28 jan 2015
Israel is exploiting its upcoming elections in order to Judaise Jerusalem's al Aqsa mosque, said the Islamic-Christian Commission in Support of Jerusalem and the Holy Sites.
Dr. Hanna Issa, secretary-general of the Commission, issued a statement noting that all Israeli Zionist parties, even those of the so-called left, support attacks against al Aqsa mosque and a change of the status quo. The Jewish Home party has declared the “Temple Mount” as the most sacred site for Jews throughout the world, while the newly formed Kulanu leader, Moshe Kahlon, has stated that “Our party supports the absolute unity of Jerusalem in any future political framework agreement.
The Old City in Jerusalem will be under Israeli sovereignty. The “leftist” Zionist party Meretz has also come out in support of the right of Jews to pray in the Temple Mount.
The Commission urged the international community, and in particular the Arab states, to act in order to halt Israel's gross violations of Palestinian rights, adding that the failure to take action serves to perpetuate the Israeli authorities' violation of the sanctity of al Aqsa.
Dr. Hanna Issa, secretary-general of the Commission, issued a statement noting that all Israeli Zionist parties, even those of the so-called left, support attacks against al Aqsa mosque and a change of the status quo. The Jewish Home party has declared the “Temple Mount” as the most sacred site for Jews throughout the world, while the newly formed Kulanu leader, Moshe Kahlon, has stated that “Our party supports the absolute unity of Jerusalem in any future political framework agreement.
The Old City in Jerusalem will be under Israeli sovereignty. The “leftist” Zionist party Meretz has also come out in support of the right of Jews to pray in the Temple Mount.
The Commission urged the international community, and in particular the Arab states, to act in order to halt Israel's gross violations of Palestinian rights, adding that the failure to take action serves to perpetuate the Israeli authorities' violation of the sanctity of al Aqsa.
The Israeli Government informed the United Nations Security Council, Wednesday, it will conduct all needed measures “to defend itself," following the death of two of its soldiers in clashes with Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor informed the Security Council that Israel will not stand still “while Hezbollah fighters are attacking Israelis,” and that “Tel Aviv will conduct all needed measures to defend itself.”
“Israel will not tolerate any attack on its soil,” the Israeli official said, “We will defend ourselves, and will conduct all needed measures to do so.”
The Wednesday deadly attack by Hezbollah fighters took place in the Lebanese Shebaa farms, occupied by Israel.
Israeli daily, Haaretz, said Member of Knesset Tzipi Livni toured the border area with senior army commanders and said, “Israel will respond harshly to the Hezbollah attack that led to the death of two Israeli soldiers.”
Livni, the leader of Hatnuah Party in Israel, also said during her tour that the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights "are not open for negotiations, and will always be part of Israel."
She added that all parties involved in the attack, whether it is Iran acting in proxy through Hezbollah party in Lebanon, the Syrians, or any other party, “must understand that any attack on Israeli soldiers or civilians will be met with a harsh and decisive retaliation.
Head of the Meretz Part Zahava Gal-On said should Israel be impulsive in its reactions, similar to previous experiences; it could drag the area into a renewed and escalated confrontation.
She urged the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to act on calming the situation through diplomacy, adding that Tel Aviv has bitter past bitter experiences with Israeli military escalation prior to elections in the country.
Gal-On strongly criticized Netanyahu’s statement in reaction to the Hezbollah attack in which he said that “those who challenge Israel on the northern border should learn from what happened in Gaza.”
Gal-On stated that trying to drag Israel into an unnecessary new war with Lebanon is “the last thing Tel Aviv needs,” and that it is not in anybody’s interest to engage in a third Lebanon war, Haaretz said.
It is worth mentioning that the Israeli army fired several shells into southern Lebanon, while Lebanese sources confirmed the military fired more than 25 shells into the country, killing a UNIFIL soldier.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor informed the Security Council that Israel will not stand still “while Hezbollah fighters are attacking Israelis,” and that “Tel Aviv will conduct all needed measures to defend itself.”
“Israel will not tolerate any attack on its soil,” the Israeli official said, “We will defend ourselves, and will conduct all needed measures to do so.”
The Wednesday deadly attack by Hezbollah fighters took place in the Lebanese Shebaa farms, occupied by Israel.
Israeli daily, Haaretz, said Member of Knesset Tzipi Livni toured the border area with senior army commanders and said, “Israel will respond harshly to the Hezbollah attack that led to the death of two Israeli soldiers.”
Livni, the leader of Hatnuah Party in Israel, also said during her tour that the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights "are not open for negotiations, and will always be part of Israel."
She added that all parties involved in the attack, whether it is Iran acting in proxy through Hezbollah party in Lebanon, the Syrians, or any other party, “must understand that any attack on Israeli soldiers or civilians will be met with a harsh and decisive retaliation.
Head of the Meretz Part Zahava Gal-On said should Israel be impulsive in its reactions, similar to previous experiences; it could drag the area into a renewed and escalated confrontation.
She urged the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to act on calming the situation through diplomacy, adding that Tel Aviv has bitter past bitter experiences with Israeli military escalation prior to elections in the country.
Gal-On strongly criticized Netanyahu’s statement in reaction to the Hezbollah attack in which he said that “those who challenge Israel on the northern border should learn from what happened in Gaza.”
Gal-On stated that trying to drag Israel into an unnecessary new war with Lebanon is “the last thing Tel Aviv needs,” and that it is not in anybody’s interest to engage in a third Lebanon war, Haaretz said.
It is worth mentioning that the Israeli army fired several shells into southern Lebanon, while Lebanese sources confirmed the military fired more than 25 shells into the country, killing a UNIFIL soldier.
Israeli sources have reported, Wednesday, that two soldiers have been killed and seven injured in an attack carried out by fighters of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah party in the Shebaa farms, in southern Lebanon.
A Spanish member of the UNIFIL was killed in the strike.
The sources said that one of the slain soldier is a senior commander who was touring with the soldiers in the occupied territory.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said Israeli soldiers shelled borders areas in southern Lebanon killing one of its peacekeepers from Spain.
The Hezbollah-run al-Manar TV said its fighters targeted an Israeli military convoy, composed of several armored vehicles and senior military officers, in the occupied farms, by firing rockets at them causing various deaths and injuries.
It said that on Wednesday, approximately at 11:25 before noon, fighters of its al-Quneitra Martyr’s group firing specialized rockets targeted the Israeli convoy in the Shebaa farms.
In its statement, Hezbollah said its fighters ambushed nine Israeli military vehicles operating in the Shebaa farms. The latest Hezbollah operation is likely motivated by the recent Israeli air strike, on January 18 that targeted Hezbollah fighters killing six of them in addition to an Iranian general.
Commenting on the shelling, the Lebanese army said it has nothing to do with the attack, as it was not carried out from a Lebanese territory, adding that the Israeli retaliation was random, targeting different area along the border.
The Israeli army said “it was not interested in retaliation,” yet the army bombarded Kfarchouba village, in southern Lebanon, with more than 25 shells, while the Israeli Air Force also bombarded several Hezbollah targets.
Israeli Army spokesperson Moti Almoz said the Israeli bombarded is not the last Israeli retaliation to the attack. Israeli army Chief of Staff Benjamin "Benny" Gantz arrived in the Northern Command of the Israeli Army to hold a session to evaluate the situation with senior military commanders.
On Sunday evening, January 18, six Hezbollah fighters were killed in an Israeli air strike in Syria’s al-Qneitra; one of the slain fighters is the son of late Hezbollah leader Imad Mughaniya who was assassinated by Israel in February of 2008. Six Hezbollah Fighters Killed by Israeli Airstrike in Syria
Two Israeli Soldiers have been killed, following an exchange of fire between the Shuhada Al-Qneitra Hezbollah group, in Syria, and Israeli forces in Shebaa village, on the southern Lebanon borders (occupied Golan Heights), Israeli Channel 10 announced.
Netanyahu responded by recalling the aggression on Gaza last summer: "Who wants to challenge us in the north [of Israeli-occupied Palestine] must look at what we've done to Gaza."
A Spanish United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) soldier was killed in South Lebanon during an Israeli attack in the same region, earlier today, PNN further reports.
Israeli forces are importing tanks from the South to the North, in addition to warships currently entering Lebanese territorial water.
The UN units on the Israeli-Lebanese borders have been deployed to "calm the situation", and implement the ceasfire taken in 2006.
On the other hand, authorities asked Israelis in Galilee not to leave their houses, but to evacuate public places.
The Israeli air force announced strikes on Syrian army artillery targets, late Tuesday night, in response to an earlier rocket attack on Golan Heights and Mount Hermon which, in turn, came as a response to killing 6 Hezbollah members in Syria, on January 18th.
A Spanish member of the UNIFIL was killed in the strike.
The sources said that one of the slain soldier is a senior commander who was touring with the soldiers in the occupied territory.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said Israeli soldiers shelled borders areas in southern Lebanon killing one of its peacekeepers from Spain.
The Hezbollah-run al-Manar TV said its fighters targeted an Israeli military convoy, composed of several armored vehicles and senior military officers, in the occupied farms, by firing rockets at them causing various deaths and injuries.
It said that on Wednesday, approximately at 11:25 before noon, fighters of its al-Quneitra Martyr’s group firing specialized rockets targeted the Israeli convoy in the Shebaa farms.
In its statement, Hezbollah said its fighters ambushed nine Israeli military vehicles operating in the Shebaa farms. The latest Hezbollah operation is likely motivated by the recent Israeli air strike, on January 18 that targeted Hezbollah fighters killing six of them in addition to an Iranian general.
Commenting on the shelling, the Lebanese army said it has nothing to do with the attack, as it was not carried out from a Lebanese territory, adding that the Israeli retaliation was random, targeting different area along the border.
The Israeli army said “it was not interested in retaliation,” yet the army bombarded Kfarchouba village, in southern Lebanon, with more than 25 shells, while the Israeli Air Force also bombarded several Hezbollah targets.
Israeli Army spokesperson Moti Almoz said the Israeli bombarded is not the last Israeli retaliation to the attack. Israeli army Chief of Staff Benjamin "Benny" Gantz arrived in the Northern Command of the Israeli Army to hold a session to evaluate the situation with senior military commanders.
On Sunday evening, January 18, six Hezbollah fighters were killed in an Israeli air strike in Syria’s al-Qneitra; one of the slain fighters is the son of late Hezbollah leader Imad Mughaniya who was assassinated by Israel in February of 2008. Six Hezbollah Fighters Killed by Israeli Airstrike in Syria
Two Israeli Soldiers have been killed, following an exchange of fire between the Shuhada Al-Qneitra Hezbollah group, in Syria, and Israeli forces in Shebaa village, on the southern Lebanon borders (occupied Golan Heights), Israeli Channel 10 announced.
Netanyahu responded by recalling the aggression on Gaza last summer: "Who wants to challenge us in the north [of Israeli-occupied Palestine] must look at what we've done to Gaza."
A Spanish United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) soldier was killed in South Lebanon during an Israeli attack in the same region, earlier today, PNN further reports.
Israeli forces are importing tanks from the South to the North, in addition to warships currently entering Lebanese territorial water.
The UN units on the Israeli-Lebanese borders have been deployed to "calm the situation", and implement the ceasfire taken in 2006.
On the other hand, authorities asked Israelis in Galilee not to leave their houses, but to evacuate public places.
The Israeli air force announced strikes on Syrian army artillery targets, late Tuesday night, in response to an earlier rocket attack on Golan Heights and Mount Hermon which, in turn, came as a response to killing 6 Hezbollah members in Syria, on January 18th.
27 jan 2015
By Khalid Amayreh in Occupied Palestine
It has been repeatedly claimed that Anti-Semitism is the other side of Zionism. In fact, this claim contains a preponderant amount of truth.
Zionism can't survive without anti-Semitism, or hate of Jews. Zionism and anti-Semitism are inextricably entwined. Anti-Semitism is a sine-qua-non for the survival and prosperity of Zionism.
Anti-Semitism strengthens and justifies Zionism and constantly renews its life. Indeed, the erosion, let alone demise of anti-Semitism, would pose a serious threat to Zionism.
This is why, Zionist leaders strive to keep up a certain level of anti-Semitism alive and kicking, especially in Europe. In the words of one Zionist leader, the survival of anti-Semitism reminds Jews of who they are and prevents assimilation.
An elderly friend of mine intimated to me a few years ago that a Jewish mother in Hebron used to give Arab kids inducements, e.g. a little money, to hurt and curse her own kids.
"I didn't understand the logic behind her behavior until I grew up," said my elderly friend from Hebron. "She wanted to make her kids feel hated and resented by non-Jews which would bolster their Jewish identity."
Today, Israel's evil behaviors, such as murdering Palestinian civilians, including children, in large numbers by way of dropping huge bombs on their multi-story apartment buildings, do generate indignation and resentment around the world.
But it would be a scandalous abuse of language and misrepresentation of truth to call the indignation and resentment an expression of anti-Semitism.
In the final analysis, people don't hate Israel because Israel is Jewish, whatever "Jewish" is supposed to mean.
The plain truth which Israel is doggedly trying to withhold from the eyes of humanity is that people around the world, including Israel's premier victims, the Palestinians, don't hate Israel because Israel is Jewish. They rather despise Israel's manifestly murderous behavior.
Indeed, when Jews or Arabs or anyone else, think, behave and act like the Nazis thought, behaved and acted, then the harshest epithets can be used to describe them. This is not anti-Arab or anti-Jewish or anti-Martian. This is simply telling the truth, it is calling the spade a spade.
I have been more or less a vigilant observer of Israeli behavior since I was a little boy. And in all honesty, I can say that Israel adopts a modus operandi based on mendacity, prevarication and disinformation as well as murder and terror.
Today Israel is effectively telling Europe to unhesitatingly back and support the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians as a proof of European resolve against anti-Semitism. Israel would simply like to morph Europe into a full-fledged political whore, very much like the American Congress, which is at Israel's beck and call. Israel wants to eviscerate Europe of any remaining vestiges of morality, humanity, decency, justice and honesty.
This is nothing short of scandalous and criminal. Europe must not allow itself to be duped by the Jewish Golem to fall into the bottomless pit.
Needless to say, an ethnic cleansing of a given people is nothing short of a holocaust against that people. Hence, Israel is effectively demanding that Europe give Israel a green light to complete its decades-old holocaust against the Palestinians so that Europe would finally atone for its own crimes against Jews.
And in case Europe said "No" to Israel's bullying and incessant demands, then the barking dogs of Israeli hasbara-from Sydney to California, would, in unison, accuse the Old Continent of harboring venomous anti-Semitism, succumbing to "Islamic terror" and even "wanting to complete what Hitler started."
To be sure, anti-Semitism, and all other forms of racism and bigotry, including this wanton hatred for Muslims, ought to be condemned without ifs or buts.
However, employing "anti-Semitism" to justify ethnic cleansing and other forms of pornographic oppression meted out to helpless and unprotected Palestinians must be viewed as an expression of malicious and criminal intent.
That is why European states, including governments and parliaments, must forcefully reject this hateful blackmail by the Nazis of our time.
(I know many people might think it is too much to describe some Jews as Nazis. But I am not alluding to Jews who want to live and let live. These are our natural partners for peace and I salute them from my heart.)
I am actually alluding to the likes of Benjamin Netanyahu who don't stop shouting "Auschwitz, Dachau, Bergen Belsen, and Mauthausen" while mercilessly murdering Palestinian children in the thousands, starving and tormenting innocent civilians and destroying their homes.
I am really convinced Israel is a cancer on the conscience of Moses, the Torah and Judaism…not the Judaism of Naftali Bennet and Meir Kahana, but the Judaism of the Prophets and the Ten Commandments.
It has been repeatedly claimed that Anti-Semitism is the other side of Zionism. In fact, this claim contains a preponderant amount of truth.
Zionism can't survive without anti-Semitism, or hate of Jews. Zionism and anti-Semitism are inextricably entwined. Anti-Semitism is a sine-qua-non for the survival and prosperity of Zionism.
Anti-Semitism strengthens and justifies Zionism and constantly renews its life. Indeed, the erosion, let alone demise of anti-Semitism, would pose a serious threat to Zionism.
This is why, Zionist leaders strive to keep up a certain level of anti-Semitism alive and kicking, especially in Europe. In the words of one Zionist leader, the survival of anti-Semitism reminds Jews of who they are and prevents assimilation.
An elderly friend of mine intimated to me a few years ago that a Jewish mother in Hebron used to give Arab kids inducements, e.g. a little money, to hurt and curse her own kids.
"I didn't understand the logic behind her behavior until I grew up," said my elderly friend from Hebron. "She wanted to make her kids feel hated and resented by non-Jews which would bolster their Jewish identity."
Today, Israel's evil behaviors, such as murdering Palestinian civilians, including children, in large numbers by way of dropping huge bombs on their multi-story apartment buildings, do generate indignation and resentment around the world.
But it would be a scandalous abuse of language and misrepresentation of truth to call the indignation and resentment an expression of anti-Semitism.
In the final analysis, people don't hate Israel because Israel is Jewish, whatever "Jewish" is supposed to mean.
The plain truth which Israel is doggedly trying to withhold from the eyes of humanity is that people around the world, including Israel's premier victims, the Palestinians, don't hate Israel because Israel is Jewish. They rather despise Israel's manifestly murderous behavior.
Indeed, when Jews or Arabs or anyone else, think, behave and act like the Nazis thought, behaved and acted, then the harshest epithets can be used to describe them. This is not anti-Arab or anti-Jewish or anti-Martian. This is simply telling the truth, it is calling the spade a spade.
I have been more or less a vigilant observer of Israeli behavior since I was a little boy. And in all honesty, I can say that Israel adopts a modus operandi based on mendacity, prevarication and disinformation as well as murder and terror.
Today Israel is effectively telling Europe to unhesitatingly back and support the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians as a proof of European resolve against anti-Semitism. Israel would simply like to morph Europe into a full-fledged political whore, very much like the American Congress, which is at Israel's beck and call. Israel wants to eviscerate Europe of any remaining vestiges of morality, humanity, decency, justice and honesty.
This is nothing short of scandalous and criminal. Europe must not allow itself to be duped by the Jewish Golem to fall into the bottomless pit.
Needless to say, an ethnic cleansing of a given people is nothing short of a holocaust against that people. Hence, Israel is effectively demanding that Europe give Israel a green light to complete its decades-old holocaust against the Palestinians so that Europe would finally atone for its own crimes against Jews.
And in case Europe said "No" to Israel's bullying and incessant demands, then the barking dogs of Israeli hasbara-from Sydney to California, would, in unison, accuse the Old Continent of harboring venomous anti-Semitism, succumbing to "Islamic terror" and even "wanting to complete what Hitler started."
To be sure, anti-Semitism, and all other forms of racism and bigotry, including this wanton hatred for Muslims, ought to be condemned without ifs or buts.
However, employing "anti-Semitism" to justify ethnic cleansing and other forms of pornographic oppression meted out to helpless and unprotected Palestinians must be viewed as an expression of malicious and criminal intent.
That is why European states, including governments and parliaments, must forcefully reject this hateful blackmail by the Nazis of our time.
(I know many people might think it is too much to describe some Jews as Nazis. But I am not alluding to Jews who want to live and let live. These are our natural partners for peace and I salute them from my heart.)
I am actually alluding to the likes of Benjamin Netanyahu who don't stop shouting "Auschwitz, Dachau, Bergen Belsen, and Mauthausen" while mercilessly murdering Palestinian children in the thousands, starving and tormenting innocent civilians and destroying their homes.
I am really convinced Israel is a cancer on the conscience of Moses, the Torah and Judaism…not the Judaism of Naftali Bennet and Meir Kahana, but the Judaism of the Prophets and the Ten Commandments.
More than 80 cartoonists and other workers in the comics industry, including colorists, writers, critics, and editors, from over 20 countries, signed an open letter released today addressed to Franck Bondoux, the head of the International Festival of Comics at Angoulême, which opens in France on January 29th.
The letter, a follow up to a 2014 letter, demands that he sever ties between the Festival and Sodastream, an Israeli manufacturing company complicit in the occupation of Palestinian land.
The authors of the letter include 10 prize winners at Angoulême itself, two winners of the MacArthur "Genius Grant," many Eisner and Ignatz awardees, and a Palestinian cartoonist previously imprisoned for his work by the Israeli military.
The organizers of the letter also released an accompanying statement, in the wake of the slaying of cartoonists Wolinski, Cabu, Honoré, Tignous and Charb, among many others in Paris this month. "These horrific acts of violence compel artists of the world to act urgently for a world where the dignity, freedom, and equality of all people are respected and promoted," said cartoonist Ethan Heitner and writer Dror Warschawski, organizers of the open letter. "We affirm that the Palestinian boycott movement is one important step towards that vision, and we urge others to join us."
The 2015 letter expands on its predecessor in several key ways. Its signatories include workers in the comics industry beyond cartoonists, including critics Jeet Heer and former heads of the Cité internationale de la bande dessinée Thierry Groensteen and Gilles Ciment, and organizers of the first-ever festival of comics held in Palestine, Palestine Comics, which opened in November of 2014.
The letter also addresses itself beyond Angoulême, to "all festivals, conventions, and celebrations of comics and cartooning art in which we participate." Finally, the letter expands its target beyond Sodastream, to all "Israeli companies and institutions" complicit in ethnic cleansing, discrimination, and war crimes. Noting that Israel's assault on Gaza in the summer 2014 alone killed over 2,100 Palestinians, the signatories urge, "No business as usual with Israel."
View the full letter and signatories at the Palestinian News Network.
The letter, a follow up to a 2014 letter, demands that he sever ties between the Festival and Sodastream, an Israeli manufacturing company complicit in the occupation of Palestinian land.
The authors of the letter include 10 prize winners at Angoulême itself, two winners of the MacArthur "Genius Grant," many Eisner and Ignatz awardees, and a Palestinian cartoonist previously imprisoned for his work by the Israeli military.
The organizers of the letter also released an accompanying statement, in the wake of the slaying of cartoonists Wolinski, Cabu, Honoré, Tignous and Charb, among many others in Paris this month. "These horrific acts of violence compel artists of the world to act urgently for a world where the dignity, freedom, and equality of all people are respected and promoted," said cartoonist Ethan Heitner and writer Dror Warschawski, organizers of the open letter. "We affirm that the Palestinian boycott movement is one important step towards that vision, and we urge others to join us."
The 2015 letter expands on its predecessor in several key ways. Its signatories include workers in the comics industry beyond cartoonists, including critics Jeet Heer and former heads of the Cité internationale de la bande dessinée Thierry Groensteen and Gilles Ciment, and organizers of the first-ever festival of comics held in Palestine, Palestine Comics, which opened in November of 2014.
The letter also addresses itself beyond Angoulême, to "all festivals, conventions, and celebrations of comics and cartooning art in which we participate." Finally, the letter expands its target beyond Sodastream, to all "Israeli companies and institutions" complicit in ethnic cleansing, discrimination, and war crimes. Noting that Israel's assault on Gaza in the summer 2014 alone killed over 2,100 Palestinians, the signatories urge, "No business as usual with Israel."
View the full letter and signatories at the Palestinian News Network.
A group of 63 influential MEPs have called on EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the main treaty between the EU and Israel.
The unique cross-party initiative is the first time so many MEPs have called for such tough measures against Israel since its massacre of more than 2,300 Palestinians in Gaza last summer.
“Amnesty International and Palestinian organisations have documented that Israel deliberately targeted civilians and committed other war crimes during its recent onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza. These are serious violations of international law and international humanitarian law that cannot be tolerated,” the MEPs from the 5 biggest parties in the European Parliament stated.
“We call on the Commission to consider the suspension of Association Agreement with Israel unless Israel takes substantial and immediate steps to bring its conduct in line with international law,” the MEPs demand.
The letter echoes an appeal made in November by more than 300 human rights groups, trade unions and political parties from across Europe, who wrote to Mogherini to demand the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
The EU-Israel Association Agreement, which entered into force in 2000, facilitates largely unrestricted trade between the EU and Israel and allows Israel to participate in a wide range of the Union’s programs.
“Furthermore, the EU’s lack of substantial action with regards to Israel appears out of step with the speed at which it has implemented restrictive measures on Russia with regards to the Ukraine crisis in recent months, as well as the restrictive measures implemented against more than 30 other countries,” the letter adds.
The EU has issued some of its strongest ever criticisms of Israel since its latest attack on Gaza but is yet to take any substantial measures to hold it to account, although it is understood the EU is currently not willing to upgrade relations with Israel in any way.
In June 2013 the EU announced a ban on its funds being awarded to illegal Israeli settlements, and in 2014 it coordinated member states to issue a statement warning businesses about the legal and political risks associated with doing business in illegal Israeli settlements.
Campaigners say these steps are welcome but that tougher steps such as a ban on economic relations with illegal Israeli settlements and a ban on arms exports to Israel are needed to apply real pressure on Israel to comply with international law.
In September last year Palestinian civil society organisations wrote to former EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to demand the suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement, arguing that “Israel’s war crimes and its sabotage of every effort to reach a just peace based on UN resolutions must lead to effective and substantial, not just cosmetic, consequences.”
Read the full letter here.[PDF]
The European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP) - founded in 1986 is a network of 52 European committees, organizations, NGOs, unions and international solidarity movements from 22 European countries, dedicated to the struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom, justice and equality.
The unique cross-party initiative is the first time so many MEPs have called for such tough measures against Israel since its massacre of more than 2,300 Palestinians in Gaza last summer.
“Amnesty International and Palestinian organisations have documented that Israel deliberately targeted civilians and committed other war crimes during its recent onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza. These are serious violations of international law and international humanitarian law that cannot be tolerated,” the MEPs from the 5 biggest parties in the European Parliament stated.
“We call on the Commission to consider the suspension of Association Agreement with Israel unless Israel takes substantial and immediate steps to bring its conduct in line with international law,” the MEPs demand.
The letter echoes an appeal made in November by more than 300 human rights groups, trade unions and political parties from across Europe, who wrote to Mogherini to demand the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
The EU-Israel Association Agreement, which entered into force in 2000, facilitates largely unrestricted trade between the EU and Israel and allows Israel to participate in a wide range of the Union’s programs.
“Furthermore, the EU’s lack of substantial action with regards to Israel appears out of step with the speed at which it has implemented restrictive measures on Russia with regards to the Ukraine crisis in recent months, as well as the restrictive measures implemented against more than 30 other countries,” the letter adds.
The EU has issued some of its strongest ever criticisms of Israel since its latest attack on Gaza but is yet to take any substantial measures to hold it to account, although it is understood the EU is currently not willing to upgrade relations with Israel in any way.
In June 2013 the EU announced a ban on its funds being awarded to illegal Israeli settlements, and in 2014 it coordinated member states to issue a statement warning businesses about the legal and political risks associated with doing business in illegal Israeli settlements.
Campaigners say these steps are welcome but that tougher steps such as a ban on economic relations with illegal Israeli settlements and a ban on arms exports to Israel are needed to apply real pressure on Israel to comply with international law.
In September last year Palestinian civil society organisations wrote to former EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to demand the suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement, arguing that “Israel’s war crimes and its sabotage of every effort to reach a just peace based on UN resolutions must lead to effective and substantial, not just cosmetic, consequences.”
Read the full letter here.[PDF]
The European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP) - founded in 1986 is a network of 52 European committees, organizations, NGOs, unions and international solidarity movements from 22 European countries, dedicated to the struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom, justice and equality.
The Israeli military has dismissed 43 soldiers for publicly criticizing the Tel Aviv regime’s crimes against Palestinians.
Press TV reports, via Al Ray, that the 43 male and female reserve soldiers, who were members of the Israeli army’s spying unit, were fired on Monday after they refused to “continue serving the system which affects the rights of millions of people.”
In a letter published by Israeli media in September of 2014, the soldiers wrote to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top army chiefs that they could no longer serve in the unit because they did not want to participate in the injustices committed against Palestinians.
The signatories also criticized the “political persecution” which their spying activities involved. The letter was reportedly written a few weeks after Israel’s devastating military offensive on the Gaza Strip, this past summer.
Press TV reports, via Al Ray, that the 43 male and female reserve soldiers, who were members of the Israeli army’s spying unit, were fired on Monday after they refused to “continue serving the system which affects the rights of millions of people.”
In a letter published by Israeli media in September of 2014, the soldiers wrote to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top army chiefs that they could no longer serve in the unit because they did not want to participate in the injustices committed against Palestinians.
The signatories also criticized the “political persecution” which their spying activities involved. The letter was reportedly written a few weeks after Israel’s devastating military offensive on the Gaza Strip, this past summer.
Occupied Golan hill the moment struck by rocket
Two rockets fired from Syria hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday, just nine days after an Israeli air strike in Syria killed several Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas and an Iranian general, Reuters reported.
According to the PNN, an Israeli military spokesman said that, after the rockets struck, the army ordered the evacuation of Israel's Mt. Hermon ski resort in the Golan Heights.
It was not immediately known who launched the projectiles. Israel's Channel 2 TV said there were no casualties and that Israeli forces returned fire.
At least 20 artillery shells were reportedly fired into Syria, by Israel, in response.
In an Israeli air strike on a Hezbollah convoy near the Golan Heights, on January 18th, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general, Mohammed Allahdadi, was killed along with a Hezbollah commander and the son of the group's late military leader, Imad Mughaniya.
Israel captured Golan from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. Numerous mortar shells and rockets have been reported to hit the region during Syria's nearly four-year-old civil war.
Israeli officials have said that some of these incidents deliberately targeted its soldiers, while others were overspill from fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Two rockets fired from Syria hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday, just nine days after an Israeli air strike in Syria killed several Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas and an Iranian general, Reuters reported.
According to the PNN, an Israeli military spokesman said that, after the rockets struck, the army ordered the evacuation of Israel's Mt. Hermon ski resort in the Golan Heights.
It was not immediately known who launched the projectiles. Israel's Channel 2 TV said there were no casualties and that Israeli forces returned fire.
At least 20 artillery shells were reportedly fired into Syria, by Israel, in response.
In an Israeli air strike on a Hezbollah convoy near the Golan Heights, on January 18th, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general, Mohammed Allahdadi, was killed along with a Hezbollah commander and the son of the group's late military leader, Imad Mughaniya.
Israel captured Golan from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. Numerous mortar shells and rockets have been reported to hit the region during Syria's nearly four-year-old civil war.
Israeli officials have said that some of these incidents deliberately targeted its soldiers, while others were overspill from fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Hebrew sources disclosed an Israeli plan to encourage 120 thousand French Jews to come and settle in West Bank settlements within the coming four years.
Israeli Minister of Immigrant Absorption, Sofa Landver, presented a plan to the Israeli government called “National Emergency Plan to Bring French Jews to Israel”.
The Hebrew sources said the plan aims to summon 120 thousands of French Jews into occupied Palestine in the next four years. For that purpose, the Israeli ministries along with organizations will work on preparing the infrastructure for French Jews absorption and integration in the Israeli work market.
A number of Israeli ministers called for bringing the Jews living in France to be housed in settlements constructed on Palestinian lands in the West Bank. They also called for expanding the settlements to fit the expected large numbers of French Jews.
Israeli Minister of Immigrant Absorption, Sofa Landver, presented a plan to the Israeli government called “National Emergency Plan to Bring French Jews to Israel”.
The Hebrew sources said the plan aims to summon 120 thousands of French Jews into occupied Palestine in the next four years. For that purpose, the Israeli ministries along with organizations will work on preparing the infrastructure for French Jews absorption and integration in the Israeli work market.
A number of Israeli ministers called for bringing the Jews living in France to be housed in settlements constructed on Palestinian lands in the West Bank. They also called for expanding the settlements to fit the expected large numbers of French Jews.
The Israeli right-wing newspaper Makor Rishon said that the Mossad and the Shin Bet intensified their intelligence activities in Europe, especially in France, to frustrate any scenario that would lead to terror attacks against Israeli targets.
In a report published last Sunday, the newspaper, which has close contacts with senior Israeli government officials, stated that the Israeli intelligence agencies took advantage of the recent attack on a Jewish grocery store in Paris and started to deploy their personnel throughout the European continent to gather information about potential dangers threatening Israel's interests there.
In addition to the Mossad (foreign intelligence) and Shin Bet (internal intelligence) spies, agents from Aman, the Israeli military intelligence directorate, would engage, for the first time, in operations in the European arena to protect Israel's interests, according to Makor Rishon.
According to other Israeli newspapers, these Israeli intelligence agencies started lately, as part of its intelligence campaign in Europe, to incite against Turkey and accuse it of colluding with jihadists.
Maariv newspaper said recently that senior Israeli intelligence officials had warned their counterparts in Europe that Turkey was the weakest link in the chain of confronting extremist jihadist groups.
Maariv also claimed that the intelligence officials told their European counterparts that Turkey did not submit reports to European countries about the movement of their citizens, who entered or tried to enter Syria through its territory.
Meanwhile, Israel has also embarked on inciting against the Muslims' rights in Europe, particularly in France.
Maariv stated in this regard that senior Israeli security figures told French officials that it would be difficult to confront Islamist militant groups if their country remained wedded to the laws that prohibit the violation of its citizens' privacies.
It expressed its belief that parts of these laws would be revoked following the recent attacks in Paris.
In a report published last Sunday, the newspaper, which has close contacts with senior Israeli government officials, stated that the Israeli intelligence agencies took advantage of the recent attack on a Jewish grocery store in Paris and started to deploy their personnel throughout the European continent to gather information about potential dangers threatening Israel's interests there.
In addition to the Mossad (foreign intelligence) and Shin Bet (internal intelligence) spies, agents from Aman, the Israeli military intelligence directorate, would engage, for the first time, in operations in the European arena to protect Israel's interests, according to Makor Rishon.
According to other Israeli newspapers, these Israeli intelligence agencies started lately, as part of its intelligence campaign in Europe, to incite against Turkey and accuse it of colluding with jihadists.
Maariv newspaper said recently that senior Israeli intelligence officials had warned their counterparts in Europe that Turkey was the weakest link in the chain of confronting extremist jihadist groups.
Maariv also claimed that the intelligence officials told their European counterparts that Turkey did not submit reports to European countries about the movement of their citizens, who entered or tried to enter Syria through its territory.
Meanwhile, Israel has also embarked on inciting against the Muslims' rights in Europe, particularly in France.
Maariv stated in this regard that senior Israeli security figures told French officials that it would be difficult to confront Islamist militant groups if their country remained wedded to the laws that prohibit the violation of its citizens' privacies.
It expressed its belief that parts of these laws would be revoked following the recent attacks in Paris.
The electoral victory of the left-wing Syriza party in Greece has aroused Israel's fears over its relations with Athens, especially after its pro-Palestinian chief Alexis Tsipras became the new prime minister of the country.
Although the Israeli government congratulated Syriza on winning the parliamentary elections, different Israeli newspapers talked about internal fears that Israel's security relations with Greece could be affected.
Israeli writer Itamar Eichner said on Yedioth Ahronoth website that Greece had helped Israel obstruct the arrival of Freedom Flotilla aid convoys to the Gaza Strip to break the blockade, but such cooperation might come to an end after Tsipras, who accused Israel of killing children during its 2014 war on Gaza, became the prime minister.
The writer added that Israel has reasons for its concern over its relations with Greece, whose radical left-wing party Syriza had organized during the last war on Gaza several protests against Israel.
During one of those protests, head of the party Alexis Tsipras, the new premier, condemned the world's silence on Israel's killing of children in Gaza as "unacceptable", and called on the world to express its solidarity with the Palestinians, Eichner noted.
Although the Israeli government congratulated Syriza on winning the parliamentary elections, different Israeli newspapers talked about internal fears that Israel's security relations with Greece could be affected.
Israeli writer Itamar Eichner said on Yedioth Ahronoth website that Greece had helped Israel obstruct the arrival of Freedom Flotilla aid convoys to the Gaza Strip to break the blockade, but such cooperation might come to an end after Tsipras, who accused Israel of killing children during its 2014 war on Gaza, became the prime minister.
The writer added that Israel has reasons for its concern over its relations with Greece, whose radical left-wing party Syriza had organized during the last war on Gaza several protests against Israel.
During one of those protests, head of the party Alexis Tsipras, the new premier, condemned the world's silence on Israel's killing of children in Gaza as "unacceptable", and called on the world to express its solidarity with the Palestinians, Eichner noted.
PLO Executive Committee member, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, slammed the Israeli occupation government’s feverish settlement drive in favor of the “Greater Israel” project, describing it “a new war crime.”
Ashrawi’s statement came on the sidelines of a meeting with a visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation, headed by Christoph Duenwald, the Mission Chief for the West Bank and Gaza, at the PLO headquarters in Ramallah.
“Such practices fall in line with a pre-planned Israeli strategy aimed at annexing the entire areas of Bethlehem and Occupied Jerusalem and completing the destruction of the territorial contiguity of the West Bank in favor of the so-called “Greater Israel” settlement project.
Ashrawi spoke out against the dire economic situation in Palestine due to Israel’s monolithic policies, particularly in the besieged Gaza Strip, where neither relief nor development is in effect as a result of the continued Israeli blockade.
She further pointed to the damage wrought on the Strip by the latest Israeli military aggression, adding that the situation has remarkably gone downhill due to the acute shortages in emergency aids and delays in dispatching the pledged rebuilding funds.
“The indifference maintained by the international community regarding Israel’s chauvinism and attempts at obstructing the Palestinian state-building process, amid an unyielding U.S. back-up, has provided the Israeli occupation with enough shields to impose facts on the ground and thwart international efforts to boost such political trajectory,” she added.
Ashrawi’s statement came on the sidelines of a meeting with a visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation, headed by Christoph Duenwald, the Mission Chief for the West Bank and Gaza, at the PLO headquarters in Ramallah.
“Such practices fall in line with a pre-planned Israeli strategy aimed at annexing the entire areas of Bethlehem and Occupied Jerusalem and completing the destruction of the territorial contiguity of the West Bank in favor of the so-called “Greater Israel” settlement project.
Ashrawi spoke out against the dire economic situation in Palestine due to Israel’s monolithic policies, particularly in the besieged Gaza Strip, where neither relief nor development is in effect as a result of the continued Israeli blockade.
She further pointed to the damage wrought on the Strip by the latest Israeli military aggression, adding that the situation has remarkably gone downhill due to the acute shortages in emergency aids and delays in dispatching the pledged rebuilding funds.
“The indifference maintained by the international community regarding Israel’s chauvinism and attempts at obstructing the Palestinian state-building process, amid an unyielding U.S. back-up, has provided the Israeli occupation with enough shields to impose facts on the ground and thwart international efforts to boost such political trajectory,” she added.
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) banned the Palestinian Minster of Public Works and Housing, Mufeed al-Hasayna, from entering the West Bank from Gaza to partake in the fifth International Energy Conference.
Minister al-Hasayna said in a press release Monday the IOA continues to block the access of Gaza Ministers into the West-Bank-headquarted ministries.
He spoke out against such deliberate bans, saying they prevent Palestinian officials from taking part in international conferences and forums and from keeping tabs on the work of the West Bank-based ministries.
The Union of Palestinian engineers invited al-Hasayna and his Jordanian counterpart to attend the International Energy Conference set to kick off Tuesday in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Minister al-Hasayna said in a press release Monday the IOA continues to block the access of Gaza Ministers into the West-Bank-headquarted ministries.
He spoke out against such deliberate bans, saying they prevent Palestinian officials from taking part in international conferences and forums and from keeping tabs on the work of the West Bank-based ministries.
The Union of Palestinian engineers invited al-Hasayna and his Jordanian counterpart to attend the International Energy Conference set to kick off Tuesday in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
26 jan 2015
A research conducted in Germany has shown on Monday that 48 percent of the German people have negative opinions toward Israel.
Most of those polled were aged between 18 and 29. The study also found out that most Germans negatively evaluate the performance of the Israeli government.
The study showed that 74% of Israelis and 61% of Germans believe that Germany bears responsibility towards Israel. Both parties though are different in matters related to how the German government should bear that responsibility.
82% of Israelis hope that Germany would support the Israeli occupation in Palestine which is refused by half of the surveyed Germans. According to the figures, most Israelis seek military support from Germany while on the contrary over half of the German people refuse that kind of support.
Most of those polled were aged between 18 and 29. The study also found out that most Germans negatively evaluate the performance of the Israeli government.
The study showed that 74% of Israelis and 61% of Germans believe that Germany bears responsibility towards Israel. Both parties though are different in matters related to how the German government should bear that responsibility.
82% of Israelis hope that Germany would support the Israeli occupation in Palestine which is refused by half of the surveyed Germans. According to the figures, most Israelis seek military support from Germany while on the contrary over half of the German people refuse that kind of support.
Sheikh Ikrema Sabri, head of the Supreme Islamic Council in Jerusalem, denounced Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s order to Yisrael Beytenu party activists to buy thousands of copies of the latest issue of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo which has lately published cartoons offensive to Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
Sheikh Sabri told the PIC on Monday this order is challenging and provocative to Muslims’ feelings. “Offending any prophet will certainly offend all of the other prophets whom we respect”, he said.
Lieberman order came after a letter sent by the Arab MP Masoud Ghanayim in the Israeli Knesset to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning him of distributing the offensive issue of the French magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Sheikh Sabri told the PIC on Monday this order is challenging and provocative to Muslims’ feelings. “Offending any prophet will certainly offend all of the other prophets whom we respect”, he said.
Lieberman order came after a letter sent by the Arab MP Masoud Ghanayim in the Israeli Knesset to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning him of distributing the offensive issue of the French magazine Charlie Hebdo.