4 feb 2014
Gaza police on Tuesday found the dead body of a toddler buried in an area west of al-Nusairat.
Spokesman for the police Ayub Abu Shaar said Hadeel al-Souri, who was reported missing on in late December, was found dead.
An investigation into her death was opened, Abu Shaar said.
Al-Souri's body was discovered in an area 2 kilometers from her house, officials said.
Spokesman for the police Ayub Abu Shaar said Hadeel al-Souri, who was reported missing on in late December, was found dead.
An investigation into her death was opened, Abu Shaar said.
Al-Souri's body was discovered in an area 2 kilometers from her house, officials said.
Head of Palestinian Football Association (PFA) Jibril Rjoub and President of FIFA Sepp Blatter
A Palestinian official said the continued Israeli occupation measures against Palestinian sports sector violate the FIFA bylaws and the Olympic Charter.
Head of Palestinian Football Association (PFA) Jibril Rjoub said during a meeting with President of FIFA Sepp Blatter that “the PFA may ask FIFA during the July FIFA congress to be hosted by Brazil to strip Israel of Fifa membership,”
Sepp Blatter on Monday chaired a meeting of FIFA Task Force in Zurich aimed at supporting Palestinian sports sector in the presence of representatives of Asian and European football associations.
“We are looking forward to find solutions to the problems facing Palestinian athletes pending Israel’s commitment to the FIFA bylaws and Olympic Charter,” Rjoub said.
Rajoub stressed the need that Israel facilitates organizing of international tournaments in State of Palestine, lifting movement restrictions on Palestinian athletes, allowing sports equipment coming from international federations, and allowing the establishment of sports facilities in all provinces of the country.
He added that PFA would ask FIFA to impose sanctions on the Israeli football association in case the later continues the indifference to the Israeli government’s measures against Palestinian sports sector.
Blatter urged Israel to abide by the FIFA bylaws, noting that the problem lies within Israel’s political system.
He confirmed will visit the region next April to meet with Palestinian and Israeli political officials in order to put an end to the problems facing the Palestinians.
A Palestinian official said the continued Israeli occupation measures against Palestinian sports sector violate the FIFA bylaws and the Olympic Charter.
Head of Palestinian Football Association (PFA) Jibril Rjoub said during a meeting with President of FIFA Sepp Blatter that “the PFA may ask FIFA during the July FIFA congress to be hosted by Brazil to strip Israel of Fifa membership,”
Sepp Blatter on Monday chaired a meeting of FIFA Task Force in Zurich aimed at supporting Palestinian sports sector in the presence of representatives of Asian and European football associations.
“We are looking forward to find solutions to the problems facing Palestinian athletes pending Israel’s commitment to the FIFA bylaws and Olympic Charter,” Rjoub said.
Rajoub stressed the need that Israel facilitates organizing of international tournaments in State of Palestine, lifting movement restrictions on Palestinian athletes, allowing sports equipment coming from international federations, and allowing the establishment of sports facilities in all provinces of the country.
He added that PFA would ask FIFA to impose sanctions on the Israeli football association in case the later continues the indifference to the Israeli government’s measures against Palestinian sports sector.
Blatter urged Israel to abide by the FIFA bylaws, noting that the problem lies within Israel’s political system.
He confirmed will visit the region next April to meet with Palestinian and Israeli political officials in order to put an end to the problems facing the Palestinians.
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Mr Ismail Radwan, Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs
Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs distributed financial and in-kind aid worth 257,500 USD donated by Turkey for the families affected by the winter storm that lately hit Gaza. Mr Ismail Radwan, Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs, said his ministry from the first moment of the catastrophe worked hard to alleviate the severity of the storm, carrying out relief programmes and forming central and sub-committees to deal with it. The ministry earlier distributed cash aid worth 228,423 USD, 3159 food parcels worth 60.158 USD, ready meals worth 4450 USD, 2916 and blankets worth 54.154 USD, he said. |
“The ministry secured a number of apartments as makeshift shelters for seven affected families,” he added, noting that it “launched ‘One Body’ fundraiser which contributed to provide for the affected,”
Radwan deeply thanked Turkey and Qatar for their generous contributions and support of the resilience of the Palestinian people during the storm.
He called on the Islamic scholars and Arab league to observe their responsibilities and work hard to life the siege on Gaza.
A four-day winter storm hit Palestine last December causing massive flooding of entire neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip and great losses to private and public sector.
On the wake of the storm, Ministry of Housing and Public Works estimated the damage toll at $62 million.
Radwan deeply thanked Turkey and Qatar for their generous contributions and support of the resilience of the Palestinian people during the storm.
He called on the Islamic scholars and Arab league to observe their responsibilities and work hard to life the siege on Gaza.
A four-day winter storm hit Palestine last December causing massive flooding of entire neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip and great losses to private and public sector.
On the wake of the storm, Ministry of Housing and Public Works estimated the damage toll at $62 million.
Palestinian organizations in Europe declared their initiation of the preparatory procedures for the holding of the 12th Palestinians in Europe conference in Paris on the third of next May. The organizers are the secretariat of the 12th Palestinians in Europe conference, the Palestinian return (Awdah) center in London and the Palestinian forum in France.
Secretary-general of the conference Adel Abdullah said the holding of the conference is an important event for the Palestinian communities in Europe to renew their adherence of their right to return to their homeland.
For his part, chairman of the conference Majed Al-Zair said that the event would focus this year on the right of return as an inalienable right.
Zair added that the affairs of the Palestinians in Europe, the tragedy of the Palestinian refugees in Syria, the blockade on Gaza, occupied Jerusalem and other Palestinian issues will be addressed during the deliberations and activities of the conference.
Secretary-general of the conference Adel Abdullah said the holding of the conference is an important event for the Palestinian communities in Europe to renew their adherence of their right to return to their homeland.
For his part, chairman of the conference Majed Al-Zair said that the event would focus this year on the right of return as an inalienable right.
Zair added that the affairs of the Palestinians in Europe, the tragedy of the Palestinian refugees in Syria, the blockade on Gaza, occupied Jerusalem and other Palestinian issues will be addressed during the deliberations and activities of the conference.
The Brazilian ambassador to Palestine on Tuesday reiterated his country's support for a free and independent Palestine.
During a visit to Ma'an News Agency's Bethlehem headquarters, Paulo Roberto Franca told Ma'an's editor-in-chief Nasser Lahham that Brazil would continue to support the Palestinian people in their pursuit of freedom.
Franca also discussed the possibility of media cooperation between Palestinian and Brazilian outlets based on mutual respect and friendship.
Lahham highlighted that the Palestinian people "would never forget Brazil's praiseworthy support to the Palestinian people and their cause."
Head of Ma'an Network's satellite TV channel, Muhammad Faraj, explained to the Brazilian guest that the channel would give special focus to the upcoming football World Cup, which is to be hosted by Brazil.
During a visit to Ma'an News Agency's Bethlehem headquarters, Paulo Roberto Franca told Ma'an's editor-in-chief Nasser Lahham that Brazil would continue to support the Palestinian people in their pursuit of freedom.
Franca also discussed the possibility of media cooperation between Palestinian and Brazilian outlets based on mutual respect and friendship.
Lahham highlighted that the Palestinian people "would never forget Brazil's praiseworthy support to the Palestinian people and their cause."
Head of Ma'an Network's satellite TV channel, Muhammad Faraj, explained to the Brazilian guest that the channel would give special focus to the upcoming football World Cup, which is to be hosted by Brazil.
