12 apr 2014
Right-wing Israeli political parties have begun a campaign to sue president Abbas for "war crimes" at the International Criminal Court in response to the Palestinian Authority's recent decision to join international conventions and treaties.
The campaign comes amid a near breakdown in ongoing peace negotiations between Israel and the PLO, and seeks to file legal procedures against Abbas accusing him of supporting "terrorism" and aiding to terrorist organizations.
Beginning on Friday, Israeli newspapers and websites have published advertisements calling on Israeli lawyers to join the campaign led by the Israel Law Center to sue Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on charges of supporting terrorist organizations.
One of the prominent leaders of the campaign is chairman of the Jewish Home party Naftali Bennett, who has been a vocal critic of peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
An ad in the Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth features president Abbas behind bars with a phrase in Arabic reading, "We will terrorize him in The Hague."
Palestinian officials, however, have downplayed the move, pointing out that Israel cannot pursue legal action at the international court due to its own failure to sign the treaties.
Palestinian minister of justice Ali Muhanna told Ma'an that the Israeli government had "lost balance both politically and legally."
Their response, he said, reflects the degree of rage in Israel towards the PA for attempting to join international conventions.
Muhanna confirmed that Israel "cannot engage in any legal action at the ICC because Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court."
"Such legal proceedings are submitted through the ICC's Attorney General or through the UN Security Council."
"Abbas' move isn't a war crime. But the ongoing Israeli settlement construction, confiscation of Palestinian money, killing and detention of children are war crimes," he added.
The campaign comes amid a growing crisis in peace negotiations between Israel and the PLO.
Palestinian officials applied to join 15 international conventions last week after Israel failed to release a fourth batch of veteran prisoners as previously agreed upon.
The move angered Israeli authorities, who have since called for an end to coordination with the Palestinian Authority.
Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians were relaunched in July under the auspices of the US after nearly three years of impasse.
Israel's government has announced the construction of thousands of settler housing units and its army has killed 60 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza since the negotiations began.
The campaign comes amid a near breakdown in ongoing peace negotiations between Israel and the PLO, and seeks to file legal procedures against Abbas accusing him of supporting "terrorism" and aiding to terrorist organizations.
Beginning on Friday, Israeli newspapers and websites have published advertisements calling on Israeli lawyers to join the campaign led by the Israel Law Center to sue Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on charges of supporting terrorist organizations.
One of the prominent leaders of the campaign is chairman of the Jewish Home party Naftali Bennett, who has been a vocal critic of peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
An ad in the Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth features president Abbas behind bars with a phrase in Arabic reading, "We will terrorize him in The Hague."
Palestinian officials, however, have downplayed the move, pointing out that Israel cannot pursue legal action at the international court due to its own failure to sign the treaties.
Palestinian minister of justice Ali Muhanna told Ma'an that the Israeli government had "lost balance both politically and legally."
Their response, he said, reflects the degree of rage in Israel towards the PA for attempting to join international conventions.
Muhanna confirmed that Israel "cannot engage in any legal action at the ICC because Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court."
"Such legal proceedings are submitted through the ICC's Attorney General or through the UN Security Council."
"Abbas' move isn't a war crime. But the ongoing Israeli settlement construction, confiscation of Palestinian money, killing and detention of children are war crimes," he added.
The campaign comes amid a growing crisis in peace negotiations between Israel and the PLO.
Palestinian officials applied to join 15 international conventions last week after Israel failed to release a fourth batch of veteran prisoners as previously agreed upon.
The move angered Israeli authorities, who have since called for an end to coordination with the Palestinian Authority.
Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians were relaunched in July under the auspices of the US after nearly three years of impasse.
Israel's government has announced the construction of thousands of settler housing units and its army has killed 60 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza since the negotiations began.
9 apr 2014
Tahsin al-Saqqa, director of marketing department in the ministry of Agriculture in Gaza, denied what the West Australian paper reported about banning the exporting of Australian live cattle to Gaza under the pretext of " mistreating ". Al-Saqqa said to ALRAY Wednesday "the information that published on the west Australian newspaper about stopping exporting a ship with 10,000 at Fremantle because cattle mistreating in Gaza is not true".
AlSaqqa made clear that Gaza buys the Australian cattle from the Israeli occupation, explaining that a footage of Israeli company's worker released showing them while shocking the cattle with electricity in order to kill them.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in Australia revealed that it had not approved consignments of cattle for Gaza since November when it began investigating allegations raised in the Israeli media.
