UN-accredited Human Rights NGOs

The Case Study of UN-Accredited NGO “BADIL”

Translation: Holiday Cookies
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UNRWA Chief Supports anti-Zionist BADIL
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Translation: Left lung, Right Lung, Heart
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The message of UN-accredited NGO BADIL: Jews would rather serve grenades than cookies or make a pastime of blowing up innocent holiday-makers, and all of Israel (denoted by the same map imagery as Al-Awda or Hamas) belongs to the Palestinians. These pictures appeared on the BADIL site in 2005. The BADIL represented denied their existence and they suddenly vanished after BADIL was questioned about them during the 2006 UN accreditation process. Today, the BADIL message remains the same.

UN-accredited NGO BADIL was granted UN accreditation in January of 2006. In the course of the hearing, the representative of BADIL lied to Committee members about the nature and substance of their operations. BADIL advocates that Zionism is racism, encourages terrorism, and fails to meet the qualification of conformity with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. But BADIL had the explicit support of a UN insider: then head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) - Karen Koning AbuZayd.

The BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights was granted UN accreditation in the form of consultative status with ECOSOC by the UN Committee on NGOs on January 24, 2006. Consultative status is supposed to be reserved for non-governmental organizations having "aims and purposes" in "conformity with the spirit, purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations." As an NGO which advocates the destruction of a Jewish state and encourages terrorism, BADIL does not meet this criterion. BADIL representatives also lied to Committee members in response to their questions during oral examination.

BADIL, however, did have a champion inside the UN. Karen Koning AbuZayd, then Commisioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) wrote a letter to Hanifa Mazoui, Chief of the NGO Section of ECOSOC, in support of BADIL's candidacy for UN accreditation. In her letter of 15 May 2005, AbuZayd wrote:

I take great pleasure in recommending the BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights, a Palestinian non-governmental organization, for Special Consultative Status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

BADIL has had an excellent cooperative relationship with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) for many years through their research, advocacy and support of the Palestinian community.

I confirm that BADIL is a serious and professionally run organization specialized in the promotion of the rights of Palestinian internally displaced person and refugees and a most valued partner in the region.

The members of the UN Committee on NGOs considering BADIL's application were representatives of the following states: Cameroon, Chile, China, Columbia (chair), Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, France, Germany, India, Iran, Pakistan (vice-chair), Peru, Romania (vice-chair), Russian Federation, Senegal, Sudan (vice-chair), Turkey (vice-chair), United States, Zimbabwe.

During consideration of BADIL's application, the BADIL representative, Susan Akram, was asked about their participation at the 2001 NGO Forum at the World Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa. The NGO Forum produced a declaration which called for the reinstitution of UN Resolution 3379 claiming Zionism equals racism. When asked directly whether or not BADIL believes that Zionism is racism, Susan Akram of BADIL responded:

"The issue about Zionism is racism-this is actually not a position that BADIL has done intensive research on. I know that there are at least two, perhaps three definitions of Zionism, it's not clear which one is being referred to. In terms of what BADIL's position would be in general terms, it would be very close to the authoritative position of the United Nations, as embodied in that early document by Tom and Sally Mallison, in which Zionism was examined as part of what the UN's understanding of it was in the drafting of Resolution 181 and 194 and Tom and Sally Mallison's work remains to my mind the most authoritative work on this question. To the extent that Zionism is considered to be an exclusive right of the Jewish people to the exclusion of the Palestinian people--that would be prohibited discrimination, as of course every UN document and the UN charter prohibits religious-based discrimination or ethnic-based discrimination across the board. And so BADIL's position would be consistent with that."

In fact, the Mallisons advocate that Zionism is a form of racism. They wrote: "The United Nations is under no more of a legal obligation to maintain Zionism in Israel than it is to maintain apartheid in the Republic of South Africa." (W. Thomas Mallison & Sally V. Mallison, The Palestine Problem in International Law and World Order, 1986)

BADIL itself directly advocates that Zionism is racism. In BADIL's working paper entitled "The Evolution of an Independent, Community-Based Campaign for Palestinian Refugee Rights-Palestinian Refugees in the 1967 Occupied Territories and 1948 Palestine/Israel Coping with the Post-Oslo Conditions" delivered at a conference on April 8, 2000, BADIL made the following proposal. It suggested a public awareness campaign to highlight that "racism, discrimination, and ethnic cleansing policies inherent in the Zionist model of the exclusive Jewish state represent both the cause of the massive Palestinian displacement in 1947-8 and the major obstacle to their repatriation in the framework of a just and durable solution in the future."

In addition, during the BADIL application hearing on January 24, 2006 the UN Israeli representative, speaking as an observer, expressed concern to the Committee about the candidacy based in part on "anti-semitic language and images" distributed by BADIL. He gave two examples of images "describing the Prime Minister of Israel as a driver of a bulldozer rolling over the bodies of Palestinians, or depicting a fence made of daggers and blood coming out of the earth." In response, Akram told the Committee:

"I have no knowledge about, for example, the statement about the Prime Minister or the depiction of - I'm not sure what it was -- it sounded like an illustration, of course BADIL does not do illustrative materials, their work is position papers and statements on the basis of international law."

Akram lied. Here are the caricatures or "illustrations" which were on the BADIL site on or shortly before the date of the hearing. They were mysteriously removed by the time the hearing had ended. Furthermore, other caricatures remained in issues of "al majdal," BADIL's quarterly magazine.

Translation: The wall, the settlements.

Translation: Our way is blocked blocked blocked

Many other caricatures also appeared on the BADIL website. The Badil web-site continues to host caricatures such as "Nakba Caricatures 2010," and "Nakba Caricatures 2011."


Transcript

ECOSOC-Committee on NGOs
January 24, 2006

BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights

Chair: We will now examine organization 28, BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. [pause] Distinguished delegates, I would like to ask you whether we could suspend the meeting for five minutes. I would like to consult during this period. So we're going to suspend the meeting for five minutes.

Break

Chair: is the Committee ready to take a decision?

Israel: In the previous session of the Committee, my delegation has stated that it was studying answers provided by the organization and that it was going to come back with the response/reaction to these answers. And I must say that after studying these answers provided by BADIL and discerning the alarming discrepancies between them and various statements issued by this NGO in the past, our concerns not only remain unaddressed, but worse yet have rather intensified. I would like to refer mainly to two issues.

Before that maybe, let me remind the Committee what I said about the particular style of BADIL which we find aggressive to say the least, intolerant, using in some cases what could only be described as anti-semitic language and images. All these things, I think, need to be addressed by the Committee in its communication with the organization. Examples are plenty-describing the Prime Minister of Israel as a driver of a bulldozer rolling over the bodies of Palestinians, or depicting a fence made of daggers and blood coming out of the earth I think is quite an alarming fashion of making a point, no matter what this point is. But the two issues that I wanted to specifically indicate, Madam Chair, the question of BADIL's position on terrorism and BADIL's position on the right of the Jewish people to self-determination.

