24 june 2018
Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party in Britain, visited Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan Saturday and declared that if his party wins the country’s next election (in 2022), he will recognize the Palestinian state.
Corbyn wrote on Twitter, “The next Labour government will recognise Palestine as a state as one step towards a genuine two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict”.
Before his visit to the camps, Corbyn wrote, “Today I’ll visit the Al-Baqa’a refugee camp which was first created in 1968, where 100,000 Palestinians live.”
This is not the first time that the British Labour Party has vowed to recognize Palestinian sovereignty. Most recently, after narrowly losing the 2017 election to Theresa May’s Conservative Party, Corbyn himself spoke in favor of Palestinian statehood.
That statement was made at an event protesting the hundredth anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, which was a declaration made in 1917 by Lord Balfour, the British Governor in Palestine at the time, declaring that the land could serve both as home to its existing residents (Palestinians and a small minority of Samaritans and Jews), and as a homeland for the Jewish people.
In addition to visiting refugees in the Al-Baqa’a camp, Corbyn also went to the Al Zaatari Refugee camp near Jordan’s border with Syria.
He visited the market in Al Zaatari, and also visited a solar power plant.
Corbyn wrote on Twitter, “The next Labour government will recognise Palestine as a state as one step towards a genuine two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict”.
Before his visit to the camps, Corbyn wrote, “Today I’ll visit the Al-Baqa’a refugee camp which was first created in 1968, where 100,000 Palestinians live.”
This is not the first time that the British Labour Party has vowed to recognize Palestinian sovereignty. Most recently, after narrowly losing the 2017 election to Theresa May’s Conservative Party, Corbyn himself spoke in favor of Palestinian statehood.
That statement was made at an event protesting the hundredth anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, which was a declaration made in 1917 by Lord Balfour, the British Governor in Palestine at the time, declaring that the land could serve both as home to its existing residents (Palestinians and a small minority of Samaritans and Jews), and as a homeland for the Jewish people.
In addition to visiting refugees in the Al-Baqa’a camp, Corbyn also went to the Al Zaatari Refugee camp near Jordan’s border with Syria.
He visited the market in Al Zaatari, and also visited a solar power plant.
23 june 2018
Thousands of Palestinians on Saturday evening participated for the third time in two weeks in a protest on al-Manara Square in Ramallah to demand lifting the sanctions imposed by the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Gaza Strip.
The protesters carried Palestinian flags and banners condemning the PA sanctions that deny the people of Gaza their right to having medications and health transfers.
The so called “Lift the Sanctions” initiative affirmed the persistence of the events and protests inside and outside Palestine until lifting all the punishment measures imposed by the PA President Mahmoud Abbas on the besieged coastal enclave since 2017.
The protesters carried Palestinian flags and banners condemning the PA sanctions that deny the people of Gaza their right to having medications and health transfers.
The so called “Lift the Sanctions” initiative affirmed the persistence of the events and protests inside and outside Palestine until lifting all the punishment measures imposed by the PA President Mahmoud Abbas on the besieged coastal enclave since 2017.
18 june 2018
Right-wing NGO Monitor (Israel) has revealed that the European Union (EU) has started funding a project to support personal legal proceedings against army soldiers at the request of left-wing organizations.
According to a report published Sunday in Israel Hayom, the Europeans have allocated about a quarter of a million euros to the plan by November 2019.
The funding request is also open for subsequent years, and according to the plan of Israeli leftist organizations, it will continue until 2021.
The program, called "A culture of impunity among Israeli security forces," was initiated by Yesh Din and is being carried out jointly with Physicians for Human Rights and Breaking the Silence.
According to these left-wing organizations, Israel's legal system is not capable of adequately investigating soldiers’ illegal practices against Palestinian residents, and the military justice system grants almost complete impunity for Israeli soldiers and their behavior.
The European project will provide Palestinian Arab women with cameras that will document arrests and activities carried out by Israeli soldiers in the occupied Palestinian territories.
According to a report published Sunday in Israel Hayom, the Europeans have allocated about a quarter of a million euros to the plan by November 2019.
