26 mar 2014
US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Jordan Wednesday in a fresh bid to keep his Middle East peace bid on track, amid fears Israel may renege on a vow to free Palestinian prisoners.
Kerry, interrupting a visit to Rome, was due to meet first with Jordan's King Abdullah II before holding talks with President Mahmoud Abbas over dinner in a bid to "continue to narrow the gaps" between the two sides, his spokeswoman said.
Under a July deal for the relaunch of the talks, Israel said it would release 104 Palestinians held since before the 1993 Oslo peace accords in exchange for the PLO not pressing their statehood claims via the UN.
Israel has so far freed 78 prisoners and is due to release the fourth and final tranche on March 29, but there are growing fears Netanyahu's cabinet may refuse to approve the move.
Palestinian leaders are threatening to renew their diplomatic push at the United Nations if the prisoners are not freed as scheduled this weekend.
Kerry's meeting with Abbas comes only 10 days after the Abbas was welcomed at the White House by US President Barack Obama for talks which Palestinians officials later admitted had been difficult.
Kerry, who coaxed the two sides back to the negotiations last July after a three-year freeze, is seeking to keep up the pressure to reach an agreed framework to guide the talks going forward as an April 29 deadline for a deal looms.
Despite months of meetings between Kerry and Israeli and Palestinian leaders both in the region and in cities around the world, the two sides have remained deeply divided.
Abbas has so far held off on efforts to use the UN's November 2012 recognition of Palestine as a non-member observer to press for membership in international bodies where it could fight Israeli occupation.
But Palestinians are warning they may drop that pledge if Israel breaks its side of the deal by not freeing the prisoners.
"We shall turn to the UN's international organizations if Israel does not release the fourth and final group of prisoners," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee.
"The release of the prisoners is in return for the freeze on seeking membership in international organizations," he told Voice of Palestine radio.
Israel also wants the Palestinians to agree to extend the talks beyond April 29, warning a failure to do so would scupper the final prisoner release.
Pollard and settlements
The prisoner issue is not the only bone of contention jeopardizing the peace talks, and the atmosphere has been further muddied by Israeli pressure on the US to free convicted spy Jonathan Pollard as well as by continued settlement building.
Israeli army radio said Wednesday the US had offered to release Pollard, who was arrested in 1985 and condemned to life imprisonment for spying on the United States for Israel, in return for Palestinian prisoners being freed.
But State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki shot down the report, saying: "There are currently no plans to release Jonathan Pollard."
He was convicted "of a very serious crime, was sentenced to life in prison and is serving his sentence," she added.
Repeated Israeli announcements of new settlement construction have also angered the Palestinians, as has Netanyahu's demand that they recognize Israel as "the nation-state of the Jewish people."
Arab leaders at a summit in Kuwait on Wednesday fully backed the Palestinians in refusing to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
Ties between Israel and its US ally have also been chilled by remarks last week from Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon accusing Washington of being weak in its foreign policy in global hotspots.
Kerry, interrupting a visit to Rome, was due to meet first with Jordan's King Abdullah II before holding talks with President Mahmoud Abbas over dinner in a bid to "continue to narrow the gaps" between the two sides, his spokeswoman said.
Under a July deal for the relaunch of the talks, Israel said it would release 104 Palestinians held since before the 1993 Oslo peace accords in exchange for the PLO not pressing their statehood claims via the UN.
Israel has so far freed 78 prisoners and is due to release the fourth and final tranche on March 29, but there are growing fears Netanyahu's cabinet may refuse to approve the move.
Palestinian leaders are threatening to renew their diplomatic push at the United Nations if the prisoners are not freed as scheduled this weekend.
Kerry's meeting with Abbas comes only 10 days after the Abbas was welcomed at the White House by US President Barack Obama for talks which Palestinians officials later admitted had been difficult.
Kerry, who coaxed the two sides back to the negotiations last July after a three-year freeze, is seeking to keep up the pressure to reach an agreed framework to guide the talks going forward as an April 29 deadline for a deal looms.
Despite months of meetings between Kerry and Israeli and Palestinian leaders both in the region and in cities around the world, the two sides have remained deeply divided.
Abbas has so far held off on efforts to use the UN's November 2012 recognition of Palestine as a non-member observer to press for membership in international bodies where it could fight Israeli occupation.
But Palestinians are warning they may drop that pledge if Israel breaks its side of the deal by not freeing the prisoners.
"We shall turn to the UN's international organizations if Israel does not release the fourth and final group of prisoners," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee.
"The release of the prisoners is in return for the freeze on seeking membership in international organizations," he told Voice of Palestine radio.
Israel also wants the Palestinians to agree to extend the talks beyond April 29, warning a failure to do so would scupper the final prisoner release.
Pollard and settlements
The prisoner issue is not the only bone of contention jeopardizing the peace talks, and the atmosphere has been further muddied by Israeli pressure on the US to free convicted spy Jonathan Pollard as well as by continued settlement building.
Israeli army radio said Wednesday the US had offered to release Pollard, who was arrested in 1985 and condemned to life imprisonment for spying on the United States for Israel, in return for Palestinian prisoners being freed.
But State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki shot down the report, saying: "There are currently no plans to release Jonathan Pollard."
He was convicted "of a very serious crime, was sentenced to life in prison and is serving his sentence," she added.
Repeated Israeli announcements of new settlement construction have also angered the Palestinians, as has Netanyahu's demand that they recognize Israel as "the nation-state of the Jewish people."
Arab leaders at a summit in Kuwait on Wednesday fully backed the Palestinians in refusing to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
Ties between Israel and its US ally have also been chilled by remarks last week from Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon accusing Washington of being weak in its foreign policy in global hotspots.
A woman is comforted by a relative as they watch Israeli diggers demolish their home in the Beit Hanina neighborhood of East Jerusalem, Jan. 27, 2014
By Jeff Halper
Jeff Halper is the Director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
The "Judaization" of Jerusalem and the West Bank continues apace, despite (and in fact because of) the so-called "Kerry initiative."
Over the past few months the Israeli government has intensified its campaign of demolitions in Jerusalem, in the strategic E1 area between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement, in the South Hebron Hills and in the Jordan Valley.
According to UN figures, 231 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in the first two months of 2014, During that short time 132 structures were demolished, a pace outstripping that of 2013, when 1,103 structures were demolished and 663 people displaced, itself the highest level in the past five years. Besides homes, "structures" refers as well to livestock pens, fences, water reservoirs and even public buildings such as schools, all vital to the livelihood and communal life of Palestinians.
Overall, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions estimates that since 1967 some 29,000 Palestinian homes and livelihood structures have been demolished in the Occupied Territories -- and that doesn't include the ongoing demolition of thousands of other homes of Palestinian and Bedouin citizens of Israel.
