28 sept 2014
'No go zone' enforced by Israel
Israeli soldiers stationed at the Gaza border shot a 22-year old farmer who was working his field, on Sunday afternoon, in an area designated by the Israeli military as a 'no-go zone', in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Since the 50-day long Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip that ended on August 27th, Israeli forces have expanded the 'no-go zone' along the Gaza border, thus effectively annexing for Israel 40% of the remaining land area of the already extremely crowded Gaza Strip.
According to the initial ceasefire agreement, the 'no-go zone' was supposed to be reduced to 100 meters of the border fence and, while following the ceasefire farmers were initially able to reach their land, that soon changed, and Israeli soldiers began quickly expanding the 'no go zone', and there is no set distance where Palestinians are sure that they can be safe to farm their land.
Any Palestinian who tries to farm their land or otherwise enter the 'no-go zone' is subjected to being shot by Israeli snipers stationed at the border.
According to local sources, Rajab Marouf, 22, was tending his land near Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza, when he was shot in the leg by Israeli snipers. He was taken to the Kamal Adwan Hospital, where his injury was described as moderate.
The Ma'an News Agency reports that the Israeli military spokesperson told their reporters that "there were two suspects that approached the security fence", and that soldiers fired "warning shots in the air and at the lower extremities and then the suspects moved away."
Israeli soldiers stationed at the Gaza border shot a 22-year old farmer who was working his field, on Sunday afternoon, in an area designated by the Israeli military as a 'no-go zone', in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Since the 50-day long Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip that ended on August 27th, Israeli forces have expanded the 'no-go zone' along the Gaza border, thus effectively annexing for Israel 40% of the remaining land area of the already extremely crowded Gaza Strip.
According to the initial ceasefire agreement, the 'no-go zone' was supposed to be reduced to 100 meters of the border fence and, while following the ceasefire farmers were initially able to reach their land, that soon changed, and Israeli soldiers began quickly expanding the 'no go zone', and there is no set distance where Palestinians are sure that they can be safe to farm their land.
Any Palestinian who tries to farm their land or otherwise enter the 'no-go zone' is subjected to being shot by Israeli snipers stationed at the border.
According to local sources, Rajab Marouf, 22, was tending his land near Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza, when he was shot in the leg by Israeli snipers. He was taken to the Kamal Adwan Hospital, where his injury was described as moderate.
The Ma'an News Agency reports that the Israeli military spokesperson told their reporters that "there were two suspects that approached the security fence", and that soldiers fired "warning shots in the air and at the lower extremities and then the suspects moved away."
World Bulletin
Israel's years-long blockade and recent military onslaught has led to a catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip, raising poverty rates in the embattled enclave to a whopping 90 percent, a Palestinian NGO has said.
In a Tuesday statement, the Popular Committee for Lifting the Siege on the Gaza Strip described the situation as "catastrophic."
According to the NGO, thousands of homes were destroyed during Israel's 51-day assault in July and August, while thousands of Gazans now live in shelters without basic amenities following the collapse of essential services such as electricity and water.
The committee has called for allowing construction materials – and other necessities – into the blockaded strip.
It noted that building supplies were badly needed for the strip's reconstruction so that Palestinians might immediately rebuild homes destroyed or damaged by the recent offensive, which ended on August 26 with the announcement of an open-ended cease-fire.
Israel has banned the entry of construction materials and other necessities into the Gaza Strip since Palestinian resistance faction Hamas swept Palestinian legislative elections in 2006.
The following year, the self-proclaimed Jewish state imposed an all-out blockade – by air, land and sea – on the coastal territory, playing havoc with the lives of the strip's roughly 1.9 million inhabitants.
More than 2,150 Palestinians were killed – and more than 11,000 injured – during Israel's recent war on the Gaza Strip.
Israeli attacks also totally destroyed 9,000 Gaza homes, while 8,000 others were partially destroyed, according to the Palestinian Housing Ministry.
Palestinian and Israeli negotiators signed a temporary cease-fire deal in Cairo on August 26. Both sides will soon return to the Egyptian capital to hammer out a permanent truce agreement.
Israel's years-long blockade and recent military onslaught has led to a catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip, raising poverty rates in the embattled enclave to a whopping 90 percent, a Palestinian NGO has said.
In a Tuesday statement, the Popular Committee for Lifting the Siege on the Gaza Strip described the situation as "catastrophic."
According to the NGO, thousands of homes were destroyed during Israel's 51-day assault in July and August, while thousands of Gazans now live in shelters without basic amenities following the collapse of essential services such as electricity and water.
The committee has called for allowing construction materials – and other necessities – into the blockaded strip.
It noted that building supplies were badly needed for the strip's reconstruction so that Palestinians might immediately rebuild homes destroyed or damaged by the recent offensive, which ended on August 26 with the announcement of an open-ended cease-fire.
Israel has banned the entry of construction materials and other necessities into the Gaza Strip since Palestinian resistance faction Hamas swept Palestinian legislative elections in 2006.
The following year, the self-proclaimed Jewish state imposed an all-out blockade – by air, land and sea – on the coastal territory, playing havoc with the lives of the strip's roughly 1.9 million inhabitants.
More than 2,150 Palestinians were killed – and more than 11,000 injured – during Israel's recent war on the Gaza Strip.
Israeli attacks also totally destroyed 9,000 Gaza homes, while 8,000 others were partially destroyed, according to the Palestinian Housing Ministry.
Palestinian and Israeli negotiators signed a temporary cease-fire deal in Cairo on August 26. Both sides will soon return to the Egyptian capital to hammer out a permanent truce agreement.
A consortium of Palestinian human rights organizations urged the Palestinian Authority (PA) to apply again to accede to the Rome Statute and seek jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) without further delay so as be able to pursue allegations of Israeli war crimes. The appeal came during a conference held on Saturday in Gaza by the Center for Political and Development Studies under the heading “Trial of Israeli leaders… prospects and challenges.”
Head of al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, Issam Younis, urged the PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas to sign the Rome Statute and take the case to the ICC without further procrastination, a demand that is being beefed up by all Palestinian resistance factions.
The prosecution of Israeli war criminals is a very long journey that requires that Palestinians pool resources so as to achieve a minimum scale of fairness regarding the casualties of the Israeli aggression, Younis stated.
Israel’s terrorism stands in sharp contrast with the international humanitarian law, Younis maintained, adding: “These are, in themselves, war crimes.”
According to Younis, the Israeli occupation has been hiding behind a political and legal shield to hush up its crimes and genocides against innocent civilians and children.
For his part, Deputy Head of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Hamdi Shkoura, urged Abbas to apply for the Rome Statute to grant Palestine membership in the ICC.
Law professor at Gaza universities Abdul Qader Jarada drew attention to the need for grasping all national and international laws so as to be able to launch a probe into Israel’s war crimes.
“It is necessary that the Palestinian judicial institution takes its fair share in the impeachment of the Israeli war criminals and takes the measures set forth in the Rome Statute, including the legal and pertinent documentation of Israel’s crimes,” Jarada declared.
Addressing the audience at the seminar, the rights activists highlighted the need to outline a straightforward strategy and sequential agenda to activate the legal scope of the Palestinian cause and take advantage of the legal alliances to deter future abuses and take tougher lines with instigators of terrorism and violence.
