6 oct 2018
Yoram Elhaj wakes up at dawn to see his car up in flames; says police send him to do lie detector test, do nothing to find perpetrators; police say incident has yet to be examined.
An Arab family whose vehicle was set on fire Friday early morning in Netanya's Kiryat Hasharon neighborhood, claims the incident was nationalistically-motivated, adding the police dismiss the information provided to them in order to detain possible perpetrators.
There were no casualties reported in the incident. However, damage was caused to the vehicle.
According to Yoram Elhaj, the family head and owner of the vehicle, he and his family are victims of blatant racism.
"We woke at dawn to discover our vehicle had been set on fire by racists who don't want us in the neighborhood," he vented.
"This isn’t the first time we are harmed, the incident was nationalistically-motivated. People (who live here) constantly turn to us demanding we move somewhere else only because we are Arabs," Elhaj elaborated.
"In the past, our house entrance was also set on fire and a Molotov cocktail was hurled at it. Unfortunately, the police didn’t detain any suspects, despite the fact I had given them names of possible perpetrators," he exclaimed.
"The police dismiss (information), accuse me I set my own vehicle on fire on purpose and send me to do a lie detector test," he explained.
"I'm afraid for my and my family's life. We receive serious threats. If something was to happen to us, the police would be held accountable," Elhaj opined.
The police issued a statement saying, "Previous complaints have been thoroughly examined and the prosecution decided to close the cases due to lack of evidence.
"The recent complained filed is yet to be examined," the statement read.
The Racism Crisis Center said that the "persecution which the Elhaj family is subjected to only because they are not Jewish is a grave example of an Institutionalized racism."
"We are operating to make the police locate the assailants who are making the family's life miserable."
An Arab family whose vehicle was set on fire Friday early morning in Netanya's Kiryat Hasharon neighborhood, claims the incident was nationalistically-motivated, adding the police dismiss the information provided to them in order to detain possible perpetrators.
There were no casualties reported in the incident. However, damage was caused to the vehicle.
According to Yoram Elhaj, the family head and owner of the vehicle, he and his family are victims of blatant racism.
"We woke at dawn to discover our vehicle had been set on fire by racists who don't want us in the neighborhood," he vented.
"This isn’t the first time we are harmed, the incident was nationalistically-motivated. People (who live here) constantly turn to us demanding we move somewhere else only because we are Arabs," Elhaj elaborated.
"In the past, our house entrance was also set on fire and a Molotov cocktail was hurled at it. Unfortunately, the police didn’t detain any suspects, despite the fact I had given them names of possible perpetrators," he exclaimed.
"The police dismiss (information), accuse me I set my own vehicle on fire on purpose and send me to do a lie detector test," he explained.
"I'm afraid for my and my family's life. We receive serious threats. If something was to happen to us, the police would be held accountable," Elhaj opined.
The police issued a statement saying, "Previous complaints have been thoroughly examined and the prosecution decided to close the cases due to lack of evidence.
"The recent complained filed is yet to be examined," the statement read.
The Racism Crisis Center said that the "persecution which the Elhaj family is subjected to only because they are not Jewish is a grave example of an Institutionalized racism."
"We are operating to make the police locate the assailants who are making the family's life miserable."
On Thursday, the head of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, Yahya al-Sanwar, in a statement, said that the reporter who published an interview with him on the Israeli daily, Yedioth Ahronoth, introduced herself as an Italian journalist.
Al-Sanwar’s office explained that the journalist had applied to meet the Hamas leader in Gaza with a formal request for two newspapers (one Italian and the other British). The office also confirmed that it had carried out investigations to make sure that the journalist was not Israeli and had no previous work with the Israeli press.
“Unfortunately, the journalist did not respect her profession and apparently sold the meeting to Yedioth Ahronoth,” Al-Sanwar said.
It is worth noting that the details of the meeting were published Thursday morning as a work for Yedioth Ahronoth.
“We do not want a new war with Israel and we are not interested in it,” Sanwar told the reporter, saying that a new war does not serve the interest of anyone, and certainly not Hamas’s interest.
Al-Sanwar added that Hamas’s goal was ending the blockade on Gaza, providing protection for it, and defending the right to freedom and independence.
According to the PNN, Yedioth Ahronoth published excerpts of the interview, which was conducted by a journalist who visited Gaza for five days, where the most important thing in the interview is that the leader of Hamas, and its strong man in the Gaza Strip, clearly declares that he does not want a new war in Gaza, despite the escalation and ongoing confrontations on Borders of the Gaza Strip.
