31 mrt 2012
Israel planning new Jewish suburb in occupied Jerusalem
The Israeli occupation authority is planning a new Jewish suburb near Abu Dis village to the east of occupied Jerusalem, Israeli press reports said.
Yerushalayim weekly newspaper said that the mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat was seeking to establish the new suburb, comprising 250 housing units, over dozens of dunums near Abu Dis.
It said that Barkat recently met with a number of municipal council members in a bid to convince them to approve his project so that it would kick off the soonest.
Yerushalayim weekly newspaper said that the mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat was seeking to establish the new suburb, comprising 250 housing units, over dozens of dunums near Abu Dis.
It said that Barkat recently met with a number of municipal council members in a bid to convince them to approve his project so that it would kick off the soonest.
30 mrt 2012
Ayalon to Cease Investigation of Settlements Violations, Washington
On Friday, March 30, Haaretz Israeli newspaper revealed that Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel "Danny" Ayalon secretly visited the United States on Thursday, in order to prevent Washington from supporting the committee of investigation that the international Human rights Committee decided to form to investigate Israeli Settlements case.
According to Israeli high-rank official, Ayalon stayed in Washington for only 24 hours and met the Deputy Secretary of state William Burns.
Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman decided few days ago, to cut any relation with the human rights committee and the United Nations commission of Human Rights Affairs.
Ayalon sent a message to the American administration; he said "Israel wants from the US to immediately stop any movement of the committee and consider its recommendations as "non-binding".
He also called on the US to stop the cooperation with the committee and the Human Rights Council.
On Thursday, March 22nd, Human Rights Council agreed on a decision for the first time to launch an investigation for the construction of Israeli settlements on the Palestinians' land.
According to Israeli high-rank official, Ayalon stayed in Washington for only 24 hours and met the Deputy Secretary of state William Burns.
Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman decided few days ago, to cut any relation with the human rights committee and the United Nations commission of Human Rights Affairs.
Ayalon sent a message to the American administration; he said "Israel wants from the US to immediately stop any movement of the committee and consider its recommendations as "non-binding".
He also called on the US to stop the cooperation with the committee and the Human Rights Council.
On Thursday, March 22nd, Human Rights Council agreed on a decision for the first time to launch an investigation for the construction of Israeli settlements on the Palestinians' land.
26 mrt 2012
Israel’s decision to cut ties with UN rights council regrettable: UNHRC
The President of the United Nations Human Rights Council has said that Israel’s decision to break ties with the council over a UN announcement to conduct a probe into Israeli settlements is “most regrettable”.
Laura Dupuy Lasserre, the head of the 47-state body, said on Monday that she had not received an official confirmation of Israel’s decision, but "if it is indeed the case, this would be most regrettable,” AFP reported.
“I have no doubt that it is in the interest of Israel to cooperate with the Human Rights Council on this investigative mission, not least so that it can explain its own policies and actions to the independent commissioners once they are appointed,” said Lasserre.
On Thursday, the 47-member council adopted a resolution which condemns Israel’s announcements of new settlement homes, demands a reversal of the settlement policy and orders a probe into how Israeli settlements are infringing upon the rights of Palestinians.
The resolution was adopted by 36 votes in favor and 10 abstentions. The United States was the only member that voted against it.
Earlier on Monday, Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor said that it has decided to cut contact with the council in condemnation of the resolution, adding that Israel had yet to formally inform the council of its decision.
On Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called for a boycott of the council, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the council "should be ashamed of itself.”
On Thursday, the US also slammed the resolution, saying it was "deeply troubled by this council's bias against Israel.”
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas, described the vote as a shift in position of the world in favor for the rights of Palestinians.
Nearly 500,000 Israelis live in more than 100 settlement units built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Israel ends contact with UN council over settlement probe
Israel said on Monday it has severed contacts with the UN Human Rights Council after its launch last week of an international investigation into settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The decision, announced by a Foreign Ministry spokesman, meant that the fact-finding team the council planned to send to the West Bank will not be allowed to enter the territory or Israel, said the spokesman, Yigal Palmor.
"We are not working with them any more," Palmor said about the Geneva-based forum. "We had been participating in meetings, discussions, arranging visits to Israel. All that is over."
The ministry told Israel's ambassador to Geneva to ignore all phone calls from the body's chief commissioner Navi Pillay, Haaretz quoted an Israeli official as saying.
