12 feb 2016
At least five Palestinian youths were injured Friday afternoon after Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) opened their machinegun fire at a group of youths east of al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip.
Spokesman for the Health Ministry Ashraf al-Qudra said that four gunfire injuries were reported during the clashes while a 38-year-old man was directly hit in his face by a tear gas bomb.
The injured man was transferred to Shuhada al-Aqsa hospital in a very critical condition, the PIC news reporter said.
Since early October, Gaza youths have weekly organized peaceful marches in support of Jerusalem Intifada in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, which was sparked by a spate of attacks by Israelis against Palestinians and their holy shrines.
Spokesman for the Health Ministry Ashraf al-Qudra said that four gunfire injuries were reported during the clashes while a 38-year-old man was directly hit in his face by a tear gas bomb.
The injured man was transferred to Shuhada al-Aqsa hospital in a very critical condition, the PIC news reporter said.
Since early October, Gaza youths have weekly organized peaceful marches in support of Jerusalem Intifada in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, which was sparked by a spate of attacks by Israelis against Palestinians and their holy shrines.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Friday morning opened fire at Palestinian shepherds and farmers in a border area south of the Gaza Strip.
Eyewitnesses said that Israeli soldiers at a military border post opened fire at Palestinian citizens working lands and grazing cattle east of Rafah area. Luckily, no one was injured in the gunfire attack.
The IOF opens fire at Palestinian farmers almost on a daily basis, and has caused injuries to several of them in previous incidents.
Eyewitnesses said that Israeli soldiers at a military border post opened fire at Palestinian citizens working lands and grazing cattle east of Rafah area. Luckily, no one was injured in the gunfire attack.
The IOF opens fire at Palestinian farmers almost on a daily basis, and has caused injuries to several of them in previous incidents.
11 feb 2016
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened heavy machinegun fire at Palestinian farmers in southern Gaza Strip on Thursday evening.
Local sources said that the IOF gunfire forced farmers tending to their lands and shepherds rearing their sheep in the area to the east of Khan Younis to leave their lands.
No casualties were reported in the incident.
Local sources said that the IOF gunfire forced farmers tending to their lands and shepherds rearing their sheep in the area to the east of Khan Younis to leave their lands.
No casualties were reported in the incident.
Italy declared on Wednesday it would donate 1 million Euros to raise funds for the Gaza reconstruction, after the 51-day Israeli offensive in summer 2014 destroyed most of its infrastructure.
Following his meeting with members of the Italian Cooperation and Development organization, Minister of public works and housing Mufeed al-Hasayna said that the reconstruction of totally and partially damaged houses is to kick off soon after the Italian donation.
During a press conference, al-Hasayna said that 1.2 million Euros will be allocated for rebuilding partially damaged houses while 80,000 Euros will be allocated for the reconstruction of a totally damaged neighborhood north of the Strip.
International donors have pledged $5.4 bn (£3.4 bn) for the reconstruction of Gaza at a conference in Cairo following Israel’s summer aggression on the strip. At least 100,000 Gazans lost their homes in the 51-day offensive in July-August 2014. Much of the territory's infrastructure was also damaged.
Following his meeting with members of the Italian Cooperation and Development organization, Minister of public works and housing Mufeed al-Hasayna said that the reconstruction of totally and partially damaged houses is to kick off soon after the Italian donation.
During a press conference, al-Hasayna said that 1.2 million Euros will be allocated for rebuilding partially damaged houses while 80,000 Euros will be allocated for the reconstruction of a totally damaged neighborhood north of the Strip.
International donors have pledged $5.4 bn (£3.4 bn) for the reconstruction of Gaza at a conference in Cairo following Israel’s summer aggression on the strip. At least 100,000 Gazans lost their homes in the 51-day offensive in July-August 2014. Much of the territory's infrastructure was also damaged.
10 feb 2016
The Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) confirmed the continuation of efforts of reconstruction of water and sanitation facilities and infrastructure destroyed and damaged by the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2014.
It pointed out that until the end of last year a number of projects related to this file were implemented. These projects have contributed to the provision of water services to hundreds of thousands of citizens in the affected areas.
The Water Authority explained in a report on the reconstruction of the water sector on Tuesday that despite the achievements that these efforts had accomplished during the last period, but it is facing delays and restrictions due to the Israeli siege on Gaza, including blocking the entry of materials and equipment needed for the water facilities and sanitation, as well as the difficulty in securing energy and fuel needed for the operation of these facilities.
Reconstruction in the water sector efforts also faces a shortfall of more than $11 million, according to the PWA. It said that, "we are working very hard in order to provide this amount of money for the financing of reconstruction, rehabilitation, maintenance of destroyed and damaged facilities, and for purchasing the necessary equipment. Furthermore, there is a need for $10 million a month to maintain a minimum of required services running."