Al-Sanwar’s office explained that the journalist had applied to meet the Hamas leader in Gaza with a formal request for two newspapers (one Italian and the other British). The office also confirmed that it had carried out investigations to make sure that the journalist was not Israeli and had no previous work with the Israeli press.
“Unfortunately, the journalist did not respect her profession and apparently sold the meeting to Yedioth Ahronoth,” Al-Sanwar said.
It is worth noting that the details of the meeting were published Thursday morning as a work for Yedioth Ahronoth.
“We do not want a new war with Israel and we are not interested in it,” Sanwar told the reporter, saying that a new war does not serve the interest of anyone, and certainly not Hamas’s interest.
Al-Sanwar added that Hamas’s goal was ending the blockade on Gaza, providing protection for it, and defending the right to freedom and independence.
According to the PNN, Yedioth Ahronoth published excerpts of the interview, which was conducted by a journalist who visited Gaza for five days, where the most important thing in the interview is that the leader of Hamas, and its strong man in the Gaza Strip, clearly declares that he does not want a new war in Gaza, despite the escalation and ongoing confrontations on Borders of the Gaza Strip.
4 oct 2018
Jennifer Alpenbein detained and taken to Population and Immigration Authority's office while waiting at a bus station; Authority says she didn't apply for an Israeli citizenship and her residence permit had expired.
Jennifer Alpenbein, a Jewish women from Los Angeles attempting to immigrate to Israel, said she was detained for questioning and felt sexually harassed by two Population and Immigration Authority (PIA) agents, while waiting for the bus in north Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
Alpenbein had come to Israel as part of the Birthright Israel project, after which she decided to make Aliyah. Over the past few months she has been residing in Israel on a tourist visa.
Alpenbein applied for an Israeli citizenship with the assistance of the Nefesh B'Nefesh organization, and she was supposed to receive her Israeli ID in two weeks.
According to Alpenbein, she left her friend's house in the Ramat HaHayal neighborhood on Wednesday and was waiting for the bus at a nearby station when two PIA agents stepped out of a vehicle that stopped next to her and asked her to identify herself.
The young woman, who had forgotten her passport at her friend's house, showed the agents her American driver's license.
Alpenbein told Ynet that the agents asked her to accompany them. "They took my phone and purse, tossed them into their car and told me to come with them."
The Jewish American claims that she was harassed by the agents while driving to the PIA's office in Jaffa. "As soon as we entered the car, they asked me what I think about (US President Donald) Trump and started smoking," she recalled.
Alpenbein added that the agents went through the photos on her phone and suggested to set her up with their friend. "I felt like I was being sexually harassed," she said.
When she arrived at the authority's office, one of the employees told her the agents were just joking with her, since they are "used to working with different populations."
Alpenbein, who is an actress, arrived in Israel at the beginning of July and began filing the required papers to make Aliyah.
Her three-month entry visa to Israel expired on Sunday.
After an inquiry with the Nefesh B'Nefesh organization conducted by the PIA, Alpenbein was told that her papers had expired and that she had not filed for an Israeli citizenship.
After several hours, she was released and taken to the Holon Junction, where she claims she was left.
"I didn't sleep all night, and I cried. I feel anxious, humiliated. I'm afraid to wait at a bus station," she told Ynet.
"I'm no longer excited to become an Israeli citizen. Now I'm not even sure whether I want to follow through with the process of receiving an Israeli citizenship," she vented.
The PIA issued a statement saying, "An examination of the incident's details indicates that Jennifer Alpenbein was detained in Tel Aviv after she had failed to present any identifying documents and after her residence permit had expired."
"Alpenbein did not file a request to immigrate to Israel and is not in the midst of an ongoing immigration process. She was taken to the Authority's facility for further examination, and only then did she declare that she would like to apply for citizenship," the statement went on to say.
"During most of her stay at the facility, we attempted to assist her in applying for citizenship, and after she was taken to Holon at her request, she filed the papers to make Aliyah.
"Alpenbein was not asked at any point about her political preferences. We lament the blatant distortion of the incident's facts, which is apparently meant to portray a false picture of a simple case of a detained tourist due to an expired residence permit," the statement concluded.
Zev Gershinsky, vice president of Nefesh B'Nefesh, said, "Jennifer Alpenbein filed a request to the Ministry of Interior to receive a new immigrant status as part of the joint Nefesh B'Nefesh and the Population and Immigration Authority's Guided Aliyah program.
"Every year, the program enables hundreds of people eligible to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return to change their status (to citizens), while facilitating bureaucracy and assuring the success of the process.