A fact-finding team will also be barred from entering the occupied West Bank and Israel to investigate illegal settlement activity, the official added.
The international investigation was launched on Thursday, with the United States isolated in voting against the initiative brought by the Palestinian Authority.
Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the Geneva forum as "hypocritical" and having an "automatic majority against Israel."
"They systematically and serially make all kinds of decisions and condemnations against Israel without even symbolically considering our positions," Palmor said.
He said Israel would continue to cooperate with other UN bodies.
On Friday, PLO official Saeb Erekat said the UN decision was a victory for international law and called on the Israeli government to stop all settlement activity in order to give the peace process a chance.
The UN Human Rights Council condemned Israel's planned construction of new housing units for settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, saying they undermined the peace process and posed a threat to the two-state solution and the creation of a contiguous and independent Palestinian state.
About 500,000 Israelis and 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas Israel has occupied since 1967.
Palestinian officials say settlements undermine a viable Palestinian state. They are considered illegal by the International Court of Justice, the highest UN legal body for disputes, while Israel wants their status to be decided in peace talks.
Newspapers Review: Dailies Focus on Israeli Threats to Punish PA
Monday’s issue of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies highlighted Israeli threats of punitive measures against the Palestinian Authority (PA) following the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) decision to set up a fact-finding mission on the implications of Israeli settlements on Palestinian life in the occupied territories.
Al-Quds prime headline said Israel is considering freezing PA tax revenues and halting work on joint projects, as well as considering measures against the UNHRC, including asking the United States and other members of the council to withdraw from it.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported on its front page that an Israeli military court rejected an appeal to release Hana Shalabi, the Palestinian prisoner who has been on an open-ended hunger strike for 40 days protesting her arrest without charge or trial.
Al-Ayyam dedicated half its front page to report on news from Syria as confrontations between President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and dissidents of the Syrian army escalate, leaving 30 dead across the country on Sunday.
The daily printed a picture of Syrian children studying in a temporary classroom in a refugee camp near the Turkish borders with Syria.
Al-Quds featured a series of activities in solidarity with imprisoned Fatah lawmaker Marwan Barghouti, who has been in Israeli jails for 10 years. Banners of Fatah flags with Barghouti’s picture were hung in the city of Ramallah. Barghouti was sentenced to five life terms for his role in the second Intifada. Public opinion polls show him as the most popular to lead the Palestinian people after President Mahmoud Abbas if he runs for presidential elections.
The three dailies reported on complaints by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in which he said that Hamas had failed to send a delegation to Cairo to attend a meeting with his delegation and Egyptian officials to discuss ways to reach permanent arrangements to supply fuel to Gaza power plant.
Al-Quds editorial slammed the Israeli threats to punish PA for the UNHRC resolution to send a fact-finding mission on Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, and said Israel is afraid of what the international organization will decide.
The daily also condemned Israeli legislations based the outdated 1945 British mandate emergency laws, which allow administrative detention of Palestinians without charge or trial.
Laura Dupuy Lasserre, the head of the 47-state body, said on Monday that she had not received an official confirmation of Israel’s decision, but "if it is indeed the case, this would be most regrettable,” AFP reported.
“I have no doubt that it is in the interest of Israel to cooperate with the Human Rights Council on this investigative mission, not least so that it can explain its own policies and actions to the independent commissioners once they are appointed,” said Lasserre.
On Thursday, the 47-member council adopted a resolution which condemns Israel’s announcements of new settlement homes, demands a reversal of the settlement policy and orders a probe into how Israeli settlements are infringing upon the rights of Palestinians.
The resolution was adopted by 36 votes in favor and 10 abstentions. The United States was the only member that voted against it.
Earlier on Monday, Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor said that it has decided to cut contact with the council in condemnation of the resolution, adding that Israel had yet to formally inform the council of its decision.
On Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called for a boycott of the council, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the council "should be ashamed of itself.”
On Thursday, the US also slammed the resolution, saying it was "deeply troubled by this council's bias against Israel.”
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas, described the vote as a shift in position of the world in favor for the rights of Palestinians.
