24 july 2018
The Palestinian Authority (PA) is planning to ask the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN to take action against Israel over its nation-state law that was enacted by the Knesset last week, PLO secretary-general Saeb Erekat said on Monday.
Erekat, who was speaking to reporters in Ramallah, said that the Palestinians were currently holding contacts with countries around the world to “inform them about the gravity of this law.”
The PA, he said, intends to present the ICC with an opinion paper concerning the Israeli law and US president Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The PLO official said that the Palestinians would also submit a request to the UN General Assembly to see whether Israel was entitled to keep its membership in the international body in the aftermath of its nation-state law.
Erekat accused the US of serving as Israel’s “full partner” in the new law.
He said that Trump’s peace plan, which is also known as the “deal of the century” or the “ultimate deal,” has started with the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Occupied Jerusalem.
As part of Trump’s peace plan, Erekat affirmed, the US administration decided to cut funds to the UNRWA, so as to “remove the issue of Palestinian refugees from the negotiating table [with Israel].”
“A question mark hangs over Israel’s membership in the UN,” he added. “We have instructed our ambassador to the UN to ask the UN Office of Legal Affairs whether [Trumps’ decisions and the nation-state law] contradicted all what the UN has done to achieve peace, stability, coexistence and a peaceful settlement.”
The nation-state law “has torpedoed all UN resolutions adopted since 1949, and the issue is no longer one of two states for two peoples,” the top PLO official said. “There is no right to self-determination for our people, not in the 1948 lands and not in the 1967 lands. The Jew will decide the fate of the Palestinian people, and this is an actual implementation of the Balfour Declaration.”
Erekat warned that the new law would “transform the conflict from a political conflict par excellence into a religious conflict par excellence.”
He also lashed out at Trump’s senior advisor Jared Kushner and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, saying it was “shameful that they are peace envoys because they believe in an ideology that is based on a national state for the Jewish people.”
Erekat said that the new law also “legitimizes settlements and legalizes ethnic cleansing, and is aimed at destroying the two-state solution, replacing it with Apartheid, and turning the conflict into a religious conflict.”
Erekat, who was speaking to reporters in Ramallah, said that the Palestinians were currently holding contacts with countries around the world to “inform them about the gravity of this law.”
The PA, he said, intends to present the ICC with an opinion paper concerning the Israeli law and US president Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The PLO official said that the Palestinians would also submit a request to the UN General Assembly to see whether Israel was entitled to keep its membership in the international body in the aftermath of its nation-state law.
Erekat accused the US of serving as Israel’s “full partner” in the new law.
He said that Trump’s peace plan, which is also known as the “deal of the century” or the “ultimate deal,” has started with the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Occupied Jerusalem.
As part of Trump’s peace plan, Erekat affirmed, the US administration decided to cut funds to the UNRWA, so as to “remove the issue of Palestinian refugees from the negotiating table [with Israel].”
“A question mark hangs over Israel’s membership in the UN,” he added. “We have instructed our ambassador to the UN to ask the UN Office of Legal Affairs whether [Trumps’ decisions and the nation-state law] contradicted all what the UN has done to achieve peace, stability, coexistence and a peaceful settlement.”
The nation-state law “has torpedoed all UN resolutions adopted since 1949, and the issue is no longer one of two states for two peoples,” the top PLO official said. “There is no right to self-determination for our people, not in the 1948 lands and not in the 1967 lands. The Jew will decide the fate of the Palestinian people, and this is an actual implementation of the Balfour Declaration.”
Erekat warned that the new law would “transform the conflict from a political conflict par excellence into a religious conflict par excellence.”
He also lashed out at Trump’s senior advisor Jared Kushner and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, saying it was “shameful that they are peace envoys because they believe in an ideology that is based on a national state for the Jewish people.”
Erekat said that the new law also “legitimizes settlements and legalizes ethnic cleansing, and is aimed at destroying the two-state solution, replacing it with Apartheid, and turning the conflict into a religious conflict.”
21 july 2018
The Israel “Planning and Construction Committee” has approved the construction of twenty new units in the illegal Matzad colony, built on private Palestinian lands, southeast of Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank.
Hassan Breijiyya, the representative of the Committee Against The Annexation Wall and Colonies in Bethlehem, said Israel has lately started a new policy that significantly boosts various illegal colonies and outposts in the occupied West Bank.
He added that the new decision to build the 20 units came shortly after Israel approved the construction of 500 additional units in Eldad colony, illegally built on Palestinian lands in the Ta’amra area, in Bethlehem.
Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention and various international treaties and resolutions.