After the war, a series of projects were implemented aiming at the reconstruction and rehabilitation of various damaged and destroyed facilities, including full and partial repair of 23 out of 26 wells, as well as eight water tanks of the 12 fully or partially-destroyed tanks, and the rehabilitation of six small desalination plants and 34 km out of 46 km of the devastated water network.
With regard to sanitation facilities, 14 km of destroyed sewage networks and three serving treatment plants have been rehabilitated, in addition to 10 sewage pumping stations, 2 of which were completely destroyed while 8 were damaged partially. With regard to the rehabilitation of operation and maintenance equipment, six heavy machineries (out of 15 machineries) for the operations of the sewage facilities were purchased, but had not been functioning yet.
50 spare generators for the water and sanitation facilities were replaced, while 211 spare generators were repaired, in addition to the maintenance of 55 per cent of administrative buildings. The PWA pointed out that spare parts for maintenance of various facilities for sanitation were supplied, diesel fuel to run them was purchased, as well as the supply of necessary quantities of chlorine for water disinfection, in conjunction with that, a plan to protect water sources was prepared, while a study on the assessment of the environmental impact of the war on water resources is under preparation.
During the war, which lasted 51 days, more than one-third of the residents were deprived of water services as a result of the Israeli direct targeting of water facilities and infrastructure, and the power supply was cut off due to the Israeli direct targeting of power grids lines and the bombing of the only power station in Gaza. The loss in the water and sanitation sector was estimated at about $34 million.
It pointed out that until the end of last year a number of projects related to this file were implemented. These projects have contributed to the provision of water services to hundreds of thousands of citizens in the affected areas.
The Water Authority explained in a report on the reconstruction of the water sector on Tuesday that despite the achievements that these efforts had accomplished during the last period, but it is facing delays and restrictions due to the Israeli siege on Gaza, including blocking the entry of materials and equipment needed for the water facilities and sanitation, as well as the difficulty in securing energy and fuel needed for the operation of these facilities.
Reconstruction in the water sector efforts also faces a shortfall of more than $11 million, according to the PWA. It said that, "we are working very hard in order to provide this amount of money for the financing of reconstruction, rehabilitation, maintenance of destroyed and damaged facilities, and for purchasing the necessary equipment. Furthermore, there is a need for $10 million a month to maintain a minimum of required services running."
After the war, a series of projects were implemented aiming at the reconstruction and rehabilitation of various damaged and destroyed facilities, including full and partial repair of 23 out of 26 wells, as well as eight water tanks of the 12 fully or partially-destroyed tanks, and the rehabilitation of six small desalination plants and 34 km out of 46 km of the devastated water network.
With regard to sanitation facilities, 14 km of destroyed sewage networks and three serving treatment plants have been rehabilitated, in addition to 10 sewage pumping stations, 2 of which were completely destroyed while 8 were damaged partially. With regard to the rehabilitation of operation and maintenance equipment, six heavy machineries (out of 15 machineries) for the operations of the sewage facilities were purchased, but had not been functioning yet.
50 spare generators for the water and sanitation facilities were replaced, while 211 spare generators were repaired, in addition to the maintenance of 55 per cent of administrative buildings. The PWA pointed out that spare parts for maintenance of various facilities for sanitation were supplied, diesel fuel to run them was purchased, as well as the supply of necessary quantities of chlorine for water disinfection, in conjunction with that, a plan to protect water sources was prepared, while a study on the assessment of the environmental impact of the war on water resources is under preparation.
During the war, which lasted 51 days, more than one-third of the residents were deprived of water services as a result of the Israeli direct targeting of water facilities and infrastructure, and the power supply was cut off due to the Israeli direct targeting of power grids lines and the bombing of the only power station in Gaza. The loss in the water and sanitation sector was estimated at about $34 million.
9 feb 2016
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened machinegun fire at cattle breeders in central Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning.
A field observer reported that IOF soldiers stationed in areas adjacent to central Gaza Strip opened their machineguns at cattle breeders east of Breij refugee camp, adding that no casualties were suffered.
The Gaza Strip’s border areas are systematically targeted by Israeli soldiers who fire at farmers, shepherds, and residents of those areas, which constitutes a blatant violation of the calm agreement signed in Cairo in summer 2014 with the Palestinian resistance.
A field observer reported that IOF soldiers stationed in areas adjacent to central Gaza Strip opened their machineguns at cattle breeders east of Breij refugee camp, adding that no casualties were suffered.
The Gaza Strip’s border areas are systematically targeted by Israeli soldiers who fire at farmers, shepherds, and residents of those areas, which constitutes a blatant violation of the calm agreement signed in Cairo in summer 2014 with the Palestinian resistance.
