MIFTAH recently held a meeting to present its analytical report on documentations of Palestinian youth human rights defenders. The session was attended by member of MIFTAH’s Board of Directors Nour Odeh and EU deputy representative in Palestine, Maria Velasco in addition to Palestinian youth groups and representatives from international and local human rights institutions.
The session was opened by MIFTAH Executive Director Dr. Tahreer Araj, who pointed to the importance of this EU-funded project, especially at this critical political stage in Palestine, saying it served as a tool for documenting Israeli violations in order to expose Israel and hold it accountable in international arenas. In addition, she said, MIFTAH was recently granted special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which constitutes yet another platform for documenting the Palestinian narrative.
Meanwhile, Odeh said the project is completely in line with MIFTAH’s mission of building a democratic society and creating space for permanent dialogue between Palestinians and the world. Odeh added that our hope at MIFTAH at this critical hour is that we, as Palestinians, do not lose an opportunity to hold Israel accountable for its violations.
Furthermore, Valesco maintained that Palestine joining a number of European and international protocols and treaties could be considered a “significant shift on the human rights landscape and places a renewed focus on the responsibility of the Palestinian government alongside Israel as the occupying power, which continues to have human rights obligations in the occupied Palestinian territory.” She also reaffirmed the EU’s support in ending the occupation and supporting the two-state solution.
Project coordinator Waad Qannam presented the groups of human rights defenders and commended their work and dedication in producing the report. He also thanked the partner institutions in the three areas for their cooperation: The Community Action Center and the Jerusalem Legal Aid Human Rights Center in occupied Jerusalem; the Hebron Reconstruction Committee in Hebron and the Dia Al Ghad Association and the Mustaqbal Commission for Development in the Gaza Strip.
The defenders then presented the campaigns they plan to launch in each area based on the report’s findings. The Jerusalem group spoke about the violations against children, especially Israel’s house arrest policy, explaining the group’s focus in its upcoming “We are the origins” campaign. The Hebron group then presented its campaign concept entitled “100 checkpoints”, which revolves around the fact that there are 100 Israeli military checkpoints in the old city of Hebron and around the Ibrahimi Mosque and focuses on the difficulties residents face because of Israeli settlers and army. Finally, the Gaza group presented its “Our protection is our right” campaign, aimed at disseminating the Palestinian narrative and calling on international institutions to provide protection for fishermen and farmers in border areas and the maritime region in the Gaza Strip.
Legal researcher Abdallah Sharshara then presented the results of the analytical report, indicating that the report included the documentation of case studies through people’s testimonies in each area. He added that the results were based on a process of monitoring, analysis and documentation of the violations and that the real numbers are much higher. Sharshara called on the High Contracting Parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention to immediately intervene and pressure occupying authorities to halt their ongoing violations.
The participants also held a discussion about the report after which MIFTAH’s Director of the Policy Dialogue and Good Governance Program, Lamis Shuaibi summed up the session, confirming the need for complementarity in the work of local and international rights institutions in order to support the efforts of youth in documenting and monitoring Israeli violations. She also said this was imperative for supporting Palestine in responding to the challenges in areas that require interventions. Shuaibi maintained that this was the first phase in reports produced by MIFTAH in cooperation with Palestinian institutions where youth are the primary actors. She said more reports would be released next year that were more focused and analytical in accordance with tools of international law and which address the efforts of youth to complete their documentation of violations, especially in the old city of Hebron, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
مفتاح تعرض التقرير التحليلي لتوثيقات الشباب الفلسطيني المدافعين عن حقوق الإنسان في القدس والخليل وقطاع غزة
تاريخ النشر: 03/10/2020
بقلم: مفتاح
عقدت المبادرة الفلسطينية لتعميق الحوار العالمي والديمقراطية - مفتاح جلسة استعراض للتقرير التحليلي لتوثيقات الشباب الفلسطيني المدافعين/ات عن حقوق الإنسان، بحضور مجلس إدارة "مفتاح" ممثل بالسيدة نورعودة، ونائبة ممثل الاتحاد الأوروبي في فلسطين السيدة ماريا فيلاسكو، ومجموعات الشباب الفلسطيني وبتمثيل من عدد من المؤسسات الدولية والمحلية العاملة في مجال حقوق الإنسان.
وافتتحت د. تحرير الأعرج، المديرة التنفيذية لمؤسسة "مفتاح"، اللقاء بالإشارة إلى أهمية هذا المشروع الممول من الإتحاد الأوروبي خاصة في هذه اللحظة السياسية الحرجة التي تمر بها فلسطين، باعتباره أداة لتوثيق الانتهاكات الإسرائيلية من أجل فضح ومحاسبة دولة الاحتلال في المنابر الدولية، خاصة أن "مفتاح" حصلت على صفة منظمة ذات مركز استشاري خاص مع المجلس الاقتصادي والاجتماعي، ما يشكل منبراً جديداً لتوثيق الرواية الفلسطينية.