At the same time, of course, the Israeli government has announced the construction of thousands of new homes and infrastructural projects in the settlements of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Thus, while recently approving another 1,500 housing units in the illegal East Jerusalem settlement of Ramat Shlomo, 558 in other East Jerusalem settlements and 3,500 more in the West Bank, it issued demolition orders for 2,000 housing units in the nearby area of Ras al-Khamis and the Shuafat refugee camp.
"Demolition" is only the visible part of the problem, of course. Displacement caused by lack of access to water or agricultural land and the actual expropriation of lands necessary for the continuation of Palestinian communal life is the real point of the demolition policy.
In East Jerusalem, the Israeli government is establishing a "national park" on the lands of Issawiya and al-Tur to the northeast of the city, fragmenting East Jerusalem communities while creating a "bridge" between Israeli Jerusalem and Maale Adumim -- creating a so-called "Greater (Israeli) Jerusalem" that divides the West Bank on half and effectively ends any prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state.
Following a process Israel officially calls "Judaization," 40 percent of the Jewish residents of Jerusalem now live in the Palestinian part of the city, in expansive settlements that confine Palestinians to tiny ghettos.
Palestinian Sheikh Jarrah is being depopulated and replaced by Israeli Jews; recently the municipality announced the construction of a massive twelve-story "campus" of dormitories and classrooms for Jewish yeshiva students in the heart of the neighborhood.
By Jeff Halper
Jeff Halper is the Director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
The "Judaization" of Jerusalem and the West Bank continues apace, despite (and in fact because of) the so-called "Kerry initiative."
Over the past few months the Israeli government has intensified its campaign of demolitions in Jerusalem, in the strategic E1 area between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement, in the South Hebron Hills and in the Jordan Valley.
According to UN figures, 231 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in the first two months of 2014, During that short time 132 structures were demolished, a pace outstripping that of 2013, when 1,103 structures were demolished and 663 people displaced, itself the highest level in the past five years. Besides homes, "structures" refers as well to livestock pens, fences, water reservoirs and even public buildings such as schools, all vital to the livelihood and communal life of Palestinians.
Overall, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions estimates that since 1967 some 29,000 Palestinian homes and livelihood structures have been demolished in the Occupied Territories -- and that doesn't include the ongoing demolition of thousands of other homes of Palestinian and Bedouin citizens of Israel.
At the same time, of course, the Israeli government has announced the construction of thousands of new homes and infrastructural projects in the settlements of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Thus, while recently approving another 1,500 housing units in the illegal East Jerusalem settlement of Ramat Shlomo, 558 in other East Jerusalem settlements and 3,500 more in the West Bank, it issued demolition orders for 2,000 housing units in the nearby area of Ras al-Khamis and the Shuafat refugee camp.
"Demolition" is only the visible part of the problem, of course. Displacement caused by lack of access to water or agricultural land and the actual expropriation of lands necessary for the continuation of Palestinian communal life is the real point of the demolition policy.
In East Jerusalem, the Israeli government is establishing a "national park" on the lands of Issawiya and al-Tur to the northeast of the city, fragmenting East Jerusalem communities while creating a "bridge" between Israeli Jerusalem and Maale Adumim -- creating a so-called "Greater (Israeli) Jerusalem" that divides the West Bank on half and effectively ends any prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state.
Following a process Israel officially calls "Judaization," 40 percent of the Jewish residents of Jerusalem now live in the Palestinian part of the city, in expansive settlements that confine Palestinians to tiny ghettos.
Palestinian Sheikh Jarrah is being depopulated and replaced by Israeli Jews; recently the municipality announced the construction of a massive twelve-story "campus" of dormitories and classrooms for Jewish yeshiva students in the heart of the neighborhood.
Hayla Bany Maniya stands beside her Jordan Valley home after it was demolished by Israeli authorities on Jan. 31, 2014
Silwan is also in the process of being erased from the map: it has already been renamed "The City of David," declared an Israeli national park and "Judaized" by dozens of settler families. The government plans to demolish 88 Palestinian homes in order to make way for parking lots and park facilities.
In other parts of Jerusalem -- al-Tur, for example, or Jabal Mukkaber, Sur Baher and Beit Hanina -- demolitions occur at a slower but steady pace, "under the radar" to avoid international criticism but enough to prevent Palestinian families from improving their standards of living. Here the message is the flip-side of "Judaization": de-Arabization. Keeping the city's Palestinian population -- a third of Jerusalem's population -- living in miserable conditions (one has simply to compare the infrastructures of East and West Jerusalem) is yet another part of the strategy of displacement.
It has yet another wrinkle as well. Israel has a declared, racist policy of maintaining a 72 percent [PDF] majority of Jews over Arabs in Jerusalem. How does it achieve that? Well, its dual policy of demolishing homes while not issuing building permits to Palestinians has led to a shortage of some 25,000 housing units in the Palestinian sector.
That has pushed up the price of scarce housing available to Palestinians, forcing thousands -- 70 percent of East Jerusalem Palestinians live under the poverty line -- to seek more affordable housing in Arab neighborhoods just beyond the gerrymandered Jerusalem border, such as Bir Naballah, al-Ram, Hizma, al-Eizariya, or Abu Dis.
By shifting the "center of their lives" from Jerusalem, however, these hapless Palestinians, who are not citizens of Israel but only "permanent residents" of Jerusalem, lose their residency rights and are barred from re-entering the city, even if they are employed there. HaMoked forced the Ministry of the Interior to reveal that, since 1967, 14,309 Palestinians have lost their residency, thus furthering the process of "Judaizing" the city.
The same policies of displacement, de-Arabization and Judaization take place in the West Bank, which Israel has zoned almost completely as "agricultural land," thus providing a "legal" basis for not granting building permits to Palestinians, demolishing whatever homes they manage to construct and, as in the Jordan Valley and South Hebron Hills, displacing entire communities. (Needless to say, Israel has rezoned its settlement areas so that construction is legal.)
In 1967, between 2-320,000 [PDF] Palestinians lived in the Jordan Valley; today only about 55,000 remain, and of those only 15,000 remain in the Area C outside of the city of Jericho -- an area comprising 30 percent of the West Bank -- half of them Bedouin.
The communities in Area C, which under tremendous pressure of demolition and displacement. A full 94 percent of their agricultural land is off-limits to them.
The destruction of Palestinian homes does not occur only in the Occupied Territories, of course. The entire country is being Judaized; Palestine transformed into the Land of Israel. In recent years the Israeli government has demolished three times more homes inside Israel [PDF]than it has in the Occupied Territories.
The Bedouin-Palestinian community of al-Araqib, whose residents are Israeli citizens, has now been entirely demolished 61 times (and each time rebuilt by the residents and their supporters).
Israeli officials often say: "We never finished 1948."
That doesn't mean they have given up trying.
Silwan is also in the process of being erased from the map: it has already been renamed "The City of David," declared an Israeli national park and "Judaized" by dozens of settler families. The government plans to demolish 88 Palestinian homes in order to make way for parking lots and park facilities.
