Ref: 24/2009

Date: 29 June 2009

       PCHR Hosts Naomi Klein, Renowned Author and Journalist

On 29 and 30 June 2009, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) is hosting Ms. Naomi Klein, a Canadian journalist and author renowned for her criticism of corporate globalization and who has more recently called for a boycott of Israel to bring about the “end of the occupation”. Ms. Klein is visiting the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

On 29 June PCHR organized a field visit for Ms. Klein to the northern Gaza Strip, Gaza City, Rafah and Khan Yunis to witness the extensive destruction caused by Israeli forces and to meet with Palestinian victims and eyewitnesses.

Ms. Klein’s visit also includes meetings with Palestinian public figures, businesspeople, representatives of civil society, human rights and women’s organizations.  She will also meet with mothers of Palestinian prisoners currently detained in Israeli jails.  Ms. Klein will also hold meetings with PCHR’s board and lawyers and attend public hearings of testimonies of victims of the latest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip. The hearings are taking place as part of the United Nations Human Rights Council fact-finding mission which is currently in Gaza.

Ms. Klein will conclude her visit to the Gaza Strip by holding a press conference on 30 June at PCHR’s main offices in Gaza City. 

Ms. Klein is an award-winning journalist and best-selling writer. She is the author of the international bestseller, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, which has sold millions of copies worldwide. She started her trip to the Occupied Palestinian Territory last week with a visit to the West Bank, where she called for a boycott of Israel. She also participated in some activities, most notably the weekly peaceful protest against the construction of the Annexation Wall in the village of Bil’in, west of Ramallah.