30 jan 2016
A Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) official, Saturday, welcomed a recent French bid to revive the deadlocked Middle East peace process and bring about the two-state solution.
PLO Secretary-General Sa’eb Erekat stated in a press release that he welcomed “the call made by France for an inclusive and serious international involvement towards ending the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 and the full realization of a free, independent and sovereign State of Palestine on the 1967 borders.”
According to WAFA Palestinian News & Info Agency, France has announced plans to convene an international peace conference in order to break the deadlocked Palestinian-Israeli peace process and bring about the two-state solution.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announced on Friday that his country would recognize a Palestinian state within weeks, if the bid to break the deadlock fails.
"In the coming weeks, France will take... steps in order to organise an international conference gathering each of the parties' principle partners -- principally Americans, Europeans and Arabs -- in order to preserve and to bring about the two-state solution," Fabius was quoted by AFP as saying.
Fabius made it clear that if “the last-ditch attempt at reaching a negotiated solution hits a stumbling block” fails, his country would unilaterally recognize the Palestinian state.
“In that case, we will have to live up to our responsibilities and recognise a Palestinian state,” he said.
“We must not allow the two-state solution to fall apart,” AFP quoted and reported on Fabius, noting that there had been no halt to Israeli settlement activity on land the Palestinians see as the foundation of their future state.
Reiterating Palestinian leadership’s support for such a conference, Erekat added: “We have been calling upon the international community to have an international conference for Palestine based on international law and UN resolutions, with the parties implementing their obligations under signed agreements; including a full cessation of Israeli settlement activities within a specified timeframe and terms of reference.”
Erekat added that he would be contracting France as well as other international partners to advance in that direction.
In June 2015, France pushed for the resumption of peace talks and advocated a UN Security Council resolution that would set the parameters for peace talks and bring the Israeli occupation to an end.
During his efforts, Fabius warned that continued Israeli settlement construction across the occupied West Bank is damaging the chances of a final deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then rejected France’s efforts as “international dictates”.
“The only way to reach an agreement is through bilateral negotiations, and we will forcibly reject any attempts to force upon us international dictates,” Netanyahu said.
In March 2015, shortly before his re-election, Netanyahu said that he would not allow a Palestinian state, if re-elected, effectively reneging on his 2009 endorsement of a two-state solution.
During the 2013 Israeli-Palestinian peace talks led by US Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli officials announced and, eventually, carried out in full force, plans to build thousands of additional homes in illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank, while continuing to further seize lands, demolish homes and agricultural resources and, thus, leaving scores of Palestinian families severely disenfranchised and without so much as a roof over their heads to shelter them from inclement weather.
Gazans were already surviving on a mere 8 hours per day of electricity when the Palestinian negotiating team finally resigned in protest, in mid-November. Israel, soon after, made quite clear its position on securing peace with Palestinians when Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, during a meeting with young Likud Party supporters, boasted:
“I was threatened in Washington: ‘not one brick’ [of settlement construction] … after five years, we built a little more than one brick…”
Asked about "peace talks with the Palestinians”, the PM reportedly replied, according to +972 online Israeli magazine: “about the – what?” to which his audience responded with a round of chuckling.
Netanyahu also vowed, in recent days, that he would never allow the Palestinian people to have East Jerusalem as their future capital and pledged to build “thousands” of settler units across the city.
Fabius' June 2015 efforts came about a year after US-sponsored negotiations failed in April of 2014.
Palestinian leadership had said that the process failed after Israel reneged on its commitments to halt settlement construction and release the veteran pre-Oslo Palestinian detainees.
Opinion/Analysis: Two-state Solution Failed, Now What?
PLO Secretary-General Sa’eb Erekat stated in a press release that he welcomed “the call made by France for an inclusive and serious international involvement towards ending the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 and the full realization of a free, independent and sovereign State of Palestine on the 1967 borders.”
According to WAFA Palestinian News & Info Agency, France has announced plans to convene an international peace conference in order to break the deadlocked Palestinian-Israeli peace process and bring about the two-state solution.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announced on Friday that his country would recognize a Palestinian state within weeks, if the bid to break the deadlock fails.
