5 may 2018
Hamas on Friday said that it is making every possible effort along with other Palestinian factions to convene a real Palestinian National Council (PNC) that is based on national partnership to protect the Palestinian cause against external conspiracies.
Hamas described the PNC meeting held in Ramallah as "secessionist", adding that convening the PNC without national consensus violates all national agreements which stipulated the need to convene a new elected PNC that represents the Palestinian people and meets their aspirations. The latest of these agreements was the Beirut understandings in January 2017.
The Movement in a press statement announced that it would not not recognize the recommendations of the PNC and said that they are legally void.
Hamas stressed that convening the PNC without national consensus is aimed at separating the West Bank from the rest of the Palestinian territories and entrenching the internal division.
The Islamic Movement warned the Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee against making decisions that go in line with the projects aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause like the deal of the century.
The statement accused the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas of preventing the Palestinian people in the West Bank from protesting against the US embassy transfer to Occupied Jerusalem.
Hamas reiterated the call made by the head of the Movement's Political Bureau Ismail Haneyya for new legislative and presidential elections, and hailed the Palestinian masses taking part in the ongoing protests against the siege on Gaza and in demand of the Palestinian refugees' right of return.
Hamas described the PNC meeting held in Ramallah as "secessionist", adding that convening the PNC without national consensus violates all national agreements which stipulated the need to convene a new elected PNC that represents the Palestinian people and meets their aspirations. The latest of these agreements was the Beirut understandings in January 2017.
The Movement in a press statement announced that it would not not recognize the recommendations of the PNC and said that they are legally void.
Hamas stressed that convening the PNC without national consensus is aimed at separating the West Bank from the rest of the Palestinian territories and entrenching the internal division.
The Islamic Movement warned the Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee against making decisions that go in line with the projects aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause like the deal of the century.
The statement accused the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas of preventing the Palestinian people in the West Bank from protesting against the US embassy transfer to Occupied Jerusalem.
Hamas reiterated the call made by the head of the Movement's Political Bureau Ismail Haneyya for new legislative and presidential elections, and hailed the Palestinian masses taking part in the ongoing protests against the siege on Gaza and in demand of the Palestinian refugees' right of return.
4 apr 2018
Senior Hamas official Mohamed al-Farra said that his Movement would start on Wednesday, April 4, to distribute one million dollars among the neediest of families in the Gaza Strip.
The initiative will target 10,000 beneficiaries, including poor families, tenants who are unable to pay their house rents, widows and divorced women, with the aim of alleviating their suffering in light of the hash economic conditions in besieged Gaza.
According to Farra, charities and the Zakat committees of the Palestinian ministry of religious affairs in Gaza cooperated with Hamas in choosing the beneficiaries.
Recently, Hamas handed out two million dollars to more than 1,000 university students and 1,000 hospital cleaning workers in coordination with the ministry of social affairs.
The initiative will target 10,000 beneficiaries, including poor families, tenants who are unable to pay their house rents, widows and divorced women, with the aim of alleviating their suffering in light of the hash economic conditions in besieged Gaza.
According to Farra, charities and the Zakat committees of the Palestinian ministry of religious affairs in Gaza cooperated with Hamas in choosing the beneficiaries.
Recently, Hamas handed out two million dollars to more than 1,000 university students and 1,000 hospital cleaning workers in coordination with the ministry of social affairs.
29 mar 2018
The Secretary of the Executive Committee of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Dr. Saeb Erekat, issued a statement, Thursday, strongly denouncing what he called a calculated incitement campaign by Israel and the United States, against the Palestinian people, their leadership and their legitimate, internationally-guaranteed rights.
Dr. Erekat said that both the U.S. Administration and Tel Aviv are spearheading this illegal campaign against the unalienable legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including their internationally-guaranteed Right of Return, self-determination, independence and sovereignty on their land.
He added that both Washington and Tel Aviv are also calling for removing the Palestinian leadership, including President Mahmoud Abbas.
“These open campaigns are calculated and programmed by both Israel and the United States, to remove the Palestinian leadership, and replace it,” Erekat said, “They are ignoring International Law and all related United Nations and Security Council resolutions, and are just seeking to extend the life of this colonialist, Apartheid regime by keeping and supporting this illegal occupation.”