The funding request is also open for subsequent years, and according to the plan of Israeli leftist organizations, it will continue until 2021.
The program, called "A culture of impunity among Israeli security forces," was initiated by Yesh Din and is being carried out jointly with Physicians for Human Rights and Breaking the Silence.
According to these left-wing organizations, Israel's legal system is not capable of adequately investigating soldiers’ illegal practices against Palestinian residents, and the military justice system grants almost complete impunity for Israeli soldiers and their behavior.
The European project will provide Palestinian Arab women with cameras that will document arrests and activities carried out by Israeli soldiers in the occupied Palestinian territories.
11 june 2018
The so-called Committee of Foreign Affairs and Security of the Israeli Knesset on Monday approved a bill to deduct the salaries paid to the families of Palestinian prisoners and martyrs from the tax revenues transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The Hebrew TV channel 7 reported that the committee ratified the bill in the second and third readings and cancelled the item which provides the government flexibility in deciding whether or not to deduct the payments.
The bill stipulates that Israel's Minister of Finance cut the monthly salaries paid by the PA to the families of martyrs and prisoners from the tax revenues Israel allegedly hands over to the PA.
According to the bill's proposal, the PA transfers 7% of its budget, estimated at 1.1 billion shekels ($ 300 million), financed largely by US and European aid, to pay salaries for the families of Palestinian prisoners and martyrs involved in anti-occupation attacks.
Except for MK for Meretz party Issawi Frej, the other members of the Committee of Foreign Affairs and Security voted in favor of a new bill to deduct funds from the tax revenues paid to the PA to compensate the farmers of the Israeli settlements neighboring the Gaza Strip for the damages caused in their lands by fires sparked by burning kites sent from the coastal enclave.
The Hebrew TV channel 7 reported that the committee ratified the bill in the second and third readings and cancelled the item which provides the government flexibility in deciding whether or not to deduct the payments.
The bill stipulates that Israel's Minister of Finance cut the monthly salaries paid by the PA to the families of martyrs and prisoners from the tax revenues Israel allegedly hands over to the PA.
According to the bill's proposal, the PA transfers 7% of its budget, estimated at 1.1 billion shekels ($ 300 million), financed largely by US and European aid, to pay salaries for the families of Palestinian prisoners and martyrs involved in anti-occupation attacks.
Except for MK for Meretz party Issawi Frej, the other members of the Committee of Foreign Affairs and Security voted in favor of a new bill to deduct funds from the tax revenues paid to the PA to compensate the farmers of the Israeli settlements neighboring the Gaza Strip for the damages caused in their lands by fires sparked by burning kites sent from the coastal enclave.
9 june 2018
Head of the Consortium of Independent Palestinians in the West Bank Khalil Assaf on Saturday called for a large participation in a protest scheduled for Sunday in Ramallah against the sanctions imposed by the Palestinian Authority (PA) on the Gaza Strip.
Assaf said that the PA is offering a free service to the Israeli occupation through these punitive measures, adding that if Gaza is the victim today, Jerusalem and the West Bank will be the next.
He affirmed that if the PA refused to lift the sanctions, further steps would be taken in the coming days.
Palestinian activists, artists and journalists earlier called for a protest on Sunday near al-Manara Circle in Ramallah, the central West Bank, to pressure the PA to lift the sanctions imposed on the Palestinian people in Gaza.
The PA president Mahmoud Abbas in April 2017 decided to wage a series of punitive measures against the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas to dissolve its Administrative Committee.
Although Hamas dissolved the committee in September 2017, further sanctions were imposed. Most of the PA employees in Gaza receive only 30% of their monthly salaries.
Assaf said that the PA is offering a free service to the Israeli occupation through these punitive measures, adding that if Gaza is the victim today, Jerusalem and the West Bank will be the next.
He affirmed that if the PA refused to lift the sanctions, further steps would be taken in the coming days.
Palestinian activists, artists and journalists earlier called for a protest on Sunday near al-Manara Circle in Ramallah, the central West Bank, to pressure the PA to lift the sanctions imposed on the Palestinian people in Gaza.