"In the coming weeks, France will take... steps in order to organise an international conference gathering each of the parties' principle partners -- principally Americans, Europeans and Arabs -- in order to preserve and to bring about the two-state solution," Fabius was quoted by AFP as saying.
Fabius made it clear that if “the last-ditch attempt at reaching a negotiated solution hits a stumbling block” fails, his country would unilaterally recognize the Palestinian state.
“In that case, we will have to live up to our responsibilities and recognise a Palestinian state,” he said.
“We must not allow the two-state solution to fall apart,” AFP quoted and reported on Fabius, noting that there had been no halt to Israeli settlement activity on land the Palestinians see as the foundation of their future state.
Reiterating Palestinian leadership’s support for such a conference, Erekat added: “We have been calling upon the international community to have an international conference for Palestine based on international law and UN resolutions, with the parties implementing their obligations under signed agreements; including a full cessation of Israeli settlement activities within a specified timeframe and terms of reference.”
Erekat added that he would be contracting France as well as other international partners to advance in that direction.
In June 2015, France pushed for the resumption of peace talks and advocated a UN Security Council resolution that would set the parameters for peace talks and bring the Israeli occupation to an end.
During his efforts, Fabius warned that continued Israeli settlement construction across the occupied West Bank is damaging the chances of a final deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then rejected France’s efforts as “international dictates”.
“The only way to reach an agreement is through bilateral negotiations, and we will forcibly reject any attempts to force upon us international dictates,” Netanyahu said.
In March 2015, shortly before his re-election, Netanyahu said that he would not allow a Palestinian state, if re-elected, effectively reneging on his 2009 endorsement of a two-state solution.
During the 2013 Israeli-Palestinian peace talks led by US Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli officials announced and, eventually, carried out in full force, plans to build thousands of additional homes in illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank, while continuing to further seize lands, demolish homes and agricultural resources and, thus, leaving scores of Palestinian families severely disenfranchised and without so much as a roof over their heads to shelter them from inclement weather.
Gazans were already surviving on a mere 8 hours per day of electricity when the Palestinian negotiating team finally resigned in protest, in mid-November. Israel, soon after, made quite clear its position on securing peace with Palestinians when Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, during a meeting with young Likud Party supporters, boasted:
“I was threatened in Washington: ‘not one brick’ [of settlement construction] … after five years, we built a little more than one brick…”
Asked about "peace talks with the Palestinians”, the PM reportedly replied, according to +972 online Israeli magazine: “about the – what?” to which his audience responded with a round of chuckling.
Netanyahu also vowed, in recent days, that he would never allow the Palestinian people to have East Jerusalem as their future capital and pledged to build “thousands” of settler units across the city.
Fabius' June 2015 efforts came about a year after US-sponsored negotiations failed in April of 2014.
Palestinian leadership had said that the process failed after Israel reneged on its commitments to halt settlement construction and release the veteran pre-Oslo Palestinian detainees.
Opinion/Analysis: Two-state Solution Failed, Now What?
28 jan 2016
Director of Hamas's international relations Osama Hamdan has said that al-Quds intifada (uprising) has exceeded all timescales set by the occupation to end it.
In press remarks, Hamdan stated that the current intifada had offered so many martyrs, who sacrificed their lives for the holy sites.
"The most important idea in this uprising that it has shattered the belief that there is a vincible Palestinian generation because the occupation wagered on breaking the will of the Palestinian generations," the Hamas official said.
He also slammed the recent remarks made by Palestinian Authority intelligence director Majed Faraj about his security collaboration with the Israeli occupation and described it as "shameful."
Hamdan also criticized president Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) for his meeting with mothers and families of Israeli settlers and soldiers killed in martyrdom or resistance attacks.
"Abu Mazen has mourned his people's killers, while we did not hear that he or his authority conducted meetings with the families of al-intifada martyrs," he said.
In press remarks, Hamdan stated that the current intifada had offered so many martyrs, who sacrificed their lives for the holy sites.
"The most important idea in this uprising that it has shattered the belief that there is a vincible Palestinian generation because the occupation wagered on breaking the will of the Palestinian generations," the Hamas official said.
