Tuesday, December 5, 11:00 AM EDT
The calm of the pause is over, with the Israeli military returning to a full scale assault on Gaza, killing thousands and displacing hundreds of thousands of Gazans. Where will it end? We must be persistent in our calls for a ceasefire. Please join us by participating in the urgent actions below, then join us this Tuesday for our next online gathering. We'll be discussing human rights and how they apply to the war on Gaza.
Urgent Action - You can always find our most recent urgent actions on Action page of the website.
Next Online Gathering December 5: Week 49 - Human Rights
Full information on the gathering is here.
We will be joined by a guest TBA who will join us to talk about human rights and international law in the context of the war in Gaza.
Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/94679502800 (There might be a quick registration form, and please set an alarm for yourself for Tuesday.)
Remember, if you'd like to receive a reminder about the gathering an hour before it begins, please use the registration form at the bottom of the page.
On December 10, 1948 the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to the UN, “the UDHR is a milestone document, which proclaims the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being - regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Available in more than 500 languages, it is the most translated document in the world.”
Each December 10 is Human Rights Day, in honor of that foundational text of modern human rights. You can read the full UDHR here. Learn more about the day here. Then join us this Tuesday for our next Kumi Now Online Gathering as we look at how Palestinians are often denied these rights:
Kumi Week #49: Human Rights
Week 49 of Kumi Now is now available on the website. Since 1994 the occupied Palestinian territory has been governed loosely according to the principles and administrative institutions established under the 1994 Oslo Accords signed between the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel.
Having conducted extensive legal assessment of the human rights situation within the occupied Palestinian territory since the implementation of the Accords, Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) concluded that fundamental human rights values have not been an integral part of the political structures established, nor will the Oslo Accords and subsequent political negotiations challenge the Israeli occupation and its resulting human rights abuses.
Please read the essay on Human Rights along with the story of Hani Bassam Qdieh. And here are some facts for you:
Understanding Human Rights. Just the facts. Selected rights from the UDHR...
3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
6. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law…
9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
10. Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
13. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
15. Everyone has the right to a nationality. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
17. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
20. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association…
22. Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
25. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control…
These are some of the rights as enumerated by the UDHR that are most violated by Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
Learning More - To learn more you can look at the United Nations Human Rights page on the occupied Palestinian territory and read the Human Rights Watch report “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution from Human Rights Watch”.
Additionally, you can find the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel here.
You can watch the press conference with Michael Lynk, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, “The situation of human rights in Palestine” and the webinar “The Prospects of the Cause of Palestine at the International Criminal Court: What’s Next?” from Law for Palestine.
Finally, we have a playlist of related videos on YouTube.
To register for the Online Gathering: Meeting Registration - Zoom
Background info: Week 49: Human Rights – KUMI NOW
See the full Kumi Now email for additional info, actions and resources Kumi Now - Week 49: Human Rights (sendibm1.com)