Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian supporter of the Palestinian cause, in Gaza. This crime was done by individuals who don't represent the Palestinians and their values, traditions, struggle, and cause, said the organisation.

Source: Ma’an News

Unknown assailants broke into the offices of the union of agricultural work committees in Ramallah on Tuesday at dawn, stealing servers and computers and ransacking files.