Erekat’s statements came in response to U.S. Ambassador in Tel Aviv, who expressed full support not only to Israel, but to its illegal occupation of Palestine, including Jerusalem, and its illegal colonies on Palestinian lands.
“From the moment he assumed his duties as Ambassador, David Friedman acted in support of the illegal annexation of occupied Palestinian lands, and has personally financed and supported colonialist activities,” Erekat said, “Such actions do not only violate International Law and its core foundation; they also grant Israel complete power and immunity to annihilate the Palestinian people, and their existence on their historic land, in addition to assassinating the entire Palestinian cause, the struggle for liberty, independence and justice.”
Furthermore, Dr. Erekat said that the personal attacks against him, and against the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and the incitement by Israeli “Defense Minister” Avigdor Liberman, are open calls for assassinations.
Lieberman was attacking Abbas and the Palestinian Authority for paying salaries to Palestinian political prisoners, held by Israel, and supporting their families.
“Palestine continues to pay a heavy price for this illegal occupation, and for Israel’s defiance of International Law – It imprisons the detainees and violates their rights, and the rights of their families,” he said, “Articles 81 and 98 of the Fourth Geneva Convention require the occupation authorities to provide support to the detainees, and those dependent on them.”
The official said that the Palestinian struggle against the colonialist occupation is a legitimate, historic right, and added that all nations under foreign occupations must fight for their liberation and independence.
Furthermore, Erekat said that the Palestinian leadership will not abandon the detainees, and their rights, as its commitment to them is moral, and legal.
Erekat called on the International Community to act and perform its duties, to protect the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights, as stated by all International Resolutions and Treaties, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, and to end fifty years of brutal and illegal occupation, instead of encouraging Israel to escalate its violations and crimes against the Palestinians people.
|Article 81. Parties to the conflict who intern protected persons shall be bound to provide free of charge for their maintenance, and to grant them also the medical attention required by their state of health.
No deduction from the allowances, salaries or credits due to the internees shall be made for the repayment of these costs.
The Detaining Power shall provide for the support of those dependent on the internees, if such dependents are without adequate means of support or are unable to earn a living.|
|Article 82. The Detaining Power shall, as far as possible, accommodate the internees according to their nationality, language and customs. Internees who are nationals of the same country shall not be separated merely because they have different languages.
Throughout the duration of their internment, members of the same family, and in particular parents and children, shall be lodged together in the same place of internment, except when separation of a temporary nature is necessitated for reasons of employment or health or for the purposes of enforcement of the provisions of Chapter IX of the present Section. Internees may request that their children who are left at liberty without parental care shall be interned with them.
Wherever possible, interned members of the same family shall be housed in the same premises and given separate accommodation from other internees, together with facilities for leading a proper family life. – Chapter II. Places of Internment|
|Article 98: All internees shall receive regular allowances, sufficient to enable them to purchase goods and articles, such as tobacco, toilet requisites, etc. Such allowances may take the form of credits or purchase coupons.
Furthermore, internees may receive allowances from the Power to which they owe allegiance, the Protecting Powers, the organizations which may assist them, or their families, as well as the income on their property in accordance with the law of the Detaining Power.
The amount of allowances granted by the Power to which they owe allegiance shall be the same for each category of internees (infirm, sick, pregnant women, etc.) but may not be allocated by that Power or distributed by the Detaining Power on the basis of discriminations between internees which are prohibited by Article 27 of the present Convention.
The Detaining Power shall open a regular account for every internee, to which shall be credited the allowances named in the present Article, the wages earned and the remittances received, together with such sums taken from him as may be available under the legislation in force in the territory in which he is interned.
Internees shall be granted all facilities consistent with the legislation in force in such territory to make remittances to their families and to other dependents. They may draw from their accounts the amounts necessary for their personal expenses, within the limits fixed by the Detaining Power.
