“Putting Rights into Practice” BADIL Action Plan 2008 - 2010 2009 BADIL Annual Report Summary of Results Activity Report BADIL Resource Center was established in January 1998 based on recommendations issued by popular refugee conferences in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. BADIL is registered with the Palestinian Authority and legally owned by a General Assembly composed of activists in Palestinian national institutions and refugee community organizations. BADIL’s current Board and Oversight Committee were elected by the extraordinary General Assembly convened on 12 June 2008. Cover Photo: View of Aida Refugee Camp, Apartheid Wall, and Gilo Settlement. photo by Abdulfattah Daajnah. 1st place winner, Best Nakba Photo, Al-Awda Award 2009, (©BADIL) Backcover Photo: «Jafa My City», by Muhammad Abdulhadi, Jenin. Category of Best Nakba Poster, 2nd place winner , Al-Awda Award 2009, (©BADIL) BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights PO Box 728 Bethlehem, Palestine Tel/fax. 02-2747346 [email protected] www.badil.org General Assembly Board of Directors Adnan Abdelmalik (Nur Shams RC/Tulkarem) Head: Afif Ghatasha (Social Service Network - Fawwar Adnan Ajarmeh (Aida RC/Bethlehem) camp, Hebron) Deputy Head: Tayseer Nasrallah (PNC, Yafa Cultural Afif Ghatashe (Fawwar RC/Hebron) Center; Balata camp, Nablus) Ahmad As’ad (Al-Far’ah RC/Toubas) Secretary: Dr. Nayef Jarrad (PNC, Popular Committee- Ahmed Muhaisen (Deheisha RC/Bethlehem) Aidoun; Tulkarem) Anwar A. Hamam (Balata RC/Nablus) Treasurer: Wajih Atallah (Union of Youth Activity Centers, Atallah Salem (Deheisha RC/Bethlehem) HQ, Kalandia camp) Ayed Ja’aysah (Al-Far’ah RC/Toubas) Members: Jamal Shati (Palestinian Injured Association; Bassam Abu ‘Aker (Aida RC/Bethlehem) Jenin camp); Fayez Arafat (Committee for the Defense Buthaina Darwish (Beit Jala/USA) of Palestinian Refugee Rights, Balata camp); Ayed Dr. Abdelfattah Abu Srour (Aida Camp/Bethlehem) Ja’aiseh (Youth Activity Center – Far’ah camp); Dr. Dr. Adnan Shehadeh (Arroub RC/Hebron) Adnan Shehadeh (lecturer, Hebron Politechnic; Arroub Dr. Nayef Jarrad (Tulkarem) camp); Ghassan Khader (Committee for the Defense of Faisal Salameh (Tulkarem RC/Tulkarem) Palestinian Refugee Rights, Balata camp) Fayyez H. Arafat (Balata RC/Nablus) Ghassan M. Khader (Balata RC/Nablus) Oversight Committee Haitham Zahran (Deheisha RC/Bethlehem) Faisal Salame (Popular Committee, Tulkarem camp) Hassan Faraj (Deheisha RC/Bethlehem) Anwar Hamam (Yafa Cultural Center, Balata Camp/Nablus) Hussam M. Khader (Balata RC/Nablus) Rifa’ Abu al-Reesh (al-Am’ari camp, Ramallah) Imad Shawish (Al-Far’ah RC/Toubas) Ingrid Jaradat Gassner (Beit Jala) Executive Committee Issa Qaraq’a (Aida RC/Bethlehem) Jamal Shati (Jenin RC/Jenin) Ingrid Jaradat Gassner, director Karine Mac Allister (Bethlehem/Canada) Najwa Darwish, admin-finance coordinator Muhammad al-Lahham (Deheisha RC/Bethlehem) Muhammad Jaradat, coordinator, campaign unit Muhammad Jaradat (Beit Jala) Nidal Azza, coordinator, resource unit Naji Odeh (Deheishe RC/Bethlehem) Najwa Darwish (Beit Jala) Organizational Affiliations Nidal Azza (Aida RC/Bethlehem) Nihad Boqa’i (Sha’b/Galilee) BADIL has consultative status with UN ECOSOC and a framework partnership agreement with UNHCR. Rifa’ Abu al-Reesh (al-Am’ari Camp/Ramallah) Salem Abu Hawwash (Doura/Hebron) BADIL is a member of the global Palestine Right-of- Samir Ata Odeh (Aida RC/Bethlehem) Return Coalition, al-Awda Right-to-Return Coalition (USA), Shaher J. al-Bedawi (Balata RC/Nablus) National Committee for Nakba Commemoration, BNC- Tayseer S. Nassrallah (Balata RC/Nablus) Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Terry Rempel (Candada) Committee, HIC-Habitat International Coalition (Cairo), Wajih Atallah (Kalandia Camp/Jerusalem) CRIN-Child Rights Information Network (UK), ICVA- Walid M. Ja’arim (Balata RC/Nablus) International Council of Voluntary Agencies (Geneva), Walid Qawasmeh (Jerusalem) ICNP-International Coordinating Network on Palestine, and Wisal F. al-Salem (Nur Shams RC/Tulkarem). PNGO-Palestinian NGO Network. Photo: A comparison between the roads used in the West Bank. The open road on the left is an Israeli by-pass road, meant for Israeli settlers only. The road on the right is a Palestinian road closed by two roadblocks placed there by the Israeli army. Halhoul, West Bank, Palestine. 2003 (Source: CPT) Table of Contents Introduction . 