Nearly 500,000 Israelis live in more than 100 settlement units built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Israel ends contact with UN council over settlement probe
Israel said on Monday it has severed contacts with the UN Human Rights Council after its launch last week of an international investigation into settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The decision, announced by a Foreign Ministry spokesman, meant that the fact-finding team the council planned to send to the West Bank will not be allowed to enter the territory or Israel, said the spokesman, Yigal Palmor.
"We are not working with them any more," Palmor said about the Geneva-based forum. "We had been participating in meetings, discussions, arranging visits to Israel. All that is over."
The ministry told Israel's ambassador to Geneva to ignore all phone calls from the body's chief commissioner Navi Pillay, Haaretz quoted an Israeli official as saying.
A fact-finding team will also be barred from entering the occupied West Bank and Israel to investigate illegal settlement activity, the official added.
The international investigation was launched on Thursday, with the United States isolated in voting against the initiative brought by the Palestinian Authority.
Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the Geneva forum as "hypocritical" and having an "automatic majority against Israel."
"They systematically and serially make all kinds of decisions and condemnations against Israel without even symbolically considering our positions," Palmor said.
He said Israel would continue to cooperate with other UN bodies.
On Friday, PLO official Saeb Erekat said the UN decision was a victory for international law and called on the Israeli government to stop all settlement activity in order to give the peace process a chance.
The UN Human Rights Council condemned Israel's planned construction of new housing units for settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, saying they undermined the peace process and posed a threat to the two-state solution and the creation of a contiguous and independent Palestinian state.
About 500,000 Israelis and 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas Israel has occupied since 1967.
Palestinian officials say settlements undermine a viable Palestinian state. They are considered illegal by the International Court of Justice, the highest UN legal body for disputes, while Israel wants their status to be decided in peace talks.
Newspapers Review: Dailies Focus on Israeli Threats to Punish PA
Monday’s issue of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies highlighted Israeli threats of punitive measures against the Palestinian Authority (PA) following the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) decision to set up a fact-finding mission on the implications of Israeli settlements on Palestinian life in the occupied territories.
Al-Quds prime headline said Israel is considering freezing PA tax revenues and halting work on joint projects, as well as considering measures against the UNHRC, including asking the United States and other members of the council to withdraw from it.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported on its front page that an Israeli military court rejected an appeal to release Hana Shalabi, the Palestinian prisoner who has been on an open-ended hunger strike for 40 days protesting her arrest without charge or trial.
Al-Ayyam dedicated half its front page to report on news from Syria as confrontations between President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and dissidents of the Syrian army escalate, leaving 30 dead across the country on Sunday.
The daily printed a picture of Syrian children studying in a temporary classroom in a refugee camp near the Turkish borders with Syria.
Al-Quds featured a series of activities in solidarity with imprisoned Fatah lawmaker Marwan Barghouti, who has been in Israeli jails for 10 years. Banners of Fatah flags with Barghouti’s picture were hung in the city of Ramallah. Barghouti was sentenced to five life terms for his role in the second Intifada. Public opinion polls show him as the most popular to lead the Palestinian people after President Mahmoud Abbas if he runs for presidential elections.
The three dailies reported on complaints by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in which he said that Hamas had failed to send a delegation to Cairo to attend a meeting with his delegation and Egyptian officials to discuss ways to reach permanent arrangements to supply fuel to Gaza power plant.
Al-Quds editorial slammed the Israeli threats to punish PA for the UNHRC resolution to send a fact-finding mission on Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, and said Israel is afraid of what the international organization will decide.
The daily also condemned Israeli legislations based the outdated 1945 British mandate emergency laws, which allow administrative detention of Palestinians without charge or trial.
Israel: Supreme Court rules against illegal outpost
Israel’s Supreme Court has given Jewish settlers until August to evacuate Migron, the biggest illegal outpost in the occupied West Bank.
A government-backed deal would have let them stay on the Palestinian-owned land until 2015. The court dismissed that delay but extended the deadline beyond the end of March when settlers were supposed to leave, under an earlier ruling.
In Tel Aviv, the rights group Peace Now is content: “We are satisfied with the decision of the Supreme Court to reject the deal between the government and the settlers,” said Peace Now’s Director-General Yariv Oppenheimer. “The land of Migron should go back to it’s owners, the Palestinians.”
It is another blow to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, just days after the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva launched an international investigation into Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories.
A government-backed deal would have let them stay on the Palestinian-owned land until 2015. The court dismissed that delay but extended the deadline beyond the end of March when settlers were supposed to leave, under an earlier ruling.