"As Alpenbein turned to Nefesh B'Nefesh at the beginning of September, all of her papers were submitted to the Population and Immigration Authority and she is expected to complete the process of becoming an Israeli citizenship within the next two weeks."
Jennifer Alpenbein, a Jewish women from Los Angeles attempting to immigrate to Israel, said she was detained for questioning and felt sexually harassed by two Population and Immigration Authority (PIA) agents, while waiting for the bus in north Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
Alpenbein had come to Israel as part of the Birthright Israel project, after which she decided to make Aliyah. Over the past few months she has been residing in Israel on a tourist visa.
Alpenbein applied for an Israeli citizenship with the assistance of the Nefesh B'Nefesh organization, and she was supposed to receive her Israeli ID in two weeks.
According to Alpenbein, she left her friend's house in the Ramat HaHayal neighborhood on Wednesday and was waiting for the bus at a nearby station when two PIA agents stepped out of a vehicle that stopped next to her and asked her to identify herself.
The young woman, who had forgotten her passport at her friend's house, showed the agents her American driver's license.
Alpenbein told Ynet that the agents asked her to accompany them. "They took my phone and purse, tossed them into their car and told me to come with them."
The Jewish American claims that she was harassed by the agents while driving to the PIA's office in Jaffa. "As soon as we entered the car, they asked me what I think about (US President Donald) Trump and started smoking," she recalled.
Alpenbein added that the agents went through the photos on her phone and suggested to set her up with their friend. "I felt like I was being sexually harassed," she said.
When she arrived at the authority's office, one of the employees told her the agents were just joking with her, since they are "used to working with different populations."
Alpenbein, who is an actress, arrived in Israel at the beginning of July and began filing the required papers to make Aliyah.
Her three-month entry visa to Israel expired on Sunday.
After an inquiry with the Nefesh B'Nefesh organization conducted by the PIA, Alpenbein was told that her papers had expired and that she had not filed for an Israeli citizenship.
After several hours, she was released and taken to the Holon Junction, where she claims she was left.
"I didn't sleep all night, and I cried. I feel anxious, humiliated. I'm afraid to wait at a bus station," she told Ynet.
"I'm no longer excited to become an Israeli citizen. Now I'm not even sure whether I want to follow through with the process of receiving an Israeli citizenship," she vented.
The PIA issued a statement saying, "An examination of the incident's details indicates that Jennifer Alpenbein was detained in Tel Aviv after she had failed to present any identifying documents and after her residence permit had expired."
"Alpenbein did not file a request to immigrate to Israel and is not in the midst of an ongoing immigration process. She was taken to the Authority's facility for further examination, and only then did she declare that she would like to apply for citizenship," the statement went on to say.
"During most of her stay at the facility, we attempted to assist her in applying for citizenship, and after she was taken to Holon at her request, she filed the papers to make Aliyah.
"Alpenbein was not asked at any point about her political preferences. We lament the blatant distortion of the incident's facts, which is apparently meant to portray a false picture of a simple case of a detained tourist due to an expired residence permit," the statement concluded.
Zev Gershinsky, vice president of Nefesh B'Nefesh, said, "Jennifer Alpenbein filed a request to the Ministry of Interior to receive a new immigrant status as part of the joint Nefesh B'Nefesh and the Population and Immigration Authority's Guided Aliyah program.
"Every year, the program enables hundreds of people eligible to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return to change their status (to citizens), while facilitating bureaucracy and assuring the success of the process.
"As Alpenbein turned to Nefesh B'Nefesh at the beginning of September, all of her papers were submitted to the Population and Immigration Authority and she is expected to complete the process of becoming an Israeli citizenship within the next two weeks."
27 sept 2018
Netanyahu Response to Trump’s Advocacy of Two-State Solution: “Palestinians will Never Have a State”
In the midst of a UN speech praising the Israeli government and their heavy-handed tactics against the Palestinian civilian population of the territory the Israeli military has been occupying since 1967, Donald Trump voiced support for the ‘two-state solution’ to the conflict.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated that, “Palestinians will never have a state” as long as he is in power.
After Trump and Netanyahu met on the sidelines of the United Nations Wednesday, he told reporters that even though Trump said that he favored a two-state solution for the Israelis and Palestinians, “Everyone defines the term ‘state’ differently.”
However, since 1933, the Montevideo Convention has been the internationally-accepted definition for a state under international law.
Adopted by the Seventh International Conference of American States, the convention stipulated that all states were equal sovereign units consisting of a permanent population, defined territorial boundaries, a government, and an ability to enter into agreements with other states.