The US department of state issued travel warning and warns U.S. citizens against travel to the Gaza Strip. The travel warning said that U.S. government employees are not allowed to conduct official or personal travel to the Gaza Strip or to the West Bank, with the exception of Jericho and Bethlehem.
In case the U.S. government personnel wanted to travel in the areas surrounding Gaza and south of Beersheba, they must notify Embassy Tel Aviv's Regional Security Officer before traveling there.
The warning explained that “the security environment remains complex in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, and U.S. citizens need to be aware of the continuing risks of travel to these areas where there are heightened tensions and security risks”.
In case the U.S. government personnel wanted to travel in the areas surrounding Gaza and south of Beersheba, they must notify Embassy Tel Aviv's Regional Security Officer before traveling there.
The warning explained that “the security environment remains complex in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, and U.S. citizens need to be aware of the continuing risks of travel to these areas where there are heightened tensions and security risks”.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri strongly denounced de facto president Mahmoud Abbas for his recent press remarks to a US newspaper and said that the views he expressed pose a threat to Palestinian cause and only represent himself. Spokesman Abu Zuhri stated that the ideas that were voiced by Abbas in press remarks to the New York Times newspaper do not reflect the national consensus which rejects the negotiations and any solution against the Palestinian rights and constants.
Abbas told the New York Times on Monday that he refuses demands made constantly by Palestinian parties to join some UN bodies or go to the international criminal court, adding that he wants to exhaust his negotiation with the Israelis before making any such move.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he would be willing to allow a US-led NATO force to patrol a Palestinian state for an indefinite amount of time, adding that the Israeli army and settlements could remain for five years rather than three years as he had told the Americans before.
Abbas also said the Palestinian state would be demilitarized and have only a police force and the NATO force, affirming that he would not allow the return of the armed struggle in the Palestinian state.
He called recognizing Israel as a Jewish state out of the question and said he would agree on extending the nine-month negotiations, which started in July last year, if progress was made.
Abbas told the New York Times on Monday that he refuses demands made constantly by Palestinian parties to join some UN bodies or go to the international criminal court, adding that he wants to exhaust his negotiation with the Israelis before making any such move.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he would be willing to allow a US-led NATO force to patrol a Palestinian state for an indefinite amount of time, adding that the Israeli army and settlements could remain for five years rather than three years as he had told the Americans before.
Abbas also said the Palestinian state would be demilitarized and have only a police force and the NATO force, affirming that he would not allow the return of the armed struggle in the Palestinian state.
He called recognizing Israel as a Jewish state out of the question and said he would agree on extending the nine-month negotiations, which started in July last year, if progress was made.
3 feb 2014
President Abbas has proposed that US-led NATO forces be stationed indefinitely in a future Palestinian state, according to an interview with the New York Times on Sunday.
Speaking about security arrangements from Ramallah, Abbas said a NATO force could be positioned at all borders, checkpoints and within Jerusalem for a "long time" after Israeli military forces eventually withdraw from the occupied territories.
"The third party can stay. They can stay to reassure the Israelis, and to protect us," Abbas told the NYT.
The president said that Israeli military forces could remain in the West Bank for up to five years and the removal of illegal settlers should be phased out according to a similar timetable.
Abbas insisted that the future Palestinian state would be demilitarized with only a police force.
The president said recognizing Israel as a Jewish state was "out of the question" and insisted that the PLO will temporarily refrain from joining any UN agencies.
"If I don't get my rights, now put your foot in my shoe — what should I do?" he added, referring to possible future action.
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians were relaunched in July under the auspices of the US after nearly a three year impasse.
Israel's government has announced the construction of thousands of housing units in illegal settlements since peace talks began.
Israeli officials have insisted that the PLO recognize Israel as a "Jewish state" and have also refused to remove military forces and settlers from the Jordan Valley, which forms a third of the occupied West Bank.
Israel has occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1967 and moved hundreds of thousands of settlers into the occupied territories in contravention of international law.
Speaking about security arrangements from Ramallah, Abbas said a NATO force could be positioned at all borders, checkpoints and within Jerusalem for a "long time" after Israeli military forces eventually withdraw from the occupied territories.
"The third party can stay. They can stay to reassure the Israelis, and to protect us," Abbas told the NYT.
The president said that Israeli military forces could remain in the West Bank for up to five years and the removal of illegal settlers should be phased out according to a similar timetable.
Abbas insisted that the future Palestinian state would be demilitarized with only a police force.
The president said recognizing Israel as a Jewish state was "out of the question" and insisted that the PLO will temporarily refrain from joining any UN agencies.
"If I don't get my rights, now put your foot in my shoe — what should I do?" he added, referring to possible future action.
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians were relaunched in July under the auspices of the US after nearly a three year impasse.
Israel's government has announced the construction of thousands of housing units in illegal settlements since peace talks began.
Israeli officials have insisted that the PLO recognize Israel as a "Jewish state" and have also refused to remove military forces and settlers from the Jordan Valley, which forms a third of the occupied West Bank.
Israel has occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1967 and moved hundreds of thousands of settlers into the occupied territories in contravention of international law.
2 feb 2014
State media: Mauritanian PM, cabinet resign
Mauritania's prime minister and his entire cabinet resigned Sunday, state-run news agency AMI reported, without giving a reason for the mass departure.
"Prime Minister Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf has submitted his government's resignation to President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz," AMI said. The premier had been in his post since 2009.
Mauritania's prime minister and his entire cabinet resigned Sunday, state-run news agency AMI reported, without giving a reason for the mass departure.
"Prime Minister Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf has submitted his government's resignation to President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz," AMI said. The premier had been in his post since 2009.
Former deputy Palestinian prime minister, Nasser al-Shaer, said on Saturday he held a meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas, as a new and serious step to support the Palestinian national reconciliation and to discuss all possibilities to end the Palestinian division. Al-Shaer said in an exclusive interview with "Aljazeera.net" that his meeting with President Abbas was detailed and they discussed the general Palestinian political situation, and focused on two the main issues, the negotiations with the occupation entity and how to end the division between Gaza and Ramallah.
Al-Shaer added that this meeting came to alleviate the situation and tensions caused by this division in relation to the mutual accusations between "Hamas" and "Fatah".
Al-Shaer noted the announcement by Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, that permitted the return of 120 members of Fatah, who left the strip after the 2007 events, to come back.
He pointed out that they discussed in detail all mechanisms that can help end the division, achieve the national reconciliation and remove all the obstacles hinder lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip and ease tensions between the Palestinian parties.
Al-Shaer stated that he discussed in the meeting with president Abbas the steps that could end the division including the political arrests and other issues, underlining the need to give the Palestinian citizens more freedom.
Concerning the negotiations with the occupation entity, Al-Shaer said, he reaffirmed to President Abbas that the Palestinian principles must be considered as a red line that cannot be crossed by any Palestinian leader".
Recently, Hamas allowed the return of Fatah movement MPs: Majed Abu Shamala and Alaa Yaghi to Gaza Strip as well as releasing dozens of the movement's prisoners as a good intention gesture to push the Palestinian national reconciliation forward.
Al-Shaer added that this meeting came to alleviate the situation and tensions caused by this division in relation to the mutual accusations between "Hamas" and "Fatah".
Al-Shaer noted the announcement by Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, that permitted the return of 120 members of Fatah, who left the strip after the 2007 events, to come back.
He pointed out that they discussed in detail all mechanisms that can help end the division, achieve the national reconciliation and remove all the obstacles hinder lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip and ease tensions between the Palestinian parties.