Head of al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, Issam Younis, urged the PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas to sign the Rome Statute and take the case to the ICC without further procrastination, a demand that is being beefed up by all Palestinian resistance factions.
The prosecution of Israeli war criminals is a very long journey that requires that Palestinians pool resources so as to achieve a minimum scale of fairness regarding the casualties of the Israeli aggression, Younis stated.
Israel’s terrorism stands in sharp contrast with the international humanitarian law, Younis maintained, adding: “These are, in themselves, war crimes.”
According to Younis, the Israeli occupation has been hiding behind a political and legal shield to hush up its crimes and genocides against innocent civilians and children.
For his part, Deputy Head of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Hamdi Shkoura, urged Abbas to apply for the Rome Statute to grant Palestine membership in the ICC.
Law professor at Gaza universities Abdul Qader Jarada drew attention to the need for grasping all national and international laws so as to be able to launch a probe into Israel’s war crimes.
“It is necessary that the Palestinian judicial institution takes its fair share in the impeachment of the Israeli war criminals and takes the measures set forth in the Rome Statute, including the legal and pertinent documentation of Israel’s crimes,” Jarada declared.
Addressing the audience at the seminar, the rights activists highlighted the need to outline a straightforward strategy and sequential agenda to activate the legal scope of the Palestinian cause and take advantage of the legal alliances to deter future abuses and take tougher lines with instigators of terrorism and violence.
“Hamas, never the Israeli government, is in command of the security affairs of the settlers of the Gaza periphery,” the Islamic movement said Saturday. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement that Hamas, and not the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, is the one and only party that can determine settlers’ security affairs.
“Netanyahu’s recent claims that he has provided protection for the settlers are fake muscle shows,” Abu Zuhri maintained.
Netanyahu claimed in an interview with the Israeli N.R.G website on the eve of the Rosh Hashanah that he has dealt a heavy blow to Hamas and that the Israeli settlers of Nahal Oz and the Gaza periphery can rest in peace after he has endowed them with the needed protection.
A ferocious 51-day Israeli offensive had rocked besieged Gaza starting July 7, leading to the mass-murder of at least 2,157 Palestinian citizens, mostly innocent children and women. Some 11,000 Palestinians were also wounded in the process and around 17,000 family homes were destroyed.
An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between Hamas and the Israeli side has been reached on August 26. The accord ruled for the immediate cessation of Israel’s armed offensive and the opening of Gaza’s commercial crossings, along with a set of other substantial affairs to be tabled on the agenda of the next round of truce talks.
“Netanyahu’s recent claims that he has provided protection for the settlers are fake muscle shows,” Abu Zuhri maintained.
Netanyahu claimed in an interview with the Israeli N.R.G website on the eve of the Rosh Hashanah that he has dealt a heavy blow to Hamas and that the Israeli settlers of Nahal Oz and the Gaza periphery can rest in peace after he has endowed them with the needed protection.
A ferocious 51-day Israeli offensive had rocked besieged Gaza starting July 7, leading to the mass-murder of at least 2,157 Palestinian citizens, mostly innocent children and women. Some 11,000 Palestinians were also wounded in the process and around 17,000 family homes were destroyed.
An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between Hamas and the Israeli side has been reached on August 26. The accord ruled for the immediate cessation of Israel’s armed offensive and the opening of Gaza’s commercial crossings, along with a set of other substantial affairs to be tabled on the agenda of the next round of truce talks.
Israel officials: Abbas’s statements “lies and incitement.”
The United States and Tel Aviv strongly denounced the Friday speech of President Mahmoud Abbas at the UN General Assembly calling for ending the ongoing Israeli occupation and violations, dubbing it as “counterproductive," a “unilateral move” and “provocative.”
During his speech, Abbas called for a resolution to ensure Israel’s complete withdrawal of the occupied territories, illegally captured by Israel in 1967, and establishing an independent Palestinian State, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The U.S. tried to prevent Abbas from addressing the General Assembly with a last attempt, on Thursday, during a meeting between Abbas and Secretary of State John Kerry, in which Kerry warned Abbas that “the move is unilateral and does not help in rebuilding trust”.
Following Abbas’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Washington said the speech was “provocative".
Jennifer Psaki, spokesperson for the United States Department of State, said the statements of Abbas were “very disappointing", “provocative” and that such statements “come against all efforts to rebuild trust between Israel and the Palestinians, and creating a positive atmosphere for restarting political talks”.
On its part, the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu said that the speech was “filled with lies," and that it “promotes hatred," adding that “such statements are made by a man who is not seeking peace.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of the extremist “Israel Our Home” party, described Abbas’s speech a “political terrorism," adding that “the conflict will never be resolved as long as Abbas is the head of the Palestinian Authority”.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Abbas “is not a leader who seeks peace, but a person who lies and incites violence”.
“Abbas is not a man of peace; he is not interested in peace with Israel. He is not a partner in peace,” Ya’alon said.
Israeli Minister of Communications, Gild Erdan of the Likud Party, said Abbas “managed to prove his only skill is incitement and lies," and accused him of “denying the holocaust in the past" and “accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing now”.
Israel Minister of the Economy, head of the extremist “Jewish Home Party” Naftali Bennett claimed "Abbas always has a place in his heart for murderers, and Israel’s enemies”, adding that establishing a Palestinian State “West of the River Jordan is not an option”.
Yitzhak Hertzog of the Labor Party also described the statements of Abbas as “lies, disappointing but not surprising”, yet he said the Israel needs to deal with a Palestinian Authority in Gaza, not with what he called a “Hamas army", therefore “it needs to continue its security coordination with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
During his speech, Abbas said that Tel Aviv committed War Crimes and Ethnic Cleansing in its latest aggression on the civilians of the besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip.
Abbas said Israel killed at least 2140 Palestinians during its latest onslaught on Gaza -- most of them civilians, including infants, children, women and elderly.
He also said that the time has come to end the colonial occupation of Palestine, adding that “there is an occupation that must be ended, a nation that must achieve its liberation; the time has come for establishing the independence of the State of Palestine”.
“This latest war was a series of organized war crimes committed and broadcast all over the world, minute by minute, everybody saw the magnitude of this crime,” the president said. “It is illogical for some to support Israel’s ‘right to self-defense’ without even noticing the thousands of Palestinian victims.”
Abbas did not mention whether or not the Palestinians intend to bring charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court for its crimes against the civilian population in Gaza, and its ongoing violations in the occupied West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.
He demanded a resolution that would end the Israeli occupation, and implementing the two-state solution with a “just solution” to the issue of the Palestinian refugees, based on resolution number 194 (Adopted by the General Assembly on December 11, 1948), and the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 offering full normalization and peace with Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from the occupied territories.
In 2012, Palestine managed to garner a non-member observer state status at the United Nations, an issue which enabled the Palestinians to join several UN organizations and treaties, and granted them access to the International Criminal Court.
However, the Palestinian leadership does not currently seem to be planning to head to the ICC, while Abbas is demanding ending the deadly siege on Gaza, and ending the Israeli violations.
Abbas stressed that a clear resolution by the General Assembly regarding the end of the occupation would allow the immediate resumption of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the demarcation of borders and reaching a comprehensive, detailed peace agreement.