The Palestinian ministries of health and interior categorically denied Israeli claims that wounded ISIS militants from Sinai are treated in the hospitals of the Gaza Strip.
In Facebook remarks on Monday, spokesman for the health ministry Ashraf al-Qudra described the Israeli claims in this regards as "unfounded and an attempt to strain the relations between Gaza and Egypt."
Qudra added that the local hospitals only receive patients and wounded citizens from Gaza.
In a new attempt to incite Egypt against Gaza, Yoav Mordechai, coordinator of the Israeli government activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, claimed that wounded militants from the ISIS were admitted to hospitals in Gaza in exchange for money and weapons.
For his part, spokesman for the interior ministry in Gaza Iyad al-Bazam also condemned Mordechai's claims as "false allegations."
Bazam stated on his Facebook page that such Israeli claims are aimed to incite against Gaza, create tension between it and Egypt, and find a reason to tighten the blockade on the population. He stressed that the Palestinian national security forces would never allow anyone to undermine the security of the border area with Egypt.
In Facebook remarks on Monday, spokesman for the health ministry Ashraf al-Qudra described the Israeli claims in this regards as "unfounded and an attempt to strain the relations between Gaza and Egypt."
Qudra added that the local hospitals only receive patients and wounded citizens from Gaza.
In a new attempt to incite Egypt against Gaza, Yoav Mordechai, coordinator of the Israeli government activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, claimed that wounded militants from the ISIS were admitted to hospitals in Gaza in exchange for money and weapons.
For his part, spokesman for the interior ministry in Gaza Iyad al-Bazam also condemned Mordechai's claims as "false allegations."
Bazam stated on his Facebook page that such Israeli claims are aimed to incite against Gaza, create tension between it and Egypt, and find a reason to tighten the blockade on the population. He stressed that the Palestinian national security forces would never allow anyone to undermine the security of the border area with Egypt.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Monday evening opened machinegun fire on a group of Palestinian civilians to the east of blockaded Gaza.
Local sources said the IOF troops deployed in al-Malika watchtower, in eastern Gaza, unleashed spates of gunfire on Palestinian shepherds and passengers in the area.
Gaza’s eastern borders have been frequently attacked by the Israeli occupation army, in a flagrant violation of the Cairo-brokered truce deal struck in the wake of the 2014 offensive on the besieged coastal enclave.
Local sources said the IOF troops deployed in al-Malika watchtower, in eastern Gaza, unleashed spates of gunfire on Palestinian shepherds and passengers in the area.
Gaza’s eastern borders have been frequently attacked by the Israeli occupation army, in a flagrant violation of the Cairo-brokered truce deal struck in the wake of the 2014 offensive on the besieged coastal enclave.
8 feb 2016
Israeli official says IS-affiliated fighters treated in GazaA senior Israel official said Monday that Gaza's de facto leaders Hamas have been providing medical treatment to Islamic State-affiliated fighters from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, in claims Hamas rejected as "baseless."
Yoav Mordechai, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), made the allegations in an interview with Saudi newspaper Elaph.
"We have confirmed information that some fighters from the IS-affiliated Sinai Province group were being moved to Gaza through smuggling tunnels to receive medical treatment," Mordechai reportedly said.
He alleged that the Hamas movement was receiving weapons, money and other goods from IS in return.
A COGAT spokesperson confirmed Mordechai's statement to Ma'an.
However, Iyad al-Buzm, a spokesperson for Hamas' Ministry of the Interior in the Gaza Strip, rejected the claims as "baseless and false."
Buzm said Mordechai's statements were only meant to incite against the Gaza Strip and to worsen relations between Hamas and Egypt so as to intensify a military blockade imposed on the coastal enclave.
A spokesperson for the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qidra, also denied that any IS fighter had ever received treatment in Gaza's hospitals.
Al-Qidra said in a Facebook post "Gaza hospitals receive patients and wounded people from the Gaza Strip only," adding that Mordechai's remarks were "inciting, and completely false."
Hamas has suffered poor relations with the Egyptian government ever since the democratically-elected Muslim Brotherhood, with whom they were closely allied, was thrown out of power in July 2013.
Attacks by militants, including the IS-affiliated Sinai Province group, initially began to increase after Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi took power. Hamas has repeatedly denied giving support to the militants.
Yoav Mordechai, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), made the allegations in an interview with Saudi newspaper Elaph.
"We have confirmed information that some fighters from the IS-affiliated Sinai Province group were being moved to Gaza through smuggling tunnels to receive medical treatment," Mordechai reportedly said.
He alleged that the Hamas movement was receiving weapons, money and other goods from IS in return.