Al-Shaer stated that he discussed in the meeting with president Abbas the steps that could end the division including the political arrests and other issues, underlining the need to give the Palestinian citizens more freedom.
Concerning the negotiations with the occupation entity, Al-Shaer said, he reaffirmed to President Abbas that the Palestinian principles must be considered as a red line that cannot be crossed by any Palestinian leader".
Recently, Hamas allowed the return of Fatah movement MPs: Majed Abu Shamala and Alaa Yaghi to Gaza Strip as well as releasing dozens of the movement's prisoners as a good intention gesture to push the Palestinian national reconciliation forward.
By: Asmaa al-Ghoul
Not far from the border gate in Rafah, where thousands of travelers are held up after the Egyptian authorities closed the crossing, lies the Gaza International Airport. The airport is made up of three huge buildings adorned with Moroccan mosaics.
The first is for VIP travelers and topped with a golden dome, the second is the departures/arrivals lounge and the third houses the Palestinian Airlines administration. Behind these structures stretches a long runway. The airport has a large main gate and another secondary one.
From afar, these buildings look operational, but as you get closer the destruction becomes apparent. There are no passengers or planes, and the buildings have been bombed out and emptied of everything but their outer structure. Even the stones that made up the tarmac have been stolen, and the runway has become a winter pasture for the sheep of nearby nomads. A horse’s cadaver lies nearby.
This is what the airport has become ever since Israel bulldozed many of its structures on Dec. 4, 2001. Eight days later, Israeli aircraft bombed the radar tower, and on Dec. 15 another strike completely destroyed the runway. On June 26, 2006, the Israeli military occupied the airport facilities and began using them as a military base.
The airport was opened by former President Authority Yasser Arafat in 1998 with funding from Spain, Germany and other countries. Moroccan architects took charge of its decoration and design. The ruins of the VIP hall, with its golden dome and mosaic walls, are the only testament to the airport’s distinguished architecture. A part of the airport premises was made into a landfill.
Nasma Sawarka, a 15-year-old shepherd, pointed to her house. She said, “I grew up seeing the airport next to our house, but the only thing I remember are the horrific sounds of shelling. Sometimes I look at the photos of my father, who used to work there.”
Her sister Israa, 18, came outside as we approached the house. Israa told Al-Monitor, “I remember the airport and the aircraft taking off and landing. These were beautiful days. My father and uncles worked there until the shelling. Then, our neighboring airport turned into a curse rather than a blessing.” She added, “After the bombing, we saw people looting the airport to collect building materials.”
Their grandfather Salam Sawarka,70, has clearer memories of the airport. He said, “If only these days would come back! They were the best. This small entrance near our house was reserved for use by President Arafat. I saw him several times and I also saw his plane.”
Gaza International Airport was the first of several hoped-for airports in the Palestinian territories, but now only Israeli airports and land border crossings lead out. Palestinians travel back and forth through the airports of Jordan and Egypt.
According to Khalil Shehin, a legal expert who heads the Economic and Social Rights Unit at the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, destroying the airport prevented millions of Palestinians from traveling and being reunited with their loved ones. Now they face high costs, exhaustion and humiliation at the airports and crossings in other countries.
Now we have no airport, even though we have a recognized passport," Shehin told Al-Monitor. "When there was an airport in Gaza, traveling was relatively easy. Now, any citizen who wants to travel [by plane] must leave Gaza a few days before his flight, to ensure that he arrives at the airport in time. This means spending the night in airport lounges," he added.
Gaza government spokesman Ihab Ghussein told Al-Monitor that it is the Palestinian people's right to have an airport on their territory, but the Israeli occupation has deprived them of one by destroying the airport, taking control of Palestinian airspace and placing an air, land and sea blockade on the Gaza Strip. He added, "The siege that is currently in place obstructs the possibility of restoring the airport."
Al-Monitor met with Osama Shahaibir, the sales monitor for Palestinian Airlines, in his small office. These offices are all Palestinian Airlines has left after its headquarters in Gaza was shut down.
“The airport was of high importance for the Palestinians. It spared them the struggle of traveling through crossings and having to use the airports of other countries. It was a symbol of the sovereignty of the Palestinian state after the signing of the Oslo Accord,” said Shahaibir, noting that around 1,000 employees once worked for Palestinian Airlines as flight attendants, administrative employees, pilots, flight engineers and other workers. They all served more than 250 passengers departing from the airport daily.
“The airline had three planes: two Fokker 50s and a Boeing 727 donated by Saudi businessman Walid Bin Talal. However, these planes quickly stopped working,” said Shahaibir. He noted that the first flight to take off from the airport was to Amman, followed by Jiddah, Dubai, Cairo, Doha, Larnaca, Cyprus and Istanbul. The Boeing 727 was reserved for long flights.
Shahaibir said that there was a plan to develop the airport, yet the Israeli occupation did not grant the airline much time to implement it. He explained, “The losses inflicted by the destruction of the airport are in the tens of millions of dollars. There were only two planes remaining, which was based in al-Arish [in Egypt]. Both were used for short flights with a crew not exceeding six members. However, they have ceased operating since last July.”
Shahaibir showed Al-Monitor a copy of a Palestinian Airlines in-flight magazine, of which only three issues were published. In the May 2000 issue, Fayez Zeidan, the director-general of civil aviation, had announced intentions to begin service to Athens, Rome and Frankfurt.
Al-Monitor secured a copy of the magazine, which reported the launching of the first service route between Palestine and Russia. A Russian plane with 125 passengers had been the first to land at Gaza International Airport. There was another article talking about the signing of an agreement with the European Commission to fund the construction of a department for air cargo at the airport. This, too, was never implemented.
Had these plans and flights come to fruition, Palestinians would have been spared long years of suffering at the gates of the Rafah crossing.
Shehin noted that the destruction of the airport caused the cancelation of thousands of flights. Those affected included Gazans studying abroad who were returning to visit as well as travelers coming for tourism or conferences. Thus, entering and leaving the Gaza Strip became a task that was not guaranteed.
"This violates one's right to freedom of movement and travel," Shehin said. He added that the former was "guaranteed by international conventions such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights."
Not far from the remains of Gaza’s airport, the sense of entrapment is palpable in bus pilgrims gathered at the Rafah crossing, waiting hours to cross the border and begin the eight-hour journey by road to Cairo, hoping to make their flights to Saudi Arabia. There’s no guarantee they’ll make it through their first step, the gates of Rafah.
Not far from the border gate in Rafah, where thousands of travelers are held up after the Egyptian authorities closed the crossing, lies the Gaza International Airport. The airport is made up of three huge buildings adorned with Moroccan mosaics.
The first is for VIP travelers and topped with a golden dome, the second is the departures/arrivals lounge and the third houses the Palestinian Airlines administration. Behind these structures stretches a long runway. The airport has a large main gate and another secondary one.
From afar, these buildings look operational, but as you get closer the destruction becomes apparent. There are no passengers or planes, and the buildings have been bombed out and emptied of everything but their outer structure. Even the stones that made up the tarmac have been stolen, and the runway has become a winter pasture for the sheep of nearby nomads. A horse’s cadaver lies nearby.
This is what the airport has become ever since Israel bulldozed many of its structures on Dec. 4, 2001. Eight days later, Israeli aircraft bombed the radar tower, and on Dec. 15 another strike completely destroyed the runway. On June 26, 2006, the Israeli military occupied the airport facilities and began using them as a military base.