He also slammed the recent remarks made by Palestinian Authority intelligence director Majed Faraj about his security collaboration with the Israeli occupation and described it as "shameful."
Hamdan also criticized president Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) for his meeting with mothers and families of Israeli settlers and soldiers killed in martyrdom or resistance attacks.
"Abu Mazen has mourned his people's killers, while we did not hear that he or his authority conducted meetings with the families of al-intifada martyrs," he said.
27 jan 2016
The repercussions of the rain and cold spells did not only reveal the suffering of the Jerusalemites in occupied Jerusalem, but also revealed the size of the Israeli occupation authority’s Judaization schemes regarding the holy city and the displacement of its citizens.
Huge cracks in houses and land subsidence in several areas were not because of the weather depressions, but because of the tunnels that the IOA digs in absolute disregard to the fate of its inhabitants.
Increasing suffering
The IOA excavations carried out by bulldozers and other tools in the Old City and the town of Silwan, south of al-Aqsa Mosque in particular, increase the suffering of the Jerusalemite families living there, especially with the entry of the polar depressions.
Khaled Siam told the Palestinian Information Center the story of his dead brother's home saying: "Forty-five days ago the floor of the house had caved-in, the ceiling had cracked and the walls had eroded with the beginning of the first polar depression in the occupied city of Jerusalem making the house no longer fit for habitation and pose a threat to the lives of its inhabitants, as it is exposed to collapse any time because of the wide excavations under it. Therefore my brother's wife and her three sons moved out of the house".
He added: "My brother's widow and her children moved to live in a rented house, paying rent worth 2500 shekels a month, which increases the financial burden on her."
Siam appealed to the officials in the city of Jerusalem, to examine the place and help these steadfast Jerusalem families, whose houses are only 200 meters away from al-Aqsa Mosque and are exposed to being displaced as a result of the IOA excavations.
Displacement of the population
Ahmed Qaraeen, member of the Committee of Wadi Hilweh, said: "In every winter and also in summer, the town of Silwan, especially Wadi Hilweh Street, under which the IOA dug a tunnel towards al-Aqsa Mosque; is exposed to landsides, which cause huge cracks in houses and threaten the lives of Jerusalemites that dwell therein ".
He added: "The infrastructure is not existent in the town of Silwan, so the excavations lead to the demolition of houses and wash away agricultural land. Despite the payment of taxes, such as "Arnona; yet the Israeli municipality neglects Silwan and seeks to sabotage and displace its inhabitants."
He continued: "The tunnel starting from the town of Silwan through the Wadi Hilweh neighborhood toward al-Aqsa Mosque passes under about sixty houses exposing them to cracks in their ceilings, walls and floors; threatening their inhabitants especially in winter".
He pointed out: "Repairing Palestinians’ houses is forbidden in the town of Silwan, where the Israeli municipality aims to displace the Palestinians of the neighborhood to take it over and then transform it to the City of David, which they claim is their first city."
Qaraeen said: "The five settlement outposts in the Wadi Hilweh neighborhood constantly undergo repair of the damage caused by excavation, while Palestinian Jerusalemites are banned from any sort of repair of their homes."
He added: "Silwan is excluded from any development plan of the Israeli municipality, but is not excluded from the destruction and displacement; where a Palestinian house was being taken over last week for the benefit of settlers and at the same time, the Israeli bulldozers there destructed a house belonging to a Jerusalemite."
He pointed out that the town of Silwan lack infrastructure and suffer from bad streets that are unsuitable for walking. Furthermore, there are no playing grounds, no schools, and no designated parking lots although its residents pay "Arnona" tax imposed on them, from which only the settlers benefit in the development and repairing of their homes.
Mustafa Abu Sneineh, a resident of the Old City, said: "The crack in our house’s ceiling expands year after another, causing water to leak heavily into our rooms”.
Huge cracks in houses and land subsidence in several areas were not because of the weather depressions, but because of the tunnels that the IOA digs in absolute disregard to the fate of its inhabitants.
Increasing suffering
The IOA excavations carried out by bulldozers and other tools in the Old City and the town of Silwan, south of al-Aqsa Mosque in particular, increase the suffering of the Jerusalemite families living there, especially with the entry of the polar depressions.