The PA president Mahmoud Abbas in April 2017 decided to wage a series of punitive measures against the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas to dissolve its Administrative Committee.
Although Hamas dissolved the committee in September 2017, further sanctions were imposed. Most of the PA employees in Gaza receive only 30% of their monthly salaries.
2 june 2018
The United States has used its veto power, Friday, against a draft resolution at the United Nations, calling for providing protection to the Palestinian People, living under illegal Israeli occupation.
The Veto came after the resolution was backed by 10 counties at the UN Security Council.
The resolution was sponsored by Kuwait; it requires nine votes to be adopted by the 15-member council, and was voted for by ten countries, including Russia, China and France.
Four counties, including Britain, abstained while the United States, the only country that opposed it, used its Veto power to topple the resolution.
The draft resolution denounced the Israeli military escalation against the Palestinian people, and the use of “excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate force” by the army, and also criticized the “firing of shells from Gaza into civilian areas in Israel.”
Nikki Haley, the United States Envoy to the United Nations, said Washington rejects the resolution because it represents “support of Hamas,” while the Kuwaiti Envoy Mansour al-Qtaibi, said rejecting the resolution reveals that Israel is a state that considers itself above International Law, with direct U.S. support.
It is worth mentioning that the UN Security Council also rejected a draft resolution presented by the United States “condemning Hamas,” and holding its responsible for the escalation in Gaza; the United states was the only country that voted for its own draft.
The Permanent Palestinian Representative at the United Nations, Ambassador Riyad Mansour, said the Palestinians reject the US amendment to the Kuwaiti draft, because was hostile to the Palestinian people, and only aims at protecting Israel.
Meanwhile in Gaza, Israeli soldiers killed, Friday, a young Palestinian woman, identified as Razan Ashraf Najjar, 22, who worked as a volunteer medic with the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, and injured 100 Palestinians, including 40 with live fire.
Her death brings the number of Palestinians, killed by Israeli army fire in the Gaza Strip since March 30th, to 119, including 13 children, while more than 13400 have been injured, including 330 who suffered life-threatening wounds.
The Veto came after the resolution was backed by 10 counties at the UN Security Council.
The resolution was sponsored by Kuwait; it requires nine votes to be adopted by the 15-member council, and was voted for by ten countries, including Russia, China and France.
Four counties, including Britain, abstained while the United States, the only country that opposed it, used its Veto power to topple the resolution.
The draft resolution denounced the Israeli military escalation against the Palestinian people, and the use of “excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate force” by the army, and also criticized the “firing of shells from Gaza into civilian areas in Israel.”
Nikki Haley, the United States Envoy to the United Nations, said Washington rejects the resolution because it represents “support of Hamas,” while the Kuwaiti Envoy Mansour al-Qtaibi, said rejecting the resolution reveals that Israel is a state that considers itself above International Law, with direct U.S. support.
It is worth mentioning that the UN Security Council also rejected a draft resolution presented by the United States “condemning Hamas,” and holding its responsible for the escalation in Gaza; the United states was the only country that voted for its own draft.
The Permanent Palestinian Representative at the United Nations, Ambassador Riyad Mansour, said the Palestinians reject the US amendment to the Kuwaiti draft, because was hostile to the Palestinian people, and only aims at protecting Israel.
Meanwhile in Gaza, Israeli soldiers killed, Friday, a young Palestinian woman, identified as Razan Ashraf Najjar, 22, who worked as a volunteer medic with the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, and injured 100 Palestinians, including 40 with live fire.
Her death brings the number of Palestinians, killed by Israeli army fire in the Gaza Strip since March 30th, to 119, including 13 children, while more than 13400 have been injured, including 330 who suffered life-threatening wounds.
25 may 2018
Palestinian Authority (PA) intelligence chief Majed Faraj has sent a letter to his Israeli counterpart Nadav Argaman warning against any step to end the blockade on the Gaza Strip or alleviate the population’s suffering.