وقالت عضو مجلس إدارة مفتاح أ. نور عودة أن هذا البرنامج منسجم بشكل تام مع رسالة مفتاح لإنشاء مجتمع ديمقراطي، وإيجاد مساحة للحوار الدائم بين الفلسطينيين والعالم. وأضافت عودة أن أمل "مفتاح" في هذه اللحظة الدقيقة جداً ألا نفوت كفلسطينيين أي فرصة لمحاسبة الاحتلال على انتهاكاته.
وأشارت نائبة ممثل الاتحاد الأوروبي في فلسطين السيدة ماريا فيلاسكو إلى انضمام فلسطين لعدد من المعاهدات والبروتكولات الأوروبية والدولية، ما يعتبر تغيراً كبيراً في مشهد حقوق الإنسان، ويضع مسؤوليات كبيرة على الحكومة الفلسطينية وعلى "إسرائيل" باعتبارها سلطة الاحتلال، اتجاه حقوق الإنسان وانتهاكات القانون الدولي، مؤكدةً موقف الاتحاد الأوروبي الداعم لإنهاء الاحتلال وإقامة الدولة الفلسطينية على حدود عام 1967.
واستعرض منسق المشروع وعد قنام مجموعات الشباب الفلسطيني المدافعين/ت عن حقوق الإنسان، وأشاد بعمل هذا المجموعات طيلة الفترة الماضية من أجل الخروج بالتقرير التحليلي الذي تم استعراضه، شاكراً المؤسسات الشريكة في المناطق الثلاثة وهي: مركز العمل المجتمعي ومركز القدس للمساعدة القانونية في القدس المحتلة، ولجنة إعمار الخليل في مدينة الخليل، وجمعية ضياء الغد وهيئة المستقبل للتنمية في قطاع غزة على تعاونهم.
وعرضت مجموعات الشباب المدافعين/ات عن حقوق الإنسان الحملات التي سيتم إطلاقها اعتماداً على مخرجات التقرير في كل منطقة حسب خصوصيتها، فعرضت مجموعة القدس الانتهاكات الواقعة على الأطفال خاصة سياسة الحبس المنزلي وهذا ما ستقوم المجموعة بالتركيز عليه في حملة "إحنا الأصل". بينما عرضت مجموعة الخليل فكرة حملتها تحت عنوان "100 حاجز" والتي ستتناول فكرة وجود 100 حاجز للاحتلال في البلدة القديمة بالخليل وحول الحرم الإبراهيمي الشريف والصعوبات التي يوجهها المواطنون هناك بسبب المستوطنين وجيش الاحتلال. وأشارت مجموعة غزة إلى حملة "حمايتنا حق" الهادفة لنشر الرواية الفلسطينية ودعوة المؤسسات الدولية لتوفير الحماية لكل من الصيادين والمزارعين على المناطق الحدودية والنطاق البحري في قطاع غزة.
واستعرض الباحث القانوني عبد الله شرشرة نتائج التقرير التحليلي لتوثيقات الشباب الفلسطيني المدافعين عن حقوق الإنسان في المناطق الثلاثة "القدس والخليل وقطاع غزة". وأشار الباحث إلى احتواء التقرير على دراسة حالات وتوثيقها من خلال الإفادات للمتضررين كل في منطقته، وأضاف أن النتائج تعتمد على عملية رصد وتحليل الانتهاكات وتوثيقها وعليه فإن الأرقام الحقيقية أكبر من ذلك. وطالب شرشرة الأطراف السامية المتعاقدة ضمن اتفاقية جنيف الرابعة التدخل الفوري والعاجل والضغط على الاحتلال لوقف انتهاكاته المستمرة.
شملت الجلسة نقاشاً حول التقرير بين الحضور كافة واختتمت مديرة برنامج حوار السياسات والحكم الصالح في "مفتاح" أ. لميس الشعيبي بتلخيص ما تم مداولته خلال الجلسة، مؤكدة على الحاجة التكاملية في العمل بين المؤسسات الحقوقية المحلية والمؤسسات الدولية لدعم جهود الشباب في توثيق ورصد انتهاكات الاحتلال، ودعم دولة فلسطين لمواجهة التحديات في المناطق التي تستدعي تدخلات برامج لمواجهة سياسات الاحتلال. وأشارت الشعيبي إلى أن هذه هي المرحلة الأولى من التقارير التي تم إنجازها من قبل "مفتاح" بالتعاون مع المؤسسات الفلسطينية والتي شكل الشباب فيها الفاعل الأساسي، على أن يتم إعداد تقارير أخرى خلال العام القادم، بشكل تحليلي ومركز أكثر وفقا لأدوات القانون الدولي يتناول مجهود الشباب في استكمال العمل بتوثيق الانتهاكات، خصوصاً في مناطق البلدة القديمة بالخليل والقدس الشرقية وقطاع غزة.
