GA/PAL/727
NGO/273

UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL NGO MEETING/EUROPEAN NGO SYMPOSIUM ON QUESTION OF PALESTINE TO BE HELD IN GENEVA FROM 2 TO 4 SEPTEMBER

The meeting is being convened under the auspices of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in order to promote the contribution of NGOs to heightening international awareness of the facts of the question of Palestine and fostering support and assistance to meet the needs of the Palestinian people. The General Assembly, in resolutions 50/84 A and B of 15 December 1995, requested the Committee to continue to extend its cooperation to NGOs and mandated the organization of regional symposia and an annual international meeting for NGOs on the question of Palestine.

A number of experts from different regions, including Palestinians and Israelis, will participate in the meeting and present papers on various aspects of the question of Palestine, with particular reference to the recent developments in the peace process, the key issues of a just and comprehensive settlement, and the intensification of action by NGOs.

Approximately 200 participants and observers are expected to attend the meeting, whose languages will be Arabic, English, French and Spanish. Invitations have been extended to all NGOs accredited to the Committee and other NGOs interested in the issue. All governments, intergovernmental organizations and United Nations family organizations have been invited to attend as observers.

Agenda and Organization of Meeting

The meeting will be opened at 10 a.m. on Monday, 2 September, by the Chairman of the Committee, Ibra D�gu�ne Ka, Permanent Representative of Senegal to the United Nations Office at Geneva. Other statements will be made on behalf of the Secretary-General, as well as on behalf of Palestine. The opening session will also be addressed by the chairpersons of the International Coordinating Committee and the European Coordinating Committee for NGOs on the Question of Palestine.

The opening session will be followed by the first plenary, entitled, "Recent Political Developments". Ziad Abu Amr, Member of the Palestinian Council, will speak on the status of the implementation of the concluded agreements. Two members of the Knesset, Asmi Bishara, of the National Democratic Assembly party, and Yossi Katz, of the Labour Party, will analyse the results of the recent Israeli elections and Israeli public opinion. Arab and international reaction to recent political developments will be discussed by Mohammed Hamroush, President of the Egyptian Committee for Solidarity, and Michael Hindley, Member of the European Parliament from the United Kingdom.

The second plenary, on Monday afternoon, will discuss "key issues of a just and comprehensive settlement". The issue of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory will be addressed by Sharif Elmusa, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies, Washington, D.C.; Galon Zahaba, Secretary-General of the Ratz Party; Geoffrey Aronson, of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, Washington, D.C., and Jan de Jong, Geographer and Planning Consultant with St. Yves Legal Resource and Development Center, Jerusalem. The issue of Palestine refugees and displaced persons will be discussed by Rashid Khalidi, Director of the Center for International Studies at the University of Chicago; Avishai Margalit, Professor of Philosophy at Hebrew University, Jerusalem; and Leonard Hausman, Director of the Institute for Social and Economic Policy in the Middle East at Harvard University.

Plenary session II continues on the morning of Tuesday, 3 September with a discussion on Jerusalem. Speakers include Albert Aghazarian, Director for Public Relations at Birzeit University; Gershon Baskin, Director of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information, Jerusalem; David Andrews, former Minister of Ireland, and Giorgos Dimitrakopoulos, Member of the European Parliament for the European People's Party, Greece. The presentations in the plenary sessions will be followed by discussion.

- 3 - Press Release GA/PAL/727 NGO/273 30 August 1996

Tuesday afternoon is devoted to NGO workshops during which participants will have an opportunity to discuss action proposals related to the topics of the plenaries. "Monitoring the situation and networking among NGOs", as well as "Mobilizing public opinion and possibilities for legal and other action by States, parliaments and organizations", will be discussed in the workshop on settlements. The workshop on Jerusalem will focus on "Supporting Palestinian institutions -- the Orient House" and "Supporting housing projects in East Jerusalem -- fighting land confiscation and discrimination". The workshop on the situation of refugees will tackle issues related to housing, health and education.

"Building NGO partnerships for a just and comprehensive settlement" is the title of the third plenary session on Wednesday morning, which will focus on defining priorities and implementing action plans. Marai Abdul Rahman, Secretary-General of the Palestine Committee for NGOs; Michael Warschawski, Director of the Alternative Information Center, Jerusalem; Mustafa Barghoutgi of the Health Development Information Project, Jerusalem; Don Betz, Chairman of the International Coordinating Committee for NGOs on the Question of Palestine; and John Gee, Chairman of the European Coordinating Committee for NGOs on the Question of Palestine; are the panelists. Wednesday afternoon is reserved for NGO workshops on "Promoting NGO coordination and action" and "Cooperation between the United Nations and other international bodies and the NGO community". The closing of the meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m., Wednesday.

Journalists accredited to the United Nations Office at Geneva will be admitted to plenary meetings. Representatives of mass media organizations wishing to be accredited for the meetings should contact the United Nations Information Service in Geneva at 41-22-917-2313.

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