In Tel Aviv, the rights group Peace Now is content: “We are satisfied with the decision of the Supreme Court to reject the deal between the government and the settlers,” said Peace Now’s Director-General Yariv Oppenheimer. “The land of Migron should go back to it’s owners, the Palestinians.”
It is another blow to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, just days after the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva launched an international investigation into Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories.
25 mrt 2012
Israel seeks to punish PA over UN human rights probe
The illegal Israeli settlement of Har Homa in the Israeli-occupied West Bank
The recent decision by the UN Human Rights Council to probe the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank has drawn Israel’s ire, prompting Tel Aviv to seek punishment for the Palestinian Authority (PA).
A meeting of eight senior Israeli ministers is to be held in Israel on Sunday to discuss sanctions against the Palestinian Authority and representatives of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Israel.
It is, however, not clear if the forum of ministers will reach any decisions in the March 25 meeting, Haaretz reported.
According to one source, three of the eight Israeli ministers, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz support freezing the transfer of tax revenues to the PA.
Senior Israeli officials have previously said that Israel has no intention of cooperating with the UN committee. Netanyahu 's office also announced on Friday that the committee members would be denied entry into Israel.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesman for the acting Palestinian Authority chief, Mahmoud Abbas, has described the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council’s investigative committee as a shift in position of the world in favor of the rights of Palestinians.
Nearly 500,000 Israelis live in more than 100 settlement units built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
The recent decision by the UN Human Rights Council to probe the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank has drawn Israel’s ire, prompting Tel Aviv to seek punishment for the Palestinian Authority (PA).
A meeting of eight senior Israeli ministers is to be held in Israel on Sunday to discuss sanctions against the Palestinian Authority and representatives of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Israel.
It is, however, not clear if the forum of ministers will reach any decisions in the March 25 meeting, Haaretz reported.
According to one source, three of the eight Israeli ministers, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz support freezing the transfer of tax revenues to the PA.
Senior Israeli officials have previously said that Israel has no intention of cooperating with the UN committee. Netanyahu 's office also announced on Friday that the committee members would be denied entry into Israel.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesman for the acting Palestinian Authority chief, Mahmoud Abbas, has described the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council’s investigative committee as a shift in position of the world in favor of the rights of Palestinians.
Nearly 500,000 Israelis live in more than 100 settlement units built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
24 mrt 2012
European initiative warns of unprecedented Israeli settlement drive
The European initiative against the wall and settlements has welcomed the UN human rights council’s decision establishing a fact-finding committee on Israeli settlements but warned of negative repercussions.
The initiative, based in The Hague, has said that the Israeli rejection of the decision and its announcement that it would not cooperate with the committee indicate that it was planning to intensify settlement activity in the occupied territories even though it was already reaching “unprecedented levels” especially in occupied Jerusalem.
Head of the initiative Amin Abu Rashed, said in a press release on Saturday, that the majority of votes in favor of the UNHRC decision was a step in the right direction although it was late.
He hoped that the decision would not remain locked in files of the council and that it would soon see the light.
Abu Rashed said that all UN concerned organizations should declare that Israeli settlement activity in the occupied land cannot be accepted as a de facto situation and should adopt a clear decision demanding removal of all settlements.
The initiative, based in The Hague, has said that the Israeli rejection of the decision and its announcement that it would not cooperate with the committee indicate that it was planning to intensify settlement activity in the occupied territories even though it was already reaching “unprecedented levels” especially in occupied Jerusalem.
Head of the initiative Amin Abu Rashed, said in a press release on Saturday, that the majority of votes in favor of the UNHRC decision was a step in the right direction although it was late.
He hoped that the decision would not remain locked in files of the council and that it would soon see the light.
Abu Rashed said that all UN concerned organizations should declare that Israeli settlement activity in the occupied land cannot be accepted as a de facto situation and should adopt a clear decision demanding removal of all settlements.
23 mrt 2012
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Israel refuses to cooperate with UN probe into Jewish settlements
Israel announced that it refuses to cooperate with an independent international fact-finding mission which is due to “investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people.”
