GA/PAL/935
26 November 2003

PALESTINIAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE TO MEET ON 1 DECEMBER
TO MARK INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY

NEW YORK, 24 November (UN Headquarters) -- A solemn meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will be held on Monday, 1 December 2003, in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, as mandated by General Assembly resolution 32/40 B of 2 December 1977.

Invitations to address this annual meeting have been extended to the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General, the President of the Security Council, a representative of Palestine, the Chairman of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, several intergovernmental organizations, and a representative of the international network of non-governmental organizations on the question of Palestine.

All Member States and Observers have been invited to attend the meeting and forward messages of solidarity, which will be announced during the meeting.  United Nations family organizations, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations have also been invited to attend.  The proceedings, including the texts of messages received, will be published in a special bulletin of the Division for Palestinian Rights of the United Nations Secretariat.

On the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity, the Committee, in cooperation with the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations, is presenting a cultural exhibit entitled “Palestine:  Reflections of Resilience and Hope”.  The exhibit will open at 6 p.m. on Monday, 1 December, and will be on display until 15 December, in the Public Lobby of the General Assembly building.

In addition, the Committee has arranged for the screening of two films, entitled “Palestine:  Story of a Land (Parts I and II)”, which will be shown at 1 p.m. on Monday, 1 December at the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, and “Crossing Kalandia”, which can be viewed at the exhibit area during exhibit hours.

For further information you may contact the Division for Palestinian Rights of the United Nations Secretariat at tel.:  1 (212) 963-5172; 1 (212) 963-1354; 1 (212) 963-5162, fax:  1 (212) 963-4199

Information on the International Day of Solidarity is also available on the Internet:  http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/ngo/calendar.htm

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