Israel, although recognized as a state in 1948, has never defined its borders, and has, through the decades, encroached further and further onto Palestinian land, so that it now controls more than 80% of the land area of what was, until 1948, the land of Palestine.
Trump reportedly said to the reporters, “In one way it’s more difficult, because it’s a real estate deal. But in another way it works better because you have people governing themselves.”
But Netanyahu criticized Trump’s statement, saying that Israel must permanently maintain its military occupation and control over the Palestinian civil population, with no Palestinian state that is both sovereign and self-deterined.
In response, the Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah, said: “The two-state solution means to us that we have a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. This is the only way to achieve peace.”
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated that, “Palestinians will never have a state” as long as he is in power.
After Trump and Netanyahu met on the sidelines of the United Nations Wednesday, he told reporters that even though Trump said that he favored a two-state solution for the Israelis and Palestinians, “Everyone defines the term ‘state’ differently.”
However, since 1933, the Montevideo Convention has been the internationally-accepted definition for a state under international law.
Adopted by the Seventh International Conference of American States, the convention stipulated that all states were equal sovereign units consisting of a permanent population, defined territorial boundaries, a government, and an ability to enter into agreements with other states.
Israel, although recognized as a state in 1948, has never defined its borders, and has, through the decades, encroached further and further onto Palestinian land, so that it now controls more than 80% of the land area of what was, until 1948, the land of Palestine.
Trump reportedly said to the reporters, “In one way it’s more difficult, because it’s a real estate deal. But in another way it works better because you have people governing themselves.”
But Netanyahu criticized Trump’s statement, saying that Israel must permanently maintain its military occupation and control over the Palestinian civil population, with no Palestinian state that is both sovereign and self-deterined.
In response, the Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah, said: “The two-state solution means to us that we have a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. This is the only way to achieve peace.”
25 sept 2018
The Israeli government has announced that it is allowed to “legislate anywhere in the world” and is “entitled to violate the sovereignty of foreign countries,” an official document revealed, last week.
The Israeli government also said, in the document, that it “is allowed to ignore the directives of international law in any field it desires.”
For decades, critics have declared that Israel has been acting against all terms and conventions of the international law, but, this is the first time that the Israeli government has officially declared it to be so.
The statements were made in legal materials recently submitted to the Israeli Supreme Court, during which the government representative said that the Knesset is allowed to ignore international law anywhere it desires.
The Israeli Supreme Court received this document in relation to the petition against the Settlement Regularization Law filed by legal groups Adalah, The Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre (JLAC) and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, which represented 17 local Palestinian authorities in the West Bank.
The Palestinian plaintiffs challenged an Israeli law, passed last year, which aims to retroactively legalize thousands of settler homes and structures built on Palestinian private lands, to avert the possibility that the Israeli Supreme Court might one day sanction their removal.
Before the law was passed, even Israeli law considered such structures illegal, not to mention that all settlements are a flagrant violation of international law.
In a statement by Adalah, the legal centre said, according to Days of Palestine, that “fellow petitioners argued that the Knesset is not permitted to enact and impose laws on territory occupied by the State of Israel. Thus, the Knesset cannot enact laws that annex the West Bank or that violate the rights of Palestinian residents of the West Bank.”
In its defense, government lawyer Arnon Harel said, in a statement in which he referred to the West Bank as “Judea and Samaria”, that “the Knesset has no limitation which prevents it from legislating extra-territorially anywhere in the world, including the area [of ‘Judea and Samaria’]”.
In the statement, which is likely to evoke outrage, Harel rebuffs the legal groups’ claim by insisting that the plaintiff argument is baseless, because Israel is entitled to violate the sovereignty of foreign countries and the West Bank is no exception.
In their response, Adalah said: “The Israeli government’s extremist response has no parallel anywhere in the world. It stands in gross violation of international law and of the United Nations Charter which obligates member states to refrain from threatening or using force against the territorial integrity of other states, including occupied territories.
“The Israeli government’s extremist position is, in fact, a declaration of its intention to proceed with its annexation of the West Bank.”
The Israeli government also said, in the document, that it “is allowed to ignore the directives of international law in any field it desires.”
For decades, critics have declared that Israel has been acting against all terms and conventions of the international law, but, this is the first time that the Israeli government has officially declared it to be so.
The statements were made in legal materials recently submitted to the Israeli Supreme Court, during which the government representative said that the Knesset is allowed to ignore international law anywhere it desires.
The Israeli Supreme Court received this document in relation to the petition against the Settlement Regularization Law filed by legal groups Adalah, The Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre (JLAC) and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, which represented 17 local Palestinian authorities in the West Bank.