Israeli sources quoted an Israeli official as saying: “Israel will not cooperate with the fact finding mission,” describing the performance of the UN Human Rights Council as "preposterous". The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the move and described the Council as hypocritical, “This is a hypocritical council with an automatic majority against Israel,” he said. The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday adopted a resolution to set up an independent probe into the effects of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem on the Palestinians. The resolution was passed by 36 votes for, US against and ten abstentions. Israeli fury at UN probe into Jewish settlements There is anger in Israel at moves within the UN to investigate the effect of Jewish settlements on Palestinian human rights. Israel is considering severing ties with the UN Human Rights Council and withdrawing its ambassador after the organisation voted to establish a fact-finding mission in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel and the residents disagree. |
“The fact that Israel is repeatedly made into an scapegoat is not only infuriating, it is embarrassing to the rest of the world because once again they allow the Jews to be scapegoats for the entire world,” said Semin Navon, a Jewish settler living in the West Bank.
The Council meeting in Geneva called on Israel to co-operate fully with the mission and not obstruct the process.
“We will do all that is in our power to force the Israeli government to stop settlement building, including in Jerusalem, and to accept the 1967 borders, in an attempt to preserve the option of a two state solution in the face of an Israeli government that is tactically destroying this option,” said Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.
Palestinians face restrictions in most Jewish settlement areas.
A total of 36 of the Council’s 47 members voted for the mission. Ten countries abstained, including several in Europe. Only the US voted against, calling the resolution biased against Israel.
The Council meeting in Geneva called on Israel to co-operate fully with the mission and not obstruct the process.
“We will do all that is in our power to force the Israeli government to stop settlement building, including in Jerusalem, and to accept the 1967 borders, in an attempt to preserve the option of a two state solution in the face of an Israeli government that is tactically destroying this option,” said Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.
Palestinians face restrictions in most Jewish settlement areas.
A total of 36 of the Council’s 47 members voted for the mission. Ten countries abstained, including several in Europe. Only the US voted against, calling the resolution biased against Israel.
22 mrt 2012
UN orders first-ever probe into illegal Israeli settlements
The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has passed a resolution which orders the first-ever probe to explore the impact of Israeli settlements on the occupied Palestinian territories.
Of the 47-membere council, 36 voted in favor of the resolution on Thursday while 10 abstained from voting. The Untied States was the only member that voted against the measure.
The resolution called on Tel Aviv to help protect Palestinian civilians and property in the occupied territories as well as to prevent settler’s violence “including confiscation of arms and enforcement of criminal sanctions.”
“Steps like this do nothing to promote a just and lasting peace,” said the US envoy to the UN, adding that America is “deeply troubled by this council’s bias against Israel.”
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also criticized the UNHRC, saying that the Council “should be ashamed of itself” for approving such a measure.
“This Council has an automatic majority hostile to Israel and is hypocritical,” Netanyahu said.
Pakistan’s envoy to the UN, Zamir Akram, commended the resolution.
“In violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, Israel is continuing construction of illegal settlements in the occupied territories including East Jerusalem," Akram said.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas, described the vote as a shift in position of the world in favor for the rights of Palestinians.
Nearly 500,000 Israelis live in more than 100 settlement units built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Presidency Welcomes UN Council Resolution on Settlements
Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh welcomed Thursday the passing of a resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Council ordering a probe into how Israeli settlements infringe on the rights of Palestinians.
The resolution was passed by a vote of 36 in favor with the United States casting the only negative vote. Ten abstained.
“This is a new international position that supports Palestinian rights and sends a message to Israel from the international community that settlements are illegal and should be stopped in total,” said Abu Rudeineh.
He thanked the countries that have supported the resolution.
Israel has recently escalated its settlement construction and expansion forcing the Palestinians to ask for an international probe into settlement activities as a violation of international law and Palestinian rights.
Palestinians said they will not resume negotiations with Israel before it stops all settlement activities in all the occupied Palestinian territories, including in East Jerusalem.
Of the 47-membere council, 36 voted in favor of the resolution on Thursday while 10 abstained from voting. The Untied States was the only member that voted against the measure.
The resolution called on Tel Aviv to help protect Palestinian civilians and property in the occupied territories as well as to prevent settler’s violence “including confiscation of arms and enforcement of criminal sanctions.”
“Steps like this do nothing to promote a just and lasting peace,” said the US envoy to the UN, adding that America is “deeply troubled by this council’s bias against Israel.”