On the first, Madam Chair, BADIL stated that it has not and will not support any form of violence that is inconsistent with the provisions of international law and quote inflicts harm to unarmed civilians, but in fact, Madam Chair, BADIL openly supports terrorism and glorifies suicide bombers as martyrs in various of its statements. Just to give an example, BADIL was one of the Signatories of the final statement of the fourth annual meeting of the so-called Palestine Right of Return Coalition on November 10, 2003 which concludes with the following words: "Long live the Intifada, eternal glory for our pious martyrs." This is not an isolated quotation. Many similar to it exist in various press releases of this NGO.

When asked about its views regarding the right of Jews to self-determination, BADIL answered that it did not contest this right. And again, in a show of verbal acrobatics added, and I quote, "The Question of Israel's founding is not really an issue today because Israel has achieved recognition as a sovereign state." But these two iterations are rather different, aren't they? As a matter of fact, they are rather contradictory and disguise BADIL's real views on this fundamental issue.

Madam Chair, indeed BADIL's literature is rife with negation of this right when it comes to the Jewish people, a position that places this NGO in clear discord with the fundamental principle of the UN Charter-the principle of the right of peoples to self-determination. One example of BADIL's real beliefs, Madam Chair, can be seen in a statement of this NGO from April 8, 2000 that reads as follows, and I quote "Racism, discrimination and ethnic cleansing policies are inherent, inherent in the Zionist model of the exclusive Jewish state." Zionism, as the Committee may well recall, is the national self-determination movement of the Jewish people, which therefore leads me to the inevitable question, does BADIL maintain that Zionism is racism? Madam Chair, given the enormous significance of this question to my delegation, I cannot see how the Committee can afford to proceed with this application and take a decision on it without requesting unequivocal clarifications. These are my comments for now. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Chair: I thank the delegate of Israel. United States, you have the floor.

United States: Thank you Madam Chair. I want to start by saying I want to thank the organization for submitting this answers in a quickly matter, in a good fashion. Regarding the comments made just now, I think some questions posed by the delegation of Israel deserve some answer and some clarification and have raised some question at least in my delegation. So I'm wondering, I know it's not customary for the Committee to do so, but I do notice that there is a representative of this NGO in the room. according to the list I have of this morning's session and I am flexible on this, I could either, rather than pose a new question to this NGO and require a written answer, I would not be, it would be fine with me if I could do it on a dialogue basis with the member of the organization's representative from the podium, so maybe through you, Madam Chair, I would be happy if we could do that now, or as discussed [inaudible] in the afternoon session from 5-6. I'm flexible on that. But I do have one question to ask this particular NGO and it's maybe to clarify the more important question to us, of significance, is that of the relationship of that they find between Zionist as a form of racism, and if they can come back to us and give me a concise answer regarding what is their position on this-do they believe, is that their belief as an NGO or not? And it would be important for my delegation to have a clear answer on this, a clearer understanding of their position on this, in order to move on with this particular application. My delegation is impressed by some of the letters of support submitted to the NGO from other Jewish organizations which clearly identify that they work with this particular NGO, but at the same time recognize they have some differences on some issues, which is understandable, I think we all have differences at a certain level, but we always find a common ground for a common purpose. And with that regard is that I like to look at this particular answer and establish dialogue with this representative. Thank you.

Chair: I thank the delegate of the United States. Before putting his proposal, are there any other delegates who wish to take the floor? Germany, you have the floor.

Germany: Thank you, Madam Chair, just very briefly, we have listened with great attention to the statement made by the observer delegation of Israel and we take those concerns very seriously. They do raise concerns in my delegation too, and we are therefore very much in favor of having a thorough and hopefully clarifying dialogue with the representative of the NGO-we are open to do this now and if necessary continue in the afternoon so as to have a clear picture of the issues and concerns raised and we are happy to participate in that dialogue. Thank you very much.

Chair: I thank the delegate of Germany. Senegal, you have the floor.

Senegal: Thank you, Madam Chair. My delegation understands the concerns of some delegations with regard to this NGO, nevertheless we do believe that this application which comes back to us regularly should be studied in the same way as the other applications from whomever we receive them. It is an NGO which is defending the Palestinian refugees' cause and therefore we would recommend that it does get the status requested. The representative is in the room, and as the delegate of Germany, I believe we could listen to that representative if there's no objection to that, and he or she could respond to all the questions that have been raised. My delegation would like to see a decision taken during this session and that it receive special status. Thank you.

Chair: Senegal. Sudan, you have the floor.

Sudan: Thank you very much indeed, Madam Chair. Of course, we do understand some concerns expressed by the distinguished delegates of the United States and Germany regarding this NGO, however, all the justifications put forward regarding this request, in my judgment, would not be hindering the work of our Committee, but we have to remember that this application has remained suspended since the last session and in our first reaction that this application according to the narrative here, we did not feel that there is any racist or negative activity. Quite the contrary, this NGO undertakes activities, which in our judgment, are at the core of the functions and purposes of the Economic and Social Council. We have to take into account the nature of the activities of this NGO. Also, these activities are fully in accord with the provisions of Resolution 1969/31 which governs the proceedings of this Committee in dealing with these applications. In point of fact, at this point we do see that this NGO has received a number of questions and continuously provided adequate and relevant answers. Then the question that would arise now: would this application remain in abeyance while more and more questions are submitted to it? Therefore, I think that the argument put forward by Senegal is quite relevant and important, i.e. we should take a decision on this application at this session. Thank you, Madam.

Chair: I thank the delegate of Sudan. Iran, you have the floor.

Iran: Thank you Madam Chairperson. My delegation would like to support the statement made by distinguished delegates of Sudan and Senegal.

Chair: I thank the representative of Iran. I understand that the view of the Committee is that we could invite the representative of the organization, BADIL, to have a dialogue with us now. This usually happens at five p.m., but on other occasions we have also done so at different times. If there are no objections, maybe we could invite the representative. Now, I see no objections. I would like to invite the representative of the BADIL organization if they are in the room. I thank the representative for being here today. Please take note of the questions which the delegate of the United States has submitted to you and I give you the floor.

BADIL: Thank you. I'm more than happy to answer questions. I'm Susan Akram. I'm associate professor at Boston University. I've been involved with BADIL's work and in fact have been one of the main drafters of much of the work that has come out of BADIL. The work, my work is part of the international legal support network that functions to sort of guide the positions that BADIL has drafted on the basis of international law. So in terms of the issues that have actually been developed at BADIL, as far as the legal positions, I'm more than happy to respond to any questions, specific or general, about those. As far as other kinds of materials that I'm hearing for the first time, I have no knowledge about, for example, the statement about the Prime Minister or the depiction of - I'm not sure what it was -- it sounded like an illustration, of course BADIL does not do illustrative materials, their work is position papers and statements on the basis of international law. So with that caveat, more than happy to answer any specific or general questions.