Khaled Siam told the Palestinian Information Center the story of his dead brother's home saying: "Forty-five days ago the floor of the house had caved-in, the ceiling had cracked and the walls had eroded with the beginning of the first polar depression in the occupied city of Jerusalem making the house no longer fit for habitation and pose a threat to the lives of its inhabitants, as it is exposed to collapse any time because of the wide excavations under it. Therefore my brother's wife and her three sons moved out of the house".
He added: "My brother's widow and her children moved to live in a rented house, paying rent worth 2500 shekels a month, which increases the financial burden on her."
Siam appealed to the officials in the city of Jerusalem, to examine the place and help these steadfast Jerusalem families, whose houses are only 200 meters away from al-Aqsa Mosque and are exposed to being displaced as a result of the IOA excavations.
Displacement of the population
Ahmed Qaraeen, member of the Committee of Wadi Hilweh, said: "In every winter and also in summer, the town of Silwan, especially Wadi Hilweh Street, under which the IOA dug a tunnel towards al-Aqsa Mosque; is exposed to landsides, which cause huge cracks in houses and threaten the lives of Jerusalemites that dwell therein ".
He added: "The infrastructure is not existent in the town of Silwan, so the excavations lead to the demolition of houses and wash away agricultural land. Despite the payment of taxes, such as "Arnona; yet the Israeli municipality neglects Silwan and seeks to sabotage and displace its inhabitants."
He continued: "The tunnel starting from the town of Silwan through the Wadi Hilweh neighborhood toward al-Aqsa Mosque passes under about sixty houses exposing them to cracks in their ceilings, walls and floors; threatening their inhabitants especially in winter".
He pointed out: "Repairing Palestinians’ houses is forbidden in the town of Silwan, where the Israeli municipality aims to displace the Palestinians of the neighborhood to take it over and then transform it to the City of David, which they claim is their first city."
Qaraeen said: "The five settlement outposts in the Wadi Hilweh neighborhood constantly undergo repair of the damage caused by excavation, while Palestinian Jerusalemites are banned from any sort of repair of their homes."
He added: "Silwan is excluded from any development plan of the Israeli municipality, but is not excluded from the destruction and displacement; where a Palestinian house was being taken over last week for the benefit of settlers and at the same time, the Israeli bulldozers there destructed a house belonging to a Jerusalemite."
He pointed out that the town of Silwan lack infrastructure and suffer from bad streets that are unsuitable for walking. Furthermore, there are no playing grounds, no schools, and no designated parking lots although its residents pay "Arnona" tax imposed on them, from which only the settlers benefit in the development and repairing of their homes.
Mustafa Abu Sneineh, a resident of the Old City, said: "The crack in our house’s ceiling expands year after another, causing water to leak heavily into our rooms”.
Safa press agency on Tuesday quoted local sources as saying that there is an agreement between former leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and the Palestinian Authority intelligence apparatus for the sake of creating disorders and living crises in preparation for civil disobedience in Gaza.
The sources, who asked not to be identified, said that the agreement comes within organized moves to end Jerusalem Intifada and resistance in the West Bank.
Safa agency pointed out that a prominent PFLP leader is leading a committee formed by him along with some of the former officials of the movement as well as other Palestinian figures toward this goal.
The plan includes organization of marches in Gaza Strip to influence the public opinion as well as playing mutual roles with the PA’s intelligence apparatus in the West Bank in creating several crises in Gaza in the fields of electricity, gas, health, and Rafah border crossing.
The sources, who asked not to be identified, said that the agreement comes within organized moves to end Jerusalem Intifada and resistance in the West Bank.
Safa agency pointed out that a prominent PFLP leader is leading a committee formed by him along with some of the former officials of the movement as well as other Palestinian figures toward this goal.
The plan includes organization of marches in Gaza Strip to influence the public opinion as well as playing mutual roles with the PA’s intelligence apparatus in the West Bank in creating several crises in Gaza in the fields of electricity, gas, health, and Rafah border crossing.
In response to an op-ed written for The Wall Street Journa,l by Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely accusing Palestinians of utilizing foreign aid to support terrorism, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said: “Israel’s Deputy FM is using fiction to whitewash Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and the crimes committed by Israeli colonial settlers.”