A COGAT spokesperson confirmed Mordechai's statement to Ma'an.
However, Iyad al-Buzm, a spokesperson for Hamas' Ministry of the Interior in the Gaza Strip, rejected the claims as "baseless and false."
Buzm said Mordechai's statements were only meant to incite against the Gaza Strip and to worsen relations between Hamas and Egypt so as to intensify a military blockade imposed on the coastal enclave.
A spokesperson for the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qidra, also denied that any IS fighter had ever received treatment in Gaza's hospitals.
Al-Qidra said in a Facebook post "Gaza hospitals receive patients and wounded people from the Gaza Strip only," adding that Mordechai's remarks were "inciting, and completely false."
Hamas has suffered poor relations with the Egyptian government ever since the democratically-elected Muslim Brotherhood, with whom they were closely allied, was thrown out of power in July 2013.
Attacks by militants, including the IS-affiliated Sinai Province group, initially began to increase after Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi took power. Hamas has repeatedly denied giving support to the militants.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) opened fire late Sunday at Palestinian agricultural lands east of Gaza Strip amid excessive firing of flare bombs over the area.
Local sources affirmed that IOF soldiers stationed at the border fence opened their machinegun fire at the border agricultural lands east of al-Bureij camp in central Gaza Strip amid heavy firing of flare bombs over the area. No casualties were reported during the attack, the sources added.
Sunday’s attack came as part of Israel’s daily violations of the ceasefire agreement reached on August 26, 2014 that ended its summer aggression on Gaza during which more than 2200 people were killed including hundreds of children and women.
Local sources affirmed that IOF soldiers stationed at the border fence opened their machinegun fire at the border agricultural lands east of al-Bureij camp in central Gaza Strip amid heavy firing of flare bombs over the area. No casualties were reported during the attack, the sources added.
Sunday’s attack came as part of Israel’s daily violations of the ceasefire agreement reached on August 26, 2014 that ended its summer aggression on Gaza during which more than 2200 people were killed including hundreds of children and women.
Israeli soldiers opened fire, on Monday morning, targeting Palestinian farmers in central Gaza, and fishing boats, in Gaza territorial waters.
The soldiers, stationed behind the border fence, east of the al-Boreij refugee camp, in central Gaza, fired dozens of rounds of live ammunition into Palestinian farmlands, forcing the Palestinians to leave.
In addition, Israeli navy ships fired several live rounds on Palestinian fishing boats, in the Sudaniyya area, in Gaza, causing significant damage to at least one boat, and forcing the fishers back to shore.
The boats were only close to four nautical miles off the Gaza shore when the navy ships attacked them.
The army frequently targets Gaza farmers while working on their lands, close to the border fence, in addition to similar attacks against fishers in Palestinian territorial waters. Such attacks led to dozens of casualties, including fatalities, and dozens of arrests.
Last Wednesday, February 3, the Israeli navy opened fire on several fishing boats, in northern Gaza, and kidnapped four fishers from the same family.
The soldiers, stationed behind the border fence, east of the al-Boreij refugee camp, in central Gaza, fired dozens of rounds of live ammunition into Palestinian farmlands, forcing the Palestinians to leave.
In addition, Israeli navy ships fired several live rounds on Palestinian fishing boats, in the Sudaniyya area, in Gaza, causing significant damage to at least one boat, and forcing the fishers back to shore.
The boats were only close to four nautical miles off the Gaza shore when the navy ships attacked them.
The army frequently targets Gaza farmers while working on their lands, close to the border fence, in addition to similar attacks against fishers in Palestinian territorial waters. Such attacks led to dozens of casualties, including fatalities, and dozens of arrests.
Last Wednesday, February 3, the Israeli navy opened fire on several fishing boats, in northern Gaza, and kidnapped four fishers from the same family.
7 feb 2016
By Richard Falk
Dear UN Secretary General,
Having read of the vicious attacks on you for venturing some moderate, incontestable criticisms of Israel’s behaviour, I understand well the discomfort you clearly feel. Not since Richard Goldstone chaired the group that released the report detailing apparent Israeli war crimes during its massive attack on Gaza at the end of 2008 have Israel’s big political guns responded with such unwarranted fury, magnified as usual by ultra-Zionist media commentary.
Netanyahu has the audacity to claim that your acknowledgement that it is not unnatural for the Palestinians oppressed for half century to resist and resort to extremism is tantamount to the encouragement of terrorism, what he described as giving a “tailwind to terrorism.” The fact that your intention was quite the opposite hardly matters. And your repeated denunciation of terrorism will be disregarded by these irresponsible critics whose sole objective is to take attention away from the issues raised.