In other parts of Jerusalem -- al-Tur, for example, or Jabal Mukkaber, Sur Baher and Beit Hanina -- demolitions occur at a slower but steady pace, "under the radar" to avoid international criticism but enough to prevent Palestinian families from improving their standards of living. Here the message is the flip-side of "Judaization": de-Arabization. Keeping the city's Palestinian population -- a third of Jerusalem's population -- living in miserable conditions (one has simply to compare the infrastructures of East and West Jerusalem) is yet another part of the strategy of displacement.
It has yet another wrinkle as well. Israel has a declared, racist policy of maintaining a 72 percent [PDF] majority of Jews over Arabs in Jerusalem. How does it achieve that? Well, its dual policy of demolishing homes while not issuing building permits to Palestinians has led to a shortage of some 25,000 housing units in the Palestinian sector.
That has pushed up the price of scarce housing available to Palestinians, forcing thousands -- 70 percent of East Jerusalem Palestinians live under the poverty line -- to seek more affordable housing in Arab neighborhoods just beyond the gerrymandered Jerusalem border, such as Bir Naballah, al-Ram, Hizma, al-Eizariya, or Abu Dis.
By shifting the "center of their lives" from Jerusalem, however, these hapless Palestinians, who are not citizens of Israel but only "permanent residents" of Jerusalem, lose their residency rights and are barred from re-entering the city, even if they are employed there. HaMoked forced the Ministry of the Interior to reveal that, since 1967, 14,309 Palestinians have lost their residency, thus furthering the process of "Judaizing" the city.
The same policies of displacement, de-Arabization and Judaization take place in the West Bank, which Israel has zoned almost completely as "agricultural land," thus providing a "legal" basis for not granting building permits to Palestinians, demolishing whatever homes they manage to construct and, as in the Jordan Valley and South Hebron Hills, displacing entire communities. (Needless to say, Israel has rezoned its settlement areas so that construction is legal.)
In 1967, between 2-320,000 [PDF] Palestinians lived in the Jordan Valley; today only about 55,000 remain, and of those only 15,000 remain in the Area C outside of the city of Jericho -- an area comprising 30 percent of the West Bank -- half of them Bedouin.
The communities in Area C, which under tremendous pressure of demolition and displacement. A full 94 percent of their agricultural land is off-limits to them.
The destruction of Palestinian homes does not occur only in the Occupied Territories, of course. The entire country is being Judaized; Palestine transformed into the Land of Israel. In recent years the Israeli government has demolished three times more homes inside Israel [PDF]than it has in the Occupied Territories.
The Bedouin-Palestinian community of al-Araqib, whose residents are Israeli citizens, has now been entirely demolished 61 times (and each time rebuilt by the residents and their supporters).
Israeli officials often say: "We never finished 1948."
That doesn't mean they have given up trying.
Arab leaders fully back a Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, an Israeli demand that threatens to derail peace talks, a joint statement said on Wednesday.
"We express our total rejection of the call to consider Israel as a Jewish state," said the final declaration of the two-day Arab summit in Kuwait.
President Abbas told the 25th Arab League summit that the Israeli government was trying to renege on its commitment to release Palestinian prisoners and was not serious about peace talks.
"The Israeli government took every chance to foil the American efforts. This proves what we say about the lack of seriousness and preparedness of the Israeli government to withdraw and create peace."
Abbas rejected partitioning the al-Aqsa mosque either physically or by imposing a schedule in which Jews and Muslims be able to worship separately.
Ahead of the summit, Arab officials told Ma'an that Arab envoys were considering withdrawing the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002.
The initiative -- which calls for two states on the 1967 borders and a "just settlement" of the refugee issue in exchange for full normalization between Israel and the Arab world -- was largely rejected by Israeli officials after it was approved at the 2002 Beirut summit.
The PLO recognized Israel's right to exist in 1988, but say that recognizing Israel as a "Jewish state" is unnecessary and could jeopardize the right of return for Palestinian refugees and limit the rights of Palestinians living in Israel.
"We express our total rejection of the call to consider Israel as a Jewish state," said the final declaration of the two-day Arab summit in Kuwait.
President Abbas told the 25th Arab League summit that the Israeli government was trying to renege on its commitment to release Palestinian prisoners and was not serious about peace talks.
"The Israeli government took every chance to foil the American efforts. This proves what we say about the lack of seriousness and preparedness of the Israeli government to withdraw and create peace."
Abbas rejected partitioning the al-Aqsa mosque either physically or by imposing a schedule in which Jews and Muslims be able to worship separately.
Ahead of the summit, Arab officials told Ma'an that Arab envoys were considering withdrawing the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002.
The initiative -- which calls for two states on the 1967 borders and a "just settlement" of the refugee issue in exchange for full normalization between Israel and the Arab world -- was largely rejected by Israeli officials after it was approved at the 2002 Beirut summit.
The PLO recognized Israel's right to exist in 1988, but say that recognizing Israel as a "Jewish state" is unnecessary and could jeopardize the right of return for Palestinian refugees and limit the rights of Palestinians living in Israel.
Hebrew media revealed that Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has received a few weeks ago a classified legal opinion authorizing the transfer of the Triangle and the Wadi Ara regions, in 1948 Palestine, along with their entire population to a Palestinian state in any future permanent peace agreement.
The opinion argued that transferring populations would only be in line with international law if executed with the consent of those being transferred, if it did not leave any of those transferred without any kind of citizenship and if it provides an appropriate compensation mechanism similar to the one received by the settlers who evacuated settlements in the Gaza Strip.
Lieberman said during a meeting with Foreign Ministry ambassadors in January "a comprehensive settlement with the Palestinians should include settling Israeli Arabs", and claimed that this land and population swap plan was not a "transfer" but aimed at shifting the border.
Haaretz newspaper reported on Tuesday that several days after Lieberman's speech, and when US Secretary of State John Kerry started working on a framework agreement for the negotiations, Lieberman asked his ministry's legal division to prepare a legal opinion on his plan.
An 18-page legal briefing was prepared by Ehud Keinan, the foreign ministry's legal adviser, in February. It is entitled Territorial Exchange: transfer of sovereignty over populated areas in the framework of a final arrangement with the Palestinians - legal aspects.
Keinan claimed that "transferring populated areas from a sovereign state to another as part of a permanent solution even without the population's explicit consent or a referendum is acceptable under international law as long as it offers residents clear citizenship after the transition."
“Lieberman’s plan, like the opinion issued by his ministry’s legal advisor, has a single overarching goal: turning Israel into a pure ethnic and religious state. Therefore, the goal of this plan cannot be described as anything other than ethnic cleansing – even if not by force of arms,” Ha’aretz said in an opinion published on Wednesday.
The opinion argued that transferring populations would only be in line with international law if executed with the consent of those being transferred, if it did not leave any of those transferred without any kind of citizenship and if it provides an appropriate compensation mechanism similar to the one received by the settlers who evacuated settlements in the Gaza Strip.
