12 jan 2015
American senators have threatened Palestinian leadership with a "strong response" over the recent decision to join the International Criminal Court.
Press TV reports, via PNN, that Senators Lindsey Graham, Robert Menendez, Chuck Schumer, and Mark Kirk issued the warning in a statement, on Friday.
The statement described the Palestinian move as "deplorable" and "counterproductive."
PA President Mahmoud Abbas signed an application to join the Hague-based ICC after the United Nations Security Council rejected a Palestinian proposal for statehood on December 30, 2014.
"Existing US law makes clear that if the Palestinians initiate an ICC judicially authorized investigation, or actively support such an investigation, all economic assistance to the PA must end," the senators said, adding:
"In light of this legal requirement, Congress will reassess its support for assistance to the PA and seek additional ways to make clear to President Abbas that we strongly oppose his efforts to seek membership in the ICC."
Related: Israel To Ask US Congress To Cut Aid To Palestinians
Earlier this week, the US State Department issued a similar warning.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that the Palestinian Authority does not qualify for legal membership to the international court because Palestine is not yet a sovereign state.
However, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently stated: "The statute will enter into force for the State of Palestine on April 1, 2015."
Press TV reports, via PNN, that Senators Lindsey Graham, Robert Menendez, Chuck Schumer, and Mark Kirk issued the warning in a statement, on Friday.
The statement described the Palestinian move as "deplorable" and "counterproductive."
PA President Mahmoud Abbas signed an application to join the Hague-based ICC after the United Nations Security Council rejected a Palestinian proposal for statehood on December 30, 2014.
"Existing US law makes clear that if the Palestinians initiate an ICC judicially authorized investigation, or actively support such an investigation, all economic assistance to the PA must end," the senators said, adding:
"In light of this legal requirement, Congress will reassess its support for assistance to the PA and seek additional ways to make clear to President Abbas that we strongly oppose his efforts to seek membership in the ICC."
Related: Israel To Ask US Congress To Cut Aid To Palestinians
Earlier this week, the US State Department issued a similar warning.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that the Palestinian Authority does not qualify for legal membership to the international court because Palestine is not yet a sovereign state.
However, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently stated: "The statute will enter into force for the State of Palestine on April 1, 2015."
Professor of mass media studies Iyad al-Qara strongly denounced Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas for participating with the Israeli premier in the pro-France solidarity march that was held in Paris on Sunday.
In press remarks to the Palestinian information center (PIC), Qara condemned Abbas's participation in the march with Benjamin Netanyahu as "provocative".
He said that Abbas blatantly ignored the suffering of his people in Gaza, while hastening to participate in a march with Netanyahu whose hands are stained with the Palestinian blood.
"The participation of these two men together means that Abbas's slogans about prosecuting Israeli war criminals is only political bargaining," professor Qara said.
"This proves that Abbas does not have the decision to prosecute war criminals, including Netanyahu in particular," he added.
"If it is about the murder of journalists, there are 17 journalists killed by the (Israeli) occupation during the last aggression against Gaza, so why did not Abbas or the world get upset for them?" he questioned.
In press remarks to the Palestinian information center (PIC), Qara condemned Abbas's participation in the march with Benjamin Netanyahu as "provocative".
He said that Abbas blatantly ignored the suffering of his people in Gaza, while hastening to participate in a march with Netanyahu whose hands are stained with the Palestinian blood.
"The participation of these two men together means that Abbas's slogans about prosecuting Israeli war criminals is only political bargaining," professor Qara said.
"This proves that Abbas does not have the decision to prosecute war criminals, including Netanyahu in particular," he added.
"If it is about the murder of journalists, there are 17 journalists killed by the (Israeli) occupation during the last aggression against Gaza, so why did not Abbas or the world get upset for them?" he questioned.
Hamas department for refugees’ affairs did not rule out the possibility of Israeli involvement in France’s latest events especially the hostage-taking in the Jewish restaurant.
In a statement issued Monday, the refugees department pointed to Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s clear exploitation of France’s events to encourage immigration of French Jews to Israel.
French Jews have previously declared their total rejection to immigrate to Israel after the former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s similar calls in 2005.
Netanyahu has called, in remarks on his official Twitter account, on French Jews and all the Jews of Europe to "come home to Israel" Saturday, after France's deadly attacks.
According to Israeli media sources, the French president Francois Hollande left a memorial ceremony held in commemoration of the killed Jews out of protest to Netanyahu's renewed calls on French Jews to immigrate to Israel during that ceremony.
Netanyahu’s calls aim at encouraging European Jews' immigration to Israel after it stopped in the wake of Israel's summer aggression on Gaza, the Hamas department's statement said.
“Netanyahu is trying to display unity with European countries in their fight against terrorism through distorting the Palestinian resistance factions,” the statement added.
The refugees department stressed that Palestinian factions have never carried out any resistance operation outside occupied Palestine.
The statement pointed out that some Jewish organizations were responsible for bombing the American Cultural Center in Baghdad in March, 1950 and for attacking a Jewish Café in Iraq in April the same year in order to spread fear among Jews of Iraq and encourage them to migrate to Israel.
Hamas’s refugee department underlined that Israel constitutes the world's biggest terrorist state citing in this regard the Israeli documented war crimes in Gaza.
In a statement issued Monday, the refugees department pointed to Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s clear exploitation of France’s events to encourage immigration of French Jews to Israel.
French Jews have previously declared their total rejection to immigrate to Israel after the former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s similar calls in 2005.
Netanyahu has called, in remarks on his official Twitter account, on French Jews and all the Jews of Europe to "come home to Israel" Saturday, after France's deadly attacks.
According to Israeli media sources, the French president Francois Hollande left a memorial ceremony held in commemoration of the killed Jews out of protest to Netanyahu's renewed calls on French Jews to immigrate to Israel during that ceremony.
Netanyahu’s calls aim at encouraging European Jews' immigration to Israel after it stopped in the wake of Israel's summer aggression on Gaza, the Hamas department's statement said.
“Netanyahu is trying to display unity with European countries in their fight against terrorism through distorting the Palestinian resistance factions,” the statement added.
The refugees department stressed that Palestinian factions have never carried out any resistance operation outside occupied Palestine.
The statement pointed out that some Jewish organizations were responsible for bombing the American Cultural Center in Baghdad in March, 1950 and for attacking a Jewish Café in Iraq in April the same year in order to spread fear among Jews of Iraq and encourage them to migrate to Israel.
Hamas’s refugee department underlined that Israel constitutes the world's biggest terrorist state citing in this regard the Israeli documented war crimes in Gaza.