Shall I begin with some of yours? The issue about Zionism is racism-this is actually not a position that BADIL has done intensive research on. I know that there are at least two, perhaps three definitions of Zionism, it's not clear which one is being referred to. In terms of what BADIL's position would be in general terms, it would be very close to the authoritative position of the United Nations, as embodied in that early document by Tom and Sally Mallison, in which Zionism was examined as part of what the UN's understanding of it was in the drafting of Resolution 181 and 194 and Tom and Sally Mallison's work remains to my mind the most authoritative work on this question. To the extent that Zionism is considered to be an exclusive right of the Jewish people to the exclusion of the Palestinian people--that would be prohibited discrimination, as of course every UN document and the UN charter prohibits religious-based discrimination or ethnic-based discrimination across the board. And so BADIL's position would be consistent with that.

Chair: I thank the representative for her answer. Does any delegation wish to ask any questions? Germany, you have the floor.

Germany: Thank you, Madam Chair. Maybe around this difficult and sensitive issue, my delegation would like to ask the representative a question concerning the NGO declaration that was passed at the World Conference against Racism in Durban. This declaration-it's a very long declaration, under paragraph 194 called for the reinstitution of UN Resolution 3379 determining that practices of Zionism as racism, the famous, infamous I should rather say, Zionism equals Racism Resolution which was repealed by the United Nations in 1991. And my delegation would just be interested to hear if the representative could shed some light on what BADIL's role has been in this particular case. We believe this is, this call to be one of the most disturbing ones to come out of the sidelines, as it were, of that conference, and we would be very grateful to have some clarification on that. Thank you.

Chair: [inaudible] Germany. You have the floor.

BADIL: Yes, the view was of course part of a coalition of groups working together on Palestine issues at Durban. This particular document, and I think there were at least two documents produced by that coalition, was not drafted by BADIL. BADIL did not necessarily have a position on every single paragraph in those two documents. As I said, BADIL has not studied this question, has not put out its usual authoritative analysis, I mean that reaches consensus amongst the legal support network. So that particular paragraph doesn't represent either a platform that BADIL has, but was simply part of a coalition working that BADIL was engaged in. So I know of no position that BADIL has taken specifically on that question as part of BADIL's platform of work.

Chair: I thank the representative for her answers. I see that there aren't any more concerns from members of the Committee and I'd like to thank you for having come to the Committee. United States, I believe, wants the floor.

United States: Thanks, Madam Chair, and through you I'd like to thank the representative of the organization to answer these questions. I still have a sense of un-clarity frankly on some of the answers. I guess I'm, I'm not really certain what the position is, I mean it is a document that you signed, and for us it's customary here that if we don't, if we sign a document as a whole, means we're in agreement of that particular document, unless you make a statement removing yourself from that consensus on that particular, or a claratory statement, for example, the United States have done multiple of those regarding the issue of women and reproductive rights where we disassociate ourselves from that or we clarify our position on that. In this particular case brought up by Germany, I don't see that that's the case. I understand that maybe you did not personally act on that particular statement and drafting of that particular statement, but if you're a signatory it would allude to me that you support it in some sort, unless, but from your answer what I'm getting is not that, but it's also not the other side, it's kind of a fine line and I'd like to get a little more from you. Do you not-a little bit more, maybe, I don't know if I'm making myself clear on this, but it does seem to me that you didn't, as an organization you didn't really reject that particular notion and you were perfectly fine signing onto it. Thank you.

Chair: I thank the United States. Germany.

Germany: Yes, just two points. Maybe it would help us clarify the issue, if the question was also put in another way and that is: would BADIL sign up to that kind of statement today? That would be my delegation's question. If that came up again today in some kind of a meeting-would you sign up to that? That's my question and also I would like to request through you, Madam Chair, the representative also to comment on the comments made by Israel earlier on, on the issue of terrorism, violence and BADIL's position on that. I think Israel put a few of the points really succinctly and we would be happy if the representative could go into BADIL's position on these issues a little bit further.

Chair: I thank the delegate of Germany. Cuba.

Cuba: Thank you, Madam Chair. In this case, our delegation is very satisfied with the answers given by the organization. We think that it is an organization which perfectly complies with the goals and the purposes of ECOSOC and we have no problem with it. But despite the fact that we are holding this debate at this time exceptionally, I think that usually this debate takes place in the afternoon. We understand the responses given by the organization and the wish for the delegates to continue with this debate, but we are prepared to take a decision on this immediately, but we would like to stress the fact that we still have a group of organizations which we have to review, and it would be important for the organization to finish its work and proceed to have the debate at the appropriate time, or at least to take a decision as soon as possible on this case. Thank you.

Chair: I thank the delegate of Cuba. If the members of the Committee, well I would like to invite the representative to continue the dialogue at five p.m. if the members could agree. This would give us time, give her time for her to review the questions. Sudan you have the floor.

Sudan: Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm sorry to take the floor again on the same issue. But my understanding was that we took this case as an exceptional case so we discuss it even in the time she will not usually discuss having the representative of the NGO. Now I think it's clear now, everything is clear, the answers was at least very very satisfaction answers and I do believe we should take action since we start already listening to the representative of the NGO. Or why don't we from the beginning just [inaudible] as the representative of the NGO may come at 5:00. Now the representative of the NGO is before us, our questions are already answered, so thank you Madam Chair.

Chair: Thank you, Sudan. So I take it there is no consensus and I wonder whether delegations are ready to have a dialogue now. I would like to ask the representative of the organization to answer the questions which have been raised.

BADIL: Sure, maybe I could start in order. First of all, in terms of what I-I'm sorry it seems like I've muddied the waters rather than clarified things. Of course that was not my intention. NGOS, perhaps you wouldn't know maybe not having worked on this side, don't operate the way governments do, they're not required to file reservations for specific issues on a treaty that they sign or to submit specific dissenting positions when they work in coalition, they try to work together and there may not always be agreement within the coalition between all of the views of the NGOs. This is sort of standard operating procedure. I can't apologize for that, it's sort of just the way things work. And BADIL was part of this as an effort to bring together all of the various voices across the spectrum on the issues concerning Palestinians and so signed on to something, the sum of the parts of--when each part may not have been along with BADIL's particular perspective. And I meant to preface my discussion about this again by saying that most of the positions that BADIL takes are positions that have been researched and analyzed by its legal support network before they are put out there. There are some statements that have not yet reached that stage where we have not got a consensus yet among the international legal support network and the Zionism question and the question about terrorism, of course being hampered further on that question by the fact that the UN itself has no definition of terrorism, very generally BADIL's position has been from the start and continues to be within the weight of international authority, as consensus is reached by the legal support network. On the issue of whether BADIL would sign today, I would say probably not, again because some of these questions require further analysis and a really detailed legal position, and that has not been done on particularly these two questions that have arisen today. And that partially answers the last question about violence and terrorism. There's also not a stated position because we don't have a clear legal definition of what international terrorism is or terrorism is, and therefore we can't develop a position on that. But categorically BADIL is not engaged in violence or terrorism. This is not its mission. It's a--it's an NGO with a--that sees itself as clarifying international law. That is why we have this really well-respected international group of legal support network and why I as a law professor have been involved with this organization since the beginning. To my mind it's one of the most professional NGOs that I have seen anywhere and why I have spent so much time and energy working with them to promote the positions that BADIL has promoted.

Chair: I thank the representative. Senegal.