They are largely funded by direct U.S. aid to Israel through various “packages.” Starting in 2019, the U.S. will give Israel $38 billion over the next 10 years – $3.8 billion per year, which is $10.41 million per day.
This is in line with previous years. Last year, the U.S. gave Israel $3.7 billion – about $10.14 million per day. In other words, the new aid package amounts to an increase of around $27 million per year. (Read More on If Americans Knew)
Hassan Breijiyya, the representative of the Committee Against The Annexation Wall and Colonies in Bethlehem, said Israel has lately started a new policy that significantly boosts various illegal colonies and outposts in the occupied West Bank.
He added that the new decision to build the 20 units came shortly after Israel approved the construction of 500 additional units in Eldad colony, illegally built on Palestinian lands in the Ta’amra area, in Bethlehem.
Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention and various international treaties and resolutions.
They are largely funded by direct U.S. aid to Israel through various “packages.” Starting in 2019, the U.S. will give Israel $38 billion over the next 10 years – $3.8 billion per year, which is $10.41 million per day.
This is in line with previous years. Last year, the U.S. gave Israel $3.7 billion – about $10.14 million per day. In other words, the new aid package amounts to an increase of around $27 million per year. (Read More on If Americans Knew)
The Arab League's Secretary General Ahmad Abul-Gheit called for a broad investigation into "Israeli atrocities committed against Palestinians and its de facto blockade of the Gaza Strip."
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at a perilous juncture in the aftermath of US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem, which has long been a flashpoint for violence, as the capital of Israel, an Arab League diplomat said at the 28th extraordinary session of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union on Saturday.
Speaking on behalf of Abul-Gheit, the regional bloc's assistant secretary general for Palestinian affairs Saeed Abuali cited the US government's decision to slash funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) as "another dangerous precedent."
He emphasized that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies at the crux of the Arab region's concerns, condemning Israel's adoption of a "Jewish-nation state" law, which declares that only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country, as overtly racist.
The Arab region will remain resolute in its support for the Palestinians until their aspirations for statehood come to fruition, the diplomat told the gathering requested by Kuwait's chief lawmaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim.
The meeting has been called to address the latest developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, amid an unprecedented degree of outrage across the Arab region over Israel's continued transgressions, he explained.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at a perilous juncture in the aftermath of US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem, which has long been a flashpoint for violence, as the capital of Israel, an Arab League diplomat said at the 28th extraordinary session of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union on Saturday.
Speaking on behalf of Abul-Gheit, the regional bloc's assistant secretary general for Palestinian affairs Saeed Abuali cited the US government's decision to slash funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) as "another dangerous precedent."
He emphasized that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies at the crux of the Arab region's concerns, condemning Israel's adoption of a "Jewish-nation state" law, which declares that only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country, as overtly racist.
The Arab region will remain resolute in its support for the Palestinians until their aspirations for statehood come to fruition, the diplomat told the gathering requested by Kuwait's chief lawmaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim.
The meeting has been called to address the latest developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, amid an unprecedented degree of outrage across the Arab region over Israel's continued transgressions, he explained.
18 july 2018
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, on Wednesday, expressed deep regrets over US authorities’ refusal to grant visas to six Palestinian experts who were to take part in a high-level political forum at the United Nations headquarters, in New York.
“Members of the Palestinian delegation were unable to participate in the meeting due to the refusal of the US authorities to grant them a visa,” Mansour said, at the start of the meeting.
“It is very unfortunate that the US authorities refuse to grant these Palestinians a visa to attend an official meeting at United Nations Headquarters.”
Mansour said that he will deliver a speech, on behalf of the six Palestinians, at the high-level political forum, which began on 9 July and ends today, on Wednesday.
In turn, UN sources said that the refusal of the delegates’ visas was due to lack of diplomatic character, since Palestine is an observer and not a full member of the United Nations.”
The current high-level political forum is an annual gathering of Governments and civil society to consult and exchange views on the United Nations sustainable development goals and ways to develop strategies to accelerate their achievement.
“Members of the Palestinian delegation were unable to participate in the meeting due to the refusal of the US authorities to grant them a visa,” Mansour said, at the start of the meeting.
“It is very unfortunate that the US authorities refuse to grant these Palestinians a visa to attend an official meeting at United Nations Headquarters.”
Mansour said that he will deliver a speech, on behalf of the six Palestinians, at the high-level political forum, which began on 9 July and ends today, on Wednesday.
In turn, UN sources said that the refusal of the delegates’ visas was due to lack of diplomatic character, since Palestine is an observer and not a full member of the United Nations.”