The Israeli premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been manipulating the latest terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Paris to cover up Israel’s state terrorism against Palestinians, Dr. Mustafa al-Barghouti, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, said Sunday.
Dr. Barghouti said in a press statement that Netanyahu’s latest proclamations regarding “terrorism” testify to his tacit attempts to keep Israel’s pre-planned aggressions against the Palestinian people under wraps and to camouflage Israel’s “ghastly face.”
He dubbed Netanyahu’s chipping in the demo staged in France Sunday a sign of “hypocrisy” and “fraudulence” that aims at pulling the wool over the world’s anti-Israel lenses.
Netanyahu’s calls to French and European Jews to immigrate to Israel are living proofs of his chauvinism and racism against the Gentiles, he added.
Barghouti reiterated Palestinians’ solidarity with the victims of terrorist attacks in France, and everywhere in the world, saying thousands of civilians and innocent children were mass-murdered by Israel’s state terrorism, to which the Palestinian people has been subjected for decades.
Dr. Barghouti said in a press statement that Netanyahu’s latest proclamations regarding “terrorism” testify to his tacit attempts to keep Israel’s pre-planned aggressions against the Palestinian people under wraps and to camouflage Israel’s “ghastly face.”
He dubbed Netanyahu’s chipping in the demo staged in France Sunday a sign of “hypocrisy” and “fraudulence” that aims at pulling the wool over the world’s anti-Israel lenses.
Netanyahu’s calls to French and European Jews to immigrate to Israel are living proofs of his chauvinism and racism against the Gentiles, he added.
Barghouti reiterated Palestinians’ solidarity with the victims of terrorist attacks in France, and everywhere in the world, saying thousands of civilians and innocent children were mass-murdered by Israel’s state terrorism, to which the Palestinian people has been subjected for decades.
By Khalid Amayreh
To begin with, I unhesitatingly condemn the attack on the Charlie Hebdo Satirical weekly magazine in Paris. I believe it is always wrong and unforgivable to kill innocent people. Moreover, this sort of actions, besides being morally wrong, also harms French and other Western Muslims enormously
True, the act of mocking the Prophet of Islam is not a cause worth defending. It did hurt the feelings of hundreds of millions around the world.
However, murdering people is not exactly the right response to the French magazine's blasphemy. In the final analysis, one can't fight a crime by committing a greater crime. It is also never sufficient to have a rightful cause to respond in an uncalculated manner. It is never enough to be right; one has to be wise as well, especially in this complex world.
I realize that many writers are under an immense pressure to go with the flow, namely denounce "the evil terrorists" while expressing empathy and solidarity with France. I do sympathize with the families of the victims, but I admit I have no sympathy with the French government. In the final analysis, one must be faithful to one's conscience and intellectual honesty and France is never innocent especially in its approach to Muslims, past and present.
In fact, I dare claim that French behavior has made this terrorist act inevitable, however outrageous it may be.
France, after all, has been murdering Muslims in droves since time immemorial.
France killed at least two million Muslims in North Africa and a third million in Sub-Saharan Africa. France, which is now complaining about beheadings by IS, beheaded thousands of Moroccans between 1920-and WWII.
In recent months, France effectively enabled barbarian Christians to carry out a shocking ethnic cleansing genocide in Central Africa.
About two decades ago, France collaborated with the Algerian military to decapitate the country's nascent democracy, triggering a protracted reign of terror that claimed hundreds of thousands of innocent Algerians. Unfortunately, this reign of terror is yet to come to an end.
In the mid-1950s, France gave Israel the Dimona atomic reactor which enable the Nazi-like Zionist entity to manufacture numerous nuclear bombs and warheads and therefore hold the entire Middle East hostage as well as pursue a policy based on lebensraum vis-à-vis the Palestinians and other peoples of the Middle East.
Indeed, it was mainly French weapons that enabled Israel to occupy the rest of Palestine as well as the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula in 1967.
Now, as I write these words, French warplanes are raining death on Muslims in Syria and Iraq, while allowing murderous Iran-backed militias to annihilate Muslims villages.
Despite all this evil legacy, the vast majority (99%) of Muslims are still against terror in the name of Islam or in any other name.
Today, Muslims are more or less the premier victims of terror and mass murder. They are being murdered every hour, every day, every week and all year long because they want to be free.
They are being murdered in Palestine, Myanmar, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. And when some stray Muslims carry out a terrorist act here or there out of desperation, the entire west loses its composure, ignores its own mega terror against Muslims, and starts making its usual hypocritical outcries, very much like Binyamin Netanyahu does, when he calls Palestinian freedom-fighters "terrorists and murderers", while forgetting what his own shitty country did and is doing to them.
Do not get me wrong. I am against all acts of violence and terror, especially those targeting innocent people.
However, it is an expression of utter hypocrisy and dishonesty for the French and other westerners to claim a higher moral-ground in comparison to al-Qaeda or IS, or indeed mainstream Muslims.
Nay, you have been far more evil and diabolical. You have destroyed nations and killed millions.
The Americans, who murdered 15 million native Americans in north America and called the genocide "Manifest Destiny" didn't content themselves with murdering two million Iraqis, they saturated the Iraqi environment with depleted uranium that will continue to kill Iraqis, young and old, and even the yet-to-be be born, for 50,000 years to come.
So, please! We have had enough of your hypocrisy and mendacity.
A final word; I must view with utter contempt the claim that the Paris incident was an attack against press freedom and freedom of expression. We all know that the attack was actually a revenge for France's military aggression against Muslims. Calling it an attack on press freedom and western liberalism is therefore childish and stupid.
Besides, since when did the West really care about human rights and civil liberties, including press freedom.
Doesn't the West, with all its strength, stand behind states that deny their people even the most elementary human rights and freedoms?
Even in the West itself, we are very familiar with the scandalous double standards related to this false mantra.
Thus, mocking the Prophet of Islam is considered part of the sacred traditions of press freedom.
However, questioning the authenticity of Holocaust narratives or criticizing Israel's Nazi-like crimes against the helpless Palestinians is an expression of virulent anti-Semitism, the practitioner of which must be hounded like pariahs, imprisoned or forced to resign from his job.
Well, there are always people on the Muslim side who would argue rather convincingly that if the West has the right to be enslaved by the Golem of Anti-Semitism, Muslims worldwide likewise have at least an equal right to defend their religious symbols.
Well, how about mutual respect?