The airport was opened by former President Authority Yasser Arafat in 1998 with funding from Spain, Germany and other countries. Moroccan architects took charge of its decoration and design. The ruins of the VIP hall, with its golden dome and mosaic walls, are the only testament to the airport’s distinguished architecture. A part of the airport premises was made into a landfill.
Nasma Sawarka, a 15-year-old shepherd, pointed to her house. She said, “I grew up seeing the airport next to our house, but the only thing I remember are the horrific sounds of shelling. Sometimes I look at the photos of my father, who used to work there.”
Her sister Israa, 18, came outside as we approached the house. Israa told Al-Monitor, “I remember the airport and the aircraft taking off and landing. These were beautiful days. My father and uncles worked there until the shelling. Then, our neighboring airport turned into a curse rather than a blessing.” She added, “After the bombing, we saw people looting the airport to collect building materials.”
Their grandfather Salam Sawarka,70, has clearer memories of the airport. He said, “If only these days would come back! They were the best. This small entrance near our house was reserved for use by President Arafat. I saw him several times and I also saw his plane.”
Gaza International Airport was the first of several hoped-for airports in the Palestinian territories, but now only Israeli airports and land border crossings lead out. Palestinians travel back and forth through the airports of Jordan and Egypt.
According to Khalil Shehin, a legal expert who heads the Economic and Social Rights Unit at the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, destroying the airport prevented millions of Palestinians from traveling and being reunited with their loved ones. Now they face high costs, exhaustion and humiliation at the airports and crossings in other countries.
Now we have no airport, even though we have a recognized passport," Shehin told Al-Monitor. "When there was an airport in Gaza, traveling was relatively easy. Now, any citizen who wants to travel [by plane] must leave Gaza a few days before his flight, to ensure that he arrives at the airport in time. This means spending the night in airport lounges," he added.
Gaza government spokesman Ihab Ghussein told Al-Monitor that it is the Palestinian people's right to have an airport on their territory, but the Israeli occupation has deprived them of one by destroying the airport, taking control of Palestinian airspace and placing an air, land and sea blockade on the Gaza Strip. He added, "The siege that is currently in place obstructs the possibility of restoring the airport."
Al-Monitor met with Osama Shahaibir, the sales monitor for Palestinian Airlines, in his small office. These offices are all Palestinian Airlines has left after its headquarters in Gaza was shut down.
“The airport was of high importance for the Palestinians. It spared them the struggle of traveling through crossings and having to use the airports of other countries. It was a symbol of the sovereignty of the Palestinian state after the signing of the Oslo Accord,” said Shahaibir, noting that around 1,000 employees once worked for Palestinian Airlines as flight attendants, administrative employees, pilots, flight engineers and other workers. They all served more than 250 passengers departing from the airport daily.
“The airline had three planes: two Fokker 50s and a Boeing 727 donated by Saudi businessman Walid Bin Talal. However, these planes quickly stopped working,” said Shahaibir. He noted that the first flight to take off from the airport was to Amman, followed by Jiddah, Dubai, Cairo, Doha, Larnaca, Cyprus and Istanbul. The Boeing 727 was reserved for long flights.
Shahaibir said that there was a plan to develop the airport, yet the Israeli occupation did not grant the airline much time to implement it. He explained, “The losses inflicted by the destruction of the airport are in the tens of millions of dollars. There were only two planes remaining, which was based in al-Arish [in Egypt]. Both were used for short flights with a crew not exceeding six members. However, they have ceased operating since last July.”
Shahaibir showed Al-Monitor a copy of a Palestinian Airlines in-flight magazine, of which only three issues were published. In the May 2000 issue, Fayez Zeidan, the director-general of civil aviation, had announced intentions to begin service to Athens, Rome and Frankfurt.
Al-Monitor secured a copy of the magazine, which reported the launching of the first service route between Palestine and Russia. A Russian plane with 125 passengers had been the first to land at Gaza International Airport. There was another article talking about the signing of an agreement with the European Commission to fund the construction of a department for air cargo at the airport. This, too, was never implemented.
Had these plans and flights come to fruition, Palestinians would have been spared long years of suffering at the gates of the Rafah crossing.
Shehin noted that the destruction of the airport caused the cancelation of thousands of flights. Those affected included Gazans studying abroad who were returning to visit as well as travelers coming for tourism or conferences. Thus, entering and leaving the Gaza Strip became a task that was not guaranteed.
"This violates one's right to freedom of movement and travel," Shehin said. He added that the former was "guaranteed by international conventions such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights."
Not far from the remains of Gaza’s airport, the sense of entrapment is palpable in bus pilgrims gathered at the Rafah crossing, waiting hours to cross the border and begin the eight-hour journey by road to Cairo, hoping to make their flights to Saudi Arabia. There’s no guarantee they’ll make it through their first step, the gates of Rafah.
1 feb 2014
General Personnel Council (GPC) in Gaza said about half of the government positions are occupied by women, excluding logistics positions, which are limited to men. Some 10.000 out of the 32.000 government employees in the Gaza Strip are females, while 12.000 male employees, including drivers, office workers and security guards, hold logistics-related positions, Deputy President of GPC Samir Mutair told Safa Press Agency.
Ministry of Women’s statics showed that Ministry of Higher Education won the highest percentage of jobs taken by women with 5488 female employees and 7042 male, whereas Ministry of Health came second with 2646 females and 6179 males.
It is noteworthy that employment rate of woman in Gaza is high in relation to Arab countries, as the rate in Saudi Arabia is up to 38 % , 31% in Egypt, and up to 66% in the UAE , according to ministry statistics.
Gaza-based Creativity Foundation for Research and Training opened Thursday, in collaboration with Ministry of Women's Affairs and under the supervision of GPC, Government Leadership Programme for Women, a long-term training course initiated for the first time in Gaza. said the local media outlet.
“Initiating this program springs from our belief in the need to develop female civil servants’ leadership capacities.” Mutair explained.
Ministry of Women’s statics showed that Ministry of Higher Education won the highest percentage of jobs taken by women with 5488 female employees and 7042 male, whereas Ministry of Health came second with 2646 females and 6179 males.
It is noteworthy that employment rate of woman in Gaza is high in relation to Arab countries, as the rate in Saudi Arabia is up to 38 % , 31% in Egypt, and up to 66% in the UAE , according to ministry statistics.
Gaza-based Creativity Foundation for Research and Training opened Thursday, in collaboration with Ministry of Women's Affairs and under the supervision of GPC, Government Leadership Programme for Women, a long-term training course initiated for the first time in Gaza. said the local media outlet.
“Initiating this program springs from our belief in the need to develop female civil servants’ leadership capacities.” Mutair explained.
The leading body of the Fatah movement in the Gaza Strip submitted its resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas last week, Fatah sources said.
An official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Ma'an Saturday that Gaza's chief Fatah leader Zakariyya al-Agha submitted the body's resignation in protest against interference in Gaza affairs by the Fatah Central Committee.
It has been difficult to find solutions to problems Fatah members in Gaza have faced since 2006, when Hamas one legislative elections, the official added.
He said Fatah officials in Gaza had not been receiving regular salaries, and that families of "martyrs" had not received allowances for six years.
The West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been effectively led by separate governments since 2007, when events occurred that violently divided Fatah and Hamas.
The division between the two Palestinian factions began in 2006, when Hamas won legislative elections.
In the following year, clashes erupted between Fatah and Hamas, leaving Hamas in control of the Strip and Fatah in control of parts of the occupied West Bank.