The current high-level political forum is an annual gathering of Governments and civil society to consult and exchange views on the United Nations sustainable development goals and ways to develop strategies to accelerate their achievement.
17 july 2018
According to Days of Palestine, the Israeli occupation state is the first country to use the US-made F-35 fighter jet to kill people –two innocent Palestinian children in Gaza Strip.
While America and the rest of the world’s attention was focused on the Wold Cup, Wimbledon, Trump’s visit to England, and the Stormy Daniels story, Israel unleashed the heaviest air strikes since 2014, on the besieged Gaza Strip.
This makes Israel the first country in the world to use the new US-made F-35 fighter jets to kill people.
Last week, the Israeli air forces also used the F-35 fighter jets to fly over Beirut, Lebanon and bombard targets inside Syria.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israeli airstrikes, on Saturday, injured hundreds of civilians, killing two Palestinian boys Louay Khoheel, aged 16, and Amir al-Namara, also 16, who were at a public park next to an unfinished building.
A few hours later, Amir and Louay’s parents visited the morgue to claim their bodies.
Mahmoud el-Yousseph is a retired USAF veteran from Westerville, Ohio.
While America and the rest of the world’s attention was focused on the Wold Cup, Wimbledon, Trump’s visit to England, and the Stormy Daniels story, Israel unleashed the heaviest air strikes since 2014, on the besieged Gaza Strip.
This makes Israel the first country in the world to use the new US-made F-35 fighter jets to kill people.
Last week, the Israeli air forces also used the F-35 fighter jets to fly over Beirut, Lebanon and bombard targets inside Syria.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israeli airstrikes, on Saturday, injured hundreds of civilians, killing two Palestinian boys Louay Khoheel, aged 16, and Amir al-Namara, also 16, who were at a public park next to an unfinished building.
A few hours later, Amir and Louay’s parents visited the morgue to claim their bodies.
Mahmoud el-Yousseph is a retired USAF veteran from Westerville, Ohio.
12 july 2018
Nine House Democrats wrote a letter [PDF] on Wednesday, to United States president Donald Trump, requesting him to update the current status of U.S. funding towards Palestinian Authority (PA).
In spite being the largest single donor to UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), in January of 2018, the United States withheld $65 million from the organization, as they were “examining” the use of money, responding to the refusal of Mahmoud Abbas’ meeting with US officials following the controversy regarding Jerusalem being the official capital of Israel.
On 23 March, 2018, the United States passed the “Taylor Force Act” which fully cuts off funding for the PA unless it ceases to pay stipends to families of Palestinian prisoners, and revokes laws authorizing this compensation.
The USAID office in the West Bank and Gaza, an American international agency, has not received a budget for the following year, thus placing a halt to its projects, according to the PNN.
According to the letter, the impact of the funding freeze could lead to catastrophic consequences: “140,000 people will cease to receive emergency food and non-food assistance, 42,000 patients will not receive essential health services, 50,000 youths will lack access to life skills development, and 12,250 people will lose paid entrepreneurship opportunities.
“We believe these crucial humanitarian funds must be restored in order to save innocent lives.”
The letter [PDF] was signed by Ted Deutch, Gerald Connolly, David Cicilline, Lois Frankel, Tulsi Gabbard, Brendan Boyle, Ted Lieu, Bradley Schneider, Thomas Suozzi.
In spite being the largest single donor to UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), in January of 2018, the United States withheld $65 million from the organization, as they were “examining” the use of money, responding to the refusal of Mahmoud Abbas’ meeting with US officials following the controversy regarding Jerusalem being the official capital of Israel.
On 23 March, 2018, the United States passed the “Taylor Force Act” which fully cuts off funding for the PA unless it ceases to pay stipends to families of Palestinian prisoners, and revokes laws authorizing this compensation.
The USAID office in the West Bank and Gaza, an American international agency, has not received a budget for the following year, thus placing a halt to its projects, according to the PNN.
According to the letter, the impact of the funding freeze could lead to catastrophic consequences: “140,000 people will cease to receive emergency food and non-food assistance, 42,000 patients will not receive essential health services, 50,000 youths will lack access to life skills development, and 12,250 people will lose paid entrepreneurship opportunities.
“We believe these crucial humanitarian funds must be restored in order to save innocent lives.”
The letter [PDF] was signed by Ted Deutch, Gerald Connolly, David Cicilline, Lois Frankel, Tulsi Gabbard, Brendan Boyle, Ted Lieu, Bradley Schneider, Thomas Suozzi.
The Palestinian government says that the US administration and Israel are working on the first stage of Trump’s Middle East ‘Deal of the Century’ by offering a humanitarian plan in Gaza, according to Al Ray.