The United States and Tel Aviv strongly denounced the Friday speech of President Mahmoud Abbas at the UN General Assembly calling for ending the ongoing Israeli occupation and violations, dubbing it as “counterproductive," a “unilateral move” and “provocative.”
During his speech, Abbas called for a resolution to ensure Israel’s complete withdrawal of the occupied territories, illegally captured by Israel in 1967, and establishing an independent Palestinian State, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The U.S. tried to prevent Abbas from addressing the General Assembly with a last attempt, on Thursday, during a meeting between Abbas and Secretary of State John Kerry, in which Kerry warned Abbas that “the move is unilateral and does not help in rebuilding trust”.
Following Abbas’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Washington said the speech was “provocative".
Jennifer Psaki, spokesperson for the United States Department of State, said the statements of Abbas were “very disappointing", “provocative” and that such statements “come against all efforts to rebuild trust between Israel and the Palestinians, and creating a positive atmosphere for restarting political talks”.
On its part, the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu said that the speech was “filled with lies," and that it “promotes hatred," adding that “such statements are made by a man who is not seeking peace.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of the extremist “Israel Our Home” party, described Abbas’s speech a “political terrorism," adding that “the conflict will never be resolved as long as Abbas is the head of the Palestinian Authority”.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Abbas “is not a leader who seeks peace, but a person who lies and incites violence”.
“Abbas is not a man of peace; he is not interested in peace with Israel. He is not a partner in peace,” Ya’alon said.
Israeli Minister of Communications, Gild Erdan of the Likud Party, said Abbas “managed to prove his only skill is incitement and lies," and accused him of “denying the holocaust in the past" and “accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing now”.
Israel Minister of the Economy, head of the extremist “Jewish Home Party” Naftali Bennett claimed "Abbas always has a place in his heart for murderers, and Israel’s enemies”, adding that establishing a Palestinian State “West of the River Jordan is not an option”.
Yitzhak Hertzog of the Labor Party also described the statements of Abbas as “lies, disappointing but not surprising”, yet he said the Israel needs to deal with a Palestinian Authority in Gaza, not with what he called a “Hamas army", therefore “it needs to continue its security coordination with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
During his speech, Abbas said that Tel Aviv committed War Crimes and Ethnic Cleansing in its latest aggression on the civilians of the besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip.
Abbas said Israel killed at least 2140 Palestinians during its latest onslaught on Gaza -- most of them civilians, including infants, children, women and elderly.
He also said that the time has come to end the colonial occupation of Palestine, adding that “there is an occupation that must be ended, a nation that must achieve its liberation; the time has come for establishing the independence of the State of Palestine”.
“This latest war was a series of organized war crimes committed and broadcast all over the world, minute by minute, everybody saw the magnitude of this crime,” the president said. “It is illogical for some to support Israel’s ‘right to self-defense’ without even noticing the thousands of Palestinian victims.”
Abbas did not mention whether or not the Palestinians intend to bring charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court for its crimes against the civilian population in Gaza, and its ongoing violations in the occupied West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.
He demanded a resolution that would end the Israeli occupation, and implementing the two-state solution with a “just solution” to the issue of the Palestinian refugees, based on resolution number 194 (Adopted by the General Assembly on December 11, 1948), and the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 offering full normalization and peace with Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from the occupied territories.
In 2012, Palestine managed to garner a non-member observer state status at the United Nations, an issue which enabled the Palestinians to join several UN organizations and treaties, and granted them access to the International Criminal Court.
However, the Palestinian leadership does not currently seem to be planning to head to the ICC, while Abbas is demanding ending the deadly siege on Gaza, and ending the Israeli violations.
Abbas stressed that a clear resolution by the General Assembly regarding the end of the occupation would allow the immediate resumption of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the demarcation of borders and reaching a comprehensive, detailed peace agreement.
27 sept 2014
US says speech undermines peace efforts
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said, during a speech at the United Nations' 69th annual General Debate, on Friday, that a return to direct negotiations was impossible and accused Israel of committing genocide.
The following day, according to Ma'an News Agency, Mr. Abbas said that his speech would "unveil a new way forward for the Palestinian cause", and slammed Israel for having predetermined the result of the negotiations process so far.
See: 09/24/14 Netanyahu: Gaza Talks Over Security Not Peace
09/16/14 26 Post-ceasefire Violations Documented by Canadian-based Think Tank,
09/02/14 Netanyahu: No Israeli Delegation to Cairo Talks
See also IMEMC newswire topic: "Israeli Settlement"
Abbas told the United Nations that "the hour of independence for Palestine has arrived," adding: "There is an occupation that must end now. There is a people that must be freed immediately.
"The hour of independence of the state of Palestine has arrived."
He also said that Palestinians "would not be making concessions at the expense of (their) rights," stressing their desire for an end to the Israeli occupation and the achievement of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.
Additionally, President Abbas accused Israel of waging a "war of genocide" in Gaza and vowed to seek war crimes prosecutions.
"We will not forget and we will not forgive, and we will not allow war criminals to escape punishment," Abbas said in his speech to the UN General Assembly.
"The future proposed by the Israeli government for the Palestinian people is at best isolated ghettos for Palestinians on fragmented lands," Abbas said, warning that "At worst it will be a most abhorrent form of apartheid."
Furthermore, Abbas said that a resolution backed by Arab nations would be presented to the UN Security Council, in order to re-launch talks with a view to reaching a final settlement with Israel on the two-state solution.
According to Ma'an, it remained unlikely that such a resolution would garner support within the 15-member council, notably from the United States, which has repeatedly vetoed resolutions seen as undermining Israeli power, and has been fully complicit in the country's continued violations against the Palestinian people and their property.
See: 09/11/14 Washington Threatens Sanctions Should PA Approach UN with Proposal to Dismantle Israeli Occupation
09/05/14 Bennett: “Palestinian State Is Not An Option”
The US State Department reacted negatively, on Friday night, to President Abbas' speech at the United Nations, calling it "provocative" and saying that it would undermine peace efforts, according to AFP.
"President Abbas' speech today included offensive characterizations that were deeply disappointing and which we reject," said spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
"Such provocative statements are counterproductive and undermine efforts to create a positive atmosphere and restore trust between the parties," she said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said, during a speech at the United Nations' 69th annual General Debate, on Friday, that a return to direct negotiations was impossible and accused Israel of committing genocide.
The following day, according to Ma'an News Agency, Mr. Abbas said that his speech would "unveil a new way forward for the Palestinian cause", and slammed Israel for having predetermined the result of the negotiations process so far.
See: 09/24/14 Netanyahu: Gaza Talks Over Security Not Peace
09/16/14 26 Post-ceasefire Violations Documented by Canadian-based Think Tank,
09/02/14 Netanyahu: No Israeli Delegation to Cairo Talks
See also IMEMC newswire topic: "Israeli Settlement"
Abbas told the United Nations that "the hour of independence for Palestine has arrived," adding: "There is an occupation that must end now. There is a people that must be freed immediately.
"The hour of independence of the state of Palestine has arrived."
He also said that Palestinians "would not be making concessions at the expense of (their) rights," stressing their desire for an end to the Israeli occupation and the achievement of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.