Logistics Support System in Australia said ,"the release of nine cattle from the supply chain was "unacceptable" and it suspended exports to the Gaza facility" , andt abused cattle could be identified by their ear tags.
The allegations are serious and information obtained during the investigation is considered when assessing any application from any exporter to send livestock to Gaza," A Department of Agriculture spokesman said.
Recently, all exporters to Israel should react with additional conditions to ensure livestock are unloaded in accordance with international animal welfare standards.
AlSaqqa made clear that Gaza buys the Australian cattle from the Israeli occupation, explaining that a footage of Israeli company's worker released showing them while shocking the cattle with electricity in order to kill them.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in Australia revealed that it had not approved consignments of cattle for Gaza since November when it began investigating allegations raised in the Israeli media.
Logistics Support System in Australia said ,"the release of nine cattle from the supply chain was "unacceptable" and it suspended exports to the Gaza facility" , andt abused cattle could be identified by their ear tags.
The allegations are serious and information obtained during the investigation is considered when assessing any application from any exporter to send livestock to Gaza," A Department of Agriculture spokesman said.
Recently, all exporters to Israel should react with additional conditions to ensure livestock are unloaded in accordance with international animal welfare standards.
7 apr 2014
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says that “if we do not resolve the issues between Palestinians and Israelis, if we do not find a way to find peace, there will be an increasing isolation of Israel.”
However, a thorough examination of Israel’s international standing reveals an increasingly splendid integration of the Jewish state — economically, technologically and scientifically — irrespective of the Palestinian issue.
Contrary to the Kerry school of thought, and based on a reality check, the Palestinian issue has never been a core cause shaping the Middle East, a crown jewel of Arab policymakers and the crux of Israel’s relations with the Arab countries and the international community. While the diplomatic talk highlights the Palestinian issue, the diplomatic, commercial and industrial walk reveals that policy-makers and the international business community do not embrace Kerry’s “Palestine First” assessment and his “Isolation Warning/Threat.”
Thus, the Turkish Statistics Institute documented an expansion of the Turkey-Israel trade balance, despite the brutal anti-Israel ideology of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The institute reports a 56 percent export increase, to Israel, during the first five months of 2013, compared with the same period in 2012, while imports from Israel increased by 22% during the same period. The Israel-Turkey trade balance was $3.4 billion in 2008, rising to $4 billion in 2012. Turkey’s requirements in the areas of industry, medicine, health, agriculture, irrigation, education, science, technology and defense — and Israel’s unique innovations in these areas — have prevailed over Erdogan’s anti-Western, anti-Israel, and pro-Hamas Islamist orientation.
The London Financial Times reported that “in six hours of [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's] talks with the Chinese leadership, they spent roughly 10 seconds on the Palestinian issue, while revealing an unquenchable thirst for Israeli technology.”
Highlighting Israel’s intensified and diversified global integration, the China-Israel 2013 trade balance exceeded $10 billion, providing a tailwind to the currently negotiated free-trade agreement, and inspired by Chinese investments in some 50 Israeli high-tech companies. The Japan Times reported a growing Japanese interest in Israeli business opportunities, tripling the number of reviews of Israeli companies.
Moreover, foreign investments in Israel soared in 2013 to a seven-year high of $12 billion, including $4 billion in acquisitions of Israeli companies by global giants such as Google, IBM, Cisco, AOL, Facebook, Apple and EMC. Furthermore, since January, Israeli companies have raised over $500 million on Wall Street, and Deloitte Touche, one of the world’s top CPA firms, crowned Israel as the fourth most attractive site for foreign investors, behind the U.S., China and Brazil.
According to the British Economist Intelligence Unit, “Israel’s cluster of high-tech companies, investors and incubators is enjoying a boom which has not been witnessed since the global tech bubble burst more than a decade ago.” Neither Kazakhstan’s billionaire Kenges Rakishev, nor Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim allowed the “Isolation Warning/Threat” to stop their flow of investments in Israel’s high-tech sector.
In fact, Israel, the “Start-Up Nation,” has become a critical Pipeline Nation which transfers to the American high-tech industry a plethora of cutting edge technologies and applications developed by Israeli brain power, providing some 200 U.S. high-tech giants with an edge over their global competitors and contributing to U.S. employment, research and development and exports. As stated by Microsoft’s new CEO, Satya Nadella: “The two Microsoft research and development centers in Israel constitute a strategic factor, enhancing Microsoft’s capabilities in many areas.”