In a statement, on Wednesday, the government said that the US exploits humanitarian work in Gaza, and the act of improving its conditions, to draw a beautiful picture for the Israeli occupation.
It also denounced the closing of the Kerem Shalom crossing, along with the reduction of the fishing area in the Gaza Strip, as a new attempt to tighten the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip for nearly 11 years.
The statement stressed the role and responsibility of the international community and the United Nations, as well as the need to align with the values of human rights and justice, in order to solve Palestine crisis, by implementing the resolutions of the United Nations and establishing sovereign State of Palestine according to the 1967 Palestinian territories, with East Jerusalem as its capital. It also stressed the need to end the suffering of millions of Palestinian refugees and to enable them to live in freedom and dignity.
It called on the UN to hold to its responsibilities in implementing its resolutions, taking the necessary steps to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people and its violations of the principles of the international legitimacy, obliging it to end what has become the longest military occupation in the modern history.
On the other hand, Hamas said that current plans do not include any decisions to end the punishment measures against Gaza, or attempts to incite the international community, confirming complicity with US and Israeli steps to implement the deal.
The spokesperson for Hamas, Fawzi Barhoum, held both the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian Authority responsible for the repercussions of the siege and the collective punishment measures against Gaza.
In a statement, on Wednesday, the government said that the US exploits humanitarian work in Gaza, and the act of improving its conditions, to draw a beautiful picture for the Israeli occupation.
It also denounced the closing of the Kerem Shalom crossing, along with the reduction of the fishing area in the Gaza Strip, as a new attempt to tighten the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip for nearly 11 years.
The statement stressed the role and responsibility of the international community and the United Nations, as well as the need to align with the values of human rights and justice, in order to solve Palestine crisis, by implementing the resolutions of the United Nations and establishing sovereign State of Palestine according to the 1967 Palestinian territories, with East Jerusalem as its capital. It also stressed the need to end the suffering of millions of Palestinian refugees and to enable them to live in freedom and dignity.
It called on the UN to hold to its responsibilities in implementing its resolutions, taking the necessary steps to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people and its violations of the principles of the international legitimacy, obliging it to end what has become the longest military occupation in the modern history.
On the other hand, Hamas said that current plans do not include any decisions to end the punishment measures against Gaza, or attempts to incite the international community, confirming complicity with US and Israeli steps to implement the deal.
The spokesperson for Hamas, Fawzi Barhoum, held both the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian Authority responsible for the repercussions of the siege and the collective punishment measures against Gaza.
11 july 2018
Photo: Israel prepared mobile homes in Abu Dis town, for relocation of Khan Al-Ahmar Bedouins after the decided demolition of their village.
“The American-Israeli conspiracy to perpetuate the separation between the two parts of the homeland with economic “relief” projects is doomed to fail,” says the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).
The Israeli escalation in the theft and appropriation of Palestinian land for colonization purposes, home demolitions and the forced displacement of Palestinian citizens from their places of residence, to let settlers live in them; which is contrary to what the US administration has been trying to hide of its blind bias towards the occupation and its policies, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, Tuesday.
The statement said, according to the PNN, that the promotion of the so-called “Deal of the Century” or “humanitarian projects and packages” for the Gaza Strip is aimed at diverting international attention from the main cause of the Palestinian people’s plight and suffering, which is the Israeli occupation, and aims to erase the Palestinian cause from the international agenda.
“The suffering of our people in Khan al-Ahmar, of forced displacement, and the establishment of a cemetery for settlers on 140 dunams near Qalqilia, in addition to the confiscation of the lands of Silwan south of Al-Aqsa Mosque for the settlement of ‘Elad’, and the extensive demolition of homes and the removal of many Palestinian economic establishments, as what’s currently happening in Yatta and East Barta’a currently, and the decision of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to close the Karam Abu Salem crossing border and reduce fishing areas in Gaza and Lieberman’s threats of imposing additional punitive measures on our people in the Gaza Strip,” MOFA said.
“This is done in the absence of any American condemnation or criticism; on the contrary, it is done with the blessing of Trump’s team and its representative at the United Nations, which also reflects the magnitude of the blind American bias of the occupation and its policies to resolve final status issues unilaterally,” it added.
The Ministry condemned the Israeli aggression against Palestinian people, land, property and holy sites. It affirmed that this escalation is accompanied by aggressive Israeli-American attempts to dissolve the political and national dimension of the Palestinian issue, and to impose it as a “population issue” that are seeking “Economic projects” to improve their lives in complete disregard for the existence of occupation and colonization, therefore, Trump’s team is seeking to replace rational political solutions to the conflict, which is unanimously supported with international economic projects and relief programs.