The Palestinian government, according to Hamdallah, “operates on the principals of accountability and transparency, especially when it comes to public funds and foreign aid.”
Hamdallah said, according to the PNN, that the latest attacks on the Palestinian government by Hotovely, and others in the Israeli government, “represent an act of desperation in order to distract from the real issues on the ground such as, the occupation of Palestinian territories, the illegal settlement movement, the appropriation of Palestinian resources, the suffocating siege on Gaza, the extrajudicial killings of Palestinian minors, and the torture Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.”
Hamdallah added: “The Deputy FM of Israel should disclose the sources of funding, local & foreign, that her government funnels to illegal settlements where many extremists reside, some of them are terrorists that have Palestinian blood on their hands, instead of using smoke and mirrors to deceive the international community.”
Archive IMEMC story: 05/24/15 Hotovely: "The whole land of Israel belongs to the Jews”
The Palestinian government, according to Hamdallah, “operates on the principals of accountability and transparency, especially when it comes to public funds and foreign aid.”
Hamdallah said, according to the PNN, that the latest attacks on the Palestinian government by Hotovely, and others in the Israeli government, “represent an act of desperation in order to distract from the real issues on the ground such as, the occupation of Palestinian territories, the illegal settlement movement, the appropriation of Palestinian resources, the suffocating siege on Gaza, the extrajudicial killings of Palestinian minors, and the torture Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.”
Hamdallah added: “The Deputy FM of Israel should disclose the sources of funding, local & foreign, that her government funnels to illegal settlements where many extremists reside, some of them are terrorists that have Palestinian blood on their hands, instead of using smoke and mirrors to deceive the international community.”
Archive IMEMC story: 05/24/15 Hotovely: "The whole land of Israel belongs to the Jews”
26 jan 2016
Torrents of downpour rocked the blockaded Gaza Strip over recent days, inflicting remarkable damage on the enclave’s fauna and flora.
Gaza’s civil crews said they carried out 35 operations from Saturday till Monday as low-temperatured weather and heavy rain hit the besieged coastal enclave.
Such operations included draining water in flooded houses, evacuation of civilian homes, putting out fires, and pulling out cars stuck in flooded roads.
The civil defense teams evacuated three Palestinian civilians to hospital after they choked on the wildfires that flared in Gaza and Khan Younis provinces.
The civil defense crews further rescued a girl after she fell into an old water well in Khan Younis.
Gaza’s civil crews said they carried out 35 operations from Saturday till Monday as low-temperatured weather and heavy rain hit the besieged coastal enclave.
Such operations included draining water in flooded houses, evacuation of civilian homes, putting out fires, and pulling out cars stuck in flooded roads.
The civil defense teams evacuated three Palestinian civilians to hospital after they choked on the wildfires that flared in Gaza and Khan Younis provinces.
The civil defense crews further rescued a girl after she fell into an old water well in Khan Younis.
24 jan 2016
Hamas on Sunday slammed the Palestinian Authority (PA) President, Mahmoud Abbas, for propping up security coordination with the Israeli occupation, dubbing his self-proclaimed position a violation of national consensus.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement that Abbas’s remarks are “disappointing and represent a breach to national agreements on the prohibition of security coordination with the Israeli occupation.”
According to Abu Zuhri, such statements will never succeed in acquitting Majed Faraj, the PA intelligence chief, after he admitted that the PA had obstructed anti-occupation attacks during the ongoing Jerusalem Intifada.
Earlier, on Saturday evening, Abbas told reporters in his Ramallah-headquarted office that security coordination with the Israeli occupation was going on and that the PA is fulfilling its duty as best as it could to that very end.
At least 165 Palestinians, including 31 children and seven girls, were murdered by the Israeli occupation troops in the occupied Palestinian territories since the start of October 2015.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement that Abbas’s remarks are “disappointing and represent a breach to national agreements on the prohibition of security coordination with the Israeli occupation.”
According to Abu Zuhri, such statements will never succeed in acquitting Majed Faraj, the PA intelligence chief, after he admitted that the PA had obstructed anti-occupation attacks during the ongoing Jerusalem Intifada.