Lieberman said during a meeting with Foreign Ministry ambassadors in January "a comprehensive settlement with the Palestinians should include settling Israeli Arabs", and claimed that this land and population swap plan was not a "transfer" but aimed at shifting the border.
Haaretz newspaper reported on Tuesday that several days after Lieberman's speech, and when US Secretary of State John Kerry started working on a framework agreement for the negotiations, Lieberman asked his ministry's legal division to prepare a legal opinion on his plan.
An 18-page legal briefing was prepared by Ehud Keinan, the foreign ministry's legal adviser, in February. It is entitled Territorial Exchange: transfer of sovereignty over populated areas in the framework of a final arrangement with the Palestinians - legal aspects.
Keinan claimed that "transferring populated areas from a sovereign state to another as part of a permanent solution even without the population's explicit consent or a referendum is acceptable under international law as long as it offers residents clear citizenship after the transition."
“Lieberman’s plan, like the opinion issued by his ministry’s legal advisor, has a single overarching goal: turning Israel into a pure ethnic and religious state. Therefore, the goal of this plan cannot be described as anything other than ethnic cleansing – even if not by force of arms,” Ha’aretz said in an opinion published on Wednesday.
A Hebrew press report revealed that the Israeli occupation authorities were planning the construction of 208 new housing units in Efrat settlement near Gush Etzion settlement complex.
Ha’retz newspaper said on its electronic website on Tuesday evening that bids for the construction of those houses were invited in January.
It said that marketing of those houses was reaching its climax, noting that the settlement is located between Bethlehem and Al-Khalil.
Ha’retz newspaper said on its electronic website on Tuesday evening that bids for the construction of those houses were invited in January.
It said that marketing of those houses was reaching its climax, noting that the settlement is located between Bethlehem and Al-Khalil.
Jonathan Pollard, who is convicted of passing classified information to Israel while working as a civilian intelligence analyst
Israeli occupation army radio revealed Wednesday morning that the Israeli government put the release of the final batch of Palestinian prisoner under the conditions of Palestinian Authority agreement to extent the negotiations time line and the U.S agreement to release the Israeli spy Jontan Bolard .
Occupation radio explained that the U.S secretary John Keri and his negotiator's staff had presented this new proposal after prime minister of Israeli occupation Netanyahu informed Kerry that Israel will not release any Palestinian prisoner unless peace negotiations are extended.
The radio quoted Netanyahu as saying " It is difficult to release the Palestinian prisoners from pre 1948 occupied Palestinian (Israelis Arab) as a wide range of Israeli ministers opposing it , even if Abbas agreed to extend the negotiations."
The Radio explaining that releasing Bolard after 30 years in America prison will reduce the Israeli opposition of releasing the Palestinian prisoners from pre 1948 occupied Palestinian and enable Netanyahu to pass the decision.
It's expected that John Keri will meet Mahmoud Abbas today in Aman to convince him to extent the negotiations.
Israeli occupation army radio revealed Wednesday morning that the Israeli government put the release of the final batch of Palestinian prisoner under the conditions of Palestinian Authority agreement to extent the negotiations time line and the U.S agreement to release the Israeli spy Jontan Bolard .
Occupation radio explained that the U.S secretary John Keri and his negotiator's staff had presented this new proposal after prime minister of Israeli occupation Netanyahu informed Kerry that Israel will not release any Palestinian prisoner unless peace negotiations are extended.
The radio quoted Netanyahu as saying " It is difficult to release the Palestinian prisoners from pre 1948 occupied Palestinian (Israelis Arab) as a wide range of Israeli ministers opposing it , even if Abbas agreed to extend the negotiations."
The Radio explaining that releasing Bolard after 30 years in America prison will reduce the Israeli opposition of releasing the Palestinian prisoners from pre 1948 occupied Palestinian and enable Netanyahu to pass the decision.
It's expected that John Keri will meet Mahmoud Abbas today in Aman to convince him to extent the negotiations.
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani attends the 25th Arab League summit at Bayan palace in Kuwait City, on March 25, 2014
Hamas Movement and Palestinian Government appreciated the Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani's speech at the Arab summit in Kuwait; his take on the Palestinian cause, Jerusalem and settler breakings of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Ezzat el-Rishq, a Hamas politburo member, welcomed Qatar's call to hold a mini-Arab summit to discuss Palestinian national reconciliation and establishment of an Arab fund for the resilience of Jerusalem, and its initiative to contribute 250 million dollars to this fund.
Ihab al-Ghusain, Spokesman of the Palestinian government, said that Qatar affirms again its genuine stance supporting the Palestinian cause and its insistence to discuss it at Arab summits.
"We welcome the Qatar Emir's speech as a whole; especially his demand for the siege imposed on Gaza Strip to be lifted and for the Palestinian reconciliation to be backed,” Mr al-Ghusain said.
Ghusain hoped the summit provisions to be reflected on the ground and not remain on paper.
Qatar has offered tangible support to the Palestinians meeting all of its promises towards the Palestinian cause and the Gaza siege, which can be observed during the last two wars, and power and storm crises, Ghusain told ALRAY.
The summit leaders called to withdraw the Arab peace initiative with the occupation in this critical time of the Palestinian cause in response to the Israeli occupation's violations in occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip.
Hamas Movement and Palestinian Government appreciated the Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani's speech at the Arab summit in Kuwait; his take on the Palestinian cause, Jerusalem and settler breakings of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Ezzat el-Rishq, a Hamas politburo member, welcomed Qatar's call to hold a mini-Arab summit to discuss Palestinian national reconciliation and establishment of an Arab fund for the resilience of Jerusalem, and its initiative to contribute 250 million dollars to this fund.
Ihab al-Ghusain, Spokesman of the Palestinian government, said that Qatar affirms again its genuine stance supporting the Palestinian cause and its insistence to discuss it at Arab summits.
"We welcome the Qatar Emir's speech as a whole; especially his demand for the siege imposed on Gaza Strip to be lifted and for the Palestinian reconciliation to be backed,” Mr al-Ghusain said.
Ghusain hoped the summit provisions to be reflected on the ground and not remain on paper.
Qatar has offered tangible support to the Palestinians meeting all of its promises towards the Palestinian cause and the Gaza siege, which can be observed during the last two wars, and power and storm crises, Ghusain told ALRAY.
The summit leaders called to withdraw the Arab peace initiative with the occupation in this critical time of the Palestinian cause in response to the Israeli occupation's violations in occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip.
A senior Palestinian official on Monday said his government would seek membership in international organizations if Israel failed to abide by a previous agreement to release a fresh batch of Palestinian detainees on March 29. "The Palestinian government has already finalized preparations for receiving the freed detainees," Ziyad Abu Ein, a senior official at the Ministry of Detainees' Affairs, told Anadolu Agency.
"They [detainees] closely monitor Israeli statements regarding their fate," he added.