Israel and its keenest supporters have found that there is no better way to do this than by defaming their critics, branding them as soft on terrorism or even as anti-Semites. And it makes no difference whatsoever that you have leaned over backwards, almost falling to the ground, to deflect criticism of Israel during your time as leader of the UN. It is not surprising that you should respond to such behaviour in a New York Times opinion piece by imploring Israel and its friends to refrain from "shooting the messenger" and instead heed the message.
What intrigues and appalls me is that while I was special rapporteur for Occupied Palestine during the period 2008-2014, you chose to attack me personally in public on several occasions, joining with US and Israel diplomats calling for my dismissal and doing the utmost to undermine my credibility while discharging this unpaid UN job under difficult conditions.
At the time, I was doing my best to bear witness to some of the same truths about Israel’s unlawful and immoral behavior that recently got you in similar hot water. My UN mandate was to report upon the reality of Israeli violations of international law while sustaining their apartheid regime of oppressive control over the Palestinian people. The Palestinians need and deserve such a voice as provided by the UN to make governments of the world more aware of their responsibility to take steps that will bring this unprecedented ordeal to an end. In carrying out these duties, it is my hope that future UN special rapporteurs receive the support that they need from future secretary generals.
In my case, hurt and offended by being so unfairly attacked by you, the highest UN official, I was encouraged to seek some kind of explanation from your office, and hopefully even an apology. You never criticised my reports on Palestine or their criticisms of Israel’s policies and practices, but rather focused your venomous remarks on some comments attributed to my views, as expressed on my personal blog, that were concerned with the 9/11 attacks and the Boston marathon bombings. It was obvious from the content of your attack that you relied on a letter written by Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, Israel’s faithful watchdog NGO in Geneva, that gave my rather carefully qualified blog comments an inflammatory twist. But it appeared that you seemed wary of engaging in any debate about the substance of my criticisms of Israel’s policies and practices in my reports.
I called your office, and was referred to your affable aide de camp, whom seemed immediately apologetic, before I was even able to register a complaint and explain to him my actual position on these controversial issues. After listening to what I had to say, he obliquely accepted my concerns by admitting that "we didn’t do due diligence," by which he evidently meant that the secretary-general and his advisors relied on Neuer’s letter rather than reading what I actually wrote on the blog, which was nuanced and rather moderate in tone and content.
This UN official volunteered a further explanation to the effect that “we were under great pressure at the time from the US Congress, and this was an opportunity to show that we were not anti-Israeli.” This incident happened to occur while you were campaigning successfully for a second term as secretary-general, and apparently wanted to reassure Washington that you would not rock the boat if reelected. I venture to say that if you had back then voiced such strong criticisms of Israel’s settlement policy or indicated a similar empathetic understanding of Palestinian resistance, you would never have received Washington’s blessings for a second term as secretary-general. In light of this experience, I felt at the time that you were joining with others in shooting a messenger who was seeking to convey some inconvenient truths about Israel’s behavior.
These truths are rather similar to your own comments about the denial of Palestinian rights, especially with respect to the right of self-determination. The folk wisdom of "what goes around comes around" seems to fit your plight. You who expediently took shots at the messenger are now taking umbrage when the tactic is directed at you. This response is reasonable in this instance but inconsistent with your own past behavior. You say, “..when heartfelt concerns about shortsighted or morally damaging policies emanate from so many sources, including Israel’s closest friends, it cannot be sustainable to keep lashing out at every well-intentioned critic.”
True, of course, but why only now? And only you?
Actually, although your critical stress on settlements and resistance is welcome and important, your overall stance still falls far short of adopting a helpful way forward. You continue to insist misleadingly that compromises are called for by both sides in pursuing the goal of reaching a sustainable peace based on the establishment of a Palestinian state.
I find puzzling the assertion in your article that “I am so concerned that we are reaching a point of no return for the two-state solution.” In your statement of 26 January to the Security Council, you urge Palestinian unity as necessary so that the Palestinians “can instead focus their energies on establishing a stable state as part of a negotiated two-state solution.”
Have you forgotten that every step taken by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas to establish unity has been opposed by punitive pushback on Israel’s part, a response endorsed by the United States? And wasn’t that "point of no return" reached some time ago, and certainly after what the American Secretary of State, John Kerry, proclaimed as "the last-chance" negotiations broke down in the spring of 2014 after a year of trading allegations and achieving not a single positive result?
And how, Mr. Ban, is a two-state solution to be achieved over the opposition and resolve of more than 600,000 Israeli settlers, with more expansion underway and even more promised? You acknowledge being “disturbed by statements from senior members of the Israeli government that the aim [of a Palestinian state] should be abandoned altogether.” What you don’t say is that these "senior members" include Israel’s elected prime minister, its president, and its current ambassador to the UN.
