Publication Type: Others

Statement: The Global Network on the ‘Question of Palestine’ Sends an Urgent Open Letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Calling for a Fundamental Change in UN Strategy in to Face the New Israeli Government

In an open letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on Tuesday 24th of January, members of the Global Network on the Question of Palestine urge him to lead a radical change in vision and approach by the UN and its member states, in a way that addresses the root and core causes of the unresolved Palestinian question and re-establishes the primacy of international law.   The letter expressed grave concerns for the security of Palestinians and fears for a return of escalation with the arrival of the new Israeli far right coalition government under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister. In its statements,  the new Israeli government declared its intentions to continue and expand annexation policies “in all parts of the land of Israel”, which violate the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people and other norms of international law.   The letter pointed out that past peace efforts started from a false premise: that two markedly unequal parties would be able to negotiate an end to the conflict. Instead, this approach consolidated the position of the coloniser, in violation of the most fundamental norms of international law. Respect of these norms is a condition for any solution and cannot be a matter for negotiation.   A fundamental shift in strategy by the UN and its Member States is therefore necessary to ensure the full realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.   The letter calls for “bold and courageous leadership” from the Secretary-General, to prevent unprecedented bloodshed and chart a feasible path to peaceful and just resolution, and reassertion of the leading role of the United Nations in the Question of Palestine guided by its permanent responsibility towards the Palestine question and primacy of international law, as well as an extensive body of UN resolutions. The letter recommends that in anticipation of the upcoming advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, UN policies should be realigned to prioritize respect for international law not negotiations. 

Rethinking solutions for Palestinian refugees: A much-needed paradigm shift and an opportunity towards its realization

This paper is largely adapted from the authors’ recently published book: Palestinian Refugees in International Law (2nd edn., Oxford University Press, 2020), and in particular its final chapter. After discussing origins, evolution and legal tenets of the Palestinian refugee question, this chapter discusses the quest for just and durable solutions. In the first edition of the book, the subject was discussed – naively in hindsight – against the backdrop of the Middle East Peace Process, initiated with the Madrid Conference in 1991 and the Oslo Accords (1993-1995), that is, as one of a number of ‘permanent status issues’ to be resolved in negotiations between Israel and the PLO. This reflected the expectation that a solution to the Palestinian refugee question would be found in the context of the establishment of a Palestinian state. At the time of researching and writing the second edition, the peace process was on life support and, in spite of the increased international recognition of the ‘State of Palestine’, in view of the ongoing Israeli occupation of Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the prospect of the emergence of a sovereign, independent Palestinian state was more remote than ever. The authors believe that the current state of affairs with respect to the Palestinian refugee question requires a fundamental rupture with the political approaches so far pursued amounting to a fundamental paradigm shift. This would hinge on a necessary liberation of the debate from the political stalemate, a more purposeful involvement of the UN, supported by a multi-stakeholder process –hinging first and foremost on the refugees themselves –, a greater emphasis on international law and related obligations towards the rights of the refugees, and, finally, a move away from the ‘politics of suffering’ that has held many refugees hostage over the decades. The authors suggest that the 2016 New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants provides a new opportunity to reengage the UN with respect to solutions for Palestinian refugees, for firmly placing this within an international law framework, and for pursuing solutions for Palestinian refugees more holistically. Guided by the Declaration, they propose the elements of a Comprehensive Response Framework for Palestinian Refugees as well as the route towards its development.

JONAF Statement on World Humanitarian Day 2021 “In the Race Against Climate Crisis: JONAF Will Always Be Present”