Israel Radio had earlier quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that Tel Aviv could reconsider the promised release of a fourth and final group of Palestinian detainees if ongoing peace talks failed to bear fruit.
The official said both sides had an interest in extending talks beyond an April negotiation deadline.
U.S.-brokered talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed in Washington last summer after a nearly three-year pause.
During a visit to the region in January, Kerry presented both sides with a proposed framework for an eventual deal that addresses so-called "final-status" issues – namely, borders, security, the fate of Palestinian refugees and the status of Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem).
Some 500,000 Israelis now live in more than one hundred Jewish-only settlements built since Israel occupied the West Bank and Al-Quds in 1967.
The Palestinians want these areas, along with the Gaza Strip, for their future state.
Palestinians insist that the issue of Israeli settlement-building must be addressed before a comprehensive final-status agreement can be reached.
Abu Ein, for his part, said Israel's threat to reconsider the prisoner release was another attempt by the self-proclaimed Jewish state to "exploit" the Palestinians.
"Israel is using the detainees card to deal a blow to the U.S.," he said. "This means the negotiations file should be made the responsibility of the international community and its institutions."
Membership in international organizations is said to help the Palestinians resolve their ongoing dispute with Israel within the context of international law.
Last week, the Ministry of Detainees' Affairs released the names of 30 Palestinian prisoners who were expected to be released by Israel on March 29.
Israel had previously agreed to free 104 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.
"They [detainees] closely monitor Israeli statements regarding their fate," he added.
Israel Radio had earlier quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that Tel Aviv could reconsider the promised release of a fourth and final group of Palestinian detainees if ongoing peace talks failed to bear fruit.
The official said both sides had an interest in extending talks beyond an April negotiation deadline.
U.S.-brokered talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed in Washington last summer after a nearly three-year pause.
During a visit to the region in January, Kerry presented both sides with a proposed framework for an eventual deal that addresses so-called "final-status" issues – namely, borders, security, the fate of Palestinian refugees and the status of Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem).
Some 500,000 Israelis now live in more than one hundred Jewish-only settlements built since Israel occupied the West Bank and Al-Quds in 1967.
The Palestinians want these areas, along with the Gaza Strip, for their future state.
Palestinians insist that the issue of Israeli settlement-building must be addressed before a comprehensive final-status agreement can be reached.
Abu Ein, for his part, said Israel's threat to reconsider the prisoner release was another attempt by the self-proclaimed Jewish state to "exploit" the Palestinians.
"Israel is using the detainees card to deal a blow to the U.S.," he said. "This means the negotiations file should be made the responsibility of the international community and its institutions."
Membership in international organizations is said to help the Palestinians resolve their ongoing dispute with Israel within the context of international law.
Last week, the Ministry of Detainees' Affairs released the names of 30 Palestinian prisoners who were expected to be released by Israel on March 29.
Israel had previously agreed to free 104 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday in Amman to discuss the Israel-Palestinian negotiations.
The State Department in a press statement Tuesday, said that Kerry is interrupting a trip to Europe with President Barack Obama to meet with Abbas.
In a related context, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met on Tuesday with the Jordanian King Abdullah II, on the sidelines of the 25th Arab summit held in Kuwait.
Abbas discussed with the Jordanian king the latest development of the peace process, the situation in the Middle East, in addition to the bilateral relations between the two countries and means to develop them.
The State Department in a press statement Tuesday, said that Kerry is interrupting a trip to Europe with President Barack Obama to meet with Abbas.
In a related context, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met on Tuesday with the Jordanian King Abdullah II, on the sidelines of the 25th Arab summit held in Kuwait.
Abbas discussed with the Jordanian king the latest development of the peace process, the situation in the Middle East, in addition to the bilateral relations between the two countries and means to develop them.
PLO Executive Committee member, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, called the U.S. to stand up for international law and to have the political will to curb Israeli violations of international and humanitarian law.
She stressed, "unless there is an American commitment to treat Palestinians equally and to hold Israel accountable, there is no hope for peace."
Ashrawi's statements were uttered during her meeting with Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, Catherine Russell, at the PLO Headquarters in Ramallah.
Ashrawi highlighted the accomplishments of women in Palestine in the face of tremendous odds: "Despite the gender discrimination in Palestine and obstacles imposed by Israel's military occupation, among other barriers, Palestinian women persist in their struggle for equality, dignity, and social justice."
Both parties discussed the role of women in the "peace process," the importance of the women's movement in Palestine, the ongoing negotiations, and Israel's facts on the ground.
Ashrawi stressed, "For decades, we have been subjected to a system of direct control and captivity; Israel is violating our human rights and freedoms and annexing Palestinian land and resources, while completing the siege and ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem."
She stressed, "unless there is an American commitment to treat Palestinians equally and to hold Israel accountable, there is no hope for peace."
Ashrawi's statements were uttered during her meeting with Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, Catherine Russell, at the PLO Headquarters in Ramallah.
Ashrawi highlighted the accomplishments of women in Palestine in the face of tremendous odds: "Despite the gender discrimination in Palestine and obstacles imposed by Israel's military occupation, among other barriers, Palestinian women persist in their struggle for equality, dignity, and social justice."
Both parties discussed the role of women in the "peace process," the importance of the women's movement in Palestine, the ongoing negotiations, and Israel's facts on the ground.
Ashrawi stressed, "For decades, we have been subjected to a system of direct control and captivity; Israel is violating our human rights and freedoms and annexing Palestinian land and resources, while completing the siege and ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem."
The Japanese government issued a statement strongly denouncing recent Israeli plans to build hundreds of units, for Jewish settlers, in occupied East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry said that Israel’s settlement activities violate International Law, and obstruct international efforts to achieve a comprehensive peace agreement, based on the two-state solution, especially US efforts to maintain direct peace talks between Ramallah and Tel Aviv.
“Settlements violate International Law,” the Foreign Ministry stated. “Japan is renewing its call to Tel Aviv to stop its settlement construction and expansion activities”.
It also stated that Israel must stop its unilateral moves, especially in occupied Jerusalem, and to refrain from any actions which could jeopardize direct peace talks with the Palestinians.
Japan further called on Ramallah and Tel Aviv to act on “increasing mutual trust”, and to “continue the efforts to achieve peace in the region”, the Maan News Agency has reported.
It is worth mentioning that Tel Aviv promoted building plans for 2,372 homes for Jewish settlers, in eight illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, and in the past month.
Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank and occupied Jerusalem also violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry said that Israel’s settlement activities violate International Law, and obstruct international efforts to achieve a comprehensive peace agreement, based on the two-state solution, especially US efforts to maintain direct peace talks between Ramallah and Tel Aviv.
“Settlements violate International Law,” the Foreign Ministry stated. “Japan is renewing its call to Tel Aviv to stop its settlement construction and expansion activities”.
It also stated that Israel must stop its unilateral moves, especially in occupied Jerusalem, and to refrain from any actions which could jeopardize direct peace talks with the Palestinians.