The groups have made failed attempts at national reconciliation for years, most recently in 2012, when they signed two agreements -- one in Cairo and a subsequent one in Doha -- which have as of yet been entirely unimplemented.
An official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Ma'an Saturday that Gaza's chief Fatah leader Zakariyya al-Agha submitted the body's resignation in protest against interference in Gaza affairs by the Fatah Central Committee.
It has been difficult to find solutions to problems Fatah members in Gaza have faced since 2006, when Hamas one legislative elections, the official added.
He said Fatah officials in Gaza had not been receiving regular salaries, and that families of "martyrs" had not received allowances for six years.
The West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been effectively led by separate governments since 2007, when events occurred that violently divided Fatah and Hamas.
The division between the two Palestinian factions began in 2006, when Hamas won legislative elections.
In the following year, clashes erupted between Fatah and Hamas, leaving Hamas in control of the Strip and Fatah in control of parts of the occupied West Bank.
The groups have made failed attempts at national reconciliation for years, most recently in 2012, when they signed two agreements -- one in Cairo and a subsequent one in Doha -- which have as of yet been entirely unimplemented.
31 jan 2014
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Gaza's tiny movie industry may struggle with amateur actors and power outages, but at least it has a winning formula of which the producers never seem to tire: the heroics, from a Palestinian perspective, of those fighting Israeli occupation.
"Losing Shalit" will be the second feature-length film made in the blockaded territory since 2009. It's the first of a planned three-part series about the 2006 capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by gunmen allied with the Hamas movement. It's currently in production and parts two and three will depict Shalit's time in captivity and his 2011 swap for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. |
Like the first Gaza film, about a senior militant commander, it received financing from the Hamas government. The Shalit capture and eventual prisoner swap are seen by Hamas as a triumph in its long-running confrontation with Israel, and helped boost the movement's support in Gaza.
Writer-director Majed Jundiyeh, who also made the territory's first full-length feature "Emad Akel" – a 2009 film about the Hamas military wing commander of the same name – said his work is intentionally political. "I'm working to establish a movie industry of resistance in Gaza, to reflect the Palestinian story with Palestinian actors," he said.
Jundiyeh, 47, studied film in Germany in the 1980s and 1990s and said his teachers included director Volker Schloendorff, a prominent member of the New German Cinema. After his return to Gaza in 1996, Jundiyeh made documentaries and acted in a soap opera on Palestine TV.
Since the Emad Akel movie, filmmakers in Gaza have produced several documentaries and short films, but making full-length movies remains a challenge. Gaza has suffered from border blockades by neighboring Egypt and Israel since Hamas seized the territory in a violent takeover in 2007. Egypt tightened its border closure several months ago, exacerbating daily power cuts.
Jundiyeh said he contends with funding shortages, lack of equipment and crews without technical expertise. The Culture Ministry in Gaza is financing the Shalit movie, along with contributions from a local production company, al-Wataniya, and Jundiyeh himself, according to al-Wataniya.
In an added difficulty, most of the dialogue in the 105-minute "Losing Shalit" is in Hebrew, a language most of the dozens of amateur actors don't speak.
That includes Mahmoud Karira, a 27-year-old Gaza firefighter who was chosen for the Shalit role because of his resemblance to the lanky, bespectacled Israeli soldier.
"It's very hard for me to speak Hebrew," said Karira, who has eight lines. Karira said he repeats each line dozens of times before each shoot, but that some of the scenes require several takes.
On Wednesday, the crew shot in the underground parking garage of a Gaza building that also houses the al-Wataniya company. In the movie, it's meant to be the garage of a building housing Israel's Shin Bet security service, which is in charge of interrogating Palestinians suspected of anti-Israeli activities and in the past used methods critics say amounted to abuse.
In Wednesday's scene, Jundiyeh played a Shin Bet officer nicknamed "Abu Daoud," while Fayka al-Najar, a 20-year-old management student, portrayed an Israeli prison guard called Aliza. In the scene, the two chatted in Hebrew, discussing the torture of Palestinian prisoners as they walked to their car.
The scene was shot 40 times because of frequent power outages and because al-Najar fumbled her Hebrew lines.
Al-Najar was cast after answering a newspaper ad. She previously appeared in several short films by female directors about women's issues. She said she agreed to play an Israeli soldier because she wanted to highlight the suffering of Palestinian prisoners, noting that her father spent years in Israeli jails.
Israel has imprisoned tens of thousands of Palestinians for alleged political violence since capturing the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in 1967.
Palestinian politics is dominated by two camps -- backers of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who seeks a state in the lands captured by Israel in 1967 and supporters of Hamas, which wants to set up an Islamic state between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, including in what is now Israel.
Jundiyeh said he needs at least $120,000 for the first Shalit movie, but that the budget could swell to $350,000. He was evasive about sources of funding.
An official in the Culture Ministry said the Gaza government contributed $95,000. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the ministry has not issued a press release about the film.
Despite the Gaza government's support, Jundiyeh said he is independent.
"I'm not Hamas," he said. "I'm a Palestinian who is proud of his people and national struggle."
Jundiyeh said he would also like to make movies about the life of Yasser Arafat, the late Palestinian leader, but that he is hampered by lack of funding and Israeli travel bans that prevent him and many other Gaza residents from crossing through Israel into the West Bank.
"I decided to work on what is available (in Gaza), which is also a very important chapter in our life," he said.
Writer-director Majed Jundiyeh, who also made the territory's first full-length feature "Emad Akel" – a 2009 film about the Hamas military wing commander of the same name – said his work is intentionally political. "I'm working to establish a movie industry of resistance in Gaza, to reflect the Palestinian story with Palestinian actors," he said.
Jundiyeh, 47, studied film in Germany in the 1980s and 1990s and said his teachers included director Volker Schloendorff, a prominent member of the New German Cinema. After his return to Gaza in 1996, Jundiyeh made documentaries and acted in a soap opera on Palestine TV.
Since the Emad Akel movie, filmmakers in Gaza have produced several documentaries and short films, but making full-length movies remains a challenge. Gaza has suffered from border blockades by neighboring Egypt and Israel since Hamas seized the territory in a violent takeover in 2007. Egypt tightened its border closure several months ago, exacerbating daily power cuts.
Jundiyeh said he contends with funding shortages, lack of equipment and crews without technical expertise. The Culture Ministry in Gaza is financing the Shalit movie, along with contributions from a local production company, al-Wataniya, and Jundiyeh himself, according to al-Wataniya.
In an added difficulty, most of the dialogue in the 105-minute "Losing Shalit" is in Hebrew, a language most of the dozens of amateur actors don't speak.
That includes Mahmoud Karira, a 27-year-old Gaza firefighter who was chosen for the Shalit role because of his resemblance to the lanky, bespectacled Israeli soldier.
"It's very hard for me to speak Hebrew," said Karira, who has eight lines. Karira said he repeats each line dozens of times before each shoot, but that some of the scenes require several takes.
On Wednesday, the crew shot in the underground parking garage of a Gaza building that also houses the al-Wataniya company. In the movie, it's meant to be the garage of a building housing Israel's Shin Bet security service, which is in charge of interrogating Palestinians suspected of anti-Israeli activities and in the past used methods critics say amounted to abuse.
In Wednesday's scene, Jundiyeh played a Shin Bet officer nicknamed "Abu Daoud," while Fayka al-Najar, a 20-year-old management student, portrayed an Israeli prison guard called Aliza. In the scene, the two chatted in Hebrew, discussing the torture of Palestinian prisoners as they walked to their car.
