8 june 2018
Millions of people across Iran and other world countries have rallied on the International Quds Day to show their solidarity with the Palestinians and condemn Israel’s decades-long occupation and atrocities.
In Tehran and other cities and towns, people from all walks of life took to the streets for the annual event which falls on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
They chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America", burning the Israeli flag.
Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani addressed worshipers at Friday prayers in Tehran, during which he said the Israeli regime had realized its "shaky security" ground which has emerged as a result of "the resistance and awakening of the Palestinian people".
"Israel and Saudi Arabia are the source of chaos in the region. The Saudi Arabia, Israel and American triangle wants to turn the region into a chaotic scene," he said.
"Israel is failing ... the claim of creating a new regional order is a mistake they are making and it is an illusion ... It is our responsibility to defend Palestinians," Larijani added.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the rallies in the Iranian capital, the demonstrators renewed their call for the liberation of Palestine from the Israeli occupation as a cause of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
They also strongly denounced US President Donald Trump's decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds, saying the liberation of the holy city remains the "top priority of the Muslim world".
The participants further pledged support for the “path of resistance and intifada”, stressing the need for strong unity among different Palestinian factions to speed up anti-Israel struggles.
The communiqué said the only solution to the Palestinian issue is facilitating the return of displaced Palestinians to their homeland and holding free elections for the nation to decide its destiny.
The demonstrators also condemned the Tel Avive regime's attempts "to Judaize the occupied territories and destroy Palestine’s national and historical identity," calling on international and regional institutions to help foil Israel's "dangerous plot by taking firm and practical measures.”
Similar events are planned in London and Toronto as well as in 800 cities worldwide, which usually see people chanting anti-Israeli slogans and burning the occupying regime's flags.
Organizers in Toronto said the theme of the rally is to push for “justice, peace and love” and countering Islamophobia and racism as well as opposing the “Zionism and Israeli war crimes”.
Near the Israeli fence separating Gaza from the occupied territories, Palestinians are expected to throng the site which has become the scene of bloodshed in recent weeks.
Israel's Channel 2 News said the protesters planned to wear clothing made to resemble uniforms worn by prisoners in concentration camps in the Holocaust.
On Thursday, the Israel air force completed a mass exercise simulating a war on Gaza.
The International Quds Day is a legacy of the late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini, who designated the day in solidarity with the Palestinians.
This year, Quds Day has become a larger rallying cry as it comes after months of mass protests in Gaza which proved Israel's inability to stop the Palestinians despite widespread use of deadly force against unarmed protesters.
Since late March, over 120 Palestinian protesters have been killed and thousands more wounded by Israeli forces, mainly sharpshooters. The Israeli military has come under intense international criticism for permitting its forces to open fire on unarmed protesters in Gaza.
Tensions have been running high near the Gaza fence since March 30, which marked the start of a series of protests, dubbed “The Great March of Return,” demanding the right to return for those driven out of their homeland.
The Gaza clashes reached their peak on May 14, the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Nakba Day (the Day of Catastrophe), which coincided this year with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem al-Quds.
In Tehran and other cities and towns, people from all walks of life took to the streets for the annual event which falls on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
They chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America", burning the Israeli flag.
Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani addressed worshipers at Friday prayers in Tehran, during which he said the Israeli regime had realized its "shaky security" ground which has emerged as a result of "the resistance and awakening of the Palestinian people".
"Israel and Saudi Arabia are the source of chaos in the region. The Saudi Arabia, Israel and American triangle wants to turn the region into a chaotic scene," he said.
"Israel is failing ... the claim of creating a new regional order is a mistake they are making and it is an illusion ... It is our responsibility to defend Palestinians," Larijani added.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the rallies in the Iranian capital, the demonstrators renewed their call for the liberation of Palestine from the Israeli occupation as a cause of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
They also strongly denounced US President Donald Trump's decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds, saying the liberation of the holy city remains the "top priority of the Muslim world".
The participants further pledged support for the “path of resistance and intifada”, stressing the need for strong unity among different Palestinian factions to speed up anti-Israel struggles.
The communiqué said the only solution to the Palestinian issue is facilitating the return of displaced Palestinians to their homeland and holding free elections for the nation to decide its destiny.
The demonstrators also condemned the Tel Avive regime's attempts "to Judaize the occupied territories and destroy Palestine’s national and historical identity," calling on international and regional institutions to help foil Israel's "dangerous plot by taking firm and practical measures.”