Japan further called on Ramallah and Tel Aviv to act on “increasing mutual trust”, and to “continue the efforts to achieve peace in the region”, the Maan News Agency has reported.
It is worth mentioning that Tel Aviv promoted building plans for 2,372 homes for Jewish settlers, in eight illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, and in the past month.
Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank and occupied Jerusalem also violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory.
25 mar 2014
Palestinian leaders on Tuesday threatened to renew their diplomatic push at the United Nations if Israel fails to free Arab prisoners as scheduled this weekend. When US-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian peace resumed in July, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas agreed that for their nine-month duration he would shelve efforts to use the UN's November 2012 recognition of Palestine as a non-member observer to press for membership in international bodies where it could fight Israeli occupation.
In exchange for the diplomatic ceasefire Israel was to release 104 Arabs imprisoned since before the 1993 Oslo peace accords between the sides.
It has so far freed 78 with the final batch due for release on March 29.
"We shall turn to the UN's international organisations if Israel does not release the fourth and final group of prisoners," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's executive committee.
"The release of the prisoners is in return for the freeze on seeking membership in international organisations," he told official Voice of Palestine radio.
Israel wants the so-far inconclusive peace talks extended beyond their April 29 deadline and ministers have warned that should the Palestinians refuse, the remaining prisoners will not be freed.
"If Israel were to refuse to free the fourth batch it would have serious consequences, including initiatives at the United Nations," former Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh, said in a statement.
Israel particularly objects to the Palestinians' demand for Arab Israelis or Palestinian residents of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem convicted of militant acts to be included in the release, even though both groups were included in a 2011 swap of 1,027 Arab prisoners for captive soldier Gilad Shalit.
A senior Palestinian official told AFP on the condition of anonymity that in recent talks with US special envoy Martin Indyk, Abbas warned that if the April 29 talks deadline was not met "Israel would be in violation of agreements and (the Palestinians) would have the right to turn to the UN and to take any measures it deems necessary."
In exchange for the diplomatic ceasefire Israel was to release 104 Arabs imprisoned since before the 1993 Oslo peace accords between the sides.
It has so far freed 78 with the final batch due for release on March 29.
"We shall turn to the UN's international organisations if Israel does not release the fourth and final group of prisoners," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's executive committee.
"The release of the prisoners is in return for the freeze on seeking membership in international organisations," he told official Voice of Palestine radio.
Israel wants the so-far inconclusive peace talks extended beyond their April 29 deadline and ministers have warned that should the Palestinians refuse, the remaining prisoners will not be freed.
"If Israel were to refuse to free the fourth batch it would have serious consequences, including initiatives at the United Nations," former Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh, said in a statement.
Israel particularly objects to the Palestinians' demand for Arab Israelis or Palestinian residents of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem convicted of militant acts to be included in the release, even though both groups were included in a 2011 swap of 1,027 Arab prisoners for captive soldier Gilad Shalit.
A senior Palestinian official told AFP on the condition of anonymity that in recent talks with US special envoy Martin Indyk, Abbas warned that if the April 29 talks deadline was not met "Israel would be in violation of agreements and (the Palestinians) would have the right to turn to the UN and to take any measures it deems necessary."
Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani called for convening an Arab mini-summit with the aim of forging reconciliation between the Palestinian factions, ending the state of internal division. and ending the Gaza blockade. Sheikh Tamim said, in a speech he delivered on Tuesday before the 25th Arab summit convening in Kuwait, "The Palestinian issue still represents the most important challenge facing the Nation", and stressed that Israel's breaches remain an obstacle to achieving a peaceful settlement.
He also called for taking serious actions to end the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip for more than eight years, unabated, and opening the crossings to save Gaza residents.
For his part, Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber said that the just and comprehensive peace will only be achieved through the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, pointing out that the Israeli violations have been hampering the achievement of peace.
He also called for taking serious actions to end the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip for more than eight years, unabated, and opening the crossings to save Gaza residents.
For his part, Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber said that the just and comprehensive peace will only be achieved through the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, pointing out that the Israeli violations have been hampering the achievement of peace.
The Palestinian legislative council (PLC) called on the Arab summit convening in Kuwait to revoke the Arab peace initiative and reject Kerry's framework plan in response to Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people and its disregard for any initiative. This came in a letter addressed on Monday by first deputy speaker of the PLC Ahmed Bahar to the Arab leaders participating in the Arab summit.
"Our steadfast Palestinian people, who consider you their strategic depth and fortified fortress, hope that you live up to the gravity of the historic moment which they and their national cause are passing through, and make practical decisions and necessary steps to protect them and their national cause against the occupation's terrorism and plots and prevent the conspiracy aimed at liquidating their rights and holy sites," Bahar stated.
He urged the participants to save the besieged Gaza population from the clutches of hunger and suffering and put the Palestinian cause high on their agenda.
The lawmaker also appealed to the conferees to launch a diplomatic campaign intended to isolate Israel politically and activate the Palestinian cause at the international level.
"Our steadfast Palestinian people, who consider you their strategic depth and fortified fortress, hope that you live up to the gravity of the historic moment which they and their national cause are passing through, and make practical decisions and necessary steps to protect them and their national cause against the occupation's terrorism and plots and prevent the conspiracy aimed at liquidating their rights and holy sites," Bahar stated.
He urged the participants to save the besieged Gaza population from the clutches of hunger and suffering and put the Palestinian cause high on their agenda.
The lawmaker also appealed to the conferees to launch a diplomatic campaign intended to isolate Israel politically and activate the Palestinian cause at the international level.
Israeli Labor Party presented a proposal to the Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu provided the replacement of the fourth patch of Palestinian prisoners release with settlement freeze. Both MKs Ahilalk Bar and Omaeir Bar introduced the suggestion on on behalf of the party, demanding the settlement freeze during negotiations.
The Israeli government took the wrong option previously because freezing settlement is less dangerous as the release of prisoners carry many security risks, according to the proposal.
Signatories of the proposal said, “the settlement freeze will receive support from the right wing, claiming that relieving the suffering of the Israeli bereaved families and saving the people’s life is more important than settlement construction.”
Journalist Ofer Shelah, member of Yesh Atid Party, suggested such a proposal recently in a meeting with a group of students.
Some Likude ministers threatened to resign if the Israeli government released the fourth patch of prisoners, in an attempt to dissuade Netanyahu from the idea.
The Israeli government took the wrong option previously because freezing settlement is less dangerous as the release of prisoners carry many security risks, according to the proposal.
Signatories of the proposal said, “the settlement freeze will receive support from the right wing, claiming that relieving the suffering of the Israeli bereaved families and saving the people’s life is more important than settlement construction.”
Journalist Ofer Shelah, member of Yesh Atid Party, suggested such a proposal recently in a meeting with a group of students.
Some Likude ministers threatened to resign if the Israeli government released the fourth patch of prisoners, in an attempt to dissuade Netanyahu from the idea.
Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay
By Robert Evans
(Reuters) - The building of Israeli settlements and attacks by settlers on Palestinians are a major source of much abuse of rights in the occupied territories, the United Nations' top human rights official said on Monday.
Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay also expressed concern at a recent surge in violence in and around the Gaza Strip by both local groups and Israeli forces.
"Israeli settlement-related activities and settler violence are at the core of many of the violations of human rights in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem," she told the U.N.'s 47-nation Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The settlements not only had a significant impact on the right to Palestinian self-determination, but activities around them "also violate the entire spectrum of Palestinians' social, cultural, civil and political rights," she said.
"Despite repeated calls for Israel to cease settlement activity, ongoing settlement construction and acts of settler violence continue with devastating consequences for Palestinian civilians," said Pillay, a former judge of the International Criminal Court who has visited Israel and the territories.
Most countries deem Israel's settlements in the West Bank illegal and an obstacle to peacemaking. Palestinians decry them as a barrier to achieving a viable state, while Israel considers some of its settlements as a security buffer.
Settlers view the West Bank as a biblical birthright.
CROSS-BORDER VIOLENCE
Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, and Hamas - an Islamist group which rejects Israel's existence -
seized control of the territory two years later, fuelling tension which often leads to cross-border violence.
The Gaza violence, Pillay declared, was reflected in increased rocket fire by Palestinian armed groups directed at Israel and Israeli airstrikes on the area.
She said "the targeting of civilians and the indiscriminate firing of rockets towards Israel is a violation of international law. The response through air strikes by Israel is excessive and often causes destruction to personal and public property."
Pillay said an Israeli blockade of Gaza must be lifted, "with due regard to Israeli security concerns." Egypt also blockades Gaza from its side of the border.
Referring to the West Bank administered by the Palestinian Authority, she said U.N. monitors there had documented "a dramatic increase in fatalities and injuries in incidents of use of force by Israeli security forces" in 2013.
There was an urgent need to ensure accountability for such incidents through independent investigations into allegations of unlawful killings or torture and ill-treatment and to prosecute those responsible, Pillay said.
Israel's foreign ministry has been on strike since Sunday. Other officials had no immediate response to Pillay's remarks.
By Robert Evans
(Reuters) - The building of Israeli settlements and attacks by settlers on Palestinians are a major source of much abuse of rights in the occupied territories, the United Nations' top human rights official said on Monday.
Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay also expressed concern at a recent surge in violence in and around the Gaza Strip by both local groups and Israeli forces.
"Israeli settlement-related activities and settler violence are at the core of many of the violations of human rights in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem," she told the U.N.'s 47-nation Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The settlements not only had a significant impact on the right to Palestinian self-determination, but activities around them "also violate the entire spectrum of Palestinians' social, cultural, civil and political rights," she said.
"Despite repeated calls for Israel to cease settlement activity, ongoing settlement construction and acts of settler violence continue with devastating consequences for Palestinian civilians," said Pillay, a former judge of the International Criminal Court who has visited Israel and the territories.
Most countries deem Israel's settlements in the West Bank illegal and an obstacle to peacemaking. Palestinians decry them as a barrier to achieving a viable state, while Israel considers some of its settlements as a security buffer.
Settlers view the West Bank as a biblical birthright.
CROSS-BORDER VIOLENCE
Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, and Hamas - an Islamist group which rejects Israel's existence -
seized control of the territory two years later, fuelling tension which often leads to cross-border violence.
The Gaza violence, Pillay declared, was reflected in increased rocket fire by Palestinian armed groups directed at Israel and Israeli airstrikes on the area.
She said "the targeting of civilians and the indiscriminate firing of rockets towards Israel is a violation of international law. The response through air strikes by Israel is excessive and often causes destruction to personal and public property."
Pillay said an Israeli blockade of Gaza must be lifted, "with due regard to Israeli security concerns." Egypt also blockades Gaza from its side of the border.
Referring to the West Bank administered by the Palestinian Authority, she said U.N. monitors there had documented "a dramatic increase in fatalities and injuries in incidents of use of force by Israeli security forces" in 2013.
There was an urgent need to ensure accountability for such incidents through independent investigations into allegations of unlawful killings or torture and ill-treatment and to prosecute those responsible, Pillay said.
Israel's foreign ministry has been on strike since Sunday. Other officials had no immediate response to Pillay's remarks.
24 mar 2014
Israeli institutes have begun implementing "the biggest Judaization" project in Jerusalem, the Waqf organization that overseas the Al-Aqsa Mosque said in a statement Monday.
The project, called the "National Antiquities Complex," will be constructed on a 20 dunams (5 acres) of land in West Jerusalem near Hebrew University's Givat Ram campus, the statement said.
The complex will contain an "antiquities library," a "national scientific antiquities archive," a department for "the home of the Israeli antiquities authority," and other offices for archiving and storing antiquities.
It will hold around 2 million artifacts, including the "alleged" Dead Sea scrolls, the press release said.
The "antiquities library" will hold 150,000 books, including 500 rare books and scrolls, and over 1,000 journals. The archives will include documents from the British Mandate in Palestine such as maps and publications related to British excavations in the 1900s.
Project coordinators raised approximately $100 million for the National Antiquities Complex, collecting funds from 26 Zionist, mostly American, organizations, the Waqf statement said.
Additionally, some of the funding for the project came from the Israeli government.
Construction on the complex is expected to be completed in 2016.
The Waqf organization condemned the project, saying it aimed "to show the Talmudic account on the land of Palestine."
The project, called the "National Antiquities Complex," will be constructed on a 20 dunams (5 acres) of land in West Jerusalem near Hebrew University's Givat Ram campus, the statement said.
The complex will contain an "antiquities library," a "national scientific antiquities archive," a department for "the home of the Israeli antiquities authority," and other offices for archiving and storing antiquities.
It will hold around 2 million artifacts, including the "alleged" Dead Sea scrolls, the press release said.
The "antiquities library" will hold 150,000 books, including 500 rare books and scrolls, and over 1,000 journals. The archives will include documents from the British Mandate in Palestine such as maps and publications related to British excavations in the 1900s.
Project coordinators raised approximately $100 million for the National Antiquities Complex, collecting funds from 26 Zionist, mostly American, organizations, the Waqf statement said.
Additionally, some of the funding for the project came from the Israeli government.
Construction on the complex is expected to be completed in 2016.
The Waqf organization condemned the project, saying it aimed "to show the Talmudic account on the land of Palestine."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to extend peace talks with Israel, if certain conditions are met, a Palestinian official said on Monday.
The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Ma'an News Agency that Abbas agreed, during a recent meeting with US President Barack Obama, to extend peace negotiations if Israel pledged to freeze settlement construction and release more prisoners.
So far, 78 of 104 Palestinian veteran prisoners have been freed in three groups, with the final 26 to be released on March 29. However, recent statements by Israeli officials have cast doubt on whether the prisoners would be released on time, if at all.