7 Part I: BADIL Organizational Profile Governance and Management Structures .......................................................13 Units and Human Resources .................................................................13 Organizational Learning: Management Reform .................................................16 Finances and Cooperation with Donors ........................................................16 Part II: Summary of Main Results 1. Progress towards the Strategic Objective ...................................................21 2. How has BADIL contributed to the Strategic Objective? ......................................24 3. Gaps yet to be bridged - obstacles to be overcome ...........................................30 Part III: 2009 Progress Report Outputs from Projects and Activities; Challenges, Problems and Solutions (1) Building Local Capacity to Participate and Engage ...........................................33 1.1 Youth Education & Activation . 3 3 1.2 Academic and Activist Training . 3 5 1.3 Al-Awda Award . 3 6 1.4 Strategy Forum .......................................................................39 (2) Outreach, support and alliance building .....................................................40 2.1 The Ongoing-Nakba Education Center ...................................................40 2.2 International Networking, Meetings and Conferences ......................................45 (3) Research, Mobilization and Intervention with Duty Bearers ...................................46 3.1 Research .............................................................................46 3.2 Facilitation of CBO actions and Civil Society Campaigns ..................................47 3.3 Special Public/Media Outreach Activities ................................................49 3.4 Legal Advocacy ......................................................................51 Part IV: 2008 External Audit Report .........................................................55 Annexes 1- BADIL in Palestinian civil society coalitions 2009 ............................................71 2- List of BADIL tools and publications 2008-2009 .............................................72 3- BADIL participation in international conferences 2008-2009 ..................................74 Introduction Another year has passed and the “big picture” here in Palestine has remained very much the same. The governments that condoned and supported Israel’s military aggression against the occupied Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip in the winter of 2008/9 and delayed the Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, have cooperated in 2009 with the new Israeli government whose members publicly endorse and promote colonialism, racial discrimination, segregation and population transfer as means to maintain domination. New hope in U.S.-led diplomacy stirred by the promises of the Obama administration early in the year has come to naught, and most European governments and the EU have denied support to a UN-led initiative for effective, transparent and impartial investigation into war crimes and possible crimes against humanity committed in the context of the 2008/9 “Gaza conflict” (Goldstone Report). Israel has remained a state “above the law” and continues colonization of Palestinian land and dispossession and displacement of the Palestinian people with impunity. In this context, where international law and the rights of the Palestinian people are violated and the voices of the victims are silenced, BADIL is implementing its program entitled “Putting Rights into Practice.” Our 2008 – 2010 program aims to galvanize energy among civil society for action that can generate accountability and political will among duty bearers to respect and protect the rights of the Palestinians people, in particular the rights of the Palestinian refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) and those at risk of forced displacement. In this 2009 annual report, we present an overview of the main results achieved and activities implemented in the second year of the program. The first section of this report includes an update about developments in our organization. We are pleased to report that slow but persistent progress has been achieved in the ongoing management reform. With roles of governance institutions and the executive more clearly defined, and with new staff recruited for vacant positions, BADIL has improved management and become a more sustainable organization. Issues pertaining to BADIL’s financial situation and issues pertaining to our relationship with donors are also addressed in this section. In the second section we present a summary of the main results of BADIL’s work by the end of 2009 and assess progress achieved towards our strategic objective. We show how BADIL has contributed to stronger rights-based Palestinian civil society campaigns that have in some 2009 Badil Annual Report 7 cases generated political will to hold Israel accountable to international law and respect and protect the rights of the Palestinian people, including those of the refugees and IDPs. The third and