In light of this unified opposition to a two-state approach by Israel’s highest governmental leaders, how can you encourage reliance on this discredited diplomatic path that has resulted over and over again in severe encroachments on occupied Palestine and intensified suffering for the Palestinian people? Clinging to the two-state mantra is not neutral.
Delay benefits Israel, harms Palestine. There is every reason to believe that this pattern will continue as long as Israel is not seriously challenged diplomatically and by the sorts of growing pressures mounted by the international solidarity movement and the BDS campaign. More widely, and fundamentally, shooting the messenger is part of a broader Israeli strategy to avoid giving any visibility to substantive criticisms of its behaviour. You are merely the latest victim, and one of the most highly placed.
The intensity of defamation seems to be roughly proportional to the perceived impact of your criticism. In this sense, Mr Secretary General, you have scored highly, especially due to your reminder to the Security Council that the UN will “continue to uphold the right of Palestinians to self-determination”.
This is not the language Israel’s leaders hope to hear from your lips, and hardly consistent with your record of steadfast support for Israel. To be meaningful beyond a ritual affirmation, self-determination must be understood, given present realities, as something more and other than another delusionary embrace of a diplomatically negotiated two-state solution. You also tell the Security Council that “incitement has no place, and that questioning Israel’s right to exist cannot be tolerated.”
Fair enough, but challenging Israel’s postures, policies and practices should be placed high on the UN agenda of unfinished business if what you propose on behalf of the Palestinian people is ever to have a chance of being achieved. We need all to realise what else should not be tolerated: while the Palestinian flag flies outside UN headquarters, the Palestinian people have lived for almost 70 years under the daily brutalities of occupation, refugee camps, Gazan captivity, and involuntary exile.
Sincerely,
Richard Falk UN Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council for Occupied Palestine Professor of International Law
- Richard Falk is an international law and international relations scholar who taught at Princeton University for 40 years. In 2008 he was also appointed by the UN to serve a six-year term as the Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights. This article was published in the Middle East Eye website.
Dear UN Secretary General,
Having read of the vicious attacks on you for venturing some moderate, incontestable criticisms of Israel’s behaviour, I understand well the discomfort you clearly feel. Not since Richard Goldstone chaired the group that released the report detailing apparent Israeli war crimes during its massive attack on Gaza at the end of 2008 have Israel’s big political guns responded with such unwarranted fury, magnified as usual by ultra-Zionist media commentary.
Netanyahu has the audacity to claim that your acknowledgement that it is not unnatural for the Palestinians oppressed for half century to resist and resort to extremism is tantamount to the encouragement of terrorism, what he described as giving a “tailwind to terrorism.” The fact that your intention was quite the opposite hardly matters. And your repeated denunciation of terrorism will be disregarded by these irresponsible critics whose sole objective is to take attention away from the issues raised.
Israel and its keenest supporters have found that there is no better way to do this than by defaming their critics, branding them as soft on terrorism or even as anti-Semites. And it makes no difference whatsoever that you have leaned over backwards, almost falling to the ground, to deflect criticism of Israel during your time as leader of the UN. It is not surprising that you should respond to such behaviour in a New York Times opinion piece by imploring Israel and its friends to refrain from "shooting the messenger" and instead heed the message.
What intrigues and appalls me is that while I was special rapporteur for Occupied Palestine during the period 2008-2014, you chose to attack me personally in public on several occasions, joining with US and Israel diplomats calling for my dismissal and doing the utmost to undermine my credibility while discharging this unpaid UN job under difficult conditions.
At the time, I was doing my best to bear witness to some of the same truths about Israel’s unlawful and immoral behavior that recently got you in similar hot water. My UN mandate was to report upon the reality of Israeli violations of international law while sustaining their apartheid regime of oppressive control over the Palestinian people. The Palestinians need and deserve such a voice as provided by the UN to make governments of the world more aware of their responsibility to take steps that will bring this unprecedented ordeal to an end. In carrying out these duties, it is my hope that future UN special rapporteurs receive the support that they need from future secretary generals.
In my case, hurt and offended by being so unfairly attacked by you, the highest UN official, I was encouraged to seek some kind of explanation from your office, and hopefully even an apology. You never criticised my reports on Palestine or their criticisms of Israel’s policies and practices, but rather focused your venomous remarks on some comments attributed to my views, as expressed on my personal blog, that were concerned with the 9/11 attacks and the Boston marathon bombings. It was obvious from the content of your attack that you relied on a letter written by Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, Israel’s faithful watchdog NGO in Geneva, that gave my rather carefully qualified blog comments an inflammatory twist. But it appeared that you seemed wary of engaging in any debate about the substance of my criticisms of Israel’s policies and practices in my reports.