Additionally, President Abbas accused Israel of waging a "war of genocide" in Gaza and vowed to seek war crimes prosecutions.
"We will not forget and we will not forgive, and we will not allow war criminals to escape punishment," Abbas said in his speech to the UN General Assembly.
"The future proposed by the Israeli government for the Palestinian people is at best isolated ghettos for Palestinians on fragmented lands," Abbas said, warning that "At worst it will be a most abhorrent form of apartheid."
Furthermore, Abbas said that a resolution backed by Arab nations would be presented to the UN Security Council, in order to re-launch talks with a view to reaching a final settlement with Israel on the two-state solution.
According to Ma'an, it remained unlikely that such a resolution would garner support within the 15-member council, notably from the United States, which has repeatedly vetoed resolutions seen as undermining Israeli power, and has been fully complicit in the country's continued violations against the Palestinian people and their property.
See: 09/11/14 Washington Threatens Sanctions Should PA Approach UN with Proposal to Dismantle Israeli Occupation
09/05/14 Bennett: “Palestinian State Is Not An Option”
The US State Department reacted negatively, on Friday night, to President Abbas' speech at the United Nations, calling it "provocative" and saying that it would undermine peace efforts, according to AFP.
"President Abbas' speech today included offensive characterizations that were deeply disappointing and which we reject," said spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
"Such provocative statements are counterproductive and undermine efforts to create a positive atmosphere and restore trust between the parties," she said.
Senior Hamas official Mushir Al-Masri said another prisoner swap deal to free Palestinian prisoners could be brokered with the Israeli occupation. During a festival held in Gaza on Friday, Masri stated that the indirect talks in Cairo with Israel would lead to swapping Israeli soldiers captured during the last war with a large number of Palestinian prisoners.
The Hamas official stressed that the Palestinian resistance in Gaza would always remain loyal to the blood of the martyrs and the steadfastness of the prisoners.
He said that his Movement would go on with the indirect talks with Israel in order to extract the Palestinian people's right to live in freedom and dignity, asserting that his Movement and other factions have "trump cards" that would force the occupation to yield to the Palestinian demands.
The Hamas official stressed that the Palestinian resistance in Gaza would always remain loyal to the blood of the martyrs and the steadfastness of the prisoners.
He said that his Movement would go on with the indirect talks with Israel in order to extract the Palestinian people's right to live in freedom and dignity, asserting that his Movement and other factions have "trump cards" that would force the occupation to yield to the Palestinian demands.
26 sept 2014
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Mr. President,
At the outset, I wish to extend our sincere congratulations upon your election as President of the United Nations General Assembly this session and to express our gratitude and appreciation to H.E. Mr. John Ashe for his able leadership of the past session. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, In this year, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Israel has chosen to make it a year of a new war of genocide perpetrated against the Palestinian people. |
In this year, in which this Assembly, on behalf of the countries and peoples of the world, conveyed the world's yearning and determination to realize a just peace that achieves freedom and independence for the Palestinian people in their State of Palestine alongside Israel in order to rectify the historic injustice inflicted on the Palestinian people in Al-Nakba of 1948, the occupying Power has chosen to defy the entire world by launching its war on Gaza, by which its jets and tanks brutally assassinated lives and devastated the homes, schools and dreams of thousands of Palestinian children, women and men and in reality destroying the remaining hopes for peace.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have addressed you in this hall during similar days in 2012 and cautioned that the colonial occupying Power was preparing for a new Nakba against the Palestinian people, and I appealed to you: Prevent a new Nakba. Support the establishment of a free and independent State of Palestine now.
I returned to this same hall two months later as Palestine was healing her wounds and her people were burying beloved martyred children, women and men after yet another war waged then against the Gaza Strip, and that day I stated: certainly there was not a single person in the world needing the loss of the lives of tens of Palestinian children in order to confirm that Israel insists on occupation; and there was also no need for thousands of deadly raids and tons of explosives to remind the world that there is an occupation that must end and that there is a people that must be freed.
I also said at that time: there was no need for a new devastating war in order to realize the absence of peace.
And, here we are again today.
Here we find ourselves, full of grief, regret and bitterness, raising the same long-standing conclusions and questions after a new war, the third war waged by the racist occupying State in five years against Gaza, this small, densely-populated and precious part of our country.
The difference today is that the scale of this genocidal crime is larger, and that the list of martyrs, especially children, is longer, as well as lists of the wounded and disabled, and that dozens of families have been completely decimated.
The difference today is that approximately half a million people were displaced from their homes, and that the number of homes, schools, hospitals, public buildings, residential buildings, mosques, factories and even cemeteries destroyed is unprecedented. And, the difference today is that the devastation caused by this recent aggression is unmatched in modern times, as confirmed by a witness, the honorable Commissioner-General of UNRWA.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
This last war against Gaza was a series of absolute war crimes carried out before the eyes and ears of the entire world, moment by moment, in a manner that makes it inconceivable that anyone today can claim that they did not realize the magnitude and horror of the crime. And, it is inconceivable that some are unable to characterize this situation in real terms and that they suffice with simply declaring their support for Israel's right to self-defense without regard for the fate of the thousands of victims of our people, ignoring a simple fact that we remind them of today: that the life of a Palestinian is as precious as the life of any other human being.
We must also assume that no one will wonder anymore why extremism is rising and why the culture of peace is losing ground and why the efforts to achieve it are collapsing.
Yet, we believe - and hope - that no one is trying to aid the occupation this time in its impunity or its attempts to evade accountability for its crimes.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the name of Palestine and its people, I affirm here today: we will not forget and we will not forgive, and we will not allow war criminals to escape punishment.
I affirm in front of you that the Palestinian people hold steadfast to their legitimate right to defend themselves against the Israeli war machine and to their legitimate right to resist this colonial, racist Israeli occupation.
At the same time, I affirm that our grief, trauma and anger will not for one moment make us abandon our humanity, our values and our ethics; we will always maintain our respect and commitment to international law, international humanitarian law and the international consensus, and we will maintain the traditions of our national struggle established by the Palestinian fedayeen and to which we committed ourselves since the onset of the Palestinian revolution in early 1965.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Amidst a torrent of massacres and storms of massive destruction, we witnessed the peoples of the world gathering in huge demonstrations on the streets of many cities declaring their condemnation of the aggression and occupation and their support of freedom for Palestine. And we witnessed the overwhelming majority of countries on the various continents declaring the same noble position and rushing to provide all kinds of support and assistance to our people. And we witnessed the qualitative and quantitative broadening of activities of the international grassroots boycott campaign against Israel's policies of occupation, apartheid and colonial settlement, especially among academia, cultural, student and youth groups.
Thus, in the name of Palestine, we pay tribute to everyone who chose to stand with human values and demanded freedom, justice and peace. All of these manifestations of true solidarity constituted an important message to those who were facing genocide in Gaza, helping them to feel they felt that they were not alone.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The recent Israeli war confirmed on the ground the crux of what the Israeli government had been declaring in the closed rooms of negotiation. This war came after long, difficult negotiations for more than eight months under the auspices of the United States and the efforts of President Barack Obama and tenacious efforts of his Secretary of State John Kerry. We engaged in this endeavor with open minds, in good faith and with a positive spirit and engaged with the efforts of the American administration in the most constructive manner, and we put forth our firm positions based on the resolutions of international legitimacy, which receive the overwhelming support of the nations of the world. And, we genuinely respected all of our commitments and understandings. Even as we watched the ongoing and escalating Israeli violations, we exercised unimaginable self-restraint, silencing our cries and tending to our own wounds in order to give the American efforts the best possible chance for success.