Earlier, on Saturday evening, Abbas told reporters in his Ramallah-headquarted office that security coordination with the Israeli occupation was going on and that the PA is fulfilling its duty as best as it could to that very end.
At least 165 Palestinians, including 31 children and seven girls, were murdered by the Israeli occupation troops in the occupied Palestinian territories since the start of October 2015.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has announced that the Indonesian capital Jakarta will be hosting an extraordinary Islamic summit on the seventh of March to discuss the developments in the Palestinian arena, especially in Occupied Jerusalem.
OIC secretary-general Iyad Madani held during the past two days lengthy discussions with Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi and Palestinian foreign minister Riyadh al-Maliki on the arrangements for the upcoming summit on the Palestinian cause and Jerusalem.
The summit will be held in response to the request of Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas to explore avenues of moving at the international and Islamic levels to support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and provide them with international protection.
OIC secretary-general Iyad Madani held during the past two days lengthy discussions with Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi and Palestinian foreign minister Riyadh al-Maliki on the arrangements for the upcoming summit on the Palestinian cause and Jerusalem.
The summit will be held in response to the request of Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas to explore avenues of moving at the international and Islamic levels to support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and provide them with international protection.
The accelerated settlement construction and the confiscation of lands in the villages and towns of Salfit governorate located in the center of West Bank have caused shocking and scary changes in the province, negatively affecting various areas of life of the Palestinian citizens.
Palestinian statistics documented that there are 24 Israeli settlements in the Salfit governorate compared to 18 Palestinian towns and villages; these settlements extensively drain the rich natural resources and the groundwater of the province.
Researcher Khaled Ma'ali told the Palestinian Information Center that the settlement buidling, which began early in Salfit in the late seventies, has been dramatically affecting the lives of all citizens of the villages and towns of Salfit. He attributed this situation, which is contrary to international humanitarian law, to the following shocking information and changes:
1. For the first time, Salfit is the first West Bank province in which the demographic balance is broken in favor of the settlers; as more than 100 thousand settlers; including students of the Ariel University are living in the settlements in Salfit versus 90 thousand Palestinians.
2. For the first time a big University is established in a settlement inside the West Bank, which is the Ariel University; statistics in 2011 indicate that nearly 20 thousand students study at this university which was established over a Palestinian land.
3. The Israeli occupation views Salfit as a strategic area because it is located over the Western Aquifer Basin, a lake of underground water, from which the Israeli occupation steal water and re-sell it to its rightful owners at prices that reach up to tenfold of the prices offered to the settlers sometimes.
4. Salfit is the second area in Palestine targeted with settlement after occupied Jerusalem; due to the small number of Palestinian inhabitants and its large area.
5. In Salfit there are four industrial zones, which are: Ariel, Burkan, Amonial and Eli Zahav.
6. There are three nature reserves in Salfit, namely: Qana valley reserve (west of Deir Estia), Banat Barr reserve (west of Kafr Addik), and Noatef spring reserve (north of Qarawat Bani Hassan).
7. The Israeli occupation authorities deal with Salfit as an extension for Tel Aviv, that might help protect it, according to earlier remarks by the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
8. The settlement in Salfit province transformed it from a province producing large amounts of olives crops to a province harried by settlements; which resulted in the loss of an important economic resource. This affected the farmers making part of them unemployed while others turned to work in the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories.
9. The settlement of Ariel is the second-largest settlement in the West Bank, where there are nearly 50 thousand settlers including: 25 thousand settlers in the residential and the industrial areas while nearly 25 thousand students study at Ariel University.
10. The large and contiguous Israeli settlements in Salfit will separate the northern cities of the West Bank including: Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem and Qalqilya; from the middle and south ones starting from Za'atara barrier which is located east of Salfit and south of Nablus, to Kafr Kassem in the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories.
11. The Israeli settlers and occupation government dominated, confiscated, and notified of the confiscation of a total of 70% of the province lands in favor of settlements and the separation wall.
12. During a short period of time and due to the settlement activity in Salfit, the dream of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories could never be fulfilled, and the two-state solution might disappear forever.
Palestinian statistics documented that there are 24 Israeli settlements in the Salfit governorate compared to 18 Palestinian towns and villages; these settlements extensively drain the rich natural resources and the groundwater of the province.