They shall at all times be afforded reasonable facilities for consulting and obtaining copies of their accounts. A statement of accounts shall be furnished to the Protecting Power, on request, and shall accompany the internee in case of transfer.| – Chapter VII. Administration and Discipline
Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949
Dr. Erekat said that both the U.S. Administration and Tel Aviv are spearheading this illegal campaign against the unalienable legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including their internationally-guaranteed Right of Return, self-determination, independence and sovereignty on their land.
He added that both Washington and Tel Aviv are also calling for removing the Palestinian leadership, including President Mahmoud Abbas.
“These open campaigns are calculated and programmed by both Israel and the United States, to remove the Palestinian leadership, and replace it,” Erekat said, “They are ignoring International Law and all related United Nations and Security Council resolutions, and are just seeking to extend the life of this colonialist, Apartheid regime by keeping and supporting this illegal occupation.”
Erekat’s statements came in response to U.S. Ambassador in Tel Aviv, who expressed full support not only to Israel, but to its illegal occupation of Palestine, including Jerusalem, and its illegal colonies on Palestinian lands.
“From the moment he assumed his duties as Ambassador, David Friedman acted in support of the illegal annexation of occupied Palestinian lands, and has personally financed and supported colonialist activities,” Erekat said, “Such actions do not only violate International Law and its core foundation; they also grant Israel complete power and immunity to annihilate the Palestinian people, and their existence on their historic land, in addition to assassinating the entire Palestinian cause, the struggle for liberty, independence and justice.”
Furthermore, Dr. Erekat said that the personal attacks against him, and against the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and the incitement by Israeli “Defense Minister” Avigdor Liberman, are open calls for assassinations.
Lieberman was attacking Abbas and the Palestinian Authority for paying salaries to Palestinian political prisoners, held by Israel, and supporting their families.
“Palestine continues to pay a heavy price for this illegal occupation, and for Israel’s defiance of International Law – It imprisons the detainees and violates their rights, and the rights of their families,” he said, “Articles 81 and 98 of the Fourth Geneva Convention require the occupation authorities to provide support to the detainees, and those dependent on them.”
The official said that the Palestinian struggle against the colonialist occupation is a legitimate, historic right, and added that all nations under foreign occupations must fight for their liberation and independence.
Furthermore, Erekat said that the Palestinian leadership will not abandon the detainees, and their rights, as its commitment to them is moral, and legal.
Erekat called on the International Community to act and perform its duties, to protect the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights, as stated by all International Resolutions and Treaties, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, and to end fifty years of brutal and illegal occupation, instead of encouraging Israel to escalate its violations and crimes against the Palestinians people.
|Article 81. Parties to the conflict who intern protected persons shall be bound to provide free of charge for their maintenance, and to grant them also the medical attention required by their state of health.
No deduction from the allowances, salaries or credits due to the internees shall be made for the repayment of these costs.
The Detaining Power shall provide for the support of those dependent on the internees, if such dependents are without adequate means of support or are unable to earn a living.|
|Article 82. The Detaining Power shall, as far as possible, accommodate the internees according to their nationality, language and customs. Internees who are nationals of the same country shall not be separated merely because they have different languages.
Throughout the duration of their internment, members of the same family, and in particular parents and children, shall be lodged together in the same place of internment, except when separation of a temporary nature is necessitated for reasons of employment or health or for the purposes of enforcement of the provisions of Chapter IX of the present Section. Internees may request that their children who are left at liberty without parental care shall be interned with them.
Wherever possible, interned members of the same family shall be housed in the same premises and given separate accommodation from other internees, together with facilities for leading a proper family life. – Chapter II. Places of Internment|
|Article 98: All internees shall receive regular allowances, sufficient to enable them to purchase goods and articles, such as tobacco, toilet requisites, etc. Such allowances may take the form of credits or purchase coupons.
Furthermore, internees may receive allowances from the Power to which they owe allegiance, the Protecting Powers, the organizations which may assist them, or their families, as well as the income on their property in accordance with the law of the Detaining Power.
The amount of allowances granted by the Power to which they owe allegiance shall be the same for each category of internees (infirm, sick, pregnant women, etc.) but may not be allocated by that Power or distributed by the Detaining Power on the basis of discriminations between internees which are prohibited by Article 27 of the present Convention.