However, and as usual, the Israeli government did not miss the opportunity to undermine the chance for peace.
Throughout the months of negotiations, settlement construction, land confiscations, home demolitions, killing and arrest campaigns, and forced displacement in the West Bank continued unabated and the unjust blockade on the Gaza Strip was tightened. The occupation's campaign specifically targeted the City of Jerusalem and its inhabitants, attempting to artificially alter the spirit, identity and character of the Holy City, focusing on Al-Aqsa Mosque, threatening grave consequences. At the same time, racist and armed gangs of settlers persisted with their crimes against the Palestinian people, the land, mosques, churches, properties and olive trees.
As usual, the Israeli government once again failed the test of peace.
It breached an agreement with the American administration regarding the release of a group of Palestinian prisoners in the occupation's jails – and we continue to insist on releasing all of them. And, when confronted with simple questions in the direct negotiations or through the American mediator, it did not hesitate to reveal its true positions:
Israel refuses to end its occupation of the State of Palestine since 1967, but rather seeks its continuation and entrenchment, and rejects the Palestinian state and refuses to find a just solution to the plight of the Palestine refugees.
The future proposed by the Israeli government for the Palestinian people is at best isolated ghettos for Palestinians on fragmented lands, without borders and without sovereignty over its airspace, water and natural resources, which will be under the subjugation of the racist settlers and army of occupation, and at worst will be a most abhorrent form of Apartheid.
Israel has confirmed during the negotiations that it rejects making peace with its victims, the Palestinian people.
This has all been done concurrent with an attempt to give a religious nature to the conflict and with the rising and rampant racism in the Israeli political and media discourse and its entrenchment in the school curriculum and in a series of laws and practices of the occupation and its settlers. This culture of racism, incitement and hatred was glaringly manifested in the despicable, appalling crime committed months ago by fascist settlers, who abducted the young Jerusalemite boy Mohammed Abu Khdeir, burnt him alive and killed him.
Over the past years, the occupying Power has also pursued a policy aimed at deliberately weakening the Palestinian National Authority to undermine it and, in essence, to fully negate its role. The occupation targeted the work we have been relentlessly undertaking to establish the foundations of the State of Palestine that we want: a sovereign and independent State living in peace and building bridges of mutual cooperation with its neighbors; that respects commitments, obligations and agreements; that strengthens the values of citizenship, equality, non-discrimination, the rule of law, human rights and pluralism; that deepens the Palestinian enlightened traditions of tolerance, coexistence and non-exclusion; that strengthens the culture of peace; that promotes the role of women; that establishes effective administration committed to the standards of good governance; and that cares for the needs and interests of its people. The occupation has, and continues to, to strike at this effort because it is the antithesis of its settlement policies and because it wants to destroy the chance for the realization of the Palestinian existence in an independent State within the framework of the two-State solution.
When our efforts to end the internal division through national dialogue succeeded a few months ago and we prepared to restore the unity of our land, nation and institutions and formed the national consensus government and began the process to lead to the holding of presidential and legislative elections, all countries of the world welcomed this achievement, with the exception of Israel, which has constantly sought to fragment our land and our national unity.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
And now, where do we go from here?
The idea that it is possible to simply return to the past patterns of work, which repeatedly failed, is naive at best and, in any case, is wrong, as it ignores the fact that it is no longer acceptable, nor possible, to repeat methods that have proven futile or to continue with approaches that have repeatedly failed and require comprehensive review and radical correction.
It is impossible, and I repeat - it is impossible - to return to the cycle of negotiations that failed to deal with the substance of the matter and the fundamental question. There is neither credibility nor seriousness in negotiations in which Israel predetermines the results via its settlement activities and the occupation's brutality. There is no meaning or value in negotiations for which the agreed objective is not ending the Israeli occupation and achieving the independence of the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital on the entire Palestinian Territory occupied in the 1967 war. And, there is no value in negotiations which are not linked to a firm timetable for the implementation of this goal.
The time has come to end this settlement occupation.
Palestine refuses to have the right to freedom of her people, who are subjected to the terrorism by the racist occupying Power and its settlers, remain hostage to Israel's security conditions.
The people of Palestine are actually the ones who need immediate international protection, which we are seeking through international organizations, and who are in need of the security and peace that they are missing more than any other people, and the children of Palestine are worthy of the world's efforts to ensure that their childhood, dreams and lives will not be devastated once again.
It is time for the chapters of this prolonged, ongoing tragedy to be closed.
Those who were uprooted from their warm homes, good land and beautiful country in Al-Nakba 66 years ago, pushed into the misery of exile and life as refugees and now being forced into new waves of expulsion or onto the ships of death in the world's seas, are in need of assurances that they will not be displaced from their homes again, that their homes will not be destroyed again, and that they will not spend their lives waiting for the explosion of a new war.
It is time for this long tragedy to end.
We will not accept to forever be the ones being demanded to prove their good intentions by making concessions at the expense of their rights and to remain silent as they are killed and their land is stolen, and to understand the conditions of the other party and the importance of preserving its coalition government, while it entrenches its occupation. We are exhausted of the additional tests we must undergo to prove our efficiency, competence and eligibility to earn our natural, simple right to live a normal life and our inherent right to expect a stable and ordinary tomorrow, to dream about more beautiful days, and for our youth to be able to plan their coming days and years safely in peace and freedom over our land, like other peoples of the world.
The time has come for a real, just peace to prevail in the land of peace.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
We, and all the Arab countries, have constantly cautioned about the disastrous consequences of the continuation of the Israeli occupation and the denial of freedom and independence for the people of Palestine. We have repeatedly draw attention to the fact that allowing Israel to act as a state above the law with impunity and absolving it of any accountability or punishment for its policies, aggression and defiance of the international will and legitimacy has absolutely provided fertile ground and an environment conducive for the growth of extremism, hatred and terrorism in our region.
Confronting the terrorism that plagues our region by groups - such as "ISIL" and others that have no basis whatsoever in the tolerant Islamic religion or with humanity and are committing brutal and heinous atrocities - requires much more than military confrontation. It is an urgent matter that requires much more than condemnations and declarations of positions, which are of course necessary. What is primarily needed is a comprehensive, credible strategy to dry out the sources of terrorism and eradicate its roots in all political, intellectual, economic and social spheres in our region. It requires the creation of solid foundations for a reasonable consensus that makes the fight against all forms of terrorism in any place everywhere a collective task that is undertaken by the alliance of nations, peoples and civilizations. It requires, in this context and as a priority, bringing an end to the Israeli occupation of our country, which constitutes in its practices and perpetuation, an abhorrent form of state terrorism and a breeding ground for incitement, tension and hatred.
Mr. President,
At this moment in which we are still suffering from the horrors of war, we face a formidable challenge to reconstruct what has been destroyed by the occupation.