Similar events are planned in London and Toronto as well as in 800 cities worldwide, which usually see people chanting anti-Israeli slogans and burning the occupying regime's flags.
Organizers in Toronto said the theme of the rally is to push for “justice, peace and love” and countering Islamophobia and racism as well as opposing the “Zionism and Israeli war crimes”.
Near the Israeli fence separating Gaza from the occupied territories, Palestinians are expected to throng the site which has become the scene of bloodshed in recent weeks.
Israel's Channel 2 News said the protesters planned to wear clothing made to resemble uniforms worn by prisoners in concentration camps in the Holocaust.
On Thursday, the Israel air force completed a mass exercise simulating a war on Gaza.
The International Quds Day is a legacy of the late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini, who designated the day in solidarity with the Palestinians.
This year, Quds Day has become a larger rallying cry as it comes after months of mass protests in Gaza which proved Israel's inability to stop the Palestinians despite widespread use of deadly force against unarmed protesters.
Since late March, over 120 Palestinian protesters have been killed and thousands more wounded by Israeli forces, mainly sharpshooters. The Israeli military has come under intense international criticism for permitting its forces to open fire on unarmed protesters in Gaza.
Tensions have been running high near the Gaza fence since March 30, which marked the start of a series of protests, dubbed “The Great March of Return,” demanding the right to return for those driven out of their homeland.
The Gaza clashes reached their peak on May 14, the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Nakba Day (the Day of Catastrophe), which coincided this year with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem al-Quds.
US Senator Bernie Sanders criticized US administration policy in the Middle East, and Palestine in particular, accusing Washington of being partial to the Israeli side.
Sanders, in an open meeting organized by The Washington Post, Wednesday evening, called for finding a solution to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, urging Washington to work for that goal.
He said that it is unacceptable that about 2 million Palestinian in Gaza live with dirty water and an unemployment rate, among the youth, that has risen to 60 %, while people can not even leave the region.
According to Al Ray Palestinian Nedia Agency, he also criticized Israeli government policy towards Palestinians, saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thwarted the aspiration of a two-state solution by building more and more settlements.
He stressed that US administration must recognize Palestinian human rights to freedom and independence.
He explained that US must follow an unbiased policy in the Middle East, and is not doing so, presently.
Bernie Sanders is Jewish and ran for office during the 2016 US presidential election.
Sanders accused US President Donald Trump of constantly lying to the American people: He promised to withdraw from Afghanistan but he did not. He criticized the war in Iraq, but, then, brought in John Bolton as National Security Adviser.
Sanders called for reducing the US defense budget, saying that he voted against increasing the budget, in Congress.
Sanders, in an open meeting organized by The Washington Post, Wednesday evening, called for finding a solution to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, urging Washington to work for that goal.
He said that it is unacceptable that about 2 million Palestinian in Gaza live with dirty water and an unemployment rate, among the youth, that has risen to 60 %, while people can not even leave the region.
According to Al Ray Palestinian Nedia Agency, he also criticized Israeli government policy towards Palestinians, saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thwarted the aspiration of a two-state solution by building more and more settlements.
He stressed that US administration must recognize Palestinian human rights to freedom and independence.
He explained that US must follow an unbiased policy in the Middle East, and is not doing so, presently.
Bernie Sanders is Jewish and ran for office during the 2016 US presidential election.
Sanders accused US President Donald Trump of constantly lying to the American people: He promised to withdraw from Afghanistan but he did not. He criticized the war in Iraq, but, then, brought in John Bolton as National Security Adviser.
Sanders called for reducing the US defense budget, saying that he voted against increasing the budget, in Congress.
7 june 2018
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has urged the Palestinian citizens in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories to actively participate in “Friday of Jerusalem’ rallies and activities.
In a press release, senior PFLP official Zaher Ashashtri called for necessarily marching en masse in all areas of Palestine towards Occupied Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque to assert the Palestinian right to the holy city and to express rejection of the recent US decisions.
Ashashtri affirmed that the PFLP would continue to support the March of Return rallies in Gaza and other areas until the liberation of Palestine, calling on all PFLP supporters to actively take part in Friday marches.
In a press release, senior PFLP official Zaher Ashashtri called for necessarily marching en masse in all areas of Palestine towards Occupied Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque to assert the Palestinian right to the holy city and to express rejection of the recent US decisions.
Ashashtri affirmed that the PFLP would continue to support the March of Return rallies in Gaza and other areas until the liberation of Palestine, calling on all PFLP supporters to actively take part in Friday marches.