Researcher Khaled Ma'ali told the Palestinian Information Center that the settlement buidling, which began early in Salfit in the late seventies, has been dramatically affecting the lives of all citizens of the villages and towns of Salfit. He attributed this situation, which is contrary to international humanitarian law, to the following shocking information and changes:
1. For the first time, Salfit is the first West Bank province in which the demographic balance is broken in favor of the settlers; as more than 100 thousand settlers; including students of the Ariel University are living in the settlements in Salfit versus 90 thousand Palestinians.
2. For the first time a big University is established in a settlement inside the West Bank, which is the Ariel University; statistics in 2011 indicate that nearly 20 thousand students study at this university which was established over a Palestinian land.
3. The Israeli occupation views Salfit as a strategic area because it is located over the Western Aquifer Basin, a lake of underground water, from which the Israeli occupation steal water and re-sell it to its rightful owners at prices that reach up to tenfold of the prices offered to the settlers sometimes.
4. Salfit is the second area in Palestine targeted with settlement after occupied Jerusalem; due to the small number of Palestinian inhabitants and its large area.
5. In Salfit there are four industrial zones, which are: Ariel, Burkan, Amonial and Eli Zahav.
6. There are three nature reserves in Salfit, namely: Qana valley reserve (west of Deir Estia), Banat Barr reserve (west of Kafr Addik), and Noatef spring reserve (north of Qarawat Bani Hassan).
7. The Israeli occupation authorities deal with Salfit as an extension for Tel Aviv, that might help protect it, according to earlier remarks by the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
8. The settlement in Salfit province transformed it from a province producing large amounts of olives crops to a province harried by settlements; which resulted in the loss of an important economic resource. This affected the farmers making part of them unemployed while others turned to work in the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories.
9. The settlement of Ariel is the second-largest settlement in the West Bank, where there are nearly 50 thousand settlers including: 25 thousand settlers in the residential and the industrial areas while nearly 25 thousand students study at Ariel University.
10. The large and contiguous Israeli settlements in Salfit will separate the northern cities of the West Bank including: Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem and Qalqilya; from the middle and south ones starting from Za'atara barrier which is located east of Salfit and south of Nablus, to Kafr Kassem in the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories.
11. The Israeli settlers and occupation government dominated, confiscated, and notified of the confiscation of a total of 70% of the province lands in favor of settlements and the separation wall.
12. During a short period of time and due to the settlement activity in Salfit, the dream of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories could never be fulfilled, and the two-state solution might disappear forever.
23 jan 2016
The Hamas Movement has condemned Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas for likening the blood of Israeli killers to the blood of Palestinian martyrs, describing his remarks in this regard as "disastrous."
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called Abbas's comparison between the Palestinian and Israeli blood "a treacherous stab in the back of the Palestinian intifada (uprising) and tampering with the Palestinian people's fate and national cause."
Abu Zuhri demanded all Palestinian political forces to state their positions on such serious national decline.
He also said that Abbas's stated positions on his security cooperation with the occupation would never represent the Palestinian people, stressing that the intifada would continue until it achieved its objectives.
In another context, the Hamas Movement deplored the burning of pictures belonging to some Arab and Palestinian figures by angry young protesters in Rafah area, south of Gaza, on Friday.
Hamas stated that such behavior did not reflect the Palestinian people's morals, stressing that the popular indignation over the economic situation in Gaza does not give anyone the right to insult any Arab or Palestinian figure.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called Abbas's comparison between the Palestinian and Israeli blood "a treacherous stab in the back of the Palestinian intifada (uprising) and tampering with the Palestinian people's fate and national cause."
Abu Zuhri demanded all Palestinian political forces to state their positions on such serious national decline.
He also said that Abbas's stated positions on his security cooperation with the occupation would never represent the Palestinian people, stressing that the intifada would continue until it achieved its objectives.
In another context, the Hamas Movement deplored the burning of pictures belonging to some Arab and Palestinian figures by angry young protesters in Rafah area, south of Gaza, on Friday.