The Detaining Power shall open a regular account for every internee, to which shall be credited the allowances named in the present Article, the wages earned and the remittances received, together with such sums taken from him as may be available under the legislation in force in the territory in which he is interned.
Internees shall be granted all facilities consistent with the legislation in force in such territory to make remittances to their families and to other dependents. They may draw from their accounts the amounts necessary for their personal expenses, within the limits fixed by the Detaining Power.
They shall at all times be afforded reasonable facilities for consulting and obtaining copies of their accounts. A statement of accounts shall be furnished to the Protecting Power, on request, and shall accompany the internee in case of transfer.| – Chapter VII. Administration and Discipline
Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949
28 mar 2018
The leftist Palestinian People’s Party (PPP) issued a statement strongly condemning a meeting between the Palestinian Labor Minister, Ma’moun Abu Shahla, and his Israeli counterpart Haim Katz, under German mediation.
The PPP said that the meeting contradicts and violates the decisions made by the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) which reject such meetings.
It added that such meetings are acts of normalization with an illegal occupation, in addition to violating decisions made by the Executive Committee of the PLO.
“Holding this meeting, especially in occupied Jerusalem, while Israel and the United States are acting on legalizing the Israeli occupation of the city and considering it the unified capital of Israel in direct violation of International Law, is a very serious violation that requires all of us to act and stop it,” the PPP said.
“The Palestinians have officially declared they will resist and counter the illegal U.S. stance regarding the occupied City, and we need to act and respect our decisions, and the will of our people,” the PPS added, “Such meetings will just create more divisions between the Palestinians, and will lead to lack of trust in decisions made by the leadership, especially when comparing them with what is happening on the ground.”
The PPP said that the meeting contradicts and violates the decisions made by the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) which reject such meetings.
It added that such meetings are acts of normalization with an illegal occupation, in addition to violating decisions made by the Executive Committee of the PLO.
“Holding this meeting, especially in occupied Jerusalem, while Israel and the United States are acting on legalizing the Israeli occupation of the city and considering it the unified capital of Israel in direct violation of International Law, is a very serious violation that requires all of us to act and stop it,” the PPP said.
“The Palestinians have officially declared they will resist and counter the illegal U.S. stance regarding the occupied City, and we need to act and respect our decisions, and the will of our people,” the PPS added, “Such meetings will just create more divisions between the Palestinians, and will lead to lack of trust in decisions made by the leadership, especially when comparing them with what is happening on the ground.”
27 mar 2018
By Ramzy Baroud
The “deal of the century” is a farce. We suspected that, of course, but, upon his return from Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed in more detail why the long-anticipated plan of the administration of US President Donald Trump has no basis in reality.
Netanyahu told his Cabinet that there are “no concrete details” to report on the US peace plan. One has to suspect that the “plan” was, all along, the US disavowal of the so-called peace process and the dropping of the “honest peace broker” act.
In fact, that much has been achieved, especially with the US decision last December to accept Israel’s illegal annexation of occupied East Jerusalem and agreement to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Since then, Israel has initiated a clear strategy to annexing the West Bank. Its top officials are contending that the “two-state solution” is not even deserving of a conversation.
“We are done with that,” said Israel’s education minister, in recent remarks to students in New York. “They have a Palestinian state in Gaza.”
The Palestinian Authority (PA) of Mahmoud Abbas was, thus, left with the inviable position. It is lashing out left and right, convulsing like a wounded animal.
It is hard to imagine that, at the moment, Abbas is orbiting within a grand strategy of any kind. Random statements, attacks on his Palestinian rivals, the Israelis and the Americans – mostly for betraying him – is all that seems to keep his name in the news.
“May God demolish his home,” was one of the statements attributed to the Palestinian leader, in response to Trump’s decision regarding Jerusalem.
That was on 14 January. A few days ago, Abbas referred to David Friedman, the ardently right-wing and pro-Israel US ambassador to Israel, as “son of a bitch”.
Friedman is an avid supporter of the illegal Jewish settlements, but name calling is not a promising sign of a constructive Palestinian strategy.