To begin with, I unhesitatingly condemn the attack on the Charlie Hebdo Satirical weekly magazine in Paris. I believe it is always wrong and unforgivable to kill innocent people. Moreover, this sort of actions, besides being morally wrong, also harms French and other Western Muslims enormously
True, the act of mocking the Prophet of Islam is not a cause worth defending. It did hurt the feelings of hundreds of millions around the world.
However, murdering people is not exactly the right response to the French magazine's blasphemy. In the final analysis, one can't fight a crime by committing a greater crime. It is also never sufficient to have a rightful cause to respond in an uncalculated manner. It is never enough to be right; one has to be wise as well, especially in this complex world.
I realize that many writers are under an immense pressure to go with the flow, namely denounce "the evil terrorists" while expressing empathy and solidarity with France. I do sympathize with the families of the victims, but I admit I have no sympathy with the French government. In the final analysis, one must be faithful to one's conscience and intellectual honesty and France is never innocent especially in its approach to Muslims, past and present.
In fact, I dare claim that French behavior has made this terrorist act inevitable, however outrageous it may be.
France, after all, has been murdering Muslims in droves since time immemorial.
France killed at least two million Muslims in North Africa and a third million in Sub-Saharan Africa. France, which is now complaining about beheadings by IS, beheaded thousands of Moroccans between 1920-and WWII.
In recent months, France effectively enabled barbarian Christians to carry out a shocking ethnic cleansing genocide in Central Africa.
About two decades ago, France collaborated with the Algerian military to decapitate the country's nascent democracy, triggering a protracted reign of terror that claimed hundreds of thousands of innocent Algerians. Unfortunately, this reign of terror is yet to come to an end.
In the mid-1950s, France gave Israel the Dimona atomic reactor which enable the Nazi-like Zionist entity to manufacture numerous nuclear bombs and warheads and therefore hold the entire Middle East hostage as well as pursue a policy based on lebensraum vis-à-vis the Palestinians and other peoples of the Middle East.
Indeed, it was mainly French weapons that enabled Israel to occupy the rest of Palestine as well as the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula in 1967.
Now, as I write these words, French warplanes are raining death on Muslims in Syria and Iraq, while allowing murderous Iran-backed militias to annihilate Muslims villages.
Despite all this evil legacy, the vast majority (99%) of Muslims are still against terror in the name of Islam or in any other name.
Today, Muslims are more or less the premier victims of terror and mass murder. They are being murdered every hour, every day, every week and all year long because they want to be free.
They are being murdered in Palestine, Myanmar, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. And when some stray Muslims carry out a terrorist act here or there out of desperation, the entire west loses its composure, ignores its own mega terror against Muslims, and starts making its usual hypocritical outcries, very much like Binyamin Netanyahu does, when he calls Palestinian freedom-fighters "terrorists and murderers", while forgetting what his own shitty country did and is doing to them.
Do not get me wrong. I am against all acts of violence and terror, especially those targeting innocent people.
However, it is an expression of utter hypocrisy and dishonesty for the French and other westerners to claim a higher moral-ground in comparison to al-Qaeda or IS, or indeed mainstream Muslims.
Nay, you have been far more evil and diabolical. You have destroyed nations and killed millions.
The Americans, who murdered 15 million native Americans in north America and called the genocide "Manifest Destiny" didn't content themselves with murdering two million Iraqis, they saturated the Iraqi environment with depleted uranium that will continue to kill Iraqis, young and old, and even the yet-to-be be born, for 50,000 years to come.
So, please! We have had enough of your hypocrisy and mendacity.
A final word; I must view with utter contempt the claim that the Paris incident was an attack against press freedom and freedom of expression. We all know that the attack was actually a revenge for France's military aggression against Muslims. Calling it an attack on press freedom and western liberalism is therefore childish and stupid.
Besides, since when did the West really care about human rights and civil liberties, including press freedom.
Doesn't the West, with all its strength, stand behind states that deny their people even the most elementary human rights and freedoms?
Even in the West itself, we are very familiar with the scandalous double standards related to this false mantra.
Thus, mocking the Prophet of Islam is considered part of the sacred traditions of press freedom.
However, questioning the authenticity of Holocaust narratives or criticizing Israel's Nazi-like crimes against the helpless Palestinians is an expression of virulent anti-Semitism, the practitioner of which must be hounded like pariahs, imprisoned or forced to resign from his job.
Well, there are always people on the Muslim side who would argue rather convincingly that if the West has the right to be enslaved by the Golem of Anti-Semitism, Muslims worldwide likewise have at least an equal right to defend their religious symbols.
Well, how about mutual respect?
11 jan 2015
Israeli occupation ministry of immigration anticipated that the number of immigrants into 'Israel' would hit about 10,000 for the year of 2015, especially after PM Benjamin Netanyahu has invited Jews from France and the rest of Europe to immigrate to Israeli-occupied Palestine, referring to what he sees as a "rising tide of anti-Semitism" there.
The statement comes in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks.
"To all the Jews of France, all the Jews of Europe, I would like to say that Israel is not just the place in whose direction you pray, the state of Israel is your home," Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a televised statement on Saturday, referencing the Jewish tradition of facing Jerusalem when praying.
Netanyahu called on lawmakers to alter the existing immigration laws to make it easier for Jews to permanently move to Israel.
"This week, a special team of ministers will convene to advance steps to increase immigration from France and other countries in Europe that are suffering from terrible anti-Semitism," Netanyahu said.
"All Jews who want to immigrate to Israel will be welcomed here warmly and with open arms. We will help you in your absorption here in our state that is also your state."
The statement comes in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks.
"To all the Jews of France, all the Jews of Europe, I would like to say that Israel is not just the place in whose direction you pray, the state of Israel is your home," Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a televised statement on Saturday, referencing the Jewish tradition of facing Jerusalem when praying.
Netanyahu called on lawmakers to alter the existing immigration laws to make it easier for Jews to permanently move to Israel.
"This week, a special team of ministers will convene to advance steps to increase immigration from France and other countries in Europe that are suffering from terrible anti-Semitism," Netanyahu said.
"All Jews who want to immigrate to Israel will be welcomed here warmly and with open arms. We will help you in your absorption here in our state that is also your state."
A 40-year-old Jewish Israeli man was announced dead in Jerusalem after being brought to a hospital unconscious with stab wounds on his body, Israeli police said Sunday.
Police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri said in a statement that the victim was brought to Shaare Tzedek medical center by an individual who reportedly found him.
Police said that the man who delivered the victim had been taken in for questioning.
Al-Samri said in the statement that man was likely attacked.
She added that the victim's body was sent to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv for examination.