The Palestinian plaintiffs challenged an Israeli law, passed last year, which aims to retroactively legalize thousands of settler homes and structures built on Palestinian private lands, to avert the possibility that the Israeli Supreme Court might one day sanction their removal.
Before the law was passed, even Israeli law considered such structures illegal, not to mention that all settlements are a flagrant violation of international law.
In a statement by Adalah, the legal centre said, according to Days of Palestine, that “fellow petitioners argued that the Knesset is not permitted to enact and impose laws on territory occupied by the State of Israel. Thus, the Knesset cannot enact laws that annex the West Bank or that violate the rights of Palestinian residents of the West Bank.”
In its defense, government lawyer Arnon Harel said, in a statement in which he referred to the West Bank as “Judea and Samaria”, that “the Knesset has no limitation which prevents it from legislating extra-territorially anywhere in the world, including the area [of ‘Judea and Samaria’]”.
In the statement, which is likely to evoke outrage, Harel rebuffs the legal groups’ claim by insisting that the plaintiff argument is baseless, because Israel is entitled to violate the sovereignty of foreign countries and the West Bank is no exception.
In their response, Adalah said: “The Israeli government’s extremist response has no parallel anywhere in the world. It stands in gross violation of international law and of the United Nations Charter which obligates member states to refrain from threatening or using force against the territorial integrity of other states, including occupied territories.
“The Israeli government’s extremist position is, in fact, a declaration of its intention to proceed with its annexation of the West Bank.”
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry has reported that the Israeli government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, has yet again affirmed its hostility towards peace, and all real Palestinian and international efforts to resume direct peace talks, based on international legitimacy resolutions.
The Ministry stated that Netanyahu and his government are openly rejecting any real peace agreement, based on the two-state solution, and all related United Nations and Security Council resolutions, including the Right of Return of the Palestinian refugees, and establishing a Palestinian State with east Jerusalem as its capital.
It added that various Israeli media outlets have been talking, Monday, about major Israeli diplomatic moves, and pressures, aimed at foiling the international diplomacy of President Mahmoud Abbas, to protect the two-state solution.
|Abbas Arrives In New York For General Assembly Meeting|
Furthermore, the Ministry said that Israel is acting on all levels, in coordination with the United States, which blindly supports Tel Aviv’s illegal policies and serious violations, in an attempt to void the internationally guaranteed Palestinian rights of liberation, independence, and the full Israeli withdrawal from all of the occupied territories, including the occupied capital, East Jerusalem.
The Ministry also said that the time has come for the international community, and all United Nations organizations, to protect and defend what it left of their legitimacy, and act on ending the suffering of the Palestinian people, living under ongoing Israeli occupation, oppression, and the theft of lands for the construction and expansion of illegal colonies.
It stated that the international community must act fast, and secure the implementation of all related resolutions, in addition to support the “diplomatic initiative presented by President Abbas regarding serious direct peace talks,” and to counter the illegal American-Israeli policies against the Palestinian people and their basic human rights.
The Ministry called on the International Community, the Quartet Committee, and every country that seeks real peace and justice, to act and support the message of peace, before it is too late.
The Ministry stated that Netanyahu and his government are openly rejecting any real peace agreement, based on the two-state solution, and all related United Nations and Security Council resolutions, including the Right of Return of the Palestinian refugees, and establishing a Palestinian State with east Jerusalem as its capital.
It added that various Israeli media outlets have been talking, Monday, about major Israeli diplomatic moves, and pressures, aimed at foiling the international diplomacy of President Mahmoud Abbas, to protect the two-state solution.
|Abbas Arrives In New York For General Assembly Meeting|
Furthermore, the Ministry said that Israel is acting on all levels, in coordination with the United States, which blindly supports Tel Aviv’s illegal policies and serious violations, in an attempt to void the internationally guaranteed Palestinian rights of liberation, independence, and the full Israeli withdrawal from all of the occupied territories, including the occupied capital, East Jerusalem.
The Ministry also said that the time has come for the international community, and all United Nations organizations, to protect and defend what it left of their legitimacy, and act on ending the suffering of the Palestinian people, living under ongoing Israeli occupation, oppression, and the theft of lands for the construction and expansion of illegal colonies.
It stated that the international community must act fast, and secure the implementation of all related resolutions, in addition to support the “diplomatic initiative presented by President Abbas regarding serious direct peace talks,” and to counter the illegal American-Israeli policies against the Palestinian people and their basic human rights.
The Ministry called on the International Community, the Quartet Committee, and every country that seeks real peace and justice, to act and support the message of peace, before it is too late.
