Association Bylaws Join Board News Articles FAQ Help Contact

 

By-Laws

I. Establishment

 

Article 1: Name and Legal Status

  • ASSOCIATION FOR ONE DEMOCRATIC STATE IN PALESTINE / ISRAEL (hereafter, the Association) is established as a not-for-profit organization under Articles 60 et seq. of the Swiss Civil Code.

Article 2: Aims

The Association's goals are:
  • Durable peace in Israel/Palestine through building a single democratic state for those who live in historical Palestine and all Palestinian refugees who desire to return to their homeland.
  • Democracy as the provision of universal human rights. Such is the path of justice, measured in non-violence, and the true road to peace.
  • A society in which no ethnic or religious group can dominate others.
  • Reconciliation to heal the wounds of a troubled past.
  • Promote inter-ethnic understanding and solidarity through educational and cultural activities.

Article 3: Seat

  • The Association shall be based in Geneva/Switzerland.

Article 4: Duration

  • The Association is of unlimited duration.

Article 5: Resources

The resources of the Association are made up of:

  • dues and contributions of the members;
  • contributions of other organizations with which it is associated;
  • gifts, wills, grants and donations.

II. Membership and Affiliations:

Article 6: Eligibility

  • Any person who supports the aims and the by-laws of the Association is eligible to apply for membership. The Board shall retain the right to approve or reject the application of any individual.
  • Organisations may affiliate with the Association by formally endorsing the aims specified in Article 2. Organizations have the right to send delegates, with observer status, to meetings of the General Assembly.  

Article 7: Contributions

  •   The General Assembly shall determine the annual contribution of its members.
  • The members must pay the annual contribution before February 28 of every year.
  • Members may request exemption of payment from the Board.

Article 8: Loss of Membership

  •   A member may resign his or her membership at any time without explaining the cause of the resignation.
  • The Board retains the right to cancel the membership of any member. The member can appeal this decision to the General Assembly.

Article 9: Rights and Responsibilities

  • Any member who wants to act in the name of the Association must secure the prior approval of Chair of the Board. The Chair shall inform the Board of these decisions.

  • Any member may appeal for review by the entire Board if not satisfied with the decision of the Chair regarding (a)

  • Members have no financial or other liabilities incurred by the Association.

III. ORGANIZATION

The organs of the association are:

A. General Assembly

B. The Board of Directors

C. Comptroller of the Accounts

D. Chapters of the Association

  A. General assembly

Article 10

  • The General Assembly shall be the ultimate authority of the Association. The competencies of the General Assembly include the following actions, as deemed necessary to advance the aims of the Association:
  1. Approve and modify the by-laws;
  2. Elect the members of the Board;
  3. Set the amount of membership dues;
  4. Approve reports and accounts;
  5. Dismiss members of the Board;
  6. Dissolve the Association.

Article 11 Quorum

  • The required quorum for a convened General Assembly shall be 40 percent of the membership. The Board shall retain the right to change the quorum.

Article 12 Voting

  • Every member has the right to one vote. Decisions are made by a simple majority of votes by members present. In case of a tie, the president has two votes.

Article 13 President and Reporter of the Assembly

  • The President presides over the General Assembly. If the President cannot preside over the General Assembly, the President may appoint another member of the Board to do so.
  • The Reporter of the Assembly is appointed by the President from the membership of the Association.
  • The minutes (verbal-process) are to be signed by the President and the Reporter of the Assembly after approval by the General Assembly.

B. The Board of Directors

Article 14 Composition

  • The Association is administered by a Board composed of at least 3 members of the Association, who are elected by the General Assembly.
  • Board members serve for a term of three years.
  • Board members can resign at any time. The resigned member shall be replaced by the member who received the next highest number of votes in the elections.

Article 15 Functions

The Board has the following duties and authority:

  1. Elect the president and secretary (administrative director) from its membership;
  2. Take any measures deemed to promote the aims of the Association;
  3. Represent the Association to the world community;
  4. Execute the decisions of the General Assembly;
  5. Decide on admission and exclusion of members;
  6. Convene the General Assembly;
  7. Choose the comptroller of accounts, who must be legally qualified to perform such work;
  8. Propose the dissolution of the Association;
  9. Study all suggestions presented by the members of the Association;
  10. Take on new members of the board with the approval of the membership.

Article 16: Financial Authority

  • For financial transactions involving the Association's accounts, the president and a member of the board chosen by the board have the right to sign individually.

Article 17 Voting

  • Decisions of the Board shall be taken by simple majority of its members present. In case of a tie, the President has the decisive vote.

C- Comptroller of the Accounts

Article 18

  • The comptroller of accounts is chosen by the Board and shall not be a member of the Association. The comptroller prepares a comprehensive financial report on all transactions related to the Association for review by the General Assembly.

D – Chapters of the Association.

Article 19: Principles

  • The Association for One Democratic State strongly encourages its members to form local, national, or regional affiliated chapters of the Association to promote its goals. Each chapter must be approved by the Board.

Article 20 Governance and affiliated chapters

  • Members of Chapters shall be members of the Association. Chapters function under the approval of the Board. The Board is responsible for assessing their adherence in word and practice to the aims of the Association. Once approved, they are autonomous in carrying out these objectives. The Board reserves the right to revoke a chapter's membership if, in the judgement of the Board, the principles of the Association have been violated.

IV.  DISSOLUTION – LIQUIDATION

Article 21

  • For purposes of adjudication of any conflict regarding the terms and meanings of the by-laws, the official English version shall apply, under the Swiss and Geneva laws governing not-for-profit organisations.

Article 22

  • The dissolution of the Association shall be decided upon by an extraordinary General Assembly. Dissolution shall require a two-thirds majority vote by members present.

Article 23

  • In the event of dissolution, distribution of the assets of the Association shall be decided by the General Assembly in a manner consistent with the aims of the Association (Article 2).

These by-laws are written under the laws of Switzerland . They were approved by the General Assembly in Geneva , October 8 2006, at which date they entered into force.





Design Copyright ©2003 by Pixel:Industries. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without prior written permission is strictly forbidden.