The scene was shot 40 times because of frequent power outages and because al-Najar fumbled her Hebrew lines.
Al-Najar was cast after answering a newspaper ad. She previously appeared in several short films by female directors about women's issues. She said she agreed to play an Israeli soldier because she wanted to highlight the suffering of Palestinian prisoners, noting that her father spent years in Israeli jails.
Israel has imprisoned tens of thousands of Palestinians for alleged political violence since capturing the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in 1967.
Palestinian politics is dominated by two camps -- backers of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who seeks a state in the lands captured by Israel in 1967 and supporters of Hamas, which wants to set up an Islamic state between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, including in what is now Israel.
Jundiyeh said he needs at least $120,000 for the first Shalit movie, but that the budget could swell to $350,000. He was evasive about sources of funding.
An official in the Culture Ministry said the Gaza government contributed $95,000. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the ministry has not issued a press release about the film.
Despite the Gaza government's support, Jundiyeh said he is independent.
"I'm not Hamas," he said. "I'm a Palestinian who is proud of his people and national struggle."
Jundiyeh said he would also like to make movies about the life of Yasser Arafat, the late Palestinian leader, but that he is hampered by lack of funding and Israeli travel bans that prevent him and many other Gaza residents from crossing through Israel into the West Bank.
"I decided to work on what is available (in Gaza), which is also a very important chapter in our life," he said.
In the 1920s, an urgent call went out to the literati across the Middle East from Arab leaders in Jerusalem: Send us your books so that we may protect them for generations to come. Jerusalem was soon flushed with writings of all kinds, to be stored and preserved at the newly minted al-Aqsa mosque library.
But many of those centuries-old manuscripts are in a state of decay. Now, religious authorities are restoring and digitizing the books, many of them written by hand. They hope to make them available online to scholars and researchers across the Arab world who are unable to travel to Jerusalem.
Hamed Abu Teir, the library's manager, called the manuscripts a "treasure and trust." ''We should preserve them," he said.
The al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site, is located on a hilltop compound known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount. The holy site is ground zero in the territorial and religious conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
The library and its 130,000 books are housed in two separate rooms in the compound, where modern steel bookshelves are affixed to ancient stone walls. Among the collection are some 4,000 manuscripts, mainly donations from the private collections of Jerusalem families. UNESCO, which is providing assistance for the restoration project, says the library contains "one of the world's most important collections of Islamic manuscripts."
The drive to restore the manuscripts and get them online is part of a greater global trend that has seen an array of historical documents digitized and uploaded to increase access to researchers worldwide.
Here, the gap to be bridged isn't just physical distance. Residents of countries with no diplomatic relations with Israel, including much of the Arab world, are unable to visit Jerusalem and Palestinians living in the nearby West Bank or the Gaza Strip need to secure a permit from Israel to enter the city. Officials hope to circumvent those hindrances by putting the manuscripts online.
"A student in the Arab and Muslim world can't access it. A student in Algeria or Saudi Arabia for example can't come here and access (the manuscripts). We want to grant him the knowledge in his own house," said Abu Teir.
Most of the manuscripts were donated in response to a call in the early 1920s from the Supreme Muslim Council, a religious governing body, said Walid Ahmad, an education professor at Israel's al-Qasemi Academic College who has researched the library. He said the council sought to prevent Arabs from selling old manuscripts to foreign and Jewish buyers and preserve the Islamic heritage in one of its holiest sites.
The oldest book dates back 900 years, with some of the newer titles from the 19th century. Most of the texts are religious, but other subjects include geography, astronomy and medicine. Some of the pages contain personal letters about travel in the Middle East of the 18th century. Radwan Amro, who is leading the restoration process, said the most well-known manuscript in the collection was written by Imam Mohammed al-Ghazali, an Islamic scholar from the 12th century.
The manuscripts were stored in a library for the first few years of the 1920s, but when riots erupted in 1929 over disputes surrounding Jewish and Arab access to the sacred compound, the manuscripts were stored in bags and closets in a separate building nearby, Ahmad said. They would remain there for nearly half a century, when a new space was created for them.
But upon unpacking the books, officials realized they had been pillaged, with many snatched or destroyed.
About a quarter of the 4,000 manuscripts are considered in poor condition. Half of the books are already undergoing restoration, but the other half lie exposed in a small room in the library.
Many are in tatters. Shards of paper crumble off their pages. Insects have dug deep trenches into the unprotected leafs. Thousands of loose, fraying pages lie on a long table where an expert is attempting to match them to their original book.
The restoration and digitization project, funded by the Waqf, Jordan's Islamic authority which manages the holy site, aims to preserve what remains.
In the six years since the project began, Amro said the 10-person team has restored 200 manuscripts as well as old maps, Ottoman population and trade registers and hand-written documents from the Mamluk period of the 13th to 16th centuries. But the painstakingly slow process of treating every individual page to protect the intricate text and the paper's delicate fibers means restorers have a long road ahead of them.
Amro would not give an estimate as to when the restoration would be complete, joking that it could take "hundreds of years." But he said nearly all of the manuscript pages have been digitized and hopes that by the end of the year they will be put online.
Ahmad of the Al-Qasemi college said that in order to stay relevant in the Arab world from which it is physically disconnected, the library must put its collection online.
"Presenting materials to the greater public is the essence of an important library like al-Aqsa's," said Ahmad. "That's how you stay on the map as a library."
But many of those centuries-old manuscripts are in a state of decay. Now, religious authorities are restoring and digitizing the books, many of them written by hand. They hope to make them available online to scholars and researchers across the Arab world who are unable to travel to Jerusalem.
Hamed Abu Teir, the library's manager, called the manuscripts a "treasure and trust." ''We should preserve them," he said.
The al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site, is located on a hilltop compound known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount. The holy site is ground zero in the territorial and religious conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
The library and its 130,000 books are housed in two separate rooms in the compound, where modern steel bookshelves are affixed to ancient stone walls. Among the collection are some 4,000 manuscripts, mainly donations from the private collections of Jerusalem families. UNESCO, which is providing assistance for the restoration project, says the library contains "one of the world's most important collections of Islamic manuscripts."
The drive to restore the manuscripts and get them online is part of a greater global trend that has seen an array of historical documents digitized and uploaded to increase access to researchers worldwide.
Here, the gap to be bridged isn't just physical distance. Residents of countries with no diplomatic relations with Israel, including much of the Arab world, are unable to visit Jerusalem and Palestinians living in the nearby West Bank or the Gaza Strip need to secure a permit from Israel to enter the city. Officials hope to circumvent those hindrances by putting the manuscripts online.
"A student in the Arab and Muslim world can't access it. A student in Algeria or Saudi Arabia for example can't come here and access (the manuscripts). We want to grant him the knowledge in his own house," said Abu Teir.
Most of the manuscripts were donated in response to a call in the early 1920s from the Supreme Muslim Council, a religious governing body, said Walid Ahmad, an education professor at Israel's al-Qasemi Academic College who has researched the library. He said the council sought to prevent Arabs from selling old manuscripts to foreign and Jewish buyers and preserve the Islamic heritage in one of its holiest sites.
The oldest book dates back 900 years, with some of the newer titles from the 19th century. Most of the texts are religious, but other subjects include geography, astronomy and medicine. Some of the pages contain personal letters about travel in the Middle East of the 18th century. Radwan Amro, who is leading the restoration process, said the most well-known manuscript in the collection was written by Imam Mohammed al-Ghazali, an Islamic scholar from the 12th century.