The World Humanitarian Day 2021 places unequivocal emphasis on the human cost of the climate crisis, particularly on its effect on the world’s most vulnerable people. It urges world leaders to take more measures and meaningful action to address climate change and save lives. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says, “The State of Climate Change IS A Code Red for Humanity”. Key aspects of the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015 – the first-ever legally binding international treaty on climate change – specifically articles 9, 10 and 11, stress the need for financial, technological, and capacity-building support to action meant to face this challenge. Jordan NGOs Forum (JONAF) members stand in solidarity with the world’s most vulnerable people, especially those living in camps and informal settlements, and commits to provide them with unconditional support. JONAF believes that any major humanitarian response in any given country entails the collaborative effort of governmental, parastatal and non-governmental entities that can organize collectively and individually. If strong, collective local capacities – that can be strengthened through international efforts – are absent, the next crisis will necessitate an expansive and expensive international mobilization. Therefore, “localization” should be on the agenda of any sector-wide reform action and continue to have a substantial role in collective crises responses, of which the climate crisis is definitely one. Localization addresses the need for “Localizing the climate change humanitarian response strategies” which, in turn, can help sustain the vested efforts in the medium and long terms, and ensure the protection of the most vulnerable groups in a country, including from the effects of climate change, natural disasters and scarce natural resources. In Jordan, national actors need to be supported, capacitated and ready to deal with the repercussions of climate change. In turn, the government and the international aid community have a responsibility to create a conducive environment that supports the local civil society to help prevent, respond and contain the outcome of climate change on the country. Such support will create an enabling space and allow national actors to step up and assume their responsibility in responding to climate-related issues. The climate crisis is wreaking havoc across the Arab world on a scale that people on the front lines and in the humanitarian community cannot manage. Time is already running out for the world’s most vulnerable people — those who have contributed least to the global climate crisis yet are hit the hardest — and millions of others that are already losing their homes, their livelihoods and their lives It is high time for us all to come together and join efforts on the World Humanitarian Day, and to recognize the remarkable efforts of humanitarian workers and those who have lost their lives for humanitarian causes. We can still be an active force that utilizes the time we have to address climate calamities, strengthen local civil society efforts, and work together as national and international humanitarian actors and agencies. With the climate clock ticking, we can still help save the lives of the most vulnerable among us and honor those who sacrificed their lives for this humanitarian cause by taking meaningful action!

Meal Framework for Localization of Humanitarian Action in Jordan

Conversations about the localization of humanitarian action tend to inspire everything from optimism to a sense of frustration and resignation – from actors involved at all levels. Humanitarian action at large has been a predominantly international endeavor, where power lies with donors, UN agencies, and large international NGOs. However, the push for a more localized humanitarian system – one that is ‘as local as possible and as international as necessary’ – has gained momentum in recent years, particularly since the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul. Emerging from this was the Grand Bargain, a unique agreement between some of the largest donors and humanitarian organizations who committed to getting more means into the hands of people in need and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian action. Recognizing local and national actors’ key role in effective, gender-responsive and inclusive humanitarian action, the Localization Task Team (LTT), co-chaired by UN Women, Jordan National NGOs Forum , and the Jordan INGO Forum (JIF), under the Humanitarian Partners Forum, launched a Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) Framework, which tracks and measures progress on the localisation agenda in Jordan

An Appeal for the Protection of Palestinian Refugee Camps Places of Refuge and Resilience under Continuous Pressures