Senegal: Thank you, Madam Chair, my delegation would just like to give our opposition with regards to taking a decision. Since we are having a discussion with the representative of the NGO, we don't need to wait until 5 this afternoon, but if we do not have enough time now, we could do it at 3pm, this afternoon but not at 5pm this afternoon-that is, make a decision. Thank you.

Chair: I thank the representative of Senegal. It seems the representative of the organization may have something to add. I give her the floor.

BADIL: I just wanted to point out, that amongst the about a dozen letters of support that BADIL has, five of them are from Jewish and/or Israeli organizations. BADIL's main legal, the core of BADIL's legal positions have been translated into Hebrew and are being used by Israeli NGOs as part of their Hebrew packet so I just wanted to make that clear that BADIL's work is hand in hand with both Israeli and international Jewish organizations.

Chair: Thank you. Israel.

Israel: Thank you. And I'd like to thank Professor Akram for being here and answering our questions. Professor, could you please help me out here and tell me what was the purpose of your last statement regarding the letters of support that you received from Israeli and Jewish organizations? Thank you.

Chair: I thank the Israeli delegation. You have the floor, Mam.

BADIL: Yes, actually it was in response to your very first statement which was that some of BADIL's statements were anti-semitic.

Chair: Thank you. It's almost 1:00. I'll give the floor to the delegate of Israel and then we will proceed with our work.

Israel: Thank you, Madam. Professor Akram, this does mean that by this you are inferring that if a statement made by BADIL is supported by a Jewish organization, that automatically makes it impossible for it to be anti-semitic? Thank you.

Chair: I thank the Israeli delegation and give you the floor.

BADIL: Hello, yeah. Of course I wasn't suggesting that. Merely that the evidence suggests that it's highly unlikely that some of the key NGOs working within Israel would support a position that would be anti-semitic. One is not the equivalent of the other, but one certainly suggests that it's less likely that an NGO would be engaged in anti-semitism if its partners are Jewish and Israeli organizations.

Chair: Thank you. United States. United States: Thank you Madam Chair. I just wanted to take the floor for the last time, and to thank the representative of the NGO. I think your last questions clarify our position, of your position regarding BADIL and we truly want to thank you for taking the time and coming to us and answering some of the questions that we've posed for you today. Thank you.

Chair: I thank the delegate of the United States. On behalf of the Committee I'd like to thank the representative of BADIL for having been here at this meeting. The Committee has been very generous in allowing me to change our tradition and I'd like to thank you very much. Thank you for the invitation. The delegate of Palestine has the floor.

Palestinian observer: Thank you Madam Chair. My delegation just wishes to take the floor at this point to again voice our strong support for BADIL. This organization is extremely important to my delegation as well as to the Palestinian people, in that they provide pertinent analysis and information regarding the situation of Palestine refugees. Their work and analysis is based on international law and in completely in line and relevant to the work of ECOSOC, so we reiterate our support. And for the request for consultative status with the Council to be granted which in our opinion will only enhance their work that's--their important work that's already being done. Just to respond briefly to some of the questions or statements posed by the Israeli representative, obviously my delegation cannot speak on behalf of BADIL, and--but we believe that after the questions that they have answered during the previous session and the answers that Professor Akram has just answered, we believe that they are clear and thorough, and we also want to also again mention that, you know, the letters that had been submitted on behalf of many NGOs in support by BADIL from Jewish and Israeli organizations, does indicate that BADIL is not the organization that the representative of Israel would like to depict, or is attempting to depict. BADIL is a Palestinian organization that is representing the refugees of Palestine, and my delegation cannot help but wonder if that is the real issue that the representative of Israel has. Having said all that, my delegation believes that this organization should not be deferred, there is no reason, and we hope again that the members of this distinguished Committee will grant this organization the consultative status it deserves without further delay. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Chair: I thank the delegate of Palestine. Israel, you have the floor.

Israel: Thank you, Madam Chair. Let me start from the end. Let me be also very clear. Israel does not have a problem with all the activities of this organization. It doesn't have a problem with organizations who are trying to assist Palestinian refugees. It doesn't have a problem with Palestinian NGOS in general. As a matter of fact, the Committee knows and I'm sure that the Palestinian--representative of the Palestinian Observer Mission knows, that there is a whole UN mechanism dedicated to assisting Palestinian refugees and Israel works together with this mechanism. However, we still remain dissatisfied and alarmed by some of the answers that we've heard. We don't find them unequivocal. We were a little surprised to hear that the person speaking on behalf of BADIL is not aware of cartoons that appear on the BADIL website. Maybe not the work of members of BADIL, but definitely by way of being present on a website, reflecting sentiments maybe, of the organization or its members. The response to the question of the right of Jewish people to self-determination was also far from being satisfactory. I think that it is not really up to the General Assembly to -- or to ECOSOC for that matter -- to start reevaluating or reassessing what is the definition of Zionism. Just like we don't ask other peoples what is the definition of their national movements. It is kind of strange for my delegation, the delegation of the Jewish state may I remind all present here, that somebody would like to tell us how to define our desire for national self-determination. So, I see that we're almost at 1:00 and I'm definitely, I mean if there's one thing I would like to leave the Committee with is, again a sense of distress and worry about what we heard from the representative of the organization. How can Professor Akram say that they have not yet been able to establish their position on Zionism? If I am not mistaken, the NGO declaration was taken 4 and 1/2 years ago at Durban, and at the same time say that they would probably not adhere to such a declaration nowadays. I mean if such an evaluation by legal experts and its support of a legal network has not been concluded yet, that's almost a non-sequitur. Anyway, I will stop here at this juncture and thank you for your time.

Chair: I thank the delegate of Israel. It's 1:00. I would like to suggest to the members of the Committee that we will continue with this application at 3pm and take a decision then and see where the delegations--unless delegations are prepared at this stage now to take a decision. It seems not, therefore we will return to it. And I'd like to make an announcement. The Secretariat has received a letter with a complaint which we are distributing now. The letter is make a compliant to the Islamic Relief Organization - Agency, sorry - from the United States. I would like you to look at the letter because we are going to tackle that subject tomorrow morning. This afternoon, we are going to continue with our deferred applications before going to the other items on the agenda. The meeting is adjourned.

AFTERNOON

Chair: I'd like to welcome you to this afternoon's meeting. I call to order the 8th meeting of the 2006 session of the Committee on Non Governmental Organizations. We'll continue with the agenda, proceeding from this morning. I'd like to remind delegates that we are reviewing the BADIL organization and I'll wait until you are all in your seats. I'd like to ask the members of the Committee whether they are ready to take a decision and to grant special status to the BADIL organization? I see no objections. This is so decided. Germany has the floor.

Germany: Excuse me, Madam Chair, I was just-I was not in my place when the gavel went down. Did we just make a recommendation, the recommendation to grant special status to the organization?

Chair: Yes. Do you have a comment?