“Our people pay an expensive price, on a daily basis, for the blind American bias of the occupation, its crimes and its settlement.
The truth is that we understand, from the US moves, is Washington’s attempt to resolve Israel’s deep crises resulting from its occupation of the Palestinian people and the land by its media leaks about the imminent birth of a ‘Deal of the Century’ as a cover to provide the necessary time to complete the occupation of its colonial expansionist projects in the land of the State of Palestine. Which might last throughout Trump’s presidency, leading to the diminishing of the Palestinian cause and ending its national political dimension as a cause of a people with just and legitimate national rights, recognized by international legitimacy and its decisions to a cause, placed in ‘Relief aid’ as a matter of people who need to be resuscitated.”
The Ministry said it considers that this approach is another translation of the Zionist colonial expansionist project, which for years has been looking at Israeli methods and options to solve the problem of the Palestinian population in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. To achieve the separation between the two parts of the homeland.
The Ministry reaffirmed that the American administration has ruled out its role, by itself, when it chose to take the side of the right wing in Israel. Adopting the positions of the occupation and its policies, and thus will certainly reap the terrible failure of its project as the projects that the occupation tried to impose on Palestinian people and its leadership from the beginning of the occupation until this day.
“The American-Israeli conspiracy to perpetuate the separation between the two parts of the homeland with economic “relief” projects is doomed to fail,” says the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).
The Israeli escalation in the theft and appropriation of Palestinian land for colonization purposes, home demolitions and the forced displacement of Palestinian citizens from their places of residence, to let settlers live in them; which is contrary to what the US administration has been trying to hide of its blind bias towards the occupation and its policies, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, Tuesday.
The statement said, according to the PNN, that the promotion of the so-called “Deal of the Century” or “humanitarian projects and packages” for the Gaza Strip is aimed at diverting international attention from the main cause of the Palestinian people’s plight and suffering, which is the Israeli occupation, and aims to erase the Palestinian cause from the international agenda.
“The suffering of our people in Khan al-Ahmar, of forced displacement, and the establishment of a cemetery for settlers on 140 dunams near Qalqilia, in addition to the confiscation of the lands of Silwan south of Al-Aqsa Mosque for the settlement of ‘Elad’, and the extensive demolition of homes and the removal of many Palestinian economic establishments, as what’s currently happening in Yatta and East Barta’a currently, and the decision of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to close the Karam Abu Salem crossing border and reduce fishing areas in Gaza and Lieberman’s threats of imposing additional punitive measures on our people in the Gaza Strip,” MOFA said.
“This is done in the absence of any American condemnation or criticism; on the contrary, it is done with the blessing of Trump’s team and its representative at the United Nations, which also reflects the magnitude of the blind American bias of the occupation and its policies to resolve final status issues unilaterally,” it added.
The Ministry condemned the Israeli aggression against Palestinian people, land, property and holy sites. It affirmed that this escalation is accompanied by aggressive Israeli-American attempts to dissolve the political and national dimension of the Palestinian issue, and to impose it as a “population issue” that are seeking “Economic projects” to improve their lives in complete disregard for the existence of occupation and colonization, therefore, Trump’s team is seeking to replace rational political solutions to the conflict, which is unanimously supported with international economic projects and relief programs.
“Our people pay an expensive price, on a daily basis, for the blind American bias of the occupation, its crimes and its settlement.
The truth is that we understand, from the US moves, is Washington’s attempt to resolve Israel’s deep crises resulting from its occupation of the Palestinian people and the land by its media leaks about the imminent birth of a ‘Deal of the Century’ as a cover to provide the necessary time to complete the occupation of its colonial expansionist projects in the land of the State of Palestine. Which might last throughout Trump’s presidency, leading to the diminishing of the Palestinian cause and ending its national political dimension as a cause of a people with just and legitimate national rights, recognized by international legitimacy and its decisions to a cause, placed in ‘Relief aid’ as a matter of people who need to be resuscitated.”
The Ministry said it considers that this approach is another translation of the Zionist colonial expansionist project, which for years has been looking at Israeli methods and options to solve the problem of the Palestinian population in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. To achieve the separation between the two parts of the homeland.
The Ministry reaffirmed that the American administration has ruled out its role, by itself, when it chose to take the side of the right wing in Israel. Adopting the positions of the occupation and its policies, and thus will certainly reap the terrible failure of its project as the projects that the occupation tried to impose on Palestinian people and its leadership from the beginning of the occupation until this day.