1.   The global Covid-19 crisis that started in early 2020 has once again underscored the fragility of the life of Palestinians in exile, especially of those in the Middle East. With the growing economic, social and political impact of the pandemic being felt, the tension in and around Palestinian refugee camps has been on the rise. Largely under the radar so far, protests and incidents in camps have become more frequent. Clearly, the Covid-19 crisis has exacerbated the fatigue and frustration of camp residents. Unfortunately, and typically, the most vulnerable and disenfranchised among the refugees, camp youth among them, pay the brunt of a broader crisis and risk to be exploited. ARDD urges vigilance and additional support for the refugees in these critical times and calls for the protection of the Palestinian camps as sacrosanct places of refuge and resilience.   2.   In our beautiful and tormented region, Palestinian camps continue to touch a sensitive nerve, a testimony of a wound as yet unhealed, their very existence representing the dispossession and injustice meted to Palestinians for 73 years now, since the Nakba. Episodes of instability and crisis have always resonated strongly in the camps, with repercussions on the lives of the millions living in them, from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and beyond. Too often, rather than being a safe haven, Palestinian camps have been subjected to turmoil or affected by conflicts in the region. The 1967 war, the conflict in Jordan in the late 1960s-early 1970s, the civil war in Lebanon (1975-1990) the first and second intifadas in occupied Palestine, the blockade and three wars in the Gaza Strip, and the conflict in Syria have all disproportionally affected the Palestinian camp inhabitants. In a number of instances, entire camps or large parts of them were erased overnight, at times in response to armed elements seeking shelter amongst refugee civilians. The price paid by innocent Palestinians was often beyond comprehension, adding salt to the unhealed wound of exile. A similar fate befell Palestinian communities further afield, in Kuwait, Libya, Iraq.   3.   This painful reality forces us to remember that contrary to widespread public perception, the camps are not the “hotbeds of resistance” they are generally portrayed as, but first and foremost places where Palestinian life in exile has been rebuilt, the place where they live hoping to obtain the right to return, spaces of love and life, and, collectively, an important part of the social fabric of the Palestinian nation across the fragmentation of exile. It is therefore of the utmost importance that the camps be protected, so that they may continue to serve as centers of life for many Palestinians, especially children, and youth, till the day a just and durable solution for the future of the refugees is found. This entails maintaining social cohesion and preventing the exploitation of the refugees and their cause, often used as pawns in conflicts of others elsewhere. It should be clear that protecting the camps, safeguarding and upgrading the living conditions, and defending the rights of refugees in the various host countries does not mean renouncing the right of return or abandoning the Palestinian cause. For Palestinian refugees, the right to return, restitution and compensation flows from the historic injustice accompanying the birth of the refugee issue and has only become stronger with the passing of time and the further entrenchment of international law.   4.   Protecting the camps, furthermore, requires generous and stable support for UNRWA, which was created to provide essential services to the Palestinian refugees, first and foremost to those residing in camps, and which has been given an ever-growing mandate vis-a-vis the refugees, having remained, since the 1960s, the main UN entity dealing with them in the region. ARDD is gravely concerned about the ongoing financial crisis faced by UNRWA, seriously compounded by the impact of Covid-19, and calls on donors to step up their support on a multi-year basis and with a long-term vision. In this respect, ARDD sees the upcoming UNRWA conference as an opportunity for a critical reexamination of the way the Palestinian refugee question has been tackled, and how the agency has interpreted and implemented its mandate over the past seven decades.   5.   ARDD calls on the refugees, Palestinian youth, in particular, to aim their dreams and channel their energy toward developing their own communities hand in hand with the host communities. These youths have already demonstrated, in many instances, their maturity in resisting and denouncing any calls for extremism and violence, and ARDD encourages them to continue doing so by using civil society channels to advance the much-needed dialogue with host government authorities. Under the auspices of its Global Network on the Question of Palestine, ARDD is committed to work with and support Palestinian youth, disseminating knowledge concerning refugee rights, enhance their representation, and build their capacity for advocacy and action. ARDD calls on these youths to be the force of change and hope for a better future that our region and its people so greatly need and wholeheartedly deserve.

Position Paper on the Annexation Plans for the West Bank The Question of Palestine in the Times of Covid-19 (No.3)

ARDD’s Global Network of Experts on the Question of Palestine Launches New Position Paper Demanding the International Community to Take Decisive and Deterrent Measures to Stop Israeli Annexation  ARDD’s Global Network of Experts on the Question of Palestine (GNQP) launched the third position in its series on the Question of Palestine amid COVID-19. This position paper focuses on the announced illegal Israeli plan to annex considerable parts of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley. The planned annexation occurs at a time when the Israeli government continues to implement its arbitrary policies against the Palestinians, and is particularly timed to take advantage of the state of emergency and consequent crisis created by the COVID-19 outbreak to advance Israeli plans with impunity. One of the outcomes of recent developments in US policy towards Palestine is the Peace to Prosperity Plan, also known as the Deal of the Century, which was drafted without any Palestinian input or representation and was drafted in blatant disregard of international law and bilateral agreements reached between Israel and the PLO. The Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu pledged to begin annexing parts of the occupied West Bank as early as July 1. The Paper reviewed the legal, political and moral developments around the announced annexation and their implications since the publication of the Deal of the Century on 28 January 2020, by the Trump Administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The anticipated annexation of considerable parts of the West Bank, along with the establishment and enforcement of distinctions, exclusions, restrictions and limitations, exclusively based on ethnic origin is similar to the situation in South Africa during apartheid and are considered a flagrant violation of the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and a blatant disregard to the International Humanitarian Norms. Furthermore, annexation undermines the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people. Annexation would establish permanent Israeli sovereignty over Palestinian land and other natural resources, such as water. “Palestinians’ right to self-determination would be irredeemably undermined by territorial acquisition of parts of the West Bank by force. Not only do the acts perpetrated by Israel amount to grave violations of international law, they also demonstrate a lack of moral considerations and willingness for equality and coexistence. According to the Paper Annexation is bound to lead to a cessation of negotiations between the Israeli government and the PA, unattainability of the two-state solution and a continuation of gross violations of international law. Meanwhile, tensions inside the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel, and between Jordan and Israel are mounting, raising security concerns and uncertainties for Palestinians and Israelis alike, as well as for the broader region. In order to prevent and reverse implementation of illegal activities on the ground, a clear unified message – encapsulating consequences – is fundamental to reach Israel and compel its government to desist from further violations.  The Global Network of Experts on the Question of Palestine therefore presented several recommendations to the international community including Opposing the annexation, supported by a UN Security Council resolution acknowledging it as a violation of international humanitarian law, and establishment of a special UN peacekeeping envoy with a clear mandate to address the settler colonialism project, apartheid regime and occupation,  Label the regime institutionalized by Israel as apartheid and ensure implementation of the relevant international law provisions and UN resolutions through economic sanctions, in addition to banning arms trade and military-security cooperation with Israel, including suspension of free-trade agreements. Establish an independent committee from the Arab World to coordinate with the Security Council to address the protection needs of protracted crises in the region – specifically for Jordan, Lebanon and Occupied Palestine, Reject the “Deal of the Century” and all illegal Israeli acts engendered by this plan and accelerate recognition of the State of Palestine and grant it full membership in the United Nations.