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also criticized the UNHRC, saying that the Council “should be ashamed of itself” for approving such a measure.
“This Council has an automatic majority hostile to Israel and is hypocritical,” Netanyahu said.
Pakistan’s envoy to the UN, Zamir Akram, commended the resolution.
“In violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, Israel is continuing construction of illegal settlements in the occupied territories including East Jerusalem," Akram said.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas, described the vote as a shift in position of the world in favor for the rights of Palestinians.
Nearly 500,000 Israelis live in more than 100 settlement units built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Presidency Welcomes UN Council Resolution on Settlements
Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh welcomed Thursday the passing of a resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Council ordering a probe into how Israeli settlements infringe on the rights of Palestinians.
The resolution was passed by a vote of 36 in favor with the United States casting the only negative vote. Ten abstained.
“This is a new international position that supports Palestinian rights and sends a message to Israel from the international community that settlements are illegal and should be stopped in total,” said Abu Rudeineh.
He thanked the countries that have supported the resolution.
Israel has recently escalated its settlement construction and expansion forcing the Palestinians to ask for an international probe into settlement activities as a violation of international law and Palestinian rights.
Palestinians said they will not resume negotiations with Israel before it stops all settlement activities in all the occupied Palestinian territories, including in East Jerusalem.
21 mrt 2012
Foreign Ministry Condemns Knesset Endorsement of Settlements
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wednesday condemned in a statement the Israeli Knesset’s endorsement of settlement activities in the Palestinian Territory.
The Israeli Knesset Financial Committee approved allocating around $30 million to support settlements, said the statement, adding that the Knesset also approved on the first reading of a bill to endorse settlements by granting tax breaks to funders of settlement projects.
The ministry indicated that the Israeli government continues its aggression and blatant violations against the Palestinian people, works to destroy the applicability of the two-state solution on the ground, and intensifies its settlement activities to Judaize East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The statement also criticized an announcement by the Planning and Building Committee of the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem of plans to confiscate1235 dunums of Palestinian-owned land in al-Walaja, a village south of Jerusalem, to build parks for nearby settlements.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Israeli measures are a breach of international law and resolutions, as well as destroy any possibility for peace and resumption of negotiations.
It called on the international community, the Quartet and the United Nations to condemn Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and to take immediate steps to end occupation and halt the daily assaults targeting the Gaza Strip.
The statement also held the Israeli government responsible for the failure of negotiations and the peace process.
The Israeli Knesset Financial Committee approved allocating around $30 million to support settlements, said the statement, adding that the Knesset also approved on the first reading of a bill to endorse settlements by granting tax breaks to funders of settlement projects.
The ministry indicated that the Israeli government continues its aggression and blatant violations against the Palestinian people, works to destroy the applicability of the two-state solution on the ground, and intensifies its settlement activities to Judaize East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The statement also criticized an announcement by the Planning and Building Committee of the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem of plans to confiscate1235 dunums of Palestinian-owned land in al-Walaja, a village south of Jerusalem, to build parks for nearby settlements.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Israeli measures are a breach of international law and resolutions, as well as destroy any possibility for peace and resumption of negotiations.
It called on the international community, the Quartet and the United Nations to condemn Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and to take immediate steps to end occupation and halt the daily assaults targeting the Gaza Strip.
The statement also held the Israeli government responsible for the failure of negotiations and the peace process.
19 mrt 2012
Mansi denounces Israel for planning 187000 new housing units in O. Jerusalem
Public works minister in Gaza Dr. Yousef Al-Mansi has lashed out at the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) for planning to build 187000 new housing units in occupied Jerusalem.
He said in a press release that the IOA plan aims at changing the demographic nature of the holy city and falls in line with the Judaization scheme of Jerusalem.
Mansi noted that the plan is endorsed at a time the IOA is continuing its demolition streak against Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and occupied Jerusalem and its blockage of main construction material into Gaza.
The minister called on all free people of the world to stand up to the IOA schemes in occupied Jerusalem.
He said in a press release that the IOA plan aims at changing the demographic nature of the holy city and falls in line with the Judaization scheme of Jerusalem.
Mansi noted that the plan is endorsed at a time the IOA is continuing its demolition streak against Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and occupied Jerusalem and its blockage of main construction material into Gaza.
The minister called on all free people of the world to stand up to the IOA schemes in occupied Jerusalem.