According to the Hebrew media, Faraj threatened in his letter to the Shin Bet head that PA president Mahmoud Abbas would halt security coordination with Israel if the latter accepted any deal that ends the blockade on Gaza.
The PA made such threat after Israeli news reports talked recently about Egyptian and Qatari proposals for a renewed long-term truce between Hamas and Israel that leads to an end to the blockade on Gaza.
According to a report by Israel’s Channel 10 on Wednesday, there are currently two proposals on the table from Egypt and Qatar.
Israel has reportedly demanded a complete cessation of rocket fire and tunnel building, in addition to respecting the security perimeter at the Gaza border and a solution regarding the Israeli captives held in Gaza.
In return, Israel will substantially reduce restrictions at Gaza’s border crossings, including permitting the entry of goods and services to the impoverished enclave, on the condition that they will not be used to boost Hamas’s armed wing. Egypt will also lessen its restrictions at its Rafah crossing with Gaza.
According to the channel’s report, Arab officials believe the truce is also of interest to moderate Arab states and that Cairo will take on the responsibility for monitoring the implementation of the agreement.
Officials, however, have voiced concern that such arrangement might fail as president Mahmoud Abbas will stand against it because he does not want such a deal with Hamas, therefore they consider overlooking the role of the Palestinian Authority in this regard.
The issue of Gaza is said to seriously concern the Trump administration, reported Channel 10, and they are keen to see clam in Gaza and a response to the humanitarian situation.
However, the US wishes to see such progress in Gaza in order to pave the way for its peace plan, and is inciting Arab states to publicly declare that Hamas is responsible for the situation in Gaza, according to the channel.
The truce proposals have come after weeks of Israeli suppression of protests on the Gaza border.
According to the Hebrew media, Faraj threatened in his letter to the Shin Bet head that PA president Mahmoud Abbas would halt security coordination with Israel if the latter accepted any deal that ends the blockade on Gaza.
The PA made such threat after Israeli news reports talked recently about Egyptian and Qatari proposals for a renewed long-term truce between Hamas and Israel that leads to an end to the blockade on Gaza.
According to a report by Israel’s Channel 10 on Wednesday, there are currently two proposals on the table from Egypt and Qatar.
Israel has reportedly demanded a complete cessation of rocket fire and tunnel building, in addition to respecting the security perimeter at the Gaza border and a solution regarding the Israeli captives held in Gaza.
In return, Israel will substantially reduce restrictions at Gaza’s border crossings, including permitting the entry of goods and services to the impoverished enclave, on the condition that they will not be used to boost Hamas’s armed wing. Egypt will also lessen its restrictions at its Rafah crossing with Gaza.
According to the channel’s report, Arab officials believe the truce is also of interest to moderate Arab states and that Cairo will take on the responsibility for monitoring the implementation of the agreement.
Officials, however, have voiced concern that such arrangement might fail as president Mahmoud Abbas will stand against it because he does not want such a deal with Hamas, therefore they consider overlooking the role of the Palestinian Authority in this regard.
The issue of Gaza is said to seriously concern the Trump administration, reported Channel 10, and they are keen to see clam in Gaza and a response to the humanitarian situation.
However, the US wishes to see such progress in Gaza in order to pave the way for its peace plan, and is inciting Arab states to publicly declare that Hamas is responsible for the situation in Gaza, according to the channel.
The truce proposals have come after weeks of Israeli suppression of protests on the Gaza border.
23 may 2018
Palestine has submitted its instrument of accession to Chemical Weapons Convention to European Union, the international watchdog said on Wednesday.
In a statement, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said Palestine “deposited on 17 May 2018 its instrument of accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the depositary of the Convention”.
“The Convention will enter into force for the State of Palestine on 16 June 2018,” it added.
The OPCW, an international chemical weapons watchdog, has been servicing as the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention since its entry into force in 1997.
In a statement, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said Palestine “deposited on 17 May 2018 its instrument of accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the depositary of the Convention”.
“The Convention will enter into force for the State of Palestine on 16 June 2018,” it added.