5 june 2018
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The Israeli occupation of Palestine was high on the agenda when the Foreign Affairs/International Relations Ministers of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) met in Pretoria on Monday ahead of the 10th BRICS Summit to be hosted by South Africa in July.
Criticizing Donald Trump's unilateral decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the US embassy there, the BRICS ministers reiterated their position that the status of Jerusalem was an issue to be settled in negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis. The ministers also reiterated their support of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), praising the vital role it |
plays in providing health, education and other basic services to over 5 million Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
In January, the Trump administration announced it was cutting more than half of its funding to UNRWA - a move that could prove catastrophic for Palestinian refugees.
The comments of the BRICS ministers are significant since - collectively - these five major emerging national economies, represent over 3.6 billion people, or about 41% of the world's population. Russia and China both hold permanent veto power at the United Nations Security Council.
South Africa is chairing BRICS in 2018, and in March, Naledi Pandor, South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education, called on South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, to place the Israeli occupation of Palestine on the BRICS agenda.
Pandor suggested at the time, that, in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s reckless support of Israel's occupation, there was now “a need to identify powerful members of the global community who may give greater impetus to progress in finding a two-state solution, perhaps the BRICS countries should be called on to assume such global leadership.”
Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, seemingly affirmed Pandor’s position on Monday when he said: “The world is facing unprecedented changes and there is an expectation for BRICS to play a bigger role.”
His remarks suggest that BRICS may broaden its focus beyond trade, investment and development financing, and work towards developing common political positions on many of the pressing issues confronting the world today – including the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Source: Afro-Palestine Newswire Service
In January, the Trump administration announced it was cutting more than half of its funding to UNRWA - a move that could prove catastrophic for Palestinian refugees.
The comments of the BRICS ministers are significant since - collectively - these five major emerging national economies, represent over 3.6 billion people, or about 41% of the world's population. Russia and China both hold permanent veto power at the United Nations Security Council.
South Africa is chairing BRICS in 2018, and in March, Naledi Pandor, South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education, called on South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, to place the Israeli occupation of Palestine on the BRICS agenda.
Pandor suggested at the time, that, in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s reckless support of Israel's occupation, there was now “a need to identify powerful members of the global community who may give greater impetus to progress in finding a two-state solution, perhaps the BRICS countries should be called on to assume such global leadership.”
Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, seemingly affirmed Pandor’s position on Monday when he said: “The world is facing unprecedented changes and there is an expectation for BRICS to play a bigger role.”
His remarks suggest that BRICS may broaden its focus beyond trade, investment and development financing, and work towards developing common political positions on many of the pressing issues confronting the world today – including the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Source: Afro-Palestine Newswire Service
2 june 2018
The Kuwaiti ambassador to the United Nations Mansour Al-Otaibi vowed to go to the General Assembly for the protection of Palestinians after a draft resolution of his delegation for that purpose was vetoed by the United States.
Earlier Friday, the UNSC voted on a Kuwait-drafted resolution calling for setting up an international protection for the Palestinian people following the killing of dozens of peaceful Palestinian protestors by Israeli forces in Gaza.
Out of the council's 15 members, 10 voted in favor, including France, and only the US voted against. There were four abstentions including Britain.
"We will consider going to the General Assembly, going to other UN bodies to try to find a way to provide international protection for the Palestinian civilians," Al-Otaibi told reporters..
Al-Otaibi said he was disappointed by the U.S. veto of his delegation's draft resolution.
Ten of the 15 members of the Security Council voted in favor of the Kuwaiti draft, and only the United States voted against it, he noted.
Earlier Friday, the UNSC voted on a Kuwait-drafted resolution calling for setting up an international protection for the Palestinian people following the killing of dozens of peaceful Palestinian protestors by Israeli forces in Gaza.
Out of the council's 15 members, 10 voted in favor, including France, and only the US voted against. There were four abstentions including Britain.
"We will consider going to the General Assembly, going to other UN bodies to try to find a way to provide international protection for the Palestinian civilians," Al-Otaibi told reporters..
Al-Otaibi said he was disappointed by the U.S. veto of his delegation's draft resolution.
Ten of the 15 members of the Security Council voted in favor of the Kuwaiti draft, and only the United States voted against it, he noted.
US president Donald Trump is considering giving US ambassador to Israel David Friedman more authority over Washington's diplomatic consulate that handles Palestinian affairs, a move that could further dampen Palestinian hopes for an independent state, according to The Associated Press news agency.