Abbas feels beleaguered, disowned by Washington and a victim of an elaborate US-Israeli plot that has cost Palestinians precious time and much land, while leaving Abbas with nothing but an embarrassing political legacy.
Abbas is not necessarily angry because the US has betrayed its role in the “peace process”. He is angry because he has, for years, perceived himself as a member in the American camp of “moderates” in the Middle East. Now, however, he matters not. The US government is notorious for betraying its allies.
The US, now run by the most pro-Israel administration in years, has no role for Abbas to play. They renounced him, just like that, and carried on to imagine a “solution” in Palestine that only serves the interests of Israel.
A recent meeting, chaired by leading pro-Israel officials in Washington, including Jared Kushner, was dubbed as a “brainstorming session” on how to solve the Gaza crisis. No Palestinian was involved in the conference.
Since Abbas has hung all his hopes on Washington, he is left with no plan B. The Europeans neither have the will, desire, nor political clout to replace the US. They have often served as lackeys to US foreign policy, and it would not be easy, if at all possible, for any European government to replace the US as the new “honest peace broker”.
Abbas’ popularity – and that of his Authority – among Palestinians is negligible. In fact, 70 per cent of Palestinians want him to step down immediately. That was according to a poll conducted last December. Yet, at 83 and suffering from ill health, Abbas is still holding on tightly to his chair.
It may appear that, during this time of political uncertainty and isolation, it would be advantageous for Abbas to reach out to other Palestinian factions. However, the opposite is true. Abbas is accusing his main rival, Hamas, of an assassination attempt targeting PA Prime Minister, Rami Hamdallah.
After a promising agreement, signed in Cairo between Fatah – Abbas’ party – and Hamas, all hopes have been dashed once more. In a joint conference with visiting Bulgarian President, Rumen Radev, in Ramallah, Abbas proclaimed: “The Gaza Strip has been hijacked by Hamas.”
“They must immediately hand over everything, first and foremost security, to the Palestinian national consensus government,” he said.
What “national consensus government” is Abbas referring to anyway? There have been no general elections since Hamas won the parliamentary majority in 2006. Abbas himself rules on an expired mandate. As of 9 January 2009, Abbas lost his democratic legitimacy.
Oddly, it is the conflict between him and Hamas that is allowing both sides to impose themselves on the Palestinian public – which is left disenchanted, practically leaderless and facing the brunt of occupation and apartheid on its own.
Instead of mending fences with the Palestinian people, Abbas continues with his political one-man show, encouraged by his enablers in the PA, who are equally responsible for the havoc wreaked by the US and Israeli governments.
Still, the Palestinian leadership (whether in the PA or the PLO) continues with its desperate attempts to resuscitate the “peace process”; lonely warriors in a political illusion that has been abandoned even by its own masters.
For Abbas and the PA, participating in the US-led project was the last bridge they wished not to burn. Trump’s decision to relocate his country’s embassy signaled that the last bridge was, indeed, up in flames, but Abbas is yet to be convinced of this obvious reality.
From American and Israeli viewpoints, the “peace process” could be considered a success. It allowed the US to define the political agenda in the Middle East and for Israel to shape the physical reality of the Occupied Territories in any way it found suitable.
The Palestinian leadership has emerged as the biggest loser. It first sat at the “negotiation table” to talk of borders, refugees, water, territories and Jerusalem, only to be left with nothing at the end.
It has lost both credibility and legitimacy. The space in which it was permitted to negotiate withered year after year.
Now, the Palestinian people must reflect on this current harsh reality, but also hope for a new beginning predicated on unity, the re-articulating of national priorities, and a new strategy.
- Dr. Ramzy Baroud has been writing about the Middle East for over 20 years. He is an internationally-syndicated columnist, a media consultant, an author of several books and the founder of PalestineChronicle.com.
The “deal of the century” is a farce. We suspected that, of course, but, upon his return from Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed in more detail why the long-anticipated plan of the administration of US President Donald Trump has no basis in reality.
Netanyahu told his Cabinet that there are “no concrete details” to report on the US peace plan. One has to suspect that the “plan” was, all along, the US disavowal of the so-called peace process and the dropping of the “honest peace broker” act.