A Reading into the Projects Stipulated for Jordan in the “Deal of the Century”

Dr. Yusuf Mansur, Former Minister of State for Economic Affairs, Economic Expert at ARDD, presents a reading into the Projects Stipulated for Jordan in the “Deal of the Century” that offers Jordan 15 economic projects with a stated value of US$7365 million over a period of ten years. These projects are described in the “Deal” on pages 131-132 under the title, “Strengthening Regional Development and Integration”. The projects will be implemented upon sealing the “Deal” by the parties concerned in three phases: the first phase spans 4 years; the second, 5 to 7 years and the third, 8 to 10 years. Dr. Mansur examins these projects and questions their feasibility and impact, and concludes that: “It is obvious that these projects are not well thought-out as some of them are ambiguous and uncertain in respect to sources of funding, and they are not among Jordan’s developmental priorities, but rather are among Israeli security priorities. These projects support the scenario refused by the leadership and people of Jordan, and their present value is significantly less than what is promised in the “Deal.” Thus, these projects that are purported to be of help to Jordan, would in actuality increase Jordan’s debt burden without adding any developmental value.”

A Reading Into the Economics of the “Deal of the Century” (West Bank and Gaza Strip)

The “Deal of the Century,” which was released on January 28, 2020, promises the Palestinian people prosperity and well-being. However, it is simply a document that unilaterally empowers an illegal and self-proclaimed entity (according to the hundreds of decisions of the United Nations and the competent international bodies) to obtain concessions from the rights holder (the Palestinians), expand the occupation of the West Bank by 30%, legitimize (unilaterally) the occupying force’s power over 240 illegal settlements, and terminate the historical, current or future rights of Palestinians. The privileges that the document of the “Deal” promises to the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are solely based on the current and future desires, aspirations and approval of the occupier. As such, we completely reject the provisions of the “Deal” and affirm its illegality. Further, we deplore the biased roles of the United States or any country that participated in, contributed to, negotiated or coordinated this “Deal”, and their attempt to place obligations upon an occupied and forcibly displaced people. This analysis discourses some of the economic aspects and presumptions and the proposed projects that the “Deal” is based upon.

ARDD releases the complete Arabic Translation* of the Peace to Prosperity –Vision to improve the lives the Palestinian and Israeli people”.

On January 28, 2020 in Washington and in the absence of Palestinian representatives, US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the so-called “Deal of the Century” or the “Peace to Prosperity” plan, and a document with the same name was released including a “Vision to improve the lives of the Palestinian and Israeli people”. The White House issued on its official website the document, which reveals the two parties’ vision of the new Israeli-Palestinian reality, whereas the Arabic version had a different format and did not include details on the political or economic vision. Hence the importance of this translation, which reveals to the Palestinians and Arabs who have been excluded from this process, the true nature of the “Deal” in terms of content and unilateral narrative. It is vital to understand what this “Deal” entails, to make an informed decision on how to respond to it and its consequences. As thus, we present this translation as basis of a dialogue on the whole document and to explore together best ways to deal with the so called “Deal of the Century”.