At the invitation of the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Kingdom of Norway, which we deeply appreciate, the city of Cairo will host next month an international conference for the relief and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. Our government will present comprehensive reports to the conference on the losses inflicted by the aggression on the different sectors of life, and it will provide details of the plans and programs that will be rapidly implemented and supervised in the Gaza Strip to meet immediate relief needs and the requirements of reconstruction, in full coordination with United Nations agencies and bodies.
While we reiterate our appreciation and gratitude to all countries and organizations that rushed to provide assistance to the Palestinian people during and after the war, we are confident that brotherly and friendly countries will not waver in supporting support the plans and programs we will present and that the conference will achieve practical results that fulfill the expectations and needs of the victims of this aggression.
We reaffirm here that the primary prerequisite for the success of all these plans and efforts is an end to the ongoing Israeli blockade that has for years suffocated the Gaza Strip and turned it into the largest prison in the world for nearly two million Palestinian citizens. At the same time, we affirm our commitment and the necessity to consolidate the cease-fire through negotiations under the auspices of Egypt. However, in order to avert repeating the cycle of war and cycle reconstruction every two or three years, it is imperative to focus on the fundamental issue and starting point, which is that the suffering of Gaza will not be completely alleviated except by ending the occupation and achieving the independence of the State of Palestine.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
During the past two weeks, Palestine and the Arab Group undertook intensive contacts with the various regional groups in the United Nations to prepare for the introduction of a draft resolution to be adopted by the United Nations Security Council on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to push forward the efforts to achieve peace.
This endeavor reaffirms our commitment to achieve a just peace through a negotiated solution and our adoption of a diplomatic and political effort through United Nations bodies. This endeavor is inspired by and based fully on the spirit and provisions of the many resolutions you have approved in the General Assembly and those adopted by the Security Council, which have set the foundations for a lasting solution and a just peace.
This endeavor aspires to correct the deficiency of the previous efforts to achieve peace by affirming the goal of ending the Israeli occupation and achieving the two-State solution, of the State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, over the entire territory occupied in 1967, alongside the State of Israel and reaching a just and agreed upon solution to the plight of the Palestine refugees on the basis of resolution 194, with a specific timeframe for the implementation of these objectives as stipulated in the Arab Peace Initiative. This will be linked to the immediate resumption of negotiations between Palestine and Israel to demarcate the borders, reach a detailed and comprehensive agreement and draft a peace treaty between them.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are confident that this endeavor will receive broad and full support by those who are committed to ensuring that our country will not witness new wars and atrocities, by those who wish to support a campaign to combat terrorism, by those who believe that it is necessary to act expediently to rectify the historical injustice inflicted by Al-Nakba on the Palestinian people, and by those who wish to see peace prevail in the land of the monotheistic religions.
The adoption of this resolution will affirm what you strived to realize in this year is the International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, who will continue their struggle and steadfastness and will rise brave and strong from the rubble and destruction.
We, as our poet Mahmoud Darwish said: "are infected with an incurable disease, that is hope, and we love life if we are given the chance for it".
Mr. President Ladies and Gentlemen,
There is an occupation that must end now.
There is a people that must be freed immediately.
The hour of independence of the State of Palestine has arrived.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have addressed you in this hall during similar days in 2012 and cautioned that the colonial occupying Power was preparing for a new Nakba against the Palestinian people, and I appealed to you: Prevent a new Nakba. Support the establishment of a free and independent State of Palestine now.
I returned to this same hall two months later as Palestine was healing her wounds and her people were burying beloved martyred children, women and men after yet another war waged then against the Gaza Strip, and that day I stated: certainly there was not a single person in the world needing the loss of the lives of tens of Palestinian children in order to confirm that Israel insists on occupation; and there was also no need for thousands of deadly raids and tons of explosives to remind the world that there is an occupation that must end and that there is a people that must be freed.
I also said at that time: there was no need for a new devastating war in order to realize the absence of peace.
And, here we are again today.
Here we find ourselves, full of grief, regret and bitterness, raising the same long-standing conclusions and questions after a new war, the third war waged by the racist occupying State in five years against Gaza, this small, densely-populated and precious part of our country.
The difference today is that the scale of this genocidal crime is larger, and that the list of martyrs, especially children, is longer, as well as lists of the wounded and disabled, and that dozens of families have been completely decimated.
The difference today is that approximately half a million people were displaced from their homes, and that the number of homes, schools, hospitals, public buildings, residential buildings, mosques, factories and even cemeteries destroyed is unprecedented. And, the difference today is that the devastation caused by this recent aggression is unmatched in modern times, as confirmed by a witness, the honorable Commissioner-General of UNRWA.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
This last war against Gaza was a series of absolute war crimes carried out before the eyes and ears of the entire world, moment by moment, in a manner that makes it inconceivable that anyone today can claim that they did not realize the magnitude and horror of the crime. And, it is inconceivable that some are unable to characterize this situation in real terms and that they suffice with simply declaring their support for Israel's right to self-defense without regard for the fate of the thousands of victims of our people, ignoring a simple fact that we remind them of today: that the life of a Palestinian is as precious as the life of any other human being.
We must also assume that no one will wonder anymore why extremism is rising and why the culture of peace is losing ground and why the efforts to achieve it are collapsing.
Yet, we believe - and hope - that no one is trying to aid the occupation this time in its impunity or its attempts to evade accountability for its crimes.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the name of Palestine and its people, I affirm here today: we will not forget and we will not forgive, and we will not allow war criminals to escape punishment.
I affirm in front of you that the Palestinian people hold steadfast to their legitimate right to defend themselves against the Israeli war machine and to their legitimate right to resist this colonial, racist Israeli occupation.
At the same time, I affirm that our grief, trauma and anger will not for one moment make us abandon our humanity, our values and our ethics; we will always maintain our respect and commitment to international law, international humanitarian law and the international consensus, and we will maintain the traditions of our national struggle established by the Palestinian fedayeen and to which we committed ourselves since the onset of the Palestinian revolution in early 1965.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Amidst a torrent of massacres and storms of massive destruction, we witnessed the peoples of the world gathering in huge demonstrations on the streets of many cities declaring their condemnation of the aggression and occupation and their support of freedom for Palestine. And we witnessed the overwhelming majority of countries on the various continents declaring the same noble position and rushing to provide all kinds of support and assistance to our people. And we witnessed the qualitative and quantitative broadening of activities of the international grassroots boycott campaign against Israel's policies of occupation, apartheid and colonial settlement, especially among academia, cultural, student and youth groups.
Thus, in the name of Palestine, we pay tribute to everyone who chose to stand with human values and demanded freedom, justice and peace. All of these manifestations of true solidarity constituted an important message to those who were facing genocide in Gaza, helping them to feel they felt that they were not alone.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The recent Israeli war confirmed on the ground the crux of what the Israeli government had been declaring in the closed rooms of negotiation. This war came after long, difficult negotiations for more than eight months under the auspices of the United States and the efforts of President Barack Obama and tenacious efforts of his Secretary of State John Kerry. We engaged in this endeavor with open minds, in good faith and with a positive spirit and engaged with the efforts of the American administration in the most constructive manner, and we put forth our firm positions based on the resolutions of international legitimacy, which receive the overwhelming support of the nations of the world. And, we genuinely respected all of our commitments and understandings. Even as we watched the ongoing and escalating Israeli violations, we exercised unimaginable self-restraint, silencing our cries and tending to our own wounds in order to give the American efforts the best possible chance for success.