In fact, that much has been achieved, especially with the US decision last December to accept Israel’s illegal annexation of occupied East Jerusalem and agreement to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Since then, Israel has initiated a clear strategy to annexing the West Bank. Its top officials are contending that the “two-state solution” is not even deserving of a conversation.
“We are done with that,” said Israel’s education minister, in recent remarks to students in New York. “They have a Palestinian state in Gaza.”
The Palestinian Authority (PA) of Mahmoud Abbas was, thus, left with the inviable position. It is lashing out left and right, convulsing like a wounded animal.
It is hard to imagine that, at the moment, Abbas is orbiting within a grand strategy of any kind. Random statements, attacks on his Palestinian rivals, the Israelis and the Americans – mostly for betraying him – is all that seems to keep his name in the news.
“May God demolish his home,” was one of the statements attributed to the Palestinian leader, in response to Trump’s decision regarding Jerusalem.
That was on 14 January. A few days ago, Abbas referred to David Friedman, the ardently right-wing and pro-Israel US ambassador to Israel, as “son of a bitch”.
Friedman is an avid supporter of the illegal Jewish settlements, but name calling is not a promising sign of a constructive Palestinian strategy.
Abbas feels beleaguered, disowned by Washington and a victim of an elaborate US-Israeli plot that has cost Palestinians precious time and much land, while leaving Abbas with nothing but an embarrassing political legacy.
Abbas is not necessarily angry because the US has betrayed its role in the “peace process”. He is angry because he has, for years, perceived himself as a member in the American camp of “moderates” in the Middle East. Now, however, he matters not. The US government is notorious for betraying its allies.
The US, now run by the most pro-Israel administration in years, has no role for Abbas to play. They renounced him, just like that, and carried on to imagine a “solution” in Palestine that only serves the interests of Israel.
A recent meeting, chaired by leading pro-Israel officials in Washington, including Jared Kushner, was dubbed as a “brainstorming session” on how to solve the Gaza crisis. No Palestinian was involved in the conference.
Since Abbas has hung all his hopes on Washington, he is left with no plan B. The Europeans neither have the will, desire, nor political clout to replace the US. They have often served as lackeys to US foreign policy, and it would not be easy, if at all possible, for any European government to replace the US as the new “honest peace broker”.
Abbas’ popularity – and that of his Authority – among Palestinians is negligible. In fact, 70 per cent of Palestinians want him to step down immediately. That was according to a poll conducted last December. Yet, at 83 and suffering from ill health, Abbas is still holding on tightly to his chair.
It may appear that, during this time of political uncertainty and isolation, it would be advantageous for Abbas to reach out to other Palestinian factions. However, the opposite is true. Abbas is accusing his main rival, Hamas, of an assassination attempt targeting PA Prime Minister, Rami Hamdallah.
After a promising agreement, signed in Cairo between Fatah – Abbas’ party – and Hamas, all hopes have been dashed once more. In a joint conference with visiting Bulgarian President, Rumen Radev, in Ramallah, Abbas proclaimed: “The Gaza Strip has been hijacked by Hamas.”
“They must immediately hand over everything, first and foremost security, to the Palestinian national consensus government,” he said.
What “national consensus government” is Abbas referring to anyway? There have been no general elections since Hamas won the parliamentary majority in 2006. Abbas himself rules on an expired mandate. As of 9 January 2009, Abbas lost his democratic legitimacy.
Oddly, it is the conflict between him and Hamas that is allowing both sides to impose themselves on the Palestinian public – which is left disenchanted, practically leaderless and facing the brunt of occupation and apartheid on its own.
Instead of mending fences with the Palestinian people, Abbas continues with his political one-man show, encouraged by his enablers in the PA, who are equally responsible for the havoc wreaked by the US and Israeli governments.
Still, the Palestinian leadership (whether in the PA or the PLO) continues with its desperate attempts to resuscitate the “peace process”; lonely warriors in a political illusion that has been abandoned even by its own masters.