MIFTAH releases 2021-2022 comparative actual spending reports for the social and security sectors, including social justice and gender indicators
Date posted: April 04, 2023
By MIFTAH
MIFTAH recently released 2021-2022 comparative actual spending reports for the social sector (health, education, higher education and scientific research, social development and labor), and for the first time, the security sector (Ministry of Interior and National Security). The reports were based on annual financial data released by the Ministry of Finance in Palestine for 2021-2022 and on an accrual basis.
The data showed that the Ministry of Interior and National Security had the highest percentage of actual spending in 2022, accounting for 22.8% of overall public expenditures, or ILS3.68 billion. This was a slight increase from the Ministry’s share in 2021. Meanwhile, actual spending on the education sector (Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research) stood at 21.5% of overall public expenditures, or ILS3.48 billion. This was also an increase from the education sector’s share in 2021, which was 20.6% of public expenditures.
Moreover, actual spending on the Ministry of Health also increased in 2022, comprising 15% of overall public expenditures, at a sum of ILS2.4 billion. This was higher than in 2021, where its share was 14.4%. As for the Ministry of Social Development, actual spending was still low, amounting for 6.2% of overall public expenditures in 2022, compared to 5.8% in 2021. The Ministry of Social Development’s actual spending in 2022 was approximately ILS1 billion. As for the labor sector, actual spending on this sector in 2022 was 0.31% of overall public expenditures, while in 2021 it was 0.28%. Actual spending on the labor sector in 2022 was ILS50.1 million.
Upon review of actual spending reports of the targeted ministries from a gender and social justice perspective, it is clear that actual spending on the Ministry of Social Development does not coincide with the scope of its responsibilities as the forerunner of the social sector in Palestine, including its programs for combatting poverty and the protection of poor and marginalized social sectors. Moreover, non-compliance to the disbursement of payments for poor families within the CTP continued according to estimates, whereby only two of four installments for 2022 were disbursed, one at minimum value. This adversely affected the financial security of the most underprivileged and marginalized sectors of society, in addition to the insufficient estimated budget and actual spending on the social protection program, in spite of its importance in providing protection and social services to battered women, children, special-needs persons and the elderly.
The data also pointed to the low percentage of women working in the security sector, which stood at 6% of the total number of workers in this sector, while they comprised 46% of the civil sector. This shows a gap in actual spending on the security sector from a gender perspective, given that the lion’s share of actual spending in 2022 was on salaries and wages. Hence, women only benefited very little from these allocations, which were nearly ILS2.9 billion in 2022.
The data also indicated that the development expenditures for the Ministry of Labor were only ILS4.5 million in 2022, even though planned development expenditures were ILS32 million, which is much higher. This casts a shadow on gender-related programs and projects, which were allotted sizeable budgets within development expenditures, such as creating sustainable opportunities as alternatives for Palestinian men and women working in settlements, for which ILS10 million were earmarked.
Even though there was an increase in actual spending in 2022 at the targeted ministries in general, this increase was mainly concentrated on salaries and wages. In spite of the importance of providing a decent life for employees, there is still a need to increase spending on development expenditures, since they are at the forefront of developing government services, including the nationalization and institutionalization of various social services.
MIFTAH concludes town hall meetings on political participation and citizens’ rights for women and youth
Date posted: January 09, 2023
By MIFTAH
Ramallah – 29/12/2022 – Within its efforts to promote democratic values and the peaceful transfer of power within the Palestinian government system, MIFTAH’s field advisory team completed over 100 town hall meetings in the second half of 2022. The meetings were held in coordination and cooperation with CSOs, LGUs and grassroots organizations and targeted women and youth in several West Bank and Gaza Strip districts. The objective of these meetings was to raise awareness among the electorate on the electoral system in Palestine and on civil society demands to increase women and youth participation in local and general elections as candidates and voters, on the premise that this boosts their presence in decision-making levels and involves them in public affairs.