Hamas stated that such behavior did not reflect the Palestinian people's morals, stressing that the popular indignation over the economic situation in Gaza does not give anyone the right to insult any Arab or Palestinian figure.
Member of Hamas's political bureau Mousa Abu Marzouk has reiterated his Movement's readiness to offer anything that would be in the interest of the Palestinian people.
In remarks on his Facebook page on Friday, Abu Marzouk affirmed that his Movement is ready for the national reconciliation in accordance with the previous agreements signed with Fatah.
"We are ready for a factional unity government," the Hamas official underlined.
"Everything should be in the framework of political partnership, with no party excluding the other," he said.
Abu Marzouk also highlighted the reality of the blockade imposed on Gaza for 10 years, and described it as another type of weaponless and silent war on the Palestinians.
In remarks on his Facebook page on Friday, Abu Marzouk affirmed that his Movement is ready for the national reconciliation in accordance with the previous agreements signed with Fatah.
"We are ready for a factional unity government," the Hamas official underlined.
"Everything should be in the framework of political partnership, with no party excluding the other," he said.
Abu Marzouk also highlighted the reality of the blockade imposed on Gaza for 10 years, and described it as another type of weaponless and silent war on the Palestinians.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said, Thursday, that the Palestinian cause shouldn’t be marginalized and that Palestinian rights must be given back in order to guarantee calm and security in the region.
Jinping delivered a speech at the Arab League headquarters, in Cairo, amid the presence of Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby, during which Jinping called on the international community to support the peace process and establish a viable Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
He reaffirmed, according to WAFA, his country’s commitment to enhance ties with Arab countries on the political, economic and cultural level as well as efforts to counter terrorism and extreme groups.
Elaraby said the challenges and dangerous crisis facing the region prompt Arab countries to look forward China’s support concerning the Palestinian cause, which is considered the central cause for Arab countries.
The Arab League, represented by Elaraby, expressed appreciation for China’s firm stance in supporting the Palestinian cause and hoped to see more regional and international efforts to end the Israeli occupation and establish a Palestinian state.
The Chinese government invaded the country of Tibet in 1950. An uprising began on March 10, 1959, when a revolt erupted in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which had been under the effective control of the Communist Party of China, since the Seventeen Point Agreement of 1951.
By 1957, the People's Liberation Army reprisals against Khampa resistance fighters became increasingly brutal, with increasing reports of beatings, starving prisoners, and the rape of prisoners' wives in front of them until they confessed to their betrayal of the Chinese government. Monks and nuns were forced to have sex with each other and forcibly renounce their celibacy vows. After torture, these men and women were often killed.
The 14th Dalai Lama fled the country in 1959, and currently resides in Dharamshala, India. Tibetan dissidents continue to suffer countless human rights abuses, with reports of self-immolation surfacing in steady numbers.
Jinping delivered a speech at the Arab League headquarters, in Cairo, amid the presence of Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby, during which Jinping called on the international community to support the peace process and establish a viable Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
He reaffirmed, according to WAFA, his country’s commitment to enhance ties with Arab countries on the political, economic and cultural level as well as efforts to counter terrorism and extreme groups.
Elaraby said the challenges and dangerous crisis facing the region prompt Arab countries to look forward China’s support concerning the Palestinian cause, which is considered the central cause for Arab countries.
The Arab League, represented by Elaraby, expressed appreciation for China’s firm stance in supporting the Palestinian cause and hoped to see more regional and international efforts to end the Israeli occupation and establish a Palestinian state.
The Chinese government invaded the country of Tibet in 1950. An uprising began on March 10, 1959, when a revolt erupted in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which had been under the effective control of the Communist Party of China, since the Seventeen Point Agreement of 1951.
By 1957, the People's Liberation Army reprisals against Khampa resistance fighters became increasingly brutal, with increasing reports of beatings, starving prisoners, and the rape of prisoners' wives in front of them until they confessed to their betrayal of the Chinese government. Monks and nuns were forced to have sex with each other and forcibly renounce their celibacy vows. After torture, these men and women were often killed.
The 14th Dalai Lama fled the country in 1959, and currently resides in Dharamshala, India. Tibetan dissidents continue to suffer countless human rights abuses, with reports of self-immolation surfacing in steady numbers.