Any move to downgrade the autonomy of the US consulate general in Jerusalem - responsible for relations with the Palestinians - could have potent symbolic implications, suggesting American recognition of Israeli control over east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
And while the change might be technical and bureaucratic, it could have potentially significant policy ramifications, The Associated Press opined.
Breaking with years of US policy, Trump announced the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on December 6, drawing international condemnation and sparking a wave of heated protests around the world.
The intended move comes as Friedman, who has pushed for changes to the consulate since he arrived in Israel last year, faces growing indignation in the US over partisan comments and other actions in which he has blatantly sided with Israel.
On Thursday, a top Democratic lawmaker even suggested Friedman should be recalled after he waded into domestic US politics on Israel's behalf.
For decades, the Jerusalem consulate has operated differently than almost every other consulate around the world. Rather than reporting to the US Embassy in Israel, it has reported directly to the state department in Washington, giving the Palestinians an unfiltered channel to engage with the US government.
That arrangement was relatively clear-cut before Trump moved the embassy.
Israel occupied east Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza during the 1967 war along with the Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai peninsula. Israel moved to annex east Jerusalem in 1980 in violation of international law.
Any move to downgrade the autonomy of the US consulate general in Jerusalem - responsible for relations with the Palestinians - could have potent symbolic implications, suggesting American recognition of Israeli control over east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
And while the change might be technical and bureaucratic, it could have potentially significant policy ramifications, The Associated Press opined.
Breaking with years of US policy, Trump announced the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on December 6, drawing international condemnation and sparking a wave of heated protests around the world.
The intended move comes as Friedman, who has pushed for changes to the consulate since he arrived in Israel last year, faces growing indignation in the US over partisan comments and other actions in which he has blatantly sided with Israel.
On Thursday, a top Democratic lawmaker even suggested Friedman should be recalled after he waded into domestic US politics on Israel's behalf.
For decades, the Jerusalem consulate has operated differently than almost every other consulate around the world. Rather than reporting to the US Embassy in Israel, it has reported directly to the state department in Washington, giving the Palestinians an unfiltered channel to engage with the US government.
That arrangement was relatively clear-cut before Trump moved the embassy.
Israel occupied east Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza during the 1967 war along with the Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai peninsula. Israel moved to annex east Jerusalem in 1980 in violation of international law.
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The United States has used its veto power, Friday, against a draft resolution at the United Nations, calling for providing protection to the Palestinian People, living under illegal Israeli occupation.
The Veto came after the resolution was backed by 10 counties at the UN Security Council. The resolution was sponsored by Kuwait; it requires nine votes to be adopted by the 15-member council, and was voted for by ten countries, including Russia, China and France. Four counties, including Britain, abstained while the United States, the only country that opposed it, used its Veto power to topple the resolution. The draft resolution denounced the Israeli military escalation against the Palestinian people, and the use of “excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate force” by the army, and also criticized the “firing of shells from Gaza into civilian areas in Israel.” Nikki Haley, the United States Envoy to the United Nations, said Washington rejects the resolution because it represents “support of Hamas,” while the Kuwaiti Envoy Mansour al-Qtaibi, said rejecting the resolution reveals that Israel is a state that considers itself above International Law, with direct U.S. support. It is worth mentioning that the UN Security Council also rejected a draft resolution presented by the United States “condemning Hamas,” and holding its responsible for the escalation in Gaza; the United states was the only country that voted for its own draft. The Permanent Palestinian Representative at the United Nations, Ambassador Riyad Mansour, said the Palestinians reject the US amendment to the Kuwaiti draft, because was hostile to the Palestinian people, and only aims at protecting Israel. Meanwhile in Gaza, Israeli soldiers killed, Friday, a young Palestinian woman, identified as Razan Ashraf Najjar, 22, who worked as a volunteer medic with the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, and injured 100 Palestinians, including 40 with live fire. Her death brings the number of Palestinians, killed by Israeli army fire in the Gaza Strip since March 30th, to 119, including 13 children, while more than 13400 have been injured, including 330 who suffered life-threatening wounds. |
US vetoes SC resolution on providing protection for Palestinians
The US on Friday voted against a Kuwait-drafted UN Security Council (SC) resolution calling for the protection of Palestinian civilians, while being the only country to back its own proposal blaming Hamas for Israel’s mass murders of protesters in the Gaza Strip.
Over 120 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured by Israeli forces during weeks-long peaceful protests in besieged Gaza near the fence with Israel. Among the victims have been medical professionals, journalists and farmers.
10 countries, including Russia and France, voted in favor of the Kuwait-sponsored resolution on Friday.
Four others - Britain Poland, the Netherlands and Ethiopia - abstained, while the US, a major ally of Israel, was the only country to vote against it.
The resolution, which was revised three times and said to have been watered down, called for providing international protection for the Palestinian people.
The final draft called for considering measures to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in the Gaza Strip.
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley described the resolution as "grossly one-sided" as she pinned the blame on much of Palestinians' suffering in embattled Gaza on the Hamas Movement.
In a statement later on Friday, Hanan Ashrawi, Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee member, said the US had once again demonstrated its "blind loyalty to Israel and tried to absolve it of any wrongdoing despite its egregious violations, deliberate massacres, willful killings and war crimes.”
"With its veto, the United States is once again attempting to justify the lawlessness and cruelty of Israel’s military occupation, while providing Israel with legal and political cover to pursue its assault on the Palestinian people and on international law and international humanitarian law," she added.
The US was also the only country to vote in favor of a revised draft-resolution it submitted subsequent to the Kuwait-sponsored initiative on the same day. This second vote saw 11 countries abstaining and three rejecting it.
The US version had omitted references to Israeli use of force and protecting Palestinians, and instead demanded that Hamas and other Palestinian groups cease what it labeled as “violent provocative actions" in Gaza.
Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from the UN headquarters in New York, said the US diplomatic efforts "seemed to have backfired".
"I don't know when there was last a resolution put to the Security Council that only got one vote in favor," said Bays.
"It seems a very humiliating vote for the US, and one that is very starkly showing the divisions around the Security Council table on this issue," he added.
"The US was not able to muster the support from its normal US allies, they are not coming to their support on this issue…they certainly didn't support the US version of things."
Haley: 70 rockets Related: Retaliating to barrage of 28 mortar shells fired into Israel, military begins assault on Islamic Jihad targets after Netanyahu convenes urgent security meeting and vows to respond with 'great power'; PM removes erroneous Twitter post claiming 57 rockets were fired.
The US on Friday voted against a Kuwait-drafted UN Security Council (SC) resolution calling for the protection of Palestinian civilians, while being the only country to back its own proposal blaming Hamas for Israel’s mass murders of protesters in the Gaza Strip.
Over 120 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured by Israeli forces during weeks-long peaceful protests in besieged Gaza near the fence with Israel. Among the victims have been medical professionals, journalists and farmers.
10 countries, including Russia and France, voted in favor of the Kuwait-sponsored resolution on Friday.
Four others - Britain Poland, the Netherlands and Ethiopia - abstained, while the US, a major ally of Israel, was the only country to vote against it.
The resolution, which was revised three times and said to have been watered down, called for providing international protection for the Palestinian people.
The final draft called for considering measures to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in the Gaza Strip.
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley described the resolution as "grossly one-sided" as she pinned the blame on much of Palestinians' suffering in embattled Gaza on the Hamas Movement.
In a statement later on Friday, Hanan Ashrawi, Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee member, said the US had once again demonstrated its "blind loyalty to Israel and tried to absolve it of any wrongdoing despite its egregious violations, deliberate massacres, willful killings and war crimes.”
"With its veto, the United States is once again attempting to justify the lawlessness and cruelty of Israel’s military occupation, while providing Israel with legal and political cover to pursue its assault on the Palestinian people and on international law and international humanitarian law," she added.
The US was also the only country to vote in favor of a revised draft-resolution it submitted subsequent to the Kuwait-sponsored initiative on the same day. This second vote saw 11 countries abstaining and three rejecting it.
The US version had omitted references to Israeli use of force and protecting Palestinians, and instead demanded that Hamas and other Palestinian groups cease what it labeled as “violent provocative actions" in Gaza.
Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from the UN headquarters in New York, said the US diplomatic efforts "seemed to have backfired".
"I don't know when there was last a resolution put to the Security Council that only got one vote in favor," said Bays.
"It seems a very humiliating vote for the US, and one that is very starkly showing the divisions around the Security Council table on this issue," he added.
"The US was not able to muster the support from its normal US allies, they are not coming to their support on this issue…they certainly didn't support the US version of things."
Haley: 70 rockets Related: Retaliating to barrage of 28 mortar shells fired into Israel, military begins assault on Islamic Jihad targets after Netanyahu convenes urgent security meeting and vows to respond with 'great power'; PM removes erroneous Twitter post claiming 57 rockets were fired.