The OPCW, an international chemical weapons watchdog, has been servicing as the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention since its entry into force in 1997.
20 may 2018
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), on Monday, will discuss a draft resolution to provide international protection for the Palestinian people.
The resolution was put forward by Kuwait’s permanent representative at the UN headquarters in New York, Ambassador Mansour Al Otaibi, and called for providing international protection to civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories, including those in Gaza Strip.
Al Otaibi said, in remarks carried by Kuwait news agency (KUNA), that the negotiations on the draft resolution would be scheduled on the level of experts, next Monday. He added that the draft resolution called for providing international protection to occupied Palestinian territories, in addition to the lifting of the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip by Israel.
The document also encouraged intensifying UN efforts to de-escalate the situation in the region and reinforcing the respect of international and humanitarian laws, he said, according to the PNN.
The resolution was put forward by Kuwait’s permanent representative at the UN headquarters in New York, Ambassador Mansour Al Otaibi, and called for providing international protection to civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories, including those in Gaza Strip.
Al Otaibi said, in remarks carried by Kuwait news agency (KUNA), that the negotiations on the draft resolution would be scheduled on the level of experts, next Monday. He added that the draft resolution called for providing international protection to occupied Palestinian territories, in addition to the lifting of the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip by Israel.
The document also encouraged intensifying UN efforts to de-escalate the situation in the region and reinforcing the respect of international and humanitarian laws, he said, according to the PNN.
17 may 2018
Vietnam, on Thursday, renewed its firm position in supporting the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the establishment of an independent state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
During the ministry’s weekly press conference, which focused on the transfer of the US Embassy to Jerusalem and the violence in the Gaza Strip, head of the Press and Information Department of Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry, Le Thi Thu Hang noted that Vietnam’s position was that all solutions concerning the city of Jerusalem should comply with international law, in particular with United Nations resolutions, with the consent of the relevant parties.
“The firm position of Vietnam was to support the just struggle of the Palestinian people and to support the two-state solution, including the establishment of a Palestinian State living side by side with the State of Israel along the borders of 1967 and East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.”
She expressed concern at the escalation of violence in Gaza in recent days, which has resulted in the death and injury of many Palestinians.
She affirmed that Vietnam is closely following the repercussions of the situation in the region and opposes the use of force.
Vietnam called for an end to escalation, a peaceful resolution of disputes and the search for a comprehensive, just and lasting solution that guarantees the protection of lives and interests, as well as maintaining peace and stability in the region.
Vietnam was among the countries that Israel claimed had confirmed their attendance of the opening ceremony of the US embassy in Jerusalem.
After the Israeli Foreign Ministry published initial attendance list, several countries – including Serbia, Vietnam, Peru, El Salvador and the Ivory Coast – denied they had confirmed their attendance and said they weren’t planning to attend.
During the ministry’s weekly press conference, which focused on the transfer of the US Embassy to Jerusalem and the violence in the Gaza Strip, head of the Press and Information Department of Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry, Le Thi Thu Hang noted that Vietnam’s position was that all solutions concerning the city of Jerusalem should comply with international law, in particular with United Nations resolutions, with the consent of the relevant parties.
“The firm position of Vietnam was to support the just struggle of the Palestinian people and to support the two-state solution, including the establishment of a Palestinian State living side by side with the State of Israel along the borders of 1967 and East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.”
She expressed concern at the escalation of violence in Gaza in recent days, which has resulted in the death and injury of many Palestinians.
She affirmed that Vietnam is closely following the repercussions of the situation in the region and opposes the use of force.
Vietnam called for an end to escalation, a peaceful resolution of disputes and the search for a comprehensive, just and lasting solution that guarantees the protection of lives and interests, as well as maintaining peace and stability in the region.
Vietnam was among the countries that Israel claimed had confirmed their attendance of the opening ceremony of the US embassy in Jerusalem.
After the Israeli Foreign Ministry published initial attendance list, several countries – including Serbia, Vietnam, Peru, El Salvador and the Ivory Coast – denied they had confirmed their attendance and said they weren’t planning to attend.