This was echoed by Google’s Chairman, Eric Schmidt, who invests in Israel also through his private venture capital fund, Innovation Endeavors: “Israel will have an oversized impact on the evolution of the next stage of technology. Israel has become a high-tech hub. Israel is the most important high-tech center in the world after the U.S.”
Unlike Secretary of State John Kerry, businessman Warren Buffett does have confidence in Israel’s long-term viability, realizing that Israel’s economic and technological capabilities are the derivatives of Israel’s brainpower and fiscal responsibility (since 1985), independent of the Palestinian issue.
Hence, on the eve of Israel’s 2006 war against Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Buffett invested $4 billion in an Israeli company, located next to the Lebanese border, recently expanding that investment by $2 billion. Buffett followed in the footsteps of Intel, which has invested $11 billion in its four research and development centers and two manufacturing plants in Israel; IBM, which just acquired its 13th Israeli company; Motorola, which established in Israel a research center second only to its Houston center; Hewlett-Packard, which owes 55% of its 2012-2013 development to its seven Israeli research and development centers; and the leading Silicon Valley venture capital funds, Sequoia, Benchmark, Greylock and Accel, which operate successful Israel-dedicated funds.
Astute observers of the Middle East — who do not subordinate reality to their wishful thinking — are aware that the Arab tsunami is not an Arab Spring; that the Arab street in general, and Egypt in particular, are not transitioning towards democracy; that Iran is committed to the pursuit of military nuclear capabilities; that Syrian President Bashar Assad has not been forsaken by Russia and Iran; and that Arab leaders are apprehensive of Palestinian subversion and terrorism.
Likewise, astute investors have realized that the ongoing wars and terrorism that have beset Israel since 1948 have been but bumps on the road of Israel’s unprecedented surge and integration into the global economy and technology, bolstered by Israel’s Leviathan-size offshore natural gas explorations.
This article was originally published by Israel Hayom
However, a thorough examination of Israel’s international standing reveals an increasingly splendid integration of the Jewish state — economically, technologically and scientifically — irrespective of the Palestinian issue.
Contrary to the Kerry school of thought, and based on a reality check, the Palestinian issue has never been a core cause shaping the Middle East, a crown jewel of Arab policymakers and the crux of Israel’s relations with the Arab countries and the international community. While the diplomatic talk highlights the Palestinian issue, the diplomatic, commercial and industrial walk reveals that policy-makers and the international business community do not embrace Kerry’s “Palestine First” assessment and his “Isolation Warning/Threat.”
Thus, the Turkish Statistics Institute documented an expansion of the Turkey-Israel trade balance, despite the brutal anti-Israel ideology of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The institute reports a 56 percent export increase, to Israel, during the first five months of 2013, compared with the same period in 2012, while imports from Israel increased by 22% during the same period. The Israel-Turkey trade balance was $3.4 billion in 2008, rising to $4 billion in 2012. Turkey’s requirements in the areas of industry, medicine, health, agriculture, irrigation, education, science, technology and defense — and Israel’s unique innovations in these areas — have prevailed over Erdogan’s anti-Western, anti-Israel, and pro-Hamas Islamist orientation.
The London Financial Times reported that “in six hours of [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's] talks with the Chinese leadership, they spent roughly 10 seconds on the Palestinian issue, while revealing an unquenchable thirst for Israeli technology.”
Highlighting Israel’s intensified and diversified global integration, the China-Israel 2013 trade balance exceeded $10 billion, providing a tailwind to the currently negotiated free-trade agreement, and inspired by Chinese investments in some 50 Israeli high-tech companies. The Japan Times reported a growing Japanese interest in Israeli business opportunities, tripling the number of reviews of Israeli companies.
Moreover, foreign investments in Israel soared in 2013 to a seven-year high of $12 billion, including $4 billion in acquisitions of Israeli companies by global giants such as Google, IBM, Cisco, AOL, Facebook, Apple and EMC. Furthermore, since January, Israeli companies have raised over $500 million on Wall Street, and Deloitte Touche, one of the world’s top CPA firms, crowned Israel as the fourth most attractive site for foreign investors, behind the U.S., China and Brazil.
According to the British Economist Intelligence Unit, “Israel’s cluster of high-tech companies, investors and incubators is enjoying a boom which has not been witnessed since the global tech bubble burst more than a decade ago.” Neither Kazakhstan’s billionaire Kenges Rakishev, nor Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim allowed the “Isolation Warning/Threat” to stop their flow of investments in Israel’s high-tech sector.
In fact, Israel, the “Start-Up Nation,” has become a critical Pipeline Nation which transfers to the American high-tech industry a plethora of cutting edge technologies and applications developed by Israeli brain power, providing some 200 U.S. high-tech giants with an edge over their global competitors and contributing to U.S. employment, research and development and exports. As stated by Microsoft’s new CEO, Satya Nadella: “The two Microsoft research and development centers in Israel constitute a strategic factor, enhancing Microsoft’s capabilities in many areas.”
This was echoed by Google’s Chairman, Eric Schmidt, who invests in Israel also through his private venture capital fund, Innovation Endeavors: “Israel will have an oversized impact on the evolution of the next stage of technology. Israel has become a high-tech hub. Israel is the most important high-tech center in the world after the U.S.”
Unlike Secretary of State John Kerry, businessman Warren Buffett does have confidence in Israel’s long-term viability, realizing that Israel’s economic and technological capabilities are the derivatives of Israel’s brainpower and fiscal responsibility (since 1985), independent of the Palestinian issue.
Hence, on the eve of Israel’s 2006 war against Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Buffett invested $4 billion in an Israeli company, located next to the Lebanese border, recently expanding that investment by $2 billion. Buffett followed in the footsteps of Intel, which has invested $11 billion in its four research and development centers and two manufacturing plants in Israel; IBM, which just acquired its 13th Israeli company; Motorola, which established in Israel a research center second only to its Houston center; Hewlett-Packard, which owes 55% of its 2012-2013 development to its seven Israeli research and development centers; and the leading Silicon Valley venture capital funds, Sequoia, Benchmark, Greylock and Accel, which operate successful Israel-dedicated funds.
Astute observers of the Middle East — who do not subordinate reality to their wishful thinking — are aware that the Arab tsunami is not an Arab Spring; that the Arab street in general, and Egypt in particular, are not transitioning towards democracy; that Iran is committed to the pursuit of military nuclear capabilities; that Syrian President Bashar Assad has not been forsaken by Russia and Iran; and that Arab leaders are apprehensive of Palestinian subversion and terrorism.
Likewise, astute investors have realized that the ongoing wars and terrorism that have beset Israel since 1948 have been but bumps on the road of Israel’s unprecedented surge and integration into the global economy and technology, bolstered by Israel’s Leviathan-size offshore natural gas explorations.
This article was originally published by Israel Hayom
6 apr 2014
The Palestinian Authority ministry of telecommunications and information technology is preparing to file a complaint at the International Telecommunication Union against Israel's recent decision to impose sanctions on Palestinian cell phone services, a ministry official said.
The announcement came after Israel said it would impose sanctions on the Palestinian Authority after the Palestinians submitted letters of accession to 15 international conventions and treaties.
Undersecretary of the ministry Sulaiman Zuheri told Ma'an that Israeli sanctions will "thwart" the US secretary of state John Kerry's plans to develop the Palestinian economy, of which telecommunications is a major component.
Among proposed Israeli sanctions on Palestinian telecommunications are further impediments to the transfer of equipment into the Gaza Strip as well as the continued denial of 3G internet services to Palestinian providers. Israel has long refused Palestinian requests to allow providers to operate 3G services, but had given signs recently that it might relent.
Palestinian mobile service provider al-Wataniya Mobile has been denied access to the Gaza Strip by Israel since 2009, when it began providing services in the West Bank.
Following recent pressure by US secretary of state John Kerry, however, Israel had agreed to allow the entry of telecommunications equipment that had been waiting more than three years for Israeli approval, Zuheri said.
The ministry plans to take the issue of further Israeli sanctions on Palestinian telecommunications to the International Telecommunication Union, the UN agency responsible for global information technology.
The move comes amid a wider breakdown in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that followed Israel's refusal to release the fourth batch of veteran Palestinian prisoners as promised as part of a trust-building measure to restart US-backed peace talks.
Following Israel's failure to release the group of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails since before the 1993 Oslo Accords, Palestinian officials announced that they had submitted letters of accession to 15 international treaties and conventions.
Israeli officials denounced the move, with Israeli minister of tourism Uzi Landau warning that the PA would pay a "heavy price" if they went to UN institutions to pursue their complaints against Israel.
Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians were relaunched in July under the auspices of the United States after nearly three years of impasse, but over the course of the talks Israel has announced plans to build thousands of homes in illegal settlements across the West Bank, angering Palestinian and US officials.
Israeli officials now fear that the Palestinian Authority may attempt to appeal to international bodies against Israeli policies.
The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.
The announcement came after Israel said it would impose sanctions on the Palestinian Authority after the Palestinians submitted letters of accession to 15 international conventions and treaties.
Undersecretary of the ministry Sulaiman Zuheri told Ma'an that Israeli sanctions will "thwart" the US secretary of state John Kerry's plans to develop the Palestinian economy, of which telecommunications is a major component.
Among proposed Israeli sanctions on Palestinian telecommunications are further impediments to the transfer of equipment into the Gaza Strip as well as the continued denial of 3G internet services to Palestinian providers. Israel has long refused Palestinian requests to allow providers to operate 3G services, but had given signs recently that it might relent.
Palestinian mobile service provider al-Wataniya Mobile has been denied access to the Gaza Strip by Israel since 2009, when it began providing services in the West Bank.
Following recent pressure by US secretary of state John Kerry, however, Israel had agreed to allow the entry of telecommunications equipment that had been waiting more than three years for Israeli approval, Zuheri said.
The ministry plans to take the issue of further Israeli sanctions on Palestinian telecommunications to the International Telecommunication Union, the UN agency responsible for global information technology.
The move comes amid a wider breakdown in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that followed Israel's refusal to release the fourth batch of veteran Palestinian prisoners as promised as part of a trust-building measure to restart US-backed peace talks.
Following Israel's failure to release the group of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails since before the 1993 Oslo Accords, Palestinian officials announced that they had submitted letters of accession to 15 international treaties and conventions.
Israeli officials denounced the move, with Israeli minister of tourism Uzi Landau warning that the PA would pay a "heavy price" if they went to UN institutions to pursue their complaints against Israel.
Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians were relaunched in July under the auspices of the United States after nearly three years of impasse, but over the course of the talks Israel has announced plans to build thousands of homes in illegal settlements across the West Bank, angering Palestinian and US officials.
Israeli officials now fear that the Palestinian Authority may attempt to appeal to international bodies against Israeli policies.
The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.
4 apr 2014
The extremist government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to “punish” the Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas for filing a formal application to join 15 UN conventions, by imposing a series of measures and restrictions. Israeli daily Haaretz has reported that Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni stated during what was described as tensed meeting between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, that “Israel will not implement the release of the fourth phase of veteran political prisoners.”
Livni threatened that, unless the Palestinians void their application to join the UN organizations, Israel will not release any Palestinian detainee.
Haaretz said that the Israeli government also decided to impose a series of punitive measures against the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
It said Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon instructed the coordinator of “Government Activities” in the occupied territories, Major General Yoav Mordechai “to prepare a list of all possible measures” to punish the Palestinians.
One of the measures is to suspend a permit to the “Wataniya” Palestinian wireless provider, operating in the West Bank, and to prevent it from bringing its equipment to the Gaza Strip where it intends to provide services.
On Thursday, United States Secretary General John Kerry allegedly tried to get Netanyahu to have restraint in order to avoid a “total collapse of peace talks”, yet, when he made public statements, he urged both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to act on saving the peace process.
Haaretz said that an Israeli-Palestinian and American talks session started on Wednesday evening around 7:30 in the evening, and continued until 4 at dawn on Thursday, but yielded no positive outcome.
Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and Netanyahu’s special envoy Yitzhak Molho, represented the Israeli side, while chief negotiator Dr. Saeb Erekat and Palestinian Intelligence Chief Majid Faraj represented the Palestinian side.
U.S. Special Envoy Martin Indyk supervised the meeting and tried to moderate it, but it ended with complete failure following a very stormy session filled with what Haaretz described as “threats and accusations”.
On Thursday, the White House said the Israeli decision to void the release of the fourth phase of veteran Palestinian detainees “poses more difficulties in achieving peace”.
The detainees were supposed to be released by the end of last Month, but Israel delayed the release and decided to void it.
Livni told Erekat that Israel will not release the 26 veteran detainees because the Palestinian Authority filed an application to join 15 UN and international agreements and treaties.
The United States said it “would continue its efforts” to ensure the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians despite the current impasse.
Israel's government has announced the construction of thousands of settler housing units and its army has killed 60 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza since the negotiations were resumed last year.
Hundreds of Palestinians were kidnapped, and hundreds were injured.
On Tuesday, at dawn, [December 31, 2013] Israel released 26 veteran Palestinian detainees, as part of the third phase of releasing all detained Palestinians held since before the first Oslo peace agreement in 1993.
During the first and second phases, Israel released, back in mid-August, 26 veteran detainees (14 from Gaza and 12 from the West bank) and, in late October, it released 26 veteran detainees (21 from Gaza and 5 from the West Bank).
The fourth and final stage of releasing veteran detainees was supposed to be implemented on March 28, 2014, but Israel decided not to let them go. In total 104 veteran detainees were supposed to be freed by March 28.
Israel holds more than 5,000 Palestinians in its prisons, most of them on security grounds. Around 150 of these are held under administrative detention, without charge or trial, and another 150 are minors.
Approximately 84% of the detainees are from the West Bank; all detainees are held in 17 prisons, detention and interrogation centers, including Nafha prison, the Negev Detention Camp, Be’er As-Sabe’ prison, Hadarim prison, Asqalan Prison, Ha-Sharon Prison, Ofer Prison, Majiddo Prison, Galboa’ Prison and Shatta Prison.
In a report published on April 1, 2014, the Ahrar Center for Detainees Studies and Human Rights has reported that Israeli soldiers have killed twelve Palestinians since the beginning of this year, kidnapped 364 in March, and 1059 since January first.
Related
Ahrar: “12 Killed In First Quarter Of 2014, 1059 Kidnapped”
Wednesday April 02, 2014 08:41
Livni threatened that, unless the Palestinians void their application to join the UN organizations, Israel will not release any Palestinian detainee.
Haaretz said that the Israeli government also decided to impose a series of punitive measures against the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
It said Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon instructed the coordinator of “Government Activities” in the occupied territories, Major General Yoav Mordechai “to prepare a list of all possible measures” to punish the Palestinians.
One of the measures is to suspend a permit to the “Wataniya” Palestinian wireless provider, operating in the West Bank, and to prevent it from bringing its equipment to the Gaza Strip where it intends to provide services.
On Thursday, United States Secretary General John Kerry allegedly tried to get Netanyahu to have restraint in order to avoid a “total collapse of peace talks”, yet, when he made public statements, he urged both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to act on saving the peace process.
Haaretz said that an Israeli-Palestinian and American talks session started on Wednesday evening around 7:30 in the evening, and continued until 4 at dawn on Thursday, but yielded no positive outcome.
Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and Netanyahu’s special envoy Yitzhak Molho, represented the Israeli side, while chief negotiator Dr. Saeb Erekat and Palestinian Intelligence Chief Majid Faraj represented the Palestinian side.
U.S. Special Envoy Martin Indyk supervised the meeting and tried to moderate it, but it ended with complete failure following a very stormy session filled with what Haaretz described as “threats and accusations”.
On Thursday, the White House said the Israeli decision to void the release of the fourth phase of veteran Palestinian detainees “poses more difficulties in achieving peace”.
The detainees were supposed to be released by the end of last Month, but Israel delayed the release and decided to void it.
Livni told Erekat that Israel will not release the 26 veteran detainees because the Palestinian Authority filed an application to join 15 UN and international agreements and treaties.
The United States said it “would continue its efforts” to ensure the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians despite the current impasse.
Israel's government has announced the construction of thousands of settler housing units and its army has killed 60 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza since the negotiations were resumed last year.
Hundreds of Palestinians were kidnapped, and hundreds were injured.
On Tuesday, at dawn, [December 31, 2013] Israel released 26 veteran Palestinian detainees, as part of the third phase of releasing all detained Palestinians held since before the first Oslo peace agreement in 1993.
During the first and second phases, Israel released, back in mid-August, 26 veteran detainees (14 from Gaza and 12 from the West bank) and, in late October, it released 26 veteran detainees (21 from Gaza and 5 from the West Bank).
The fourth and final stage of releasing veteran detainees was supposed to be implemented on March 28, 2014, but Israel decided not to let them go. In total 104 veteran detainees were supposed to be freed by March 28.
Israel holds more than 5,000 Palestinians in its prisons, most of them on security grounds. Around 150 of these are held under administrative detention, without charge or trial, and another 150 are minors.
Approximately 84% of the detainees are from the West Bank; all detainees are held in 17 prisons, detention and interrogation centers, including Nafha prison, the Negev Detention Camp, Be’er As-Sabe’ prison, Hadarim prison, Asqalan Prison, Ha-Sharon Prison, Ofer Prison, Majiddo Prison, Galboa’ Prison and Shatta Prison.
In a report published on April 1, 2014, the Ahrar Center for Detainees Studies and Human Rights has reported that Israeli soldiers have killed twelve Palestinians since the beginning of this year, kidnapped 364 in March, and 1059 since January first.
Related
Ahrar: “12 Killed In First Quarter Of 2014, 1059 Kidnapped”
Wednesday April 02, 2014 08:41
3 apr 2014
Israeli police said Wednesday that an unmanned drone crashed while flying above Nablus on Wednesday night.
Officials added that the Israeli army will investigate the crash to determine what caused it.
Officials added that the Israeli army will investigate the crash to determine what caused it.
The Bethlehem marathon will host hundreds of runners from around the world in the ancient West Bank city next Friday, with one omission: The Palestinian Authority's top runner, who happens to reside in the Gaza Strip.
Nader al-Masri, 34, with 14 years of running under his belt, was the only athlete to represent the Palestinian Authority in the 2008 Beijing Olympics . The next year, he took part in a competition in Bahrain. But this time, Israel is refusing to let him out of the Hamas-controlled enclave and into the West Bank.
Al-Masri is set to petition the Supreme Court on Thursday, demanding the state reverse its decision and let him participate in the competition.
"I don't have any security background or anything. I'm an athlete, I represent my country, go out, come back, and that's it," al-Masri told Army Radio. "I'm 34. I only have two, three more years before I retire," he added.
Gisha, a human rights group which will file the petition on al-Masri's behalf, say Israel's denial of his request was issued on a whim, without justification, and claim the state abused its power.
The state says it made its decision based on the fact that al-Masri does not fall under any criteria granting exit from the Gaza Strip, Army Radio reported.
Source: Haaretz
Nader al-Masri, 34, with 14 years of running under his belt, was the only athlete to represent the Palestinian Authority in the 2008 Beijing Olympics . The next year, he took part in a competition in Bahrain. But this time, Israel is refusing to let him out of the Hamas-controlled enclave and into the West Bank.
Al-Masri is set to petition the Supreme Court on Thursday, demanding the state reverse its decision and let him participate in the competition.
"I don't have any security background or anything. I'm an athlete, I represent my country, go out, come back, and that's it," al-Masri told Army Radio. "I'm 34. I only have two, three more years before I retire," he added.
Gisha, a human rights group which will file the petition on al-Masri's behalf, say Israel's denial of his request was issued on a whim, without justification, and claim the state abused its power.
The state says it made its decision based on the fact that al-Masri does not fall under any criteria granting exit from the Gaza Strip, Army Radio reported.
Source: Haaretz
1 apr 2014
Last week, Israel found itself isolated and condemned in Geneva, as the United Nations Human Rights Council passed four damning resolutions, each by 46-1. The resolutions testify to grave violations of international law, including the Geneva Conventions, as well as systematic discrimination and wide-scale human rights abuses.
Settlements, whose illegality is confirmed in the resolutions, are described as entailing "the confiscation of land, the forced displacement of Palestinian civilians, including Bedouin families, the exploitation of natural resources and other actions against the Palestinian civilian population".
The resolutions also cite "the continuing demolition of Palestinian homes and eviction of Palestinian families from [East Jerusalem]", "the destruction of orchards and crops", the "expulsion of Palestinians", a "two-tier legal system", and a "discriminatory allocation of water resources".
Importantly, the UNHRC's resolutions contextualise the litany of abuses as part of a "systematic violation" of Palestinians' human rights". Israeli policies "discriminate against" an occupied people, while settlers are afforded "preferential treatment over the Palestinian population in terms of access to roads, infrastructure, land, property, housing, natural resources and judicial mechanisms".
And who condemned Israeli policies in these terms? 46 of 47 members of the UN Human Rights Council - everyone, in other words, bar the USA. What's noteworthy about this consensus (Washington aside) is that it included nine European Union member states: Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Romania, and the UK.
Even before the vote, Italy's representative Maurizio Enrico Serra told the council that the EU supports the motions and member states would be voting accordingly. This united stance by European members of the Council was lamented by Israeli officials, and well they might - for it undermines a key part of the propaganda campaign against the UNHRC.
Netanyahu, and others like UN Watch, typically lambast the Council as a hypocritical body dominated by serial human rights abusers - yet for the votes of 9 EU member states they have no rejoinder. These are the countries who Israel has looked to in the UN for a so-called "quality minority" of support. Last week in Geneva, Israel's 'quality minority' consisted solely of the US delegation - while on the other side were countries from Europe, South America, Africa and Asia.
Another accusation levelled at the UNHRC by Israeli officials and Zionist lobby groups is that the body is, in the words of American Jewish Committee head David Harris, obsessed with "singling out" Israel. Netanyahu complained that while human rights abuses afflict the region, Israel is condemned "for closing off a balcony" (a reference to settlement construction).
Yet the claim is disingenuous. During its 25th session, the UNHRC passed 42 resolutions - five of which pertained to Israel. A whole host of issues came under the spotlight: Syria, torture, Burma, violence against children, Libya, South Sudan, Mali, drones, sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Guinea, and more.
As a senior Amnesty campaigner drily put it, "Netanyahu wants the UN to condemn every single human rights violation in the world before he ignores them on Israel's abuses".
The UNHRC also decided to launch an investigation into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka. In response, the country's president Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed that the resolution "hurts our reconciliation efforts", while Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ravinatha Aryasinha, slammed the resolution as "partisan".
Compare this to remarks made by World Jewish Congress CEO Robert Singer, who described UNHRC resolutions on Israel as "one-sided" and "harmful to the peace process". Israel and its lobbyists are in awkward company.
46 countries, including nine EU member states, have endorsed four resolutions that describe Israel as a persistent violator of international law and guilty of systematic discrimination. This is, in other words, reflective of the EU's understanding of what is happening on the ground.
Holding Europe back from taking punitive measures against such a reality is Kerry's peace process. With the talks in deep trouble, last week's resolutions augur something more serious for Israel than yet more condemnation in an international forum.
(Middle East Monitor)
Settlements, whose illegality is confirmed in the resolutions, are described as entailing "the confiscation of land, the forced displacement of Palestinian civilians, including Bedouin families, the exploitation of natural resources and other actions against the Palestinian civilian population".
The resolutions also cite "the continuing demolition of Palestinian homes and eviction of Palestinian families from [East Jerusalem]", "the destruction of orchards and crops", the "expulsion of Palestinians", a "two-tier legal system", and a "discriminatory allocation of water resources".
Importantly, the UNHRC's resolutions contextualise the litany of abuses as part of a "systematic violation" of Palestinians' human rights". Israeli policies "discriminate against" an occupied people, while settlers are afforded "preferential treatment over the Palestinian population in terms of access to roads, infrastructure, land, property, housing, natural resources and judicial mechanisms".
And who condemned Israeli policies in these terms? 46 of 47 members of the UN Human Rights Council - everyone, in other words, bar the USA. What's noteworthy about this consensus (Washington aside) is that it included nine European Union member states: Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Romania, and the UK.
Even before the vote, Italy's representative Maurizio Enrico Serra told the council that the EU supports the motions and member states would be voting accordingly. This united stance by European members of the Council was lamented by Israeli officials, and well they might - for it undermines a key part of the propaganda campaign against the UNHRC.
Netanyahu, and others like UN Watch, typically lambast the Council as a hypocritical body dominated by serial human rights abusers - yet for the votes of 9 EU member states they have no rejoinder. These are the countries who Israel has looked to in the UN for a so-called "quality minority" of support. Last week in Geneva, Israel's 'quality minority' consisted solely of the US delegation - while on the other side were countries from Europe, South America, Africa and Asia.
Another accusation levelled at the UNHRC by Israeli officials and Zionist lobby groups is that the body is, in the words of American Jewish Committee head David Harris, obsessed with "singling out" Israel. Netanyahu complained that while human rights abuses afflict the region, Israel is condemned "for closing off a balcony" (a reference to settlement construction).
Yet the claim is disingenuous. During its 25th session, the UNHRC passed 42 resolutions - five of which pertained to Israel. A whole host of issues came under the spotlight: Syria, torture, Burma, violence against children, Libya, South Sudan, Mali, drones, sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Guinea, and more.
As a senior Amnesty campaigner drily put it, "Netanyahu wants the UN to condemn every single human rights violation in the world before he ignores them on Israel's abuses".
The UNHRC also decided to launch an investigation into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka. In response, the country's president Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed that the resolution "hurts our reconciliation efforts", while Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ravinatha Aryasinha, slammed the resolution as "partisan".
Compare this to remarks made by World Jewish Congress CEO Robert Singer, who described UNHRC resolutions on Israel as "one-sided" and "harmful to the peace process". Israel and its lobbyists are in awkward company.
46 countries, including nine EU member states, have endorsed four resolutions that describe Israel as a persistent violator of international law and guilty of systematic discrimination. This is, in other words, reflective of the EU's understanding of what is happening on the ground.
Holding Europe back from taking punitive measures against such a reality is Kerry's peace process. With the talks in deep trouble, last week's resolutions augur something more serious for Israel than yet more condemnation in an international forum.
(Middle East Monitor)