For Abbas and the PA, participating in the US-led project was the last bridge they wished not to burn. Trump’s decision to relocate his country’s embassy signaled that the last bridge was, indeed, up in flames, but Abbas is yet to be convinced of this obvious reality.
From American and Israeli viewpoints, the “peace process” could be considered a success. It allowed the US to define the political agenda in the Middle East and for Israel to shape the physical reality of the Occupied Territories in any way it found suitable.
The Palestinian leadership has emerged as the biggest loser. It first sat at the “negotiation table” to talk of borders, refugees, water, territories and Jerusalem, only to be left with nothing at the end.
It has lost both credibility and legitimacy. The space in which it was permitted to negotiate withered year after year.
Now, the Palestinian people must reflect on this current harsh reality, but also hope for a new beginning predicated on unity, the re-articulating of national priorities, and a new strategy.
- Dr. Ramzy Baroud has been writing about the Middle East for over 20 years. He is an internationally-syndicated columnist, a media consultant, an author of several books and the founder of PalestineChronicle.com.
26 mar 2018
On Sunday evening, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in its 138th session, in Geneva, Switzerland, voted to support the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, to have a state of their own with Jerusalem as its capital.
The resolution counters a statement that Donald Trump made in December in which he unilaterally bypassed all peace agreements and negotiations and declared that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel – thus denying all Palestinian claims to their historic capital city.
The IPU is a forum made up of representatives from the national legislatures of 176 countries.
At their annual session in Geneva this week, they considered four resolutions regarding Palestine and Israel – three proposed by the Palestinian Authority, and one proposed by the Israeli representative.
The Palestinian Authority was joined by Kuwait and Bahrain in introducing three resolutions condemning the declaration by Trump of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, as well as condemning the US decision to cut funding to the United Nations Refugee Works Agency, which provides food aid and schools to Palestinian refugees.
The Israeli representative responded with a resolution calling Iran a “terrorist state”. That resolution did not pass.
The three measures introduced by the Palestinian Authority did pass, despite the Israeli delegate’s meetings through the weekend to try to convince the delegations of Argentina, France, Russia, Mexico, Canada, Brazil and other countries to vote against the measure.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement strongly denouncing the resolutions and claimed on that the council is “adopting resolutions that have lost touch with reality.”
He also said that the time has come to change the name of the Human Rights Council to the “council that adopts resolutions against the only democracy in the Middle East.”
For his part, Israeli “Defense Minister” Avigdor Lieberman called on Israel to withdraw from the council, adding that Israel’s membership with this council “grants it recognition, and harms the Jews.”
Israel’s ongoing illegal occupation of occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem, and its colonies, violate International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and numerous United Nations and Security Council resolutions.
The resolution counters a statement that Donald Trump made in December in which he unilaterally bypassed all peace agreements and negotiations and declared that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel – thus denying all Palestinian claims to their historic capital city.
The IPU is a forum made up of representatives from the national legislatures of 176 countries.
At their annual session in Geneva this week, they considered four resolutions regarding Palestine and Israel – three proposed by the Palestinian Authority, and one proposed by the Israeli representative.
The Palestinian Authority was joined by Kuwait and Bahrain in introducing three resolutions condemning the declaration by Trump of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, as well as condemning the US decision to cut funding to the United Nations Refugee Works Agency, which provides food aid and schools to Palestinian refugees.
The Israeli representative responded with a resolution calling Iran a “terrorist state”. That resolution did not pass.
The three measures introduced by the Palestinian Authority did pass, despite the Israeli delegate’s meetings through the weekend to try to convince the delegations of Argentina, France, Russia, Mexico, Canada, Brazil and other countries to vote against the measure.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement strongly denouncing the resolutions and claimed on that the council is “adopting resolutions that have lost touch with reality.”
He also said that the time has come to change the name of the Human Rights Council to the “council that adopts resolutions against the only democracy in the Middle East.”
For his part, Israeli “Defense Minister” Avigdor Lieberman called on Israel to withdraw from the council, adding that Israel’s membership with this council “grants it recognition, and harms the Jews.”
Israel’s ongoing illegal occupation of occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem, and its colonies, violate International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and numerous United Nations and Security Council resolutions.