However, and as usual, the Israeli government did not miss the opportunity to undermine the chance for peace.
Throughout the months of negotiations, settlement construction, land confiscations, home demolitions, killing and arrest campaigns, and forced displacement in the West Bank continued unabated and the unjust blockade on the Gaza Strip was tightened. The occupation's campaign specifically targeted the City of Jerusalem and its inhabitants, attempting to artificially alter the spirit, identity and character of the Holy City, focusing on Al-Aqsa Mosque, threatening grave consequences. At the same time, racist and armed gangs of settlers persisted with their crimes against the Palestinian people, the land, mosques, churches, properties and olive trees.
As usual, the Israeli government once again failed the test of peace.
It breached an agreement with the American administration regarding the release of a group of Palestinian prisoners in the occupation's jails – and we continue to insist on releasing all of them. And, when confronted with simple questions in the direct negotiations or through the American mediator, it did not hesitate to reveal its true positions:
Israel refuses to end its occupation of the State of Palestine since 1967, but rather seeks its continuation and entrenchment, and rejects the Palestinian state and refuses to find a just solution to the plight of the Palestine refugees.
The future proposed by the Israeli government for the Palestinian people is at best isolated ghettos for Palestinians on fragmented lands, without borders and without sovereignty over its airspace, water and natural resources, which will be under the subjugation of the racist settlers and army of occupation, and at worst will be a most abhorrent form of Apartheid.
Israel has confirmed during the negotiations that it rejects making peace with its victims, the Palestinian people.
This has all been done concurrent with an attempt to give a religious nature to the conflict and with the rising and rampant racism in the Israeli political and media discourse and its entrenchment in the school curriculum and in a series of laws and practices of the occupation and its settlers. This culture of racism, incitement and hatred was glaringly manifested in the despicable, appalling crime committed months ago by fascist settlers, who abducted the young Jerusalemite boy Mohammed Abu Khdeir, burnt him alive and killed him.
Over the past years, the occupying Power has also pursued a policy aimed at deliberately weakening the Palestinian National Authority to undermine it and, in essence, to fully negate its role. The occupation targeted the work we have been relentlessly undertaking to establish the foundations of the State of Palestine that we want: a sovereign and independent State living in peace and building bridges of mutual cooperation with its neighbors; that respects commitments, obligations and agreements; that strengthens the values of citizenship, equality, non-discrimination, the rule of law, human rights and pluralism; that deepens the Palestinian enlightened traditions of tolerance, coexistence and non-exclusion; that strengthens the culture of peace; that promotes the role of women; that establishes effective administration committed to the standards of good governance; and that cares for the needs and interests of its people. The occupation has, and continues to, to strike at this effort because it is the antithesis of its settlement policies and because it wants to destroy the chance for the realization of the Palestinian existence in an independent State within the framework of the two-State solution.
When our efforts to end the internal division through national dialogue succeeded a few months ago and we prepared to restore the unity of our land, nation and institutions and formed the national consensus government and began the process to lead to the holding of presidential and legislative elections, all countries of the world welcomed this achievement, with the exception of Israel, which has constantly sought to fragment our land and our national unity.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
And now, where do we go from here?
The idea that it is possible to simply return to the past patterns of work, which repeatedly failed, is naive at best and, in any case, is wrong, as it ignores the fact that it is no longer acceptable, nor possible, to repeat methods that have proven futile or to continue with approaches that have repeatedly failed and require comprehensive review and radical correction.
It is impossible, and I repeat - it is impossible - to return to the cycle of negotiations that failed to deal with the substance of the matter and the fundamental question. There is neither credibility nor seriousness in negotiations in which Israel predetermines the results via its settlement activities and the occupation's brutality. There is no meaning or value in negotiations for which the agreed objective is not ending the Israeli occupation and achieving the independence of the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital on the entire Palestinian Territory occupied in the 1967 war. And, there is no value in negotiations which are not linked to a firm timetable for the implementation of this goal.
The time has come to end this settlement occupation.
Palestine refuses to have the right to freedom of her people, who are subjected to the terrorism by the racist occupying Power and its settlers, remain hostage to Israel's security conditions.
The people of Palestine are actually the ones who need immediate international protection, which we are seeking through international organizations, and who are in need of the security and peace that they are missing more than any other people, and the children of Palestine are worthy of the world's efforts to ensure that their childhood, dreams and lives will not be devastated once again.
It is time for the chapters of this prolonged, ongoing tragedy to be closed.
Those who were uprooted from their warm homes, good land and beautiful country in Al-Nakba 66 years ago, pushed into the misery of exile and life as refugees and now being forced into new waves of expulsion or onto the ships of death in the world's seas, are in need of assurances that they will not be displaced from their homes again, that their homes will not be destroyed again, and that they will not spend their lives waiting for the explosion of a new war.
It is time for this long tragedy to end.
We will not accept to forever be the ones being demanded to prove their good intentions by making concessions at the expense of their rights and to remain silent as they are killed and their land is stolen, and to understand the conditions of the other party and the importance of preserving its coalition government, while it entrenches its occupation. We are exhausted of the additional tests we must undergo to prove our efficiency, competence and eligibility to earn our natural, simple right to live a normal life and our inherent right to expect a stable and ordinary tomorrow, to dream about more beautiful days, and for our youth to be able to plan their coming days and years safely in peace and freedom over our land, like other peoples of the world.
The time has come for a real, just peace to prevail in the land of peace.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
We, and all the Arab countries, have constantly cautioned about the disastrous consequences of the continuation of the Israeli occupation and the denial of freedom and independence for the people of Palestine. We have repeatedly draw attention to the fact that allowing Israel to act as a state above the law with impunity and absolving it of any accountability or punishment for its policies, aggression and defiance of the international will and legitimacy has absolutely provided fertile ground and an environment conducive for the growth of extremism, hatred and terrorism in our region.
Confronting the terrorism that plagues our region by groups - such as "ISIL" and others that have no basis whatsoever in the tolerant Islamic religion or with humanity and are committing brutal and heinous atrocities - requires much more than military confrontation. It is an urgent matter that requires much more than condemnations and declarations of positions, which are of course necessary. What is primarily needed is a comprehensive, credible strategy to dry out the sources of terrorism and eradicate its roots in all political, intellectual, economic and social spheres in our region. It requires the creation of solid foundations for a reasonable consensus that makes the fight against all forms of terrorism in any place everywhere a collective task that is undertaken by the alliance of nations, peoples and civilizations. It requires, in this context and as a priority, bringing an end to the Israeli occupation of our country, which constitutes in its practices and perpetuation, an abhorrent form of state terrorism and a breeding ground for incitement, tension and hatred.
Mr. President,
At this moment in which we are still suffering from the horrors of war, we face a formidable challenge to reconstruct what has been destroyed by the occupation.
At the invitation of the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Kingdom of Norway, which we deeply appreciate, the city of Cairo will host next month an international conference for the relief and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. Our government will present comprehensive reports to the conference on the losses inflicted by the aggression on the different sectors of life, and it will provide details of the plans and programs that will be rapidly implemented and supervised in the Gaza Strip to meet immediate relief needs and the requirements of reconstruction, in full coordination with United Nations agencies and bodies.