I called your office, and was referred to your affable aide de camp, whom seemed immediately apologetic, before I was even able to register a complaint and explain to him my actual position on these controversial issues. After listening to what I had to say, he obliquely accepted my concerns by admitting that "we didn’t do due diligence," by which he evidently meant that the secretary-general and his advisors relied on Neuer’s letter rather than reading what I actually wrote on the blog, which was nuanced and rather moderate in tone and content.
This UN official volunteered a further explanation to the effect that “we were under great pressure at the time from the US Congress, and this was an opportunity to show that we were not anti-Israeli.” This incident happened to occur while you were campaigning successfully for a second term as secretary-general, and apparently wanted to reassure Washington that you would not rock the boat if reelected. I venture to say that if you had back then voiced such strong criticisms of Israel’s settlement policy or indicated a similar empathetic understanding of Palestinian resistance, you would never have received Washington’s blessings for a second term as secretary-general. In light of this experience, I felt at the time that you were joining with others in shooting a messenger who was seeking to convey some inconvenient truths about Israel’s behavior.
These truths are rather similar to your own comments about the denial of Palestinian rights, especially with respect to the right of self-determination. The folk wisdom of "what goes around comes around" seems to fit your plight. You who expediently took shots at the messenger are now taking umbrage when the tactic is directed at you. This response is reasonable in this instance but inconsistent with your own past behavior. You say, “..when heartfelt concerns about shortsighted or morally damaging policies emanate from so many sources, including Israel’s closest friends, it cannot be sustainable to keep lashing out at every well-intentioned critic.”
True, of course, but why only now? And only you?
Actually, although your critical stress on settlements and resistance is welcome and important, your overall stance still falls far short of adopting a helpful way forward. You continue to insist misleadingly that compromises are called for by both sides in pursuing the goal of reaching a sustainable peace based on the establishment of a Palestinian state.
I find puzzling the assertion in your article that “I am so concerned that we are reaching a point of no return for the two-state solution.” In your statement of 26 January to the Security Council, you urge Palestinian unity as necessary so that the Palestinians “can instead focus their energies on establishing a stable state as part of a negotiated two-state solution.”
Have you forgotten that every step taken by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas to establish unity has been opposed by punitive pushback on Israel’s part, a response endorsed by the United States? And wasn’t that "point of no return" reached some time ago, and certainly after what the American Secretary of State, John Kerry, proclaimed as "the last-chance" negotiations broke down in the spring of 2014 after a year of trading allegations and achieving not a single positive result?
And how, Mr. Ban, is a two-state solution to be achieved over the opposition and resolve of more than 600,000 Israeli settlers, with more expansion underway and even more promised? You acknowledge being “disturbed by statements from senior members of the Israeli government that the aim [of a Palestinian state] should be abandoned altogether.” What you don’t say is that these "senior members" include Israel’s elected prime minister, its president, and its current ambassador to the UN.
In light of this unified opposition to a two-state approach by Israel’s highest governmental leaders, how can you encourage reliance on this discredited diplomatic path that has resulted over and over again in severe encroachments on occupied Palestine and intensified suffering for the Palestinian people? Clinging to the two-state mantra is not neutral.
Delay benefits Israel, harms Palestine. There is every reason to believe that this pattern will continue as long as Israel is not seriously challenged diplomatically and by the sorts of growing pressures mounted by the international solidarity movement and the BDS campaign. More widely, and fundamentally, shooting the messenger is part of a broader Israeli strategy to avoid giving any visibility to substantive criticisms of its behaviour. You are merely the latest victim, and one of the most highly placed.
The intensity of defamation seems to be roughly proportional to the perceived impact of your criticism. In this sense, Mr Secretary General, you have scored highly, especially due to your reminder to the Security Council that the UN will “continue to uphold the right of Palestinians to self-determination”.
This is not the language Israel’s leaders hope to hear from your lips, and hardly consistent with your record of steadfast support for Israel. To be meaningful beyond a ritual affirmation, self-determination must be understood, given present realities, as something more and other than another delusionary embrace of a diplomatically negotiated two-state solution. You also tell the Security Council that “incitement has no place, and that questioning Israel’s right to exist cannot be tolerated.”
Fair enough, but challenging Israel’s postures, policies and practices should be placed high on the UN agenda of unfinished business if what you propose on behalf of the Palestinian people is ever to have a chance of being achieved. We need all to realise what else should not be tolerated: while the Palestinian flag flies outside UN headquarters, the Palestinian people have lived for almost 70 years under the daily brutalities of occupation, refugee camps, Gazan captivity, and involuntary exile.
Sincerely,
Richard Falk UN Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council for Occupied Palestine Professor of International Law
- Richard Falk is an international law and international relations scholar who taught at Princeton University for 40 years. In 2008 he was also appointed by the UN to serve a six-year term as the Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights. This article was published in the Middle East Eye website.