The manuscripts were stored in a library for the first few years of the 1920s, but when riots erupted in 1929 over disputes surrounding Jewish and Arab access to the sacred compound, the manuscripts were stored in bags and closets in a separate building nearby, Ahmad said. They would remain there for nearly half a century, when a new space was created for them.
But upon unpacking the books, officials realized they had been pillaged, with many snatched or destroyed.
About a quarter of the 4,000 manuscripts are considered in poor condition. Half of the books are already undergoing restoration, but the other half lie exposed in a small room in the library.
Many are in tatters. Shards of paper crumble off their pages. Insects have dug deep trenches into the unprotected leafs. Thousands of loose, fraying pages lie on a long table where an expert is attempting to match them to their original book.
The restoration and digitization project, funded by the Waqf, Jordan's Islamic authority which manages the holy site, aims to preserve what remains.
In the six years since the project began, Amro said the 10-person team has restored 200 manuscripts as well as old maps, Ottoman population and trade registers and hand-written documents from the Mamluk period of the 13th to 16th centuries. But the painstakingly slow process of treating every individual page to protect the intricate text and the paper's delicate fibers means restorers have a long road ahead of them.
Amro would not give an estimate as to when the restoration would be complete, joking that it could take "hundreds of years." But he said nearly all of the manuscript pages have been digitized and hopes that by the end of the year they will be put online.
Ahmad of the Al-Qasemi college said that in order to stay relevant in the Arab world from which it is physically disconnected, the library must put its collection online.
"Presenting materials to the greater public is the essence of an important library like al-Aqsa's," said Ahmad. "That's how you stay on the map as a library."
30 jan 2014
The Gaza Strip is a priority to the Palestinian Authority government, interim Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said during a meeting with a senior Middle East Quartet official.
After a meeting with Tony Blair in Ramallah, Hamdallah said: "The Gaza Strip is a priority to us. The government is providing the needed support to our people there."
Hamdallah said the Quartet was helping to implement a natural gas project in Gaza, in addition to a sea water desalination project.
Additionally, Blair and Hamdallah discussed recent economic and political updates in the West Bank.
Hamdallah stressed to Blair the importance of funding projects in Area C -- those under full Israeli military control -- in order to empower the PA.
He also asked Blair to support Palestine's tourism sector.
Blair briefed Hamdallah on the Quartet's economic projects to be implemented throughout the coming three months.
Blair: Quartet to help improve tourism in Bethlehem
Palestinian Authority Minister of Tourism Rula Maayeh met Thursday with a senior Middle East Quartet official to discuss the importance of tourism in Palestine, and specifically in Bethlehem.
Maayeh said in a news conference with former UK prime minister Tony Blair in Bethlehem that their meeting focused on ways to improve tourism in Palestine.
She said tourism faced countless obstacles as a result of the Israeli occupation, including restrictions on investment in Area C -- areas under full Israeli military control -- and the inability of Palestinian tour guides and buses to enter Jerusalem and Palestinian areas within Israel.
Blair praised the Maayeh's efforts to improve the the tourism sector in Palestine, and expressed his satisfaction with the increase of the number of tourists over the past two years.
He said the Quartet would help develop the Bethlehem area due to its "global significance" and "importance to the Christian world," specifically citing the Solomon's Pools area.
After a meeting with Tony Blair in Ramallah, Hamdallah said: "The Gaza Strip is a priority to us. The government is providing the needed support to our people there."
Hamdallah said the Quartet was helping to implement a natural gas project in Gaza, in addition to a sea water desalination project.
Additionally, Blair and Hamdallah discussed recent economic and political updates in the West Bank.
Hamdallah stressed to Blair the importance of funding projects in Area C -- those under full Israeli military control -- in order to empower the PA.
He also asked Blair to support Palestine's tourism sector.
Blair briefed Hamdallah on the Quartet's economic projects to be implemented throughout the coming three months.
Blair: Quartet to help improve tourism in Bethlehem
Palestinian Authority Minister of Tourism Rula Maayeh met Thursday with a senior Middle East Quartet official to discuss the importance of tourism in Palestine, and specifically in Bethlehem.
Maayeh said in a news conference with former UK prime minister Tony Blair in Bethlehem that their meeting focused on ways to improve tourism in Palestine.
She said tourism faced countless obstacles as a result of the Israeli occupation, including restrictions on investment in Area C -- areas under full Israeli military control -- and the inability of Palestinian tour guides and buses to enter Jerusalem and Palestinian areas within Israel.
Blair praised the Maayeh's efforts to improve the the tourism sector in Palestine, and expressed his satisfaction with the increase of the number of tourists over the past two years.
He said the Quartet would help develop the Bethlehem area due to its "global significance" and "importance to the Christian world," specifically citing the Solomon's Pools area.
The Hamas-run government in Gaza has proposed steps to move forward with national reconciliation, the adviser to Gaza's prime minister said Thursday.
Issam al-Daalees said in a news conference that the first important step would be to hold union and university elections in which all Palestinians would participate.
Another step would be to reform all local governments in Gaza, al-Daalees said.
Also at the news conference, he said the government would form committees to solve Gaza's electricity crisis, and form other committees against negotiations with Israel.
The division between Fatah and Hamas began in 2006, when Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections.
In the following year, clashes erupted between Fatah and Hamas, leaving Hamas in control of the Strip and Fatah in control of parts of the occupied West Bank.
The groups have made failed attempts at national reconciliation for years, most recently in 2012, when they signed two agreements -- one in Cairo and a subsequent one in Doha -- which have as of yet been entirely unimplemented.
Issam al-Daalees said in a news conference that the first important step would be to hold union and university elections in which all Palestinians would participate.
Another step would be to reform all local governments in Gaza, al-Daalees said.
Also at the news conference, he said the government would form committees to solve Gaza's electricity crisis, and form other committees against negotiations with Israel.
The division between Fatah and Hamas began in 2006, when Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections.
In the following year, clashes erupted between Fatah and Hamas, leaving Hamas in control of the Strip and Fatah in control of parts of the occupied West Bank.
The groups have made failed attempts at national reconciliation for years, most recently in 2012, when they signed two agreements -- one in Cairo and a subsequent one in Doha -- which have as of yet been entirely unimplemented.
Israel's intelligence minister has said President Mahmoud Abbas is the world's most anti-Semitic leader following the departure of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iran's president last year.
"Since Ahmadinejad left the political stage, Abu Mazen is the number one leader in injecting anti-Semitic and anti-Israel poison," Yuval Steinitz told a Tel Aviv security conference Wednesday, using the name by which Abbas is popularly known in Arabic.
"Under Abu Mazen the level of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incitement in the (Palestinian) Authority has reached new highs, where the bottom line is the destruction of Israel," said Steinitz, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.
"As someone who denied the Holocaust in his youth, he today denies the very existence of the Jewish people and their right to their own state," he told the annual conference of the Institute for National Security Studies, according to a transcript on the INSS website.
"As long as we do not see substantive change in the (Palestinian) educational system and media, a peace agreement is an illusion."
Abbas' spokesman hit back at Steinitz on Thursday, saying Israel's own incitement was manifesting itself in the killing of Palestinians by the Israeli army.
In a statement, Nabil Abu Rudeina insisted that Palestinians would do nothing to undermine US efforts to push peace talks forward, and called on the US and Israel's government to condemn inflammatory rhetoric against Palestinian leaders.
