Ref: 32/2008

Date: 18 September  2008

Delegation from the Austrian Representative to the PNA Visits PCHR

Roland Treitler (the Deputy Head of the Austrian Representative to the PNA), Nikolaus Egger (from the Austrian Embassy in Israel), and Sami Abu Sultan (from the Austrian Representative Office) visited PCHR today. They met PCHR Director Raji Sourani and the Director of the Center’s Democratic Development Unit Hamdi Shaqqoura.

The meeting discussed the human rights situation in the OPT, especially in the Gaza Strip. In this regard, Sourani stated that this is the worst year of Israeli occupation. The Gaza Strip is being treated as an “animal farm” with food and medicine trickling in to keep the population alive. He also stated that Israel continues to build and expand settlements, construct the Annexation Wall, and ethnically-cleanse Jerusalem in the West Bank, effectively destroying any prospects of peace.

Commenting on the internal Palestinian split in the PNA, Sourani called upon Europe to lift the veto on internal Palestinian dialogue. He stressed that the only way to overcome the split between the Gaza Strip and West Bank was through dialogue leading up to free and fair democratic elections in the OPT.

The meeting also discussed potential cooperation between PCHR and the Austrian representative office. Sourani stressed the importance of previous cooperation projects in election monitoring. He also pointed to the need for donors to support the financial stability of NGO’s through flexible support that enables them to adapt and cope with the extremely volatile situation in the OPT.