5 feb 2016
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Friday morning opened machinegun fire at Palestinian citizens east of Gaza City.
Local sources told Quds Press that Israeli soldiers opened fire from military watchtowers at farmers and shepherds working southeast of al-Zeitoun neighborhood.
Luckily, no one was injured in the gunfire attack. The Israeli occupation army committed hundreds of violations against the Palestinians in Gaza since it accepted an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire agreement with the resistance in August 2014.
Local sources told Quds Press that Israeli soldiers opened fire from military watchtowers at farmers and shepherds working southeast of al-Zeitoun neighborhood.
Luckily, no one was injured in the gunfire attack. The Israeli occupation army committed hundreds of violations against the Palestinians in Gaza since it accepted an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire agreement with the resistance in August 2014.
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Thursday morning advanced into Palestinian lands to the east of Rafah in southern Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip and leveled lands for unknown reasons.
The PIC reporter revealed that three Israeli military bulldozers advanced into lands near the Karm Abu Salem military camp in Rafah for a limited distance estimated at 100 meters.
Another Israeli engineering unit set up its equipment near the red watchtower of the camp.
The incursion falls in line with the repeated Israeli violations of the Cairo-brokered truce accord signed on August 26, 2014 in the wake of the Israeli aggression on the besieged coastal enclave, which killed over 2,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians.
The PIC reporter revealed that three Israeli military bulldozers advanced into lands near the Karm Abu Salem military camp in Rafah for a limited distance estimated at 100 meters.
Another Israeli engineering unit set up its equipment near the red watchtower of the camp.
The incursion falls in line with the repeated Israeli violations of the Cairo-brokered truce accord signed on August 26, 2014 in the wake of the Israeli aggression on the besieged coastal enclave, which killed over 2,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians.
Palestinian minister of works Mufid al-Hasayneh on Thursday signed an agreement with the Turkish relief group IHH to build a residential neighborhood for the impoverished families in the Gaza Strip.
The agreement was signed during a ceremony held at the headquarters of the ministry of works in Gaza. Minister Hasayneh hailed the generous support provided by Turkey and its people for the Palestinian people and their national cause.
The minister stated in press remarks that the neighborhood would be built in Johr Addik area, south of Gaza City, affirming that his ministry would start to carry out the project immediately.
The neighborhood will include 132 housing units and will be earmarked for the housing of the poorest families in Gaza, according to the minister. For his part, head of IHH Mohamed Kaya stated that his foundation would continue its support for the Palestinians and their steadfastness until the liberation of their whole land.
Kaya pointed out that the number of the housing units are not enough to accommodate all poor families in Gaza and pledged to work hard to build more units later.
The agreement was signed during a ceremony held at the headquarters of the ministry of works in Gaza. Minister Hasayneh hailed the generous support provided by Turkey and its people for the Palestinian people and their national cause.
The minister stated in press remarks that the neighborhood would be built in Johr Addik area, south of Gaza City, affirming that his ministry would start to carry out the project immediately.
The neighborhood will include 132 housing units and will be earmarked for the housing of the poorest families in Gaza, according to the minister. For his part, head of IHH Mohamed Kaya stated that his foundation would continue its support for the Palestinians and their steadfastness until the liberation of their whole land.
Kaya pointed out that the number of the housing units are not enough to accommodate all poor families in Gaza and pledged to work hard to build more units later.
4 feb 2016
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at dawn on Thursday opened machinegun fire on Palestinian farmers to the north of the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Local sources said the Israeli occupation troops deployed in Gaza’s northern borders launched a limited incursion before they unleashed spates of machinegun fire and a mortar shell on Palestinian farmers.
The attack is another chain in the series of Israeli violations of the Cairo-brokered ceasefire deal struck in the wake of the 2014 summer offensive on the besieged coastal enclave.
Local sources said the Israeli occupation troops deployed in Gaza’s northern borders launched a limited incursion before they unleashed spates of machinegun fire and a mortar shell on Palestinian farmers.
The attack is another chain in the series of Israeli violations of the Cairo-brokered ceasefire deal struck in the wake of the 2014 summer offensive on the besieged coastal enclave.
Truce violations List of names Pictures of martyrs
Days: Aug: 26 - 25 - 24 - 23 - 22 - 21 - 20 - 19 - 18 - 17 - 16 - 15 - 14 - 13 - 12 - 11 - 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1
July: 31 - 30 - 29 - 28 - 27 - 26 - 25 - 24 - 23 - 22 - 21 - 20 - 19 - 18 - 17 - 16 - 15 - 14 - 13 - 12 - 11 - 10 - 9 - 8