While we reiterate our appreciation and gratitude to all countries and organizations that rushed to provide assistance to the Palestinian people during and after the war, we are confident that brotherly and friendly countries will not waver in supporting support the plans and programs we will present and that the conference will achieve practical results that fulfill the expectations and needs of the victims of this aggression.
We reaffirm here that the primary prerequisite for the success of all these plans and efforts is an end to the ongoing Israeli blockade that has for years suffocated the Gaza Strip and turned it into the largest prison in the world for nearly two million Palestinian citizens. At the same time, we affirm our commitment and the necessity to consolidate the cease-fire through negotiations under the auspices of Egypt. However, in order to avert repeating the cycle of war and cycle reconstruction every two or three years, it is imperative to focus on the fundamental issue and starting point, which is that the suffering of Gaza will not be completely alleviated except by ending the occupation and achieving the independence of the State of Palestine.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
During the past two weeks, Palestine and the Arab Group undertook intensive contacts with the various regional groups in the United Nations to prepare for the introduction of a draft resolution to be adopted by the United Nations Security Council on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to push forward the efforts to achieve peace.
This endeavor reaffirms our commitment to achieve a just peace through a negotiated solution and our adoption of a diplomatic and political effort through United Nations bodies. This endeavor is inspired by and based fully on the spirit and provisions of the many resolutions you have approved in the General Assembly and those adopted by the Security Council, which have set the foundations for a lasting solution and a just peace.
This endeavor aspires to correct the deficiency of the previous efforts to achieve peace by affirming the goal of ending the Israeli occupation and achieving the two-State solution, of the State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, over the entire territory occupied in 1967, alongside the State of Israel and reaching a just and agreed upon solution to the plight of the Palestine refugees on the basis of resolution 194, with a specific timeframe for the implementation of these objectives as stipulated in the Arab Peace Initiative. This will be linked to the immediate resumption of negotiations between Palestine and Israel to demarcate the borders, reach a detailed and comprehensive agreement and draft a peace treaty between them.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are confident that this endeavor will receive broad and full support by those who are committed to ensuring that our country will not witness new wars and atrocities, by those who wish to support a campaign to combat terrorism, by those who believe that it is necessary to act expediently to rectify the historical injustice inflicted by Al-Nakba on the Palestinian people, and by those who wish to see peace prevail in the land of the monotheistic religions.
The adoption of this resolution will affirm what you strived to realize in this year is the International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, who will continue their struggle and steadfastness and will rise brave and strong from the rubble and destruction.
We, as our poet Mahmoud Darwish said: "are infected with an incurable disease, that is hope, and we love life if we are given the chance for it".
Mr. President Ladies and Gentlemen,
There is an occupation that must end now.
There is a people that must be freed immediately.
The hour of independence of the State of Palestine has arrived.
By Khalid Amayreh
I am not particularly infatuated with the IS group. However, the pretension that its enemies represent virtue, civility and justice is beyond the pale.
True, the IS may have adopted some despicable tactics against its foes.
But the United States, which assumes the role of world leader, is definitely a million times more savage, more barbaric and more nefarious in comparison to the IS.
The same thing can also be said about Shiite thugs in Iraq and Syria, who have committed every imagined crime against innocent people, especially Sunni Muslims.
Does the world have any doubt about the diabolical nature of Bashar al-Assad? Doesn't the murder of 200,000 Syrian civilians at the hands of this thug carry any weight or influence on the decision-making process in America and Europe? It seems it doesn't.
"Civilized barbarianism" vs. "uncivilized barbarianism"
We are told that unlike al-Qaeda and IS, the U.S. and its spoiled child, Israel, murder people in a "civilized manner," e.g. by raining death on crowded neighborhoods and apartment buildings packed with civilians, using deadly missiles and laser-guided bombs, fired from high altitudes, or by using drones to kill people on the ground. But hundreds –if not thousands of innocent civilians- have been killed in such raids in Gaza, Yemen, Afghanistan and Iraq.
But does this make America and its allies, especially Nazi Israel, any less barbarian than their thoroughly demonized foes?
Indeed, it is probably the ultimate oxymoron to call mass murder civilized or honorable.
We must be honest. The ongoing American-led campaign of bombing in Syria and Iraq is not about right and wrong or virtue and vice.
Under the rubric of fighting terror, the most terrorist state on earth, namely the United States of America, has killed millions of people from Hanoi to Gaza.
The US dropped on Vietnam more than 20 million bombs, more than were dropped during the two world wars combined. The United States dropped nuclear bombs on Japan killing countless men, women and children. The US invaded and destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan, killing millions, leaving millions of orphans and refugees.
The US enabled Judeo-Nazi Israel to play the Nazi game rather relentlessly against the Palestinian people, whose only crime is their adamant refusal to succumb to Talmudic Nazism and ethnic cleansing.
Hence, the US is absolutely in no position to lecture the world, especially its victims, on what is right and what is wrong. In the final analysis, it is morally impossible to use the words "United States" and "moral rightness" in the same line or even the same page.
IS is "effect", not "cause"
I am absolutely convinced that the ongoing war against IS (It is actually against Islamic revivalism) will fail. Yes, many people will get killed, many will be maimed, and there will be a lot of havoc and destruction. But at the end of the day, IS and similar groups will emerge stronger and more popular.
The reason for that lies in the malicious American policy of imposing on the Muslim peoples of the region tyrannical vicious regimes that deny the masses the most elementary human rights and civil liberties.
Yes, it is oppression, tyranny, state-terror, rulers’ decadence and corruption that helped create IS and will help make it more popular amongst the people.
According to some public opinion surveys, sympathy with IS reaches 80% in some Arab countries.
If true, this should make Washington rethink its entire approach to the region. Ultimately, IS is an effect rather than a cause, and it is impossible to eliminate the effect without eradicating the cause first.
But I don't think Washington will ever change its approach. Washington has always been and continues to be overwhelmed with hypocrisy and evil as far as the way it relates to Muslims, especially in the Middle East. America doesn't really think correctly in this regard. It lets a small group of self-worshipping Jews to do the job on its behalf.
It is sad and lamentable that America's criminal hypocrisy is actually the enabler and sustainer of criminal tyranny and terrorist states in much of the world.
Indeed, were it not for America's greed, rapacity and imperialistic ambitions, the Hitler of Damascus wouldn't have continued to murder his own people en masse in order to stay in power a few more years.
The same can be said about the Sissi junta in Cairo, which murdered more innocent people in two hours than IS and like-minded groups have done ever since their appearance.
With a bluntly Machiavellian America reverting to its pre-Arab Spring modus operandi, there will be a prolonged internecine struggle throughout the Arab world for freedom and justice.
Yes, America and its contemptuous puppets won't raise the white flags, but neither will the IS.
But then, America will have incurred the wrath of hundreds of millions of people, who will be thoroughly convinced of America's evil role in depriving hundreds of millions of Arabs and Muslims of their right to human rights and liberties by way of backing bloody tyrants and military dictators.
I am not particularly infatuated with the IS group. However, the pretension that its enemies represent virtue, civility and justice is beyond the pale.
True, the IