18 mar 2017
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Rima Khalaf, the Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), resigned on Friday after the UN secretary general António Guterres asked her to withdraw a report condemning the Israeli occupation and accusing it of imposing an apartheid regime against the Palestinian people.
Khalaf's resignation constitutes an international document pointing to the pressures and threats imposed on the United Nations by countries of strong power and influence and governments that disregard human rights.
Khalaf revealed that she was ordered to withdraw two reports issued by the ESCWA not because of their content but because of the political pressures practiced by countries accountable for blatant violations of human rights in the region.
The resignation text of the ESCWA Executive Secretary
Mr. Secretary General,
I have thought carefully about the letter you sent me by your office manager. I assure you that I did not, for a second, question your right of issuing your instructions to withdraw the report from ESCWA's website, and I believe that we, as employees at the General Secretariat of the United Nations, should implement the instructions of the Secretary General. I know for sure your compliance with human rights principles in general and your position on the Palestinian people's rights in particular. I understand your worries in these difficult days which do not leave us many choices.
It was expected, naturally, that Israel and its allies would practice immense pressure on you to distance yourself from the report entitled "Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid" and to ask for it to be withdrawn. I do not find it surprising that such member states that have governments with little regard for international norms and values of human rights, will resort to intimidation when they find it hard to defend their unlawful policies and practices. It is only normal for criminals to pressure and attack those who advocate the cause of their victims, but I cannot be subjected to these pressures.
Not as a UN employee, but as a normal human being, I believe in all noble humanitarian principles which the UN embraces. Like you, I also believe that discrimination against any person on the basis of religion, color, sex or race is unacceptable, and it cannot be acceptable by force and political pressures.
For two months I have been receiving instructions to withdraw two reports published by the ESCWA not because of the presence of any defect in the content, and not because you do not agree with the content, but because of the political pressures practiced by countries responsible for blatant violations of human rights.
Bearing in mind all the above, I cannot but insist on the conclusions of the ESCWA report that Israel has established an apartheid regime. The report provides irrefutable evidence, and it is my duty not to conceal a clear crime. The painful truth is that the apartheid regime continues to exist in the twenty-first century. This cannot be acceptable in any law, and cannot be morally justified in any way.
After a careful consideration of the matter, I realized that I have no choice. I cannot withdraw, again, a UN report with excellent documentation and research about serious violations of human rights.
Based on this, I submit my resignation from the United Nations.
Head of ESCWA resigns over Israeli Apartheid report
UN Under-Secretary General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf said she resigned following pressure from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to withdraw a report accusing Israel of imposing an "apartheid regime" on Palestinians.
Khalaf announced her resignation at a news conference in Beirut. Meanwhile, Guterres asked for the report to be taken off the ESCWA website.
Earlier on Wednesday, ESCWA published a report clearly charging Israel of "establishing an apartheid regime that dominates the Palestinian people as a whole."
Guterres asked the commission to remove the report from its website, Reuters quoted a UN official as saying, and in a press conference in Beirut on Friday, Khalaf also told reporters that Guterres insisted on the withdrawal of the report.
"Based on that, I submitted to him my resignation from the United Nations," Khalaf reportedly said.
The report was prepared by Richard Falk, an international law and human rights expert and a former UN human rights rapporteur for the occupied territories, and Virginia Tilley, a political science professor and an expert in Israeli studies.
UN chief Guterres distanced himself from the report on Wednesday, and then requested its removal from ESCWA’s website.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon welcomed the development, saying Guterres’s move was “an important step in stopping discrimination against Israel.”
In a statement, Danon said “Anti-Israel activists do not belong in the UN. It is time to put an end to practice in which UN officials use their position to advance their anti-Israel agenda.”
He added that “Over the years Khalaf has worked to harm Israel and advocate for the BDS movement. Her removal from the UN is long overdue.”
In this regard, the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights expressed outrage at Guterres’s actions and deep gratitude for Khalaf’s strength of conviction.
“We call on other international bodies to publish the report under their own endorsement, as Euro-Med has, and to work to implement its recommendations despite the pressure of Israel and its allies,” said Ramy Abdu, Chairman of the center.
Khalaf's resignation constitutes an international document pointing to the pressures and threats imposed on the United Nations by countries of strong power and influence and governments that disregard human rights.
Khalaf revealed that she was ordered to withdraw two reports issued by the ESCWA not because of their content but because of the political pressures practiced by countries accountable for blatant violations of human rights in the region.
The resignation text of the ESCWA Executive Secretary
Mr. Secretary General,
I have thought carefully about the letter you sent me by your office manager. I assure you that I did not, for a second, question your right of issuing your instructions to withdraw the report from ESCWA's website, and I believe that we, as employees at the General Secretariat of the United Nations, should implement the instructions of the Secretary General. I know for sure your compliance with human rights principles in general and your position on the Palestinian people's rights in particular. I understand your worries in these difficult days which do not leave us many choices.
It was expected, naturally, that Israel and its allies would practice immense pressure on you to distance yourself from the report entitled "Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid" and to ask for it to be withdrawn. I do not find it surprising that such member states that have governments with little regard for international norms and values of human rights, will resort to intimidation when they find it hard to defend their unlawful policies and practices. It is only normal for criminals to pressure and attack those who advocate the cause of their victims, but I cannot be subjected to these pressures.
Not as a UN employee, but as a normal human being, I believe in all noble humanitarian principles which the UN embraces. Like you, I also believe that discrimination against any person on the basis of religion, color, sex or race is unacceptable, and it cannot be acceptable by force and political pressures.
For two months I have been receiving instructions to withdraw two reports published by the ESCWA not because of the presence of any defect in the content, and not because you do not agree with the content, but because of the political pressures practiced by countries responsible for blatant violations of human rights.
Bearing in mind all the above, I cannot but insist on the conclusions of the ESCWA report that Israel has established an apartheid regime. The report provides irrefutable evidence, and it is my duty not to conceal a clear crime. The painful truth is that the apartheid regime continues to exist in the twenty-first century. This cannot be acceptable in any law, and cannot be morally justified in any way.
After a careful consideration of the matter, I realized that I have no choice. I cannot withdraw, again, a UN report with excellent documentation and research about serious violations of human rights.
Based on this, I submit my resignation from the United Nations.
Head of ESCWA resigns over Israeli Apartheid report
UN Under-Secretary General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf said she resigned following pressure from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to withdraw a report accusing Israel of imposing an "apartheid regime" on Palestinians.
Khalaf announced her resignation at a news conference in Beirut. Meanwhile, Guterres asked for the report to be taken off the ESCWA website.
Earlier on Wednesday, ESCWA published a report clearly charging Israel of "establishing an apartheid regime that dominates the Palestinian people as a whole."
Guterres asked the commission to remove the report from its website, Reuters quoted a UN official as saying, and in a press conference in Beirut on Friday, Khalaf also told reporters that Guterres insisted on the withdrawal of the report.
"Based on that, I submitted to him my resignation from the United Nations," Khalaf reportedly said.
The report was prepared by Richard Falk, an international law and human rights expert and a former UN human rights rapporteur for the occupied territories, and Virginia Tilley, a political science professor and an expert in Israeli studies.
UN chief Guterres distanced himself from the report on Wednesday, and then requested its removal from ESCWA’s website.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon welcomed the development, saying Guterres’s move was “an important step in stopping discrimination against Israel.”
In a statement, Danon said “Anti-Israel activists do not belong in the UN. It is time to put an end to practice in which UN officials use their position to advance their anti-Israel agenda.”
He added that “Over the years Khalaf has worked to harm Israel and advocate for the BDS movement. Her removal from the UN is long overdue.”
In this regard, the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights expressed outrage at Guterres’s actions and deep gratitude for Khalaf’s strength of conviction.
“We call on other international bodies to publish the report under their own endorsement, as Euro-Med has, and to work to implement its recommendations despite the pressure of Israel and its allies,” said Ramy Abdu, Chairman of the center.
17 mar 2017
The Israeli Minister of the Interior threatened to quit the government makeup following disagreements with the incumbent coalition, Israeli media reported Thursday.
According to the Hebrew-speaking Yedioth Aharonot newspaper, Israeli Minister of the Interior, Aryeh Deri, said governments do not get overthrown over small issues, adding that he believed things are taking a turn for the worse.
Deri further stated that he does not accept to be part of a government that is on the verge of collapse and which has been eliminating its members the one after the other.
According to Deri, the Israeli government has to either rationalize its decisions or to open the doors for elections.
Over recent months disagreements broke out between the Israeli ruling parties that make up the coalition government, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to the Hebrew-speaking Yedioth Aharonot newspaper, Israeli Minister of the Interior, Aryeh Deri, said governments do not get overthrown over small issues, adding that he believed things are taking a turn for the worse.
Deri further stated that he does not accept to be part of a government that is on the verge of collapse and which has been eliminating its members the one after the other.
According to Deri, the Israeli government has to either rationalize its decisions or to open the doors for elections.
Over recent months disagreements broke out between the Israeli ruling parties that make up the coalition government, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli war minister Avigdor Lieberman on Thursday evening declared the Palestinian National Fund (PNF), which is an affiliate of the Palestine Liberation Orgnization (PLO), a terror organization.
The decision is considered the first of its kind since the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993.
According to Israel’s Channel 7, Lieberman justified the decision by saying that the PNF provides millions of shekels in salaries for Palestinian prisoners and families of terrorists (martyrs).
He described the prisoners and families of martyrs as entities responsible for serious terrorist activity against Israel and Israeli citizens.
He accused the PNF of playing a role in the Palestinian Authority's economic support for terrorists who committed attacks against Israelis, and serving as a delegate in the transferring of a significant amount of funds to them.
According to a statement released by his office, steps will be taken to seize the fund's property and assets, both in Israel and abroad.
Palestinian Authority and PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas appointed Ramzi Khouri in 2005 as director of the PNF.
The PNF was founded in 1964 by members of the PLO in order to serve as the body which will manage the funds of the Palestinian people and their institutions. The person who heads the fund was unofficially considered the Palestinian finance minister.
The PNF’s sources of funding were defined as taxes collected from salaries of PLO members in the Gulf, donations from businesspeople, donations from Arab and other states, from organizations, profits from investments in economic projects and more.
The decision is considered the first of its kind since the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993.
According to Israel’s Channel 7, Lieberman justified the decision by saying that the PNF provides millions of shekels in salaries for Palestinian prisoners and families of terrorists (martyrs).
He described the prisoners and families of martyrs as entities responsible for serious terrorist activity against Israel and Israeli citizens.
He accused the PNF of playing a role in the Palestinian Authority's economic support for terrorists who committed attacks against Israelis, and serving as a delegate in the transferring of a significant amount of funds to them.
According to a statement released by his office, steps will be taken to seize the fund's property and assets, both in Israel and abroad.
Palestinian Authority and PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas appointed Ramzi Khouri in 2005 as director of the PNF.
The PNF was founded in 1964 by members of the PLO in order to serve as the body which will manage the funds of the Palestinian people and their institutions. The person who heads the fund was unofficially considered the Palestinian finance minister.
The PNF’s sources of funding were defined as taxes collected from salaries of PLO members in the Gulf, donations from businesspeople, donations from Arab and other states, from organizations, profits from investments in economic projects and more.
16 mar 2017
A UN agency published a report on Wednesday accusing Israel of imposing an "apartheid regime" of racial discrimination on the Palestinian people.
A report commissioned by the Beirut-based UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) said Israel had “established an apartheid regime that dominates the Palestinian people as a whole”.
UN Under-Secretary General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf said the “neglect of the international community, over the past decades, has encouraged Israel to continue its abuses of international law.”
She told a news conference in Beirut that the report “clearly and frankly” concluded that “Israel is a racist state that has established an apartheid system that persecutes the Palestinian people.”
The report said there was “overwhelming evidence” of Israel’s guilt of the “crime of apartheid”.
It added that the “strategic fragmentation” of Palestinians into four groups, Palestinian citizens of Israel; Palestinians in East Jerusalem; Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; and Palestinian refugees or exiles, allowed Israel to carry out its apartheid policies.
A two-state solution cannot be applied until the “apartheid regime” is dismantled through international pressure, Khalaf said.
The report was prepared by Richard Falk, an international law and human rights expert and a former UN human rights rapporteur for the occupied territories, and Virginia Tilley, a political science professor and an expert in Israeli studies.
ESCWA is made up of 18 Arab states to support economic and social development.
In this regard, the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights welcomed the report and considered it an important document to hold Israel accountable in international venues.
A report commissioned by the Beirut-based UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) said Israel had “established an apartheid regime that dominates the Palestinian people as a whole”.
UN Under-Secretary General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf said the “neglect of the international community, over the past decades, has encouraged Israel to continue its abuses of international law.”
She told a news conference in Beirut that the report “clearly and frankly” concluded that “Israel is a racist state that has established an apartheid system that persecutes the Palestinian people.”
The report said there was “overwhelming evidence” of Israel’s guilt of the “crime of apartheid”.
It added that the “strategic fragmentation” of Palestinians into four groups, Palestinian citizens of Israel; Palestinians in East Jerusalem; Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; and Palestinian refugees or exiles, allowed Israel to carry out its apartheid policies.
A two-state solution cannot be applied until the “apartheid regime” is dismantled through international pressure, Khalaf said.
The report was prepared by Richard Falk, an international law and human rights expert and a former UN human rights rapporteur for the occupied territories, and Virginia Tilley, a political science professor and an expert in Israeli studies.
ESCWA is made up of 18 Arab states to support economic and social development.
In this regard, the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights welcomed the report and considered it an important document to hold Israel accountable in international venues.
15 mar 2017
The Knesset on Tuesday night passed legislation disqualifying a candidate from running in parliamentary election if he or she denies Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state or endorses any armed struggle against it.
According to a press release issued by the Knesset media office, the new basic law disqualifying any candidate denying Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state, inciting to racism and supporting the armed struggle of terror organization or an enemy state.
The law clarifies that the conditions for disqualifying a candidate include his words and not just his deeds.
The bill on the matter was voted into a basic law after it was supported in its second and third readings by 29 members of the Knesset and opposed by 20 others.
According to a press release issued by the Knesset media office, the new basic law disqualifying any candidate denying Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state, inciting to racism and supporting the armed struggle of terror organization or an enemy state.
The law clarifies that the conditions for disqualifying a candidate include his words and not just his deeds.
The bill on the matter was voted into a basic law after it was supported in its second and third readings by 29 members of the Knesset and opposed by 20 others.
9 mar 2017
As the Israeli Prime Minister peddles another illegal occupation, al-Marsad uncovers more Syrian villages destroyed by Israel in 1967.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in a press release, yesterday, that Netanyahu “intends to reiterate to [Russian] President Putin the fact that the Golan Heights is not part of the discussion.”
The two leaders are scheduled to meet in Moscow, today. The “discussion” Netanyahu refers to is how to “prevent friction in Syria.” His office maintains that this goal is aided by “the ongoing link between Israel and Russia.”
Israel forcibly transferred [PDF] 130,000 Syrians from the Golan in 1967 to clear the way for its illegal occupation. In 1981, the Israeli parliament passed the Golan Annexation Law. The UN Security Council ruled the law an “inadmissible acquisition of territory by force” and therefore “null and void, and without international legal effect.”
Netanyahu also brought up Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan on February 15, 2017, with U.S. President Donald Trump. After the meeting, Netanyahu told journalists: “yes,” I did raise the “issue” of the Golan Heights with Trump. He added that he “wouldn’t say” Trump was “surprised by [the] request.”
International concern about the Israeli occupation over the Syrian Golan Heights mounted last year when Netanyahu vowed that “the Golan Heights will always remain in Israel’s hands” and “Israel will never withdraw from the Golan Heights.” Moreover, in October 2016, Israeli authorities approved of the largest settlement expansion project in the occupied Syrian Golan since 1980.
The provocative statements and actions inspired U.S. and EU representatives to assure the world that their respective governments do not consider the Golan Heights a part of Israel.
On March 1, 2017, al-Marsad: Arab Human Rights Center – the only human rights center operating in the Syrian Golan – published an updated map of Syrian villages and farms destroyed by Israeli forces in 1967, as well as the Israeli settlements built on their ruins. The organization explains, “after an in-depth comparison of various research sources (Syrian, Israeli, international), [the] new research indicates that the actual number of destroyed villages and farms is much higher: 340 villages and farms.”
Estimates suggest that Israeli authorities today deny the right of return to as many as half a million displaced Syrian Golan exiles.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in a press release, yesterday, that Netanyahu “intends to reiterate to [Russian] President Putin the fact that the Golan Heights is not part of the discussion.”
The two leaders are scheduled to meet in Moscow, today. The “discussion” Netanyahu refers to is how to “prevent friction in Syria.” His office maintains that this goal is aided by “the ongoing link between Israel and Russia.”
Israel forcibly transferred [PDF] 130,000 Syrians from the Golan in 1967 to clear the way for its illegal occupation. In 1981, the Israeli parliament passed the Golan Annexation Law. The UN Security Council ruled the law an “inadmissible acquisition of territory by force” and therefore “null and void, and without international legal effect.”
Netanyahu also brought up Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan on February 15, 2017, with U.S. President Donald Trump. After the meeting, Netanyahu told journalists: “yes,” I did raise the “issue” of the Golan Heights with Trump. He added that he “wouldn’t say” Trump was “surprised by [the] request.”
International concern about the Israeli occupation over the Syrian Golan Heights mounted last year when Netanyahu vowed that “the Golan Heights will always remain in Israel’s hands” and “Israel will never withdraw from the Golan Heights.” Moreover, in October 2016, Israeli authorities approved of the largest settlement expansion project in the occupied Syrian Golan since 1980.
The provocative statements and actions inspired U.S. and EU representatives to assure the world that their respective governments do not consider the Golan Heights a part of Israel.
On March 1, 2017, al-Marsad: Arab Human Rights Center – the only human rights center operating in the Syrian Golan – published an updated map of Syrian villages and farms destroyed by Israeli forces in 1967, as well as the Israeli settlements built on their ruins. The organization explains, “after an in-depth comparison of various research sources (Syrian, Israeli, international), [the] new research indicates that the actual number of destroyed villages and farms is much higher: 340 villages and farms.”
Estimates suggest that Israeli authorities today deny the right of return to as many as half a million displaced Syrian Golan exiles.