The official said that if Israel delayed the release of the last group of pre-Oslo prisoners, the Palestinian Authority would immediately take the case to international organizations.
Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians were relaunched in July under the auspices of the US after nearly three years of impasse.
Israel's government has announced the construction of thousands of settler housing units and its army has killed 60 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, since the negotiations began.
The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Ma'an News Agency that Abbas agreed, during a recent meeting with US President Barack Obama, to extend peace negotiations if Israel pledged to freeze settlement construction and release more prisoners.
So far, 78 of 104 Palestinian veteran prisoners have been freed in three groups, with the final 26 to be released on March 29. However, recent statements by Israeli officials have cast doubt on whether the prisoners would be released on time, if at all.
The official said that if Israel delayed the release of the last group of pre-Oslo prisoners, the Palestinian Authority would immediately take the case to international organizations.
Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians were relaunched in July under the auspices of the US after nearly three years of impasse.
Israel's government has announced the construction of thousands of settler housing units and its army has killed 60 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, since the negotiations began.
The majority of the Israelis refuses that West Bank be relinquished to the Palestinian Authority (PA) as result of peace talks, a poll finds. Israel Channel 7 website reported that a survey noted that only 39% of respondents believed that ‘Israel’ must withdraw in order to attain peace with the Palestinian Arabs. 61% believed otherwise.
In addition, the survey revealed that 70% of the public "cannot relate to (PA Chairman) Mahmoud Abbas as a potential partner for a peace agreement," while 30% of the public believes the opposite.
The so-called peace talks between the PA and the Israeli occupation resumed in July 2013 after a 3-year-long stalemate conditioned that a final-status resolution to the Israeli-Arab conflict be reached within nine months.
In addition, the survey revealed that 70% of the public "cannot relate to (PA Chairman) Mahmoud Abbas as a potential partner for a peace agreement," while 30% of the public believes the opposite.
The so-called peace talks between the PA and the Israeli occupation resumed in July 2013 after a 3-year-long stalemate conditioned that a final-status resolution to the Israeli-Arab conflict be reached within nine months.
Palestinian lawmaker Mustafa Al-Barghouthi called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to withdraw from the negotiation process with the Israeli occupation and described it as frivolous. MP Barghouthi made his remarks on Sunday during his visit to Umm Al-Abed in Jenin to offer his condolences for the death of her son Hamza Abul Heija.
He said that the peace talks provided Israel with a cover for its crimes, pointing to the fact that 54 Palestinians had been killed since the beginning of the talks.
The lawmaker hailed the popular uprising that took place after the Israeli occupation forces attacked the house of Abul Heija in Jenin refugee camp.
He stressed that the alternative approach to the negotiations is the popular resistance and moving diplomatically and at the international level to hold Israel accountable for its heinous crimes.
He said that the peace talks provided Israel with a cover for its crimes, pointing to the fact that 54 Palestinians had been killed since the beginning of the talks.
The lawmaker hailed the popular uprising that took place after the Israeli occupation forces attacked the house of Abul Heija in Jenin refugee camp.
He stressed that the alternative approach to the negotiations is the popular resistance and moving diplomatically and at the international level to hold Israel accountable for its heinous crimes.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to call on Arab leaders to reaffirm their commitment to the Arab peace initiative, as well as to ask world leaders to view the proposal as the best plan for ending the conflict with Israel.
According to senior Palestinian officials, the call by Abbas and the Palestinian Authority leadership to activate the 2002 Arab League peace plan, and to put it back on the agenda of the league's summit in Kuwait later this week, is aimed at deflecting U.S. pressure on the PA not to withdraw from the negotiations with Israel.
The plan calls for pan-Arab normalization of relations with Israel in return for an end to Israel's occupation of Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights, along with its recognition of Palestinian refugees' right of return or of compensation.
A senior Palestinian source told Haaretz that Abbas does not have high expectations from the summit, but does expect the Arab foreign ministers to adopt the Palestinian position regarding the talks with Israel, including a rejection of the Israeli demand for recognition as a Jewish state.
Abbas hopes that by reviving the 12-year-old Arab peace initiative, he will send a clear message to both Israel and the United States that this option will not remain on the table forever. "The Arab states, with Palestinian support, presented a fair package deal that could bring an end to the conflict, but so far no one has expressed serious interest in the product, instead treating it as though it were rotten; therefore we are returning the offer to the agenda specifically at this time, when the Americans are trying to advance the peace process," said a senior PA official involved in the summit's organization.
At the same time, Palestinian and other Arab figures do not dismiss the possibility that one of the participating states might propose taking the Arab plan off the table in the event it does not win broad support.
Abbas has other things to worry about as well, starting with Israel's scheduled release, at the end of the month, of 30 Palestinian prisoners: PA officials reject any attempt to link the release with their continued participation in the negotiations with Israel, saying they made their position very clear in the recent visit to Washington.
"After nine months we've received thousands more homes in the settlements, the demolition of hundreds of homes and more dead Palestinians, so we're asking what will happen if we agree to extend the talks, where will it lead?" said Fatah official Mohammed Shtayyeh.
This article was originally published by Haaretz
According to senior Palestinian officials, the call by Abbas and the Palestinian Authority leadership to activate the 2002 Arab League peace plan, and to put it back on the agenda of the league's summit in Kuwait later this week, is aimed at deflecting U.S. pressure on the PA not to withdraw from the negotiations with Israel.
The plan calls for pan-Arab normalization of relations with Israel in return for an end to Israel's occupation of Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights, along with its recognition of Palestinian refugees' right of return or of compensation.
A senior Palestinian source told Haaretz that Abbas does not have high expectations from the summit, but does expect the Arab foreign ministers to adopt the Palestinian position regarding the talks with Israel, including a rejection of the Israeli demand for recognition as a Jewish state.
Abbas hopes that by reviving the 12-year-old Arab peace initiative, he will send a clear message to both Israel and the United States that this option will not remain on the table forever. "The Arab states, with Palestinian support, presented a fair package deal that could bring an end to the conflict, but so far no one has expressed serious interest in the product, instead treating it as though it were rotten; therefore we are returning the offer to the agenda specifically at this time, when the Americans are trying to advance the peace process," said a senior PA official involved in the summit's organization.
At the same time, Palestinian and other Arab figures do not dismiss the possibility that one of the participating states might propose taking the Arab plan off the table in the event it does not win broad support.
Abbas has other things to worry about as well, starting with Israel's scheduled release, at the end of the month, of 30 Palestinian prisoners: PA officials reject any attempt to link the release with their continued participation in the negotiations with Israel, saying they made their position very clear in the recent visit to Washington.
"After nine months we've received thousands more homes in the settlements, the demolition of hundreds of homes and more dead Palestinians, so we're asking what will happen if we agree to extend the talks, where will it lead?" said Fatah official Mohammed Shtayyeh.
This article was originally published by Haaretz