Germany: Yes, my delegation would like to make a statement in connection with this decision. Madam Chair, my delegation did not take this decision to a vote, despite serious reservations against taking it at this stage. We recognize that this organization does valuable and professional work in the field of assistance to Palestinian refugees. However, we do have serious concerns about the organization's involvement in an attempt by a number of NGOs to reinstate General Assembly Resolution 3379 equating Zionism with racism in 2001. In our view, this issue is clearly settled. The General Assembly revoked this resolution in 1991 and rightly so. We share the assessment expressed by many that General Assembly Resolution 3379 was an anti-semitic low point in the history of the United Nations. But we appreciate that the representative of the NGO has distanced BADIL from the call for the reinstatement of this resolution, my delegation would have found it important to be given the opportunity to gain complete clarity on this issue and my delegation believes this would have required only very little time. Due to the fact that a number of delegations insisted that we take a decision here and now we regrettably have not been given this opportunity. My delegation therefore disassociates itself from the decision just taken by the Committee and we would request that this statement be properly reflected in the Committee's report. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Chair: I thank Germany. This will be recorded. I now give the floor to the United States.

United States: Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we wanted to take the floor prior to this--taking action on this. We understand that in order to run the Committee in an expeditious matter, in this regard, I was taken a little back by the [inaudible] of the gavel-and I wasn't prepared at that time to take action on this, however, given that that is the case, my delegation will also like to disassociate itself from this decision on this NGO and would like that to be stated on the record. My delegation still remains with some doubts and some concerns remain, we are aware of their work that this NGO does, and we are satisfied in some elements of the work of this particular NGO regarding humanitarian affairs or legal aspects, however, we are concerned with the issues of the use or the lack of clarity that was there regarding the right of Israeli people for self-determination and the connection of Zionism as a form of racism. We certainly expect that this NGO behaves within the parameters, the full parameters, of the resolution and the spirit of the charter of the United Nations and we look forward to a productive relationship of this NGO with the United Nations and not one that will cause friction among member states. So with that said, again Madam Chair I would like to have my delegation disassociate itself from this particular decision. Thank you.

Chair: I thank the delegate of the United States. This will be reflected in the report. I now give the floor to the delegate of France.

France: Thank you, Madam Chairman. France also wishes to dissociate itself with the consensus on this file. We have studied with great care both the written report from this NGO as well as listening with great attention to its responses to the questions which were raised. We are aware and we fully recognize that this NGO does good work on the ground. At the same time, the answers she gave to one precise point this morning did not totally convince us. The United Nations has clearly pronounced itself on the equation of Zionism is equal to racism, and even if the NGO has not got a legally established position on this point, we regret that it has not displayed it some doubts on the subject this morning. We will follow with great care the way in which it will pronounce itself in future years and we will be very vigilant about that. And without being formally opposed to the decision of the Committee, we wish to disassociate ourselves like Germany and the United States from the decision of the Committee. Thank you.

Chair: I thank the delegate of France. This will be reflected in the report also. I give the floor to the delegate of Israel.

Israel: Thank you, Madam Chair. It will be pretty unsurprising if I also and I wish to take the floor, although the statements we just heard from the delegates of the US, France and Germany pretty much reflect our difficulties. After the deliberations of this morning and after the statements by the representative of the organization, my delegation is compelled to underline that the concerns with which it has started the morning with, still in our view remain. From the material available on the organization, as well as the material provided by it during our deliberations, it is difficult not to conclude that BADIL has a political agenda and that therefore does not live up to the obligations stemming from ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, especially paragraph 57(a) thereof, as well as the principles embodied in the charter of the United Nations. It is a good opportunity to reiterate that Israel supports the inclusion of NGOs within the UN system, and has not objected to granting status to several Palestinian NGOs in the past, even ones with whom we have differences of opinion. This, however is very different to an NGO whose mandate and activities are in opposition to the UN charter in several ways, who opposed the existence of a UN member states, who seems to espouse racist rhetoric, and who seeks to undermine the work of the United Nations and of the international community. My delegation remains concerned Madam Chair, as I said, and nothing in what was iterated by the representative of the organization can really appease our concerns. We will absolutely follow the activities and the statements and the literature of this organization in the future and you can rest assured that we will follow it closely. Thank you.

Chair: I thank the delegate of Israel. We can now move on to the next application....


2. Questioning BADIL's UN-NGO status
There is additional evidence that this NGO operates directly contrary to the spirit, purposes and principles of the UN Charter. BADIL advocates the destruction of a UN member state and encourages violence and terrorism.

UN rules state that status should be suspended or withdrawn if an NGO "clearly abuses its status by engaging in a pattern of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations including unsubstantiated or politically motivated acts against Member States of the United Nations incompatible with those purposes and principles." BADIL's behavior warrants such suspension.

A) ADVOCATING THE END OF A JEWISH STATE

Excerpt from speech given by Allegra Pacheco, at Washington DC Right of Return Rally, printed in "al-Majdal", a quarterly magazine of the BADIL Resource Center, September 2000:

"...I am here to say that there is a solution to the refugee issue-And it isn't Oslo...And it isn't return to today's ghetto of Gaza or a West Bank bantustan. The solution is Awda, complete and unrestricted return to Palestine, all of it from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. When I say this, my Israeli Jewish colleagues respond, "But if they all return, We will loose our Jewish majority and our Jewish character of state." And others say to me, "If they come back to here, where will I live?" And I respond quite simply, I say, that the answer is democracy and equality. Today, ethnically-based or race-based states are a thing of the past. From Bosnia, to South Africa, and even our Jim Crow Southern states we have all seen how these types of regimes foster divisions, hatred, violence and endless suffering for men, women and children. And you and I have seen such suffering in Israel/Palestine because of these state-sponsored divisions. It is time to put an end to this...Today in Israel/Palestine, we are not facing peace but apartheid."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled "Nine Days Before Voting ... An Appeal from 32 Arab Human Rights Organizations to Europe to Review its Stance towards the Palestinian Issue", 12 April, 2001

"...the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) presented a memorandum to the Swedish ambassador to Cairo, whose country is currently presiding over the European Union (EU), and demanded that the statement be circulated to all of the European governments... The said memorandum constitutes an access to a long-term dialogue with the EU on the dangers of politicization of human rights and employment of double standards. The latter is flagrantly embodied in the exemption of Israel from being held accountable for its grave human rights violations and endowing it with impunity...The memorandum ...notes that the international community has never tolerated such blackmailing for more than 50 years by a state that threatens international peace and security, starts wars, occupies lands, and commits collective massacres and acts of ethnic cleansing which led to the displacement of five million refugees. And yet the international community is not able to subject it to the same standards of accountability applied to some states like Iraq, former Yugoslavia and Indonesia."

Excerpt from "Public Statement by Palestinian Popular and National Organizations", November 20, 2001:

"On October 17, 2001, the New York Times newspaper published an article on a lecture given by Dr. Sari Nusseibeh at Jerusalem's Hebrew University on October 15. In that article, Dr. Nusseibeh is said to have "criticized the Palestinian uprising as hopelessly mired in bloodshed and argued that a peace agreement incorporating a Palestinian state could only be reached if the Palestinians abandoned a longstanding demand for the return of refugees dislocated in war more than 50 years ago to their former homes in Israel."... (Source: Joel Greenberg, "Palestinian Offers Idea: Get Israelis On Our Side", The New York Times, October 17, 2001)... Mr. Nusseibeh's call for the establishment of two ethnic states contradicts the right of every individual refugee to return to his/her homeland. It also goes in contradiction with the struggle of our people inside the Green Line who bitterly suffer every day and every moment from ethnic racism practiced against them. It is worth reminding Dr. Nusseibeh and others that there are 1.3 million Palestinian citizens inside "Israel," among them some 250,000 internally displaced who live as refugees in their homeland, often a very short distance from their original homes and properties. These refugees are denied the right to return to their homes and lands by the ethnic racist state, and they are prevented from practicing their natural right to live on their properties and reap their fruits. This is their fate solely because they are Palestinians... Signatories: ... BADIL Resource Center, Bethlehem, Palestine."

Excerpt from BADIL press release, "US Policy in the Middle East - An Obstacle to Peace--2001 US State Department Human Rights Report and Palestinian Refugee Rights," 11 March 2002:

"The lack of respect for basic human rights in US policy is further illustrated by the recently released US Department of State annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices...Palestinian Refugees in the US State Department's 2001 Human Rights Report...the 2001 report fails to mention the root cause of Israel's violation of the human rights of Palestinian refugees. The report omits the fact that Israeli law does not provide for the fundamental right to equality. Under the 1992 Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom, the definition of Israel as a Jewish state (i.e., a Jewish majority and Jewish control of the land) supersedes the fundamental right to equality...The US Department of State Report on Israel and the Occupied Territories stands in marked contrast to country reports on Bosnia and Kosovo, for example, which include extensive reporting on the right of return and the right to real property restitution of refugees...It is difficult to draw any other conclusion than that the complete and gross omission of Palestinian refugees as a human rights issue is intentional and politically motivated...In this context, and in light of Israel's continued grave breaches of international law, which have only escalated in recent weeks, a systematic and sustained campaign for a total boycott and sanctions against Israel, similar to the anti-apartheid campaign against South Africa, will be necessary to effectuate progress towards a durable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian/Arab conflict... Solidarity with the Palestinian People! End the Ongoing Nakba!

  • Boycott Israel - Isolate the Israeli Apartheid Regime
  • Promote the Right of Return of Palestinian Refugees
  • Campaign against Israeli War Crimes"

Excerpt from press release entitled "UN Committee reviews Israel's Human Rights Performance: "Excessive Emphasis upon the State as a 'Jewish State' Encourages Discrimination (31-May-2003):

"In the context of the current bargaining over the Middle East 'Road Map' the Israeli government is pushing for assurances by all parties that implementation of the Quartet's peace plan will include recognition of Israel as a 'Jewish State,' in order to avoid future challenges of its 55-years old system of institutionalized discrimination against Palestinian citizens and implementation of the right of return of the Palestinian refugees."

Testimony of Abed Al Nasser Alameh, featured in an article entitled "Pursuit of the Criminal and the Raising of the Voice of the Victim: Testimonies at the 21st Anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila Massacre" by Jaber Suleiman in BADIL's quarterly "al-Majdal" from September 2, 2003

"The substance of Israel as a state is expulsion of the Palestinian people from their homeland. Israel was established at the expense of innocent people. Such a state can't claim democracy and it is not qualified to carry out a just trial. Both America and Israel established themselves through genocide of the indigenous populations."

Excerpt from article entitled "The Moral Scandal of our Time" by YahyaYaklef, published in BADIL's quarterly, al-Majdal, June 2004:

"The fundamental nature of the Zionist ideology and culture manifests itself in three main ways: racism, aggression and expansionism. By this I mean, racism that considers the other the enemy, and aggression as a natural consequence of racism which manifests itself through Israel's continuous aggression against the Palestinian people. Finally by expansionism I mean occupation, displacement and expatriation of the Palestinian people destruction of villages, new plans for collective displacement (i.e., transfer policies), in addition to Israel's aspirations for additional territory, and the creation of other new tragic realities on the ground."

Excerpt from article entitled: "Palestinian NGO Consultation for Promotion of a Rights-based Approach to Conflict Resolution" (no author), published in BADIL's quarterly, al-Majdal, June 2004:

"The second workshop (31 May 2004), presented by Golan for Development and AIC/Jadal Cultural Center , focused in the issue of racism inherent in ethnically based national states like Israel..."

Excerpt from "Israel Tries to Tighten Immigration by Following Europe", by Michael Kagan, in "al-Majdal" a quarterly magazine of the BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, issue no. 27, Autumn 2005:

"Israeli politicians often talk about the self-declared Jewish State as something unique, with the Law of Return among its defining features...the fact that Israeli leaders can realistically consider international models shows a great deal about the global state of immigrant rights today. Immigration is the last vestige of racism in international law...Israel's pro-Jewish immigration law is among the most extreme discriminatory immigration laws... But it is not completely unique. Several other countries have immigration laws that make it easier for people of certain national or ethnic backgrounds to obtain citizenship...Hence, in immigration, discrimination remains generally legal, an area of law that seem more rooted in the 19th Century than in the post-World War II human rights era. One has to question how committed governments really are to equality if they insist on retaining the right to discriminate on the essential question of citizenship. Most western immigration laws discriminate against people from Asia, Africa and Latin America, and favor Europeans and North Americans. It should be very disturbing that mainly white northerners have a generally easier time moving around the world than southerners who are mainly people of color. These moral doubts have particular weight in the case of Israel. Israel has made discriminatory immigration central to its national identity in a way that other countries have not...But Israel's denial of Palestinian return still poses the greatest moral challenge to its pro-Jewish immigration policy. Costa Rica's favoritism toward "Ibero-Americans" and Greece's open door toward "ethnic Greeks" do not have such direct connections to ethnic cleansing. Israel is not merely asserting a historical or spiritual connection with Jews; it is simultaneously refusing to acknowledge the historical, cultural and spiritual bonds between Palestinians and their homes in Safad, Majdal, Jaffa, and hundreds of other villages and cities."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled: "Elimination of Racial Discrimination: the Case of Israel", 26 March 2006:

"Since 1948, Israeli 'laws' have been shaped not only to prevent the return of refugees but also to change the demographic composition of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. This demographic transfer is aided by the Israeli Law of Return, which allows any Jew in the world to 'return' to Israel and be granted citizenship.... Creating a Jewish majority is at the heart of Israel's policies and is achieved through the de-Palestinization of Palestinian land... Israel's policies are based on racial superiority, and include policies of apartheid, segregation or separation, which defy the principles of equality, non-discrimination and the right of return and self-determination of the Palestinian people. This rationale of racial superiority leads to colonialism. It is at the centre of the "unilateral disengagement plan" promoted by Olmert's Kadima party, the expected winner in the upcoming Israeli elections, and at the core of all 'transfer' (ethnic cleansing) proposals currently dominating the election campaign of the right wing in Israel. Unless action is taken, future Israeli policies will continue to be discriminatory. BADIL strongly believes that the continued "existence of racial barriers is repugnant to the ideals of any human society"."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled: "The Palestinian Nakba at 58 – the Nakba Continues...", 29 April 2006:

"Every year in May, Palestinians commemorate their forced displacement and dispossession (al-Nakba, the catastrophe) resulting from the establishment of the state of Israel 58 years ago and demand implementation of refugees' right to return to their homes and properties... Until 1948 most Palestinian Arabs lived in Palestine...Until 1948 Palestinian Arabs owned most of the land in Palestine..."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled: "BADIL Statement submitted to the UN Human Rights Council", 21 November 2006:

"BADIL Resource Center calls upon States and organizations to recognize the root causes of the conflict, namely Israel's protracted occupation and colonization of Palestinian land and its historical policy of population transfer...BADIL also calls upon states to take actions...by supporting a protection force in the occupied Palestinian territories and other measures such as boycott and sanctions."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled: "On the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Israel is guilty of apartheid and colonization", 21 March 2007:

"Thirteen years after the fall of the apartheid regime in South Africa, Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and in Israel still face multiple forms of racial discrimination, including occupation, apartheid and colonization...Israel's policies aim to create a Jewish majority through the de-Palestinization of Palestinian land..."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled: "Ongoing population transfer resulting from institutional discrimination in the OPT and Israel: BADIL Statement to the 4th Session of the Human Rights Council", 8 March 2007:

"Israel's historical policy of institutional discrimination is at the root of its regime of occupation, colonization and apartheid. Israel's discriminatory and racist policies, favoring "Jewish nationals", including settlers, over Palestinian citizens of Israel, protected civilians in the occupied territories, and refugees has created a two-tier system whereby the special and distinct status of "Jewish nationals" prevents the fundamental right to equality of Palestinians...BADIL calls upon members of the Council to...Consider urging states members of the UN to take measures such as economic sanctions and diplomatic boycott against Israel..."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled: "The Palestinian BDS National Committee Salutes the Canadian Union of Postal Workers on their Historic Decision to Boycott the Israeli Apartheid Regime", 18 April 2008:

"The BDS National Committee (BNC), comprising over 200 Palestinian civil society organizations and including all major Palestinian workers' unions, salutes the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) for their decision to support the international campaign for Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against the Israeli apartheid regime. This decision...exemplifies the cause of workers' solidarity against oppression and racism, particularly at a time when Israel is intensifying, with impunity, its acts of genocide against close to 1.5 million Palestinians in occupied Gaza."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled: "South Africans: We fought apartheid; we see no reason to celebrate it in Israel now!", 2008:

"We, South Africans who faced the might of unjust and brutal apartheid machinery in South Africa and fought against it with all our strength, with the objective to live in a just, democratic society, refuse today to celebrate the existence of an Apartheid state in the Middle East. While Israel and its apologists around the world will, with pomp and ceremony, loudly proclaim the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel this month, we who have lived with and struggled against oppression and colonialism will, instead, remember 6 decades of catastrophe for the Palestinian people. 60 years ago, 750,000 Palestinians were brutally expelled from their homeland, suffering persecution, massacres, and torture... When we think of South Africa's Bantustan policy, we remember the bantustanisation of Palestine by the Israelis... When we think of Black people being systematically dispossessed in South Africa, we remember that Israel uses ethnic and racial dispossession to strike at the heart of Palestinian life. When we think of the SADF attacks against our neighbouring states, we remember that Israel deliberately destabilises the Middle East region and threatens international peace and security, including with its 100s of nuclear warheads... We who have fought against Apartheid and vowed not to allow it to happen again can not allow Israel to continue perpetrating apartheid, colonialism and occupation against the indigenous people of Palestine... We will not stand by while Israel continues to starve and bomb the people of Gaza... Apartheid was a gross violation of human rights. It was so in South Africa and it is so with regard to Israel's persecution of the Palestinians!"

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled: "Human Rights Review of Israel Must Scrutinize Racial Discrimination Against All Palestinians", 5 December 2008:

"Badil, together with other Palestinian, Arab, Israeli and international NGOs, provided information to the Human Rights Council, encouraging particular state scrutiny of Israel's self-definition as a "Jewish and democratic state", and its system of institutionalized racial discrimination against the indigenous Palestinian citizens (almost 20 % of Israel's population) in resource allocation and political decision-making. These human rights organizations also argued that Israel's regime of institutionalized racial discrimination has been expanded into the 1967 OPT as a tool for more colonization of land and oppression of the Palestinian people."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled: "The World Must hold Israeli Racism to Account", 2009:

"Palestinian citizens of Israel are part of the indigenous inhabitants of Palestine who were made a minority in their homeland through the expulsion of two thirds of their people in 1948 by Zionist militias during Israel's establishment – events Palestinians commemorate as the Nakba (Arabic for Catastrophe)...Attempts to force compliance with the Zionist narrative, character and practice of the state is equivalent to demanding that Palestinians sanction their own historical dispossession while rubber stamping their contemporary second-class citizenship as "non-Jews" in the Jewish state...Given Israel's historical record of repeatedly dispossessing Palestinians – be it beneath the 'fog of war' or through incremental bureaucratic means - the initiation of these laws can only be seen as strengthening Israel's de jure policies of apartheid to compliment its de facto apartheid practices on both sides of the Green Line. it is time for the world to boycott, divest and sanction the Israeli regime until it abandons all racist policies and practices..."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled: "Badil Releases 2010 Desk-Calendars: "Palestine's Ongoing Nakba: Colonization, Occupation & Apartheid"", 2009:

"The Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights is pleased to announce that the 2009 Desk-Calendars are out, and ready to be ordered and shipped...

Relevant historic dates and events are marked for each month of the year, as well as information about some of the specific aspects of Palestine's ongoing Nakba as follows:

January: 1948 & 1967: The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
February: Destruction of Palestine's Archive
March: Ongoing Depopulation & Destruction of Palestine's Villages
April: Erasure of Existence & Identity of Palestinian Cities
May: Ongoing Nakba - Ongoing Exile
June: The Siege of Gaza
July: A Maximum of Palestinian Land with a Minimum of its People
August: Denial of Residency & Citizenship Rights
September: Secondary Displacement
October: Excessive and Indiscriminate Use of Force, Murder
November: Settler Implantation and "Judaization"
December: Accountability and the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement"

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled: "Final Statement: Global Palestine Right of Return Coalition-10th Annual Meeting-Beirut 5-11 December 2010", 2010:

"The coalition also sent a message of solidarity in support of the detained activist Ameer Makhoul, who is imprisoned by the occupation. The coalition values his role in strengthening the resilience of those who reside in land occupied in 1948, in the face of the racist Zionist regime's plans, procedures and practices to enact a racial policy of Judiazation and ethnic cleansing...They also discussed the aggressive Zionist policies against the Palestinian people and their land, as well as the dim prospects of the negotiations, which have been stalled for years due to Israeli intransigence and U.S. support for the position of the Zionist stance....The meeting stressed the need to address the policy of forced displacement, confiscation of land and illegal settlement expansion, as well as the continued construction of the separation wall, the Judaization of Jerusalem's neighborhoods and holy sites, the continuing siege of the Gaza Strip, and the pressure and blackmail to recognize the Jewishness of the state. Such policies seek to obliterate Palestinian national rights and perpetuate the occupation and the apartheid regime... In the light of the deliberations and discussions which were characterized by a spirit of high responsibility, participants concluded that:... strengthening the role of the coalition in the international campaign to boycott, divest and sanction Israel within the framework effectively contributing to building a solid network of international solidarity in order to further the isolation of the Zionist state, and activate the mechanisms which ensure the fulfillment of the Palestinian people's international rights, particularly the right of return of Palestinian refugees to their original homes."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled: "BADIL Statement: The Nakba is Not Just an Event to Remember...The Nakba is Ongoing, and the Time has Come for it to End ", 15 May 2010:

"At their core, the circumstances surrounding the Palestinian struggle today do not differ from those circumstances that led to the 1948 Nakba and the colonization of Palestine. Today, on the sixty-second anniversary of the Nakba, the nature of the western-backed Zionist-Israeli colonial enterprise appears all the clearer...Israel continues to draft and adopt more racist legislation...BADIL re-iterates the call of the National Committee for the Commemoration of the Nakba issued this 15 May: Halt all negotiations, whether direct or indirect, until Israel completely halts settlement expansion, population transfer ("Judaization"), and construction of the Wall and other infrastructure of colonization and apartheid, such as roads and the light train connecting Jewish settlements to West Jerusalem...Build and expand the civil society-led movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel..."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled: "Badil Co-Sponsors First International Israeli Apartheid Video Contest", 2010:

"As part of the colonial conflict in Palestine, Israel has instituted a policy of apartheid that separates Palestinians from Israelis and Palestinians from each other, creating an oppressive and racially discriminatory system. It denies basic Palestinian rights to land, education, movement, and housing while devastating the economy, trying to undermine civil society, and forcing continuous displacement upon the majority of Palestinians.

You are invited to submit short [less than 5 minutes] videos on the theme of "Israeli Apartheid." Videos should reflect the nature, realities, and/or consequences of the apartheid policy in Israel, in the occupied West Bank and Gaza and against Palestinian refugees in the diaspora."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled: "The Apartheid Chronicles - A course dedicated to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict", 2011:

"On March 25th, Badil participated in a course on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Rania Madi, Badil's legal consultant in Geneva, presented a two hour lecture "Palestinian Refugees Rights and the Israeli Apartheid Regime" to 102 participants, mostly law, political science and international relations students."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled: "Joint-Statement: Nakba at 63 - Confronting the Ongoing Nakba", 2011:

"the Palestinian people continue...living under the Israeli apartheid regime and in forced exile away from the towns and villages...Ending the particular systematic denial of rights suffered by Palestinians as a result of Israel's regime of occupation, colonialism and apartheid is therefore intrinsically tied in with fate of the millions of demonstrators on the streets of the Arab world...On the 63rd commemoration of the Nakba and as part of activities to confront ongoing forcible transfer of Palestinians by Israel, We the undersigned organizations call:...and expand the civil society-led movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law and exert stronger pressure on states to implement sanctions and adopt decisions and resolutions which support the global BDS Campaign..."

B) GLORIFICATION OF VIOLENCE AND ENCOURAGING TERRORISM

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled "Palestinian Refugees of Deheishe Camp: WEEK OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE CHILDREN OF THE ARAB WORLD", 12 October, 1998:

"The flags of Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq and Palestine, five of the Arab countries most effected by current imperialist aggression and sanctions, will be raised during the closing ceremony above the Deheishe camp's memorial for the martyrs of the struggle against the Israeli occupation. Deheishe Camp, children and adults, extend a warm invitation to everybody to come join their events in solidarity with the children in the Arab World. For more information contact...BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights..."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled "Arab Civil Forum Meets Prior to Arab Summit--Open Letter to the Arab Summit; Submitted by the Global Palestinian Right-of-Return Coalition", 26 March 2002:

"The Arab Civil Forum, which will close its session today, 26 March, focused its discussion on means to support the Palestinian intifada and Palestinian national independence...The Arab summit is being held in Beirut in circumstances that are exceedingly delicate and dangerous for the central Arab cause, the Palestinian cause...We would have preferred that the focus of the summit might be the support of the brave Palestinian uprising (intifada) by financial, material, political, and diplomatic means. Such support would have provided it with the means to eliminate the occupation from the entire Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 and to establish a sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Such support would have given rise to a new geopolitical reality to compel Israel and the United States to recognize the Palestinian people's national rights of return and self-determination, rather than submerge the Palestinian uprising in a new round of futile negotiations...When will the resolutions of your summits constitute a real bridge for the return to Palestine? Until that time, the refugees will continue to wait for the day, and will not abandon their dreams, their stones, and their brave resistance to the Zionist threat, in defense of all of us at once. Glory to the intifada. We shall return. Signatories:... BADIL Resource Center (Palestine)."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled "What Gaza organizations say about the Geneva initiative", 11 December, 2003:

"To promote informed discussion on Palestinians' hopes for a peace agreement, BADIL has been publishing Palestinian views of the Geneva understandings...The following is an unofficial translation of a statement from a group of organizations in the Gaza Strip:
... The national consensus, represented by the right of return, self-determination, and the establishment of a fully sovereign Palestinian state are not subject to interpretation, but goals that everyone must work hard at to achieve. This is the last will and testament of the Martyrs... We support a comprehensive and just peace that is based on international law and UN resolutions. We take upon ourselves and promise to our people, the Martyrs, the injured, and our heroic prisoners to uphold the national consensus and remain faithful to our struggle until full liberation."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled "2005 World Social Forum - Porto Alegre: Global Anti-War Movement Calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions vis-a-vis Israel to End Occupation and Apartheid Policies;" 10 February, 2005:

"The final statement was adopted on 31 January 2005 and includes a detailed call for action on Palestine:

"We support the Palestinian people's struggle for justice, self-determination, a sovereign independent state with Jerusalem as its capital and the implementation of the right of return in accordance with UN resolution 194.

We call upon the international community and governments to impose political and economic sanctions on Israel, including an embargo on armaments. We call upon the social movements to mobilize also for divestment and boycotts. These efforts aim to force Israeli [sic] to implement international resolutions, and the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, to stop and take down the illegal wall and end all occupation and apartheid policies.

We support the Israeli anti-colonialist, anti-Zionist activists who share this struggle." ...OPGAI, a delegation composed of 10 Palestinian and Syrian civil society organizations including BADIL contributed to this final statement."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled: "Hamas Election Victory – a Call for Good Governance and Respect of Palestinian Rights", 17 January 2006:

"The vote for Hamas is a vote for change...And Hamas has a proven record, as elected head of municipalities and local councils, of being a more credible, impartial and committed civil servant..."

Excerpt from BADIL press release entitled: "Final Statement: Global Palestine Right of Return Coalition-10th Annual Meeting-Beirut 5-11 December 2010", 2010:

"And in honor of the souls of Palestinian martyrs, members of the coalition visited the martyrs' cemetery..."