The town hall meetings included several exchange visits between LGU members in the various districts. The women shared the experiences and challenges they faced after becoming council members. The meetings focused on the concept of citizenship within a broader definition of the various forms of political participation and the importance of involvement from youth and women in public life. They also pointed to the different forms of democracy and the main pillars of the democratic society Palestinians seek to create. The participants furthermore discussed the various forms of electoral systems and shed light on the gaps in electoral laws regarding the presence of women and youth.
The participants pointed to the importance of periodic legislative and presidential elections and the danger of the ongoing absence of the PLC on matters pertaining to civic peace. They also warned against the absence of oversight and accountability, maintaining that the defunct PLC has contributed to shrinking civic space and public freedoms and therefore, the ability or desire to become involved in political life, especially for women and youth. In most of the meetings, the participants also indicated that the absence of a regular democratic process in Palestine contributed to the overall exclusion of youth from participation and to the marginalization of the role of women in Palestinian political decision-making.
The town hall meetings stressed on the importance of pressing for legislative, presidential and local elections in all West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza Strip districts. They also endorsed the demand for equality in electoral laws, starting with raising the women’s quota to a minimum of 30%, raising the candidacy age and lowering the threshold. They urged Palestinian factions to assume a key role in the process of inclusion for women and youth in the public sphere and to prevent the progression of tribalism in the democratic process. The attendees emphasized the importance of monitoring the performance of LGUs in their interaction with local communities and the consistency of their meetings. Finally, they said female council members must be given the opportunity to exercise their role in their respective councils as equals to their male counterparts.
MIFTAH holds town hall meetings on an annual basis as part of its awareness campaign on citizens’ rights and the promotion of the democratic approach for a peaceful transfer of power, in addition to the involvement of women and youth in elections as both candidates and voters. Each year, through these town hall meetings, MIFTAH aims to reach the widest possible segment of the electorate and the different social sectors in all parts of Palestine.
MIFTAH completes training workshop in the Gaza Strip on family protection and advocacy
Date posted: January 05, 2023
By MIFTAH
Gaza – 2/1/2023 – MIFTAH recently completed a training workshop on measures and regulations on family protection in the Gaza Strip. The workshop was part of MIFTAH’s strategic objectives to prioritize family issues in communities and to support local institutions in increasing awareness on citizenship and constitutional rights for Palestinian women and on combatting all forms of GBV and discrimination in Palestinian society.
The workshop’s objectives included providing institutions with important information on the legislations, laws and measures for family protection in effect in the Gaza Strip, in a bid to enhance the oversight role of CSOs in holding accountable official parties responsible for enforcing these measures and legislations. The training also included offering institutions the necessary mechanisms for managing digital and media campaigns to press for the ratification of laws and legislation that protect women’s rights.
The discussions focused on a number of points, including legal (including sharia law) rebuttals to claims from parties opposing legislation, including the Family Protection Law. They also discussed how applicable this law would be in the Gaza Strip once ratified by the President.
The participants unanimously agreed that they supported adoption of the law, giving no credence to the claims of more extreme elements in Gaza on the Family Protection Law. They called on MIFTAH to hold general, open meetings with the public to introduce them to the law and its importance, so that they could defend themselves from the extremist discourse surrounding it.
Opinions and impressions
One of the participants, Latifa Shatat, said such training workshops were crucial for every Palestinian, male and female. “It is great we are pressing for protection laws such as the Family Protection Bill. This law will have tremendous impact on society as a whole. I can say from experience as a social and mental health worker that protection is the most important element in our work, especially in cases involving women and children, who are the most vulnerable social sectors. I commend MIFTAH and anyone who participates in spreading a culture of nonviolence, protection, justice and equality.”
Meanwhile, Haifa Al Araj said the training offered important details about the Family Protection Law and also ways of conducting initiatives and activities that could produce positive results in mobilizing support it.
Another participant, Hatem Abu Ta’a, said the training was a new starting point for him as an institution director in terms of integrating the demand to implement the Family Protection Law in all advocacy and lobbying activities and programs. He said he became more aware of the impediments to the law’s implementation at the official and social level, saying, “This training reminds us to renew our calls to demand implementation and ratification of the law at the official level.”
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Abu Rabee said ratification of the Family Protection Law would be a huge step, for women and children especially. “This law will amplify women’s voices and their ability to access help with stronger and more supportive centers throughout the homeland. As a strong supporter of this bill, I want to stress on the importance of civil society institutions explaining the clauses in the bill pertaining to CEDAW and to also focus on working with parties that oppose the law in particular.”
The training workshop is part of MIFTAH’s “Policy dialogue and Good Governance” Program, which aims at influencing public policies and legislation in favor of protection for citizens’ rights in Palestinian society, based on the principles of social justice and respect for human rights.