"After serial Israeli incitement against Abbas, with the latest incident being Steinitz's comments, Netanyahu's government, as well as the US administration, must take an official stance on this attack," Abu Rudeina said.
"The Israeli army's killing of Palestinians, including Mohammad Mubarak yesterday (Wednesday), is the natural progression from (Israel's) policy of incitement through its ministers and officials," he said.
Israeli troops shot dead 19-year-old Mubarak near the West Bank city of Ramallah, with the army alleging he had opened fire at them although witnesses insisted he was unarmed.
In his doctoral thesis at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba University, Abbas questioned the figure of six million Jews killed in the Nazi Holocaust, suggesting the number could have been "fewer than one million."
But, he added, "the controversy over the figure cannot minimize in any way the atrocious crime committed against the Jews."
"Since Ahmadinejad left the political stage, Abu Mazen is the number one leader in injecting anti-Semitic and anti-Israel poison," Yuval Steinitz told a Tel Aviv security conference Wednesday, using the name by which Abbas is popularly known in Arabic.
"Under Abu Mazen the level of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incitement in the (Palestinian) Authority has reached new highs, where the bottom line is the destruction of Israel," said Steinitz, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.
"As someone who denied the Holocaust in his youth, he today denies the very existence of the Jewish people and their right to their own state," he told the annual conference of the Institute for National Security Studies, according to a transcript on the INSS website.
"As long as we do not see substantive change in the (Palestinian) educational system and media, a peace agreement is an illusion."
Abbas' spokesman hit back at Steinitz on Thursday, saying Israel's own incitement was manifesting itself in the killing of Palestinians by the Israeli army.
In a statement, Nabil Abu Rudeina insisted that Palestinians would do nothing to undermine US efforts to push peace talks forward, and called on the US and Israel's government to condemn inflammatory rhetoric against Palestinian leaders.
"After serial Israeli incitement against Abbas, with the latest incident being Steinitz's comments, Netanyahu's government, as well as the US administration, must take an official stance on this attack," Abu Rudeina said.
"The Israeli army's killing of Palestinians, including Mohammad Mubarak yesterday (Wednesday), is the natural progression from (Israel's) policy of incitement through its ministers and officials," he said.
Israeli troops shot dead 19-year-old Mubarak near the West Bank city of Ramallah, with the army alleging he had opened fire at them although witnesses insisted he was unarmed.
In his doctoral thesis at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba University, Abbas questioned the figure of six million Jews killed in the Nazi Holocaust, suggesting the number could have been "fewer than one million."
But, he added, "the controversy over the figure cannot minimize in any way the atrocious crime committed against the Jews."
29 jan 2014
President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday attended a mass wedding of more than 200 couples in the city of Jericho.
Arab Idol star Muhammad Assaf performed at the ceremony together with singers Murad Sweiti and Ibrahim Sbeihat, who were accompanied by the Awtar Band.
The wedding expenses were funded by the presidential office to help young couples who are struggling financially.
"This is a national celebration by all standards. It is a national delight by all standards. May be it is not the greatest delight we wanted, but it is a step on the road to the greatest delight which we wish and look forward to, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state whose capital is the holy Jerusalem," Abbas said in a speech to inaugurate the wedding.
One of the brides, Randa Itmah, delivered a speech on behalf of the wedded couples in which she thanked the president for his "noble deed."
The mass wedding cost over $1 million, The Associated Press reported, which included $4,000 in start-up money for each couple.
Abbas blamed the rival Hamas movement for preventing a similar mass wedding ceremony from taking place in the Gaza Strip.
"They insisted on preventing our sons and daughters from holding their wedding with us tonight as a symbol of national unity which Hamas does not want. They cited security pretexts."
Dozens of mass weddings have been held in the Gaza Strip over the past years.
Traditional weddings are extremely costly and many couples are forced to delay getting married in order to save money for the ceremony.
Arab Idol star Muhammad Assaf performed at the ceremony together with singers Murad Sweiti and Ibrahim Sbeihat, who were accompanied by the Awtar Band.
The wedding expenses were funded by the presidential office to help young couples who are struggling financially.
"This is a national celebration by all standards. It is a national delight by all standards. May be it is not the greatest delight we wanted, but it is a step on the road to the greatest delight which we wish and look forward to, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state whose capital is the holy Jerusalem," Abbas said in a speech to inaugurate the wedding.
One of the brides, Randa Itmah, delivered a speech on behalf of the wedded couples in which she thanked the president for his "noble deed."
The mass wedding cost over $1 million, The Associated Press reported, which included $4,000 in start-up money for each couple.
Abbas blamed the rival Hamas movement for preventing a similar mass wedding ceremony from taking place in the Gaza Strip.
"They insisted on preventing our sons and daughters from holding their wedding with us tonight as a symbol of national unity which Hamas does not want. They cited security pretexts."
Dozens of mass weddings have been held in the Gaza Strip over the past years.
Traditional weddings are extremely costly and many couples are forced to delay getting married in order to save money for the ceremony.
A Fatah spokesman on Tuesday said that Hamas did not reply to Fatah’s recent proposal on a reconciliation agreement.
The head of Fatah's reconciliation team Azzam al-Ahmad said earlier this month that he would visit the Gaza Strip and meet with Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
However, spokesman Hassan Ahmad told Ma’an that “al-Ahmad’s visit to Gaza is linked to Hamas’ approval to hold elections and form a unity government. But Hamas has yet to reply to the proposal given by al-Ahmad to Haniyeh in the latest phone call.”
But Ahmad said that the Gaza government allowing 120 Fatah members back into the Gaza Strip was a positive move.
“There are no precise statistics on the number of Fatah members who left after the division in 2007,” he said.
Ahmad added that despite the positivity of Haniyeh’s gesture, the shortest way to achieve reconciliation remains implementing the reached agreements.
Haniyeh said Monday that 120 Fatah members would be allowed to return to Gaza in order to push reconciliation forward.
He told the al-Kitab satellite channel that the reconciliation file will move forward as long as leaders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are willing to end the division.
“We need arrangements for reconciliation to be genuine, and we will not hold back in achieving it,” Haniyeh said, citing his government’s recent gestures as an evidence of that.
He added that it was important to hold student union and local government elections for a transitional period, saying that there were “community and political reconciliations” that must occur to form a government.
The head of Fatah's reconciliation team Azzam al-Ahmad said earlier this month that he would visit the Gaza Strip and meet with Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
However, spokesman Hassan Ahmad told Ma’an that “al-Ahmad’s visit to Gaza is linked to Hamas’ approval to hold elections and form a unity government. But Hamas has yet to reply to the proposal given by al-Ahmad to Haniyeh in the latest phone call.”
But Ahmad said that the Gaza government allowing 120 Fatah members back into the Gaza Strip was a positive move.
“There are no precise statistics on the number of Fatah members who left after the division in 2007,” he said.
Ahmad added that despite the positivity of Haniyeh’s gesture, the shortest way to achieve reconciliation remains implementing the reached agreements.
Haniyeh said Monday that 120 Fatah members would be allowed to return to Gaza in order to push reconciliation forward.
He told the al-Kitab satellite channel that the reconciliation file will move forward as long as leaders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are willing to end the division.
“We need arrangements for reconciliation to be genuine, and we will not hold back in achieving it,” Haniyeh said, citing his government’s recent gestures as an evidence of that.
He added that it was important to hold student union and local government elections for a transitional period, saying that there were “community and political reconciliations” that must occur to form a government.