Police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri said in a statement that the victim was brought to Shaare Tzedek medical center by an individual who reportedly found him.
Police said that the man who delivered the victim had been taken in for questioning.
Al-Samri said in the statement that man was likely attacked.
She added that the victim's body was sent to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv for examination.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French Jews Saturday, after 17 people were killed there during three days of attacks, that Israel is their home.
"To all the Jews of France, all the Jews of Europe, I would like to say that Israel is not just the place in whose direction you pray, the state of Israel is your home," he said in a televised statement, referring to the Jewish practice of facing Jerusalem during prayer.
"Unless the world comes to its senses, terror will continue to strike in other places," he added in remarks on his official Twitter account.
Four of the fatalities occurred during an attack on a Jewish supermarket.
Media said he had ordered a ministerial committee to convene next week to discuss ways to encourage immigration of French and other European Jews to Israel.
They said Netanyahu had considered attending Sunday's mass rally in Paris but was obliged to drop the idea due to security concerns.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will represent Israel instead.
Lieberman met Saturday evening with Israeli ministry and security officials to discuss repercussions of the attacks.
"The meeting discussed strengthening ties with the heads of the Jewish community in France and the security of the various institutions of the Jewish community there," ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said in a statement.
More than three million Jews have immigrated to Israel since its creation in 1948 -- including one million from former Soviet states since 1990 -- under the Law of Return, which offers citizenship and benefits to Jews from anywhere in the world.
However, millions of Palestinians in exile -- those whose descendants were among the 750,000 who fled or were driven from their homes during the war that led to Israel's creation in 1948 -- are barred from returning to their land in what is now Israel.
"To all the Jews of France, all the Jews of Europe, I would like to say that Israel is not just the place in whose direction you pray, the state of Israel is your home," he said in a televised statement, referring to the Jewish practice of facing Jerusalem during prayer.
"Unless the world comes to its senses, terror will continue to strike in other places," he added in remarks on his official Twitter account.
Four of the fatalities occurred during an attack on a Jewish supermarket.
Media said he had ordered a ministerial committee to convene next week to discuss ways to encourage immigration of French and other European Jews to Israel.
They said Netanyahu had considered attending Sunday's mass rally in Paris but was obliged to drop the idea due to security concerns.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will represent Israel instead.
Lieberman met Saturday evening with Israeli ministry and security officials to discuss repercussions of the attacks.
"The meeting discussed strengthening ties with the heads of the Jewish community in France and the security of the various institutions of the Jewish community there," ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said in a statement.
More than three million Jews have immigrated to Israel since its creation in 1948 -- including one million from former Soviet states since 1990 -- under the Law of Return, which offers citizenship and benefits to Jews from anywhere in the world.
However, millions of Palestinians in exile -- those whose descendants were among the 750,000 who fled or were driven from their homes during the war that led to Israel's creation in 1948 -- are barred from returning to their land in what is now Israel.
Hamas on Saturday slammed the Israeli premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, for having drawn parallels between the group’s resistance attacks and the latest assault on Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Paris.
A statement by the Islamist group said Hamas firmly condemns the attack against Charlie Hebdo magazine and insists on the fact that differences of opinion and thought cannot justify murder.
Hamas further slammed “the desperate attempts” by the Israeli premier to strike a comparison between the Palestinian resistance and global terrorism.
The Movement called on the international community to stick up with Palestinians and defend them against the mounting Israeli state terrorism.
Earlier, during a meeting with the French ambassador to Tel Aviv on Friday, Netanyahu claimed that Israel is going through the same fight as the one currently undertaken by France against terrorist groups and their "thirst for bloodshed".
A statement by the Islamist group said Hamas firmly condemns the attack against Charlie Hebdo magazine and insists on the fact that differences of opinion and thought cannot justify murder.
Hamas further slammed “the desperate attempts” by the Israeli premier to strike a comparison between the Palestinian resistance and global terrorism.
The Movement called on the international community to stick up with Palestinians and defend them against the mounting Israeli state terrorism.
Earlier, during a meeting with the French ambassador to Tel Aviv on Friday, Netanyahu claimed that Israel is going through the same fight as the one currently undertaken by France against terrorist groups and their "thirst for bloodshed".
8 jan 2015
The Arab Center for Communication and Solidarity announced the intention to hold the “International forum for justice in Palestine” in coordination with many Arab and Muslim forums, unions, and organizations on 22-23 February, 2015.
The head of the Beirut-based Center Maen Beshur told Quds Press that the conference’s preparatory committee agreed on three axes to be discussed during the event. They include the Israeli racism, Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity, and finally Israeli longstanding assassination crimes, which have been admitted by some Zionist leaders.
The conference will also discuss the methods and procedures to prosecute the Israeli war criminals, Beshur added.
He said that the conference is a continuation to the Center’s activities since its inception in 2007. The activities started with a conference on the Palestinian refugees’ right of return held in coordination with al-Quds International Institution, Beshur said.
The head of the Beirut-based Center Maen Beshur told Quds Press that the conference’s preparatory committee agreed on three axes to be discussed during the event. They include the Israeli racism, Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity, and finally Israeli longstanding assassination crimes, which have been admitted by some Zionist leaders.
The conference will also discuss the methods and procedures to prosecute the Israeli war criminals, Beshur added.
He said that the conference is a continuation to the Center’s activities since its inception in 2007. The activities started with a conference on the Palestinian refugees’ right of return held in coordination with al-Quds International Institution, Beshur said.
7 jan 2015
Top PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat has called the ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank "terrorism," even making comparisons between Israel and the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria.
"There is no difference between the terrorism practiced by the group led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Israel's terrorism," he said, referencing the leader of the IS group during a speech at a festival celebrating the Prophet Muhammad's birthday in Jericho on Monday.
He added that "ending settlement activities is a prerequisite for eliminating terrorism."
Erekat also slammed Israel's decision to withhold Palestinian tax revenues, confirming that Israeli threats would not deter the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian people from holding firm to their inalienable rights including the establishment of an independent state whose capital is Jerusalem.
In recent months numerous critics and activists have also suggested similarities between Israel and the IS group, referring to the first as "the Jewish State in Israel and the Levant" i.e. JSIL, a play on the abbreviation "Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant" i.e. ISIL frequently used for IS.
Those who make the comparison argue that the ethnic cleansing practiced by IS and Israel as well as the drive to create an ethnically and religiously "pure" state hint at the shared assumptions that underlie both projects.
"There is no difference between the terrorism practiced by the group led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Israel's terrorism," he said, referencing the leader of the IS group during a speech at a festival celebrating the Prophet Muhammad's birthday in Jericho on Monday.
He added that "ending settlement activities is a prerequisite for eliminating terrorism."
Erekat also slammed Israel's decision to withhold Palestinian tax revenues, confirming that Israeli threats would not deter the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian people from holding firm to their inalienable rights including the establishment of an independent state whose capital is Jerusalem.
In recent months numerous critics and activists have also suggested similarities between Israel and the IS group, referring to the first as "the Jewish State in Israel and the Levant" i.e. JSIL, a play on the abbreviation "Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant" i.e. ISIL frequently used for IS.
Those who make the comparison argue that the ethnic cleansing practiced by IS and Israel as well as the drive to create an ethnically and religiously "pure" state hint at the shared assumptions that underlie both projects.
The Israeli Attorney General afternoon Tuesday decided to charge Arab MK Hanin Zoabi for having, allegedly, incited to violence against Israeli officers and public officials.
The Israeli prosecution had earlier recommended to the Attorney General, Yehuda Weinstein, to file an indictment against Arab MK Zoabi for allegedly inciting violence and insulting a public official after she shouted at an Israeli occupation policeman at a court hearing in Nazareth held in the wake of the murder of the Palestinian child Mohammed Abu Khdeir.
MK Zoabi intends to request a pre-indictment hearing running over 30 days, as guaranteed by the law.
Attorney Hassan Jabarin, from the Adalah organization, informed the attorney-general of his intention to hold an urgent hearing on the issue in order to convince the attorney-general to go back on his intention to prosecute MK Zoabi, as there's no legal basis for prosecution in this case.
Attorney Jabarin noted that: "The prosecution does not make a habit of prosecuting public officials over momentary and spontaneous comments made in the heat of political public activity. And so, if an indictment is filed, the prosecution will have to explain to the court why MK Zoabi is being discriminated against, because in countless of similar and even graver cases not only did it not indict, it didn't open an investigation at all."
The Israeli prosecution had earlier recommended to the Attorney General, Yehuda Weinstein, to file an indictment against Arab MK Zoabi for allegedly inciting violence and insulting a public official after she shouted at an Israeli occupation policeman at a court hearing in Nazareth held in the wake of the murder of the Palestinian child Mohammed Abu Khdeir.
MK Zoabi intends to request a pre-indictment hearing running over 30 days, as guaranteed by the law.
Attorney Hassan Jabarin, from the Adalah organization, informed the attorney-general of his intention to hold an urgent hearing on the issue in order to convince the attorney-general to go back on his intention to prosecute MK Zoabi, as there's no legal basis for prosecution in this case.
Attorney Jabarin noted that: "The prosecution does not make a habit of prosecuting public officials over momentary and spontaneous comments made in the heat of political public activity. And so, if an indictment is filed, the prosecution will have to explain to the court why MK Zoabi is being discriminated against, because in countless of similar and even graver cases not only did it not indict, it didn't open an investigation at all."
Hollande says 'terror attack' is of 'exceptional cruelty'; French satirical journal Charlie Hebdo grew to international fame after publishing satirical image of Mohammed.
Twelve people were killed in a shooting Wednesday after masked gunmen shouting "Allahu akbar!" stormed into the Paris offices of a Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper which had been firebombed in the past after publishing cartoons in 2011 joking about Muslim religious leaders.
Reports said two of the dead were police officers, and that there 20 people wounded, at least four seriously; the dead include the editor and the cartoonist of the paper. It was France's deadliest terror attack in at least two decades.
Satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo (Charlie Weekly) has on several occasions depicted Islam's prophet in an effort to defend free speech and defy the anger of Muslims who believe depicting Mohammad is sacrilegious.
"This is a terrorist attack, there is no doubt about it," President Francois Hollande told reporters after rushing to the scene of the attack. His government raised France's security level to the highest notch and scheduled an emergency cabinet meeting.
The gunmen fled towards the eastern Paris suburbs after holding up a car, police officials said.
"There is possibility of other attacks and other sites are being secured," Police union official Rocco Contento said, telling reporters that three attackers got into a getaway car driven by a fourth man upon fleeing the building and drove to Port de Pantin in north-east Paris, where they abandoned the first car and hijacked a second – throwing the driver out into the road.
Meanwhile, France raised its terror alert to the highest level. Le Monde newspaper reported that Parisian newsrooms, including their own, were placed under police protection after the attack.
"About a half an hour ago two black-hooded men entered the building with Kalashnikovs (guns)," Benoit Bringer told the station. "A few minutes later we heard lots of shots," he said, adding that the men were then seen fleeing the building.
"It's carnage," a police official, Luc Poignant, told BFM TV.
French media are reporting that cartoonist “Charb”, whose real name is Stephane Charbonnier and who was chief editor of Charlie Hebdo, was among those killed in the attack.
Earlier this week, the magazine published a cartoon mocking the Islamic State by showing a jihadist beheading the Prophet.
"The murders in Paris are sickening. We stand with the French people in the fight against terror and defending the freedom of the press," British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a statement on his official Twitter feed.
"All the White House is in solidarity with the families of those who were killed or injured in the attack," said Josh Earnest, spokesman for US President Barack Obama on MSNBC.
France last year reinforced its anti-terrorism laws and is already on alert after calls from Islamist militants to attack its citizens and interests in reprisal for French military strikes on Islamist strongholds in the Middle East and Africa.
The attack, as yet unclaimed, comes amid what a number of commentators have identified as rising xenophobia in Europe, with thousands of protesters in several German cities rallying earlier this week against Muslim immigration. France's five-million-strong Muslim population is Europe's largest.
"I am extremely angry. These are criminals, barbarians. They have sold their soul to hell. This is not freedom. This is not Islam and I hope the french will come out united at the end of this," said Hassen Chalghoumi, imam of the Drancy mosque in Paris's Seine-Saint-Denis northern suburb.
In 2012, two men were arrested in France on suspicion of plotting to behead the editor of the satirical journal. The threat came after a September issue included a front cover that depicted an Orthodox Jew pushing a turban-wearing figure in a wheelchair and also had several caricatures of the Prophet throughout the pages of the issue, including some of him naked.
In 2011 Charlie Hebdo's offices were hit by a firebomb and its website was pirated after publishing an edition titled "Charia Hebdo" featuring several Mohammed cartoons.
The newspaper is headquarted in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, in the east of the capital.
Twelve people were killed in a shooting Wednesday after masked gunmen shouting "Allahu akbar!" stormed into the Paris offices of a Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper which had been firebombed in the past after publishing cartoons in 2011 joking about Muslim religious leaders.
Reports said two of the dead were police officers, and that there 20 people wounded, at least four seriously; the dead include the editor and the cartoonist of the paper. It was France's deadliest terror attack in at least two decades.
Satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo (Charlie Weekly) has on several occasions depicted Islam's prophet in an effort to defend free speech and defy the anger of Muslims who believe depicting Mohammad is sacrilegious.
"This is a terrorist attack, there is no doubt about it," President Francois Hollande told reporters after rushing to the scene of the attack. His government raised France's security level to the highest notch and scheduled an emergency cabinet meeting.
The gunmen fled towards the eastern Paris suburbs after holding up a car, police officials said.
"There is possibility of other attacks and other sites are being secured," Police union official Rocco Contento said, telling reporters that three attackers got into a getaway car driven by a fourth man upon fleeing the building and drove to Port de Pantin in north-east Paris, where they abandoned the first car and hijacked a second – throwing the driver out into the road.
Meanwhile, France raised its terror alert to the highest level. Le Monde newspaper reported that Parisian newsrooms, including their own, were placed under police protection after the attack.
"About a half an hour ago two black-hooded men entered the building with Kalashnikovs (guns)," Benoit Bringer told the station. "A few minutes later we heard lots of shots," he said, adding that the men were then seen fleeing the building.
"It's carnage," a police official, Luc Poignant, told BFM TV.
French media are reporting that cartoonist “Charb”, whose real name is Stephane Charbonnier and who was chief editor of Charlie Hebdo, was among those killed in the attack.
Earlier this week, the magazine published a cartoon mocking the Islamic State by showing a jihadist beheading the Prophet.
"The murders in Paris are sickening. We stand with the French people in the fight against terror and defending the freedom of the press," British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a statement on his official Twitter feed.
"All the White House is in solidarity with the families of those who were killed or injured in the attack," said Josh Earnest, spokesman for US President Barack Obama on MSNBC.
France last year reinforced its anti-terrorism laws and is already on alert after calls from Islamist militants to attack its citizens and interests in reprisal for French military strikes on Islamist strongholds in the Middle East and Africa.
The attack, as yet unclaimed, comes amid what a number of commentators have identified as rising xenophobia in Europe, with thousands of protesters in several German cities rallying earlier this week against Muslim immigration. France's five-million-strong Muslim population is Europe's largest.
"I am extremely angry. These are criminals, barbarians. They have sold their soul to hell. This is not freedom. This is not Islam and I hope the french will come out united at the end of this," said Hassen Chalghoumi, imam of the Drancy mosque in Paris's Seine-Saint-Denis northern suburb.
In 2012, two men were arrested in France on suspicion of plotting to behead the editor of the satirical journal. The threat came after a September issue included a front cover that depicted an Orthodox Jew pushing a turban-wearing figure in a wheelchair and also had several caricatures of the Prophet throughout the pages of the issue, including some of him naked.
In 2011 Charlie Hebdo's offices were hit by a firebomb and its website was pirated after publishing an edition titled "Charia Hebdo" featuring several Mohammed cartoons.
The newspaper is headquarted in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, in the east of the capital.
6 jan 2015
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin speaks in Jerusalem on Nov. 30, 2014
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said, Monday, that he opposed a freeze in the transfer of taxes to the Palestinians in response to their application to join the International Criminal Court.
"Freezing taxes can be useful neither for Israel nor for the Palestinians," Rivlin told ambassadors accredited to Israel in a speech.
In his speech, a copy of which was reviewed by AFP, Rivlin said that President Mahmoud Abbas "continues to reject direct negotiations and tries to impose a deal by force", adding that such an approach "warrants sanctions."
Israel on Saturday delayed the transfer of $127 million it collects on behalf of the Palestinians in retaliation for the Palestinian move to join the ICC and press war crimes charges.
Related: Barghouthi: “Israel Practicing Piracy By Withholding Palestinian Tax Money”
The tax revenues make up two thirds of the Palestinian Authority's annual budget, excluding foreign aid.
"Sanctions against the PA should be in line with Israeli interests, and a tax freeze is not," Rivlin said.
Monday's statements are not the first criticisms against the Israeli state to come from Rivilin.
This past October, at a conference entitled “From Xenophobia to Accepting the Other”, the Israeli president was quoted to say: “It is time to honestly admit that Israeli society is ill – and it is our duty to treat this disease.”
“The tension between Jews and Arabs within the State of Israel has risen to record heights, and the relationship between all parties has reached a new low,” he said.
“We have all witnessed the shocking sequence of incidents and violence taking place by both sides. The epidemic of violence is not limited to one sector or another, it permeates every area and doesn’t skip any arena. There is violence in soccer stadiums as well as in the academia. There is violence in the social media and in everyday discourse, in hospitals and in schools.”
News of the president's concern failed to make international headlines, however.
The Palestinian ICC bid is firmly opposed by Israel and the United States, and follows a failed draft UN Security Council resolution calling for a final peace deal.
Israeli officials suggested, Sunday, that the tax freeze was only the first of a series of punitive measures it could take against the Palestinian government.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said, Monday, that he opposed a freeze in the transfer of taxes to the Palestinians in response to their application to join the International Criminal Court.
"Freezing taxes can be useful neither for Israel nor for the Palestinians," Rivlin told ambassadors accredited to Israel in a speech.
In his speech, a copy of which was reviewed by AFP, Rivlin said that President Mahmoud Abbas "continues to reject direct negotiations and tries to impose a deal by force", adding that such an approach "warrants sanctions."
Israel on Saturday delayed the transfer of $127 million it collects on behalf of the Palestinians in retaliation for the Palestinian move to join the ICC and press war crimes charges.
Related: Barghouthi: “Israel Practicing Piracy By Withholding Palestinian Tax Money”
The tax revenues make up two thirds of the Palestinian Authority's annual budget, excluding foreign aid.
"Sanctions against the PA should be in line with Israeli interests, and a tax freeze is not," Rivlin said.
Monday's statements are not the first criticisms against the Israeli state to come from Rivilin.
This past October, at a conference entitled “From Xenophobia to Accepting the Other”, the Israeli president was quoted to say: “It is time to honestly admit that Israeli society is ill – and it is our duty to treat this disease.”
“The tension between Jews and Arabs within the State of Israel has risen to record heights, and the relationship between all parties has reached a new low,” he said.
“We have all witnessed the shocking sequence of incidents and violence taking place by both sides. The epidemic of violence is not limited to one sector or another, it permeates every area and doesn’t skip any arena. There is violence in soccer stadiums as well as in the academia. There is violence in the social media and in everyday discourse, in hospitals and in schools.”
News of the president's concern failed to make international headlines, however.
The Palestinian ICC bid is firmly opposed by Israel and the United States, and follows a failed draft UN Security Council resolution calling for a final peace deal.
Israeli officials suggested, Sunday, that the tax freeze was only the first of a series of punitive measures it could take against the Palestinian government.
Recent American legislation states that, if Palestinians initiate any action against Israel at the International Criminal Court, the State Department would have to stop US aid to the PA.
According to the PNN, after freezing the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority, Israel is taking additional steps to punish the PA for its request to join the ICC.
A senior Israeli official said, on Sunday, that Jerusalem would be contacting pro-Israel members of US Congress to ensure the enforcement of the recently passed legislation. The stop-gap funding bill was passed in Congress last month, Haaretz reported.
Both houses of the new Congress, to be seated later this month, will be controlled by the Republican Party, with many key positions filled by senators and representatives who are pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian. The legislation regarding Palestinians initiating action at the ICC is strongly worded and states that President Barack Obama cannot waive a decision to halt aid to the PA.
US aid to the PA comes to some $400 million annually, and administration is concerned about the ramifications of halting this financial assistance, as it is liable to make it impossible for the PA to pay the salaries of tens of thousands of employees.
Although Arab states have promised to provide the PA with a financial security net, US officials believe that, as in the past, Arab states won't deliver as promised, and will not work to keep the PA afloat.
Earlier Sunday, Foreign Ministry Director-General Nissim Ben Sheetrit said that Israel's response to the Palestinian bid at the ICC would be much harsher and more comprehensive than just freezing the PA's tax revenues. Ben Sheetrit made the remarks at a conference, held in Jerusalem, for Israel's envoys to Europe.
Sheetrit says, however, that unlike in the past, Israel will not launch a wave of settlement construction in response to the Palestinian moves. He also added that Israel had no interest in undermining security cooperation with the PA or to cause its collapse.
The security cabinet is expected to meet later in the week to decide on the new measures.
According to the PNN, after freezing the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority, Israel is taking additional steps to punish the PA for its request to join the ICC.
A senior Israeli official said, on Sunday, that Jerusalem would be contacting pro-Israel members of US Congress to ensure the enforcement of the recently passed legislation. The stop-gap funding bill was passed in Congress last month, Haaretz reported.
Both houses of the new Congress, to be seated later this month, will be controlled by the Republican Party, with many key positions filled by senators and representatives who are pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian. The legislation regarding Palestinians initiating action at the ICC is strongly worded and states that President Barack Obama cannot waive a decision to halt aid to the PA.
US aid to the PA comes to some $400 million annually, and administration is concerned about the ramifications of halting this financial assistance, as it is liable to make it impossible for the PA to pay the salaries of tens of thousands of employees.
Although Arab states have promised to provide the PA with a financial security net, US officials believe that, as in the past, Arab states won't deliver as promised, and will not work to keep the PA afloat.
Earlier Sunday, Foreign Ministry Director-General Nissim Ben Sheetrit said that Israel's response to the Palestinian bid at the ICC would be much harsher and more comprehensive than just freezing the PA's tax revenues. Ben Sheetrit made the remarks at a conference, held in Jerusalem, for Israel's envoys to Europe.
Sheetrit says, however, that unlike in the past, Israel will not launch a wave of settlement construction in response to the Palestinian moves. He also added that Israel had no interest in undermining security cooperation with the PA or to cause its collapse.
The security cabinet is expected to meet later in the week to decide on the new measures.
5 jan 2015
An increasing number of Israelis are giving up their passports as they are faced with various problems in other countries, a report says.
The number of Israelis renouncing their citizenship has increased by more than 65 percent last year, the website of the Israeli paper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Sunday.
The paper cited year-end summaries which shows many Israelis, who live in Europe and the United States, are increasingly submitting documents to renounce the Israeli citizenship.
The report further said that the main reason behind the surge is the desire among the Israelis to hold other citizenship as they are faced with various problems in those countries.
Holding citizenship in some countries requires people to give up their Israeli passports. According to the survey, many have decided to stop being a citizen of the Zionist regime in order to adopt the other nationality.
Holders of the Israeli passport also face problems when they apply for employment in sensitive jobs. Travelling with Israeli passport is also problematic as holders are refused entry to certain states.
The number of Israelis renouncing their citizenship has increased by more than 65 percent last year, the website of the Israeli paper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Sunday.
The paper cited year-end summaries which shows many Israelis, who live in Europe and the United States, are increasingly submitting documents to renounce the Israeli citizenship.
The report further said that the main reason behind the surge is the desire among the Israelis to hold other citizenship as they are faced with various problems in those countries.
Holding citizenship in some countries requires people to give up their Israeli passports. According to the survey, many have decided to stop being a citizen of the Zionist regime in order to adopt the other nationality.
Holders of the Israeli passport also face problems when they apply for employment in sensitive jobs. Travelling with Israeli passport is also problematic as holders are refused entry to certain states.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, Sunday, that PA President Mahmoud Abbas' bid to join the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) would only expose him and other Palestinian officials to prosecution over their support for what he called "militant Islamist groups", PNN reports.
"We will take steps in response and defend Israel's soldiers," Netanyahu was quoted to say by Reuters.
Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, delivered documents to the United Nations headquarters, Friday, to become a signatory to 22 international treaties, including the ICC, in the hope of pursuing war-crimes charges and achieving "justice for all the victims that have been killed by Israel, the occupying power," Reuters reported.
It takes 90 days to join the ICC, which looks at cases of severe war crimes and crimes against humanity, such as genocide, according to Haaretz. Abbas signed the documents Wednesday, one day after the UN Security Council rejected a Palestinian resolution demanding statehood and for Israel to withdrawal from its territory.
Also on sunday, Netanyahu vowed to deny Palestinians in their efforts to "drag IDF soldiers and commanders to the International Criminal Court in The Hague," according to the Jerusalem Post.
"The Palestinian Authority has chosen confrontation with the state of Israel, and we will not sit with folded hands," Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. "Those who need to answer before a criminal court are the heads of the Palestinian Authority, who have forged an alliance with the war criminals of Hamas.
"IDF soldiers will continue to defend the State of Israel with determination and might," the premier said. "Just as they defend us, we will protect them with that same determination and the same might."
Netanyahu's comments at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting was his first comment on Jerusalem's decision to freeze the transfer of NIS 500 million to the Palestinian Authority in response to the PA's decision to join the International Criminal Court.
"We will take steps in response and defend Israel's soldiers," Netanyahu was quoted to say by Reuters.
Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, delivered documents to the United Nations headquarters, Friday, to become a signatory to 22 international treaties, including the ICC, in the hope of pursuing war-crimes charges and achieving "justice for all the victims that have been killed by Israel, the occupying power," Reuters reported.
It takes 90 days to join the ICC, which looks at cases of severe war crimes and crimes against humanity, such as genocide, according to Haaretz. Abbas signed the documents Wednesday, one day after the UN Security Council rejected a Palestinian resolution demanding statehood and for Israel to withdrawal from its territory.
Also on sunday, Netanyahu vowed to deny Palestinians in their efforts to "drag IDF soldiers and commanders to the International Criminal Court in The Hague," according to the Jerusalem Post.
"The Palestinian Authority has chosen confrontation with the state of Israel, and we will not sit with folded hands," Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. "Those who need to answer before a criminal court are the heads of the Palestinian Authority, who have forged an alliance with the war criminals of Hamas.
"IDF soldiers will continue to defend the State of Israel with determination and might," the premier said. "Just as they defend us, we will protect them with that same determination and the same might."
Netanyahu's comments at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting was his first comment on Jerusalem's decision to freeze the transfer of NIS 500 million to the Palestinian Authority in response to the PA's decision to join the International Criminal Court.
4 jan 2015
Secretary-general of the Palestinian national initiative Mustafa al-Barghouthi condemned Israel's freeze on the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority (PA) as "financial piracy and banditry."
In press remarks on Sunday, Barghouthi called on the PA to be steadfast in the face of the Israeli pressures that aim to break its political will and undermine the Palestinian struggle for liberation.
He also urged the PA to immediately respond to Israel's decision to freeze Palestinian tax funds by halting its security cooperation with it and taking other deterrent decisions against it.
The Palestinian ministry of finance confirmed its receipt of an official notification from the Israeli government on Saturday about its decision to freeze the transfer of about half a billion shekels in tax revenues to its bank account.
The Israeli government is committed to transferring tax revenues to the PA on a regular basis in accordance with an agreement between the two sides.
The decision to stop the Palestinian tax transfers was made during a meeting chaired by Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu last Thursday to discuss Israel’s response to the Palestinian Authority’s application for membership of the international tribunal.
Further punitive measures against the Palestinians were also discussed at the meeting, including filing complaints against them in a number of courts around the world, whether officially in the name of Israel, or through Zionist organizations.
In press remarks on Sunday, Barghouthi called on the PA to be steadfast in the face of the Israeli pressures that aim to break its political will and undermine the Palestinian struggle for liberation.
He also urged the PA to immediately respond to Israel's decision to freeze Palestinian tax funds by halting its security cooperation with it and taking other deterrent decisions against it.
The Palestinian ministry of finance confirmed its receipt of an official notification from the Israeli government on Saturday about its decision to freeze the transfer of about half a billion shekels in tax revenues to its bank account.
The Israeli government is committed to transferring tax revenues to the PA on a regular basis in accordance with an agreement between the two sides.
The decision to stop the Palestinian tax transfers was made during a meeting chaired by Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu last Thursday to discuss Israel’s response to the Palestinian Authority’s application for membership of the international tribunal.
Further punitive measures against the Palestinians were also discussed at the meeting, including filing complaints against them in a number of courts around the world, whether officially in the name of Israel, or through Zionist organizations.
2 jan 2015
Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to decline the Palestinian request to join it and pledged to protect Israeli soldiers from any overseas prosecution.
"We expect the ICC to reject the hypocritical request by the Palestinian Authority, which is not a state but an entity linked to a terrorist organization," he said in a statement on Thursday, referring to Hamas.
"The state of Israel is a lawful country with a moral army that enforces all international law," he claimed.
Netanyahu's statement came one day after Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas signed a document at a meeting in Ramallah requesting membership of 20 International treaties and organizations, including the ICC.
Abbas signed the documents in response to the UN Security Council's vote on Wednesday against a Palestinian plea calling for ending the Israeli occupation by late 2017.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat on Thursday handed over the membership applications to the UN coordinator for humanitarian affairs, James Rowley, at Ramallah’s presidential headquarters.
The US administration and the Israeli government had repeatedly warned the Palestinian Authority of serious political implications if it decided to go on with its stated intention to join UN organizations and the ICC.
"We expect the ICC to reject the hypocritical request by the Palestinian Authority, which is not a state but an entity linked to a terrorist organization," he said in a statement on Thursday, referring to Hamas.
"The state of Israel is a lawful country with a moral army that enforces all international law," he claimed.
Netanyahu's statement came one day after Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas signed a document at a meeting in Ramallah requesting membership of 20 International treaties and organizations, including the ICC.
Abbas signed the documents in response to the UN Security Council's vote on Wednesday against a Palestinian plea calling for ending the Israeli occupation by late 2017.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat on Thursday handed over the membership applications to the UN coordinator for humanitarian affairs, James Rowley, at Ramallah’s presidential headquarters.
The US administration and the Israeli government had repeatedly warned the Palestinian Authority of serious political implications if it decided to go on with its stated intention to join UN organizations and the ICC.
1 jan 2015
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was elected to another term as leader of the ruling Likud party ahead of a snap election, his group said Thursday.
According to Ma'an News Agency, Netanyahu is seeking a third straight stint in office, and a fourth in total. He has been in power since 2009, following a first term in 1996-1999.
Turnout was more than 53 percent, according to an official estimate released soon after polls closed.
"With nearly 60 percent of the ballots counted, Benjamin Netanyahu took 80 percent of the vote and Danny Danon 20 percent," Likud spokeswoman Noga Katz told AFP, adding that the final results would be known later Thursday.
The Likud party's 96,651 members also voted to determine front runners on the party list for the March 17 general election.
According to Ma'an News Agency, Netanyahu is seeking a third straight stint in office, and a fourth in total. He has been in power since 2009, following a first term in 1996-1999.
Turnout was more than 53 percent, according to an official estimate released soon after polls closed.
"With nearly 60 percent of the ballots counted, Benjamin Netanyahu took 80 percent of the vote and Danny Danon 20 percent," Likud spokeswoman Noga Katz told AFP, adding that the final results would be known later Thursday.
The Likud party's 96,651 members also voted to determine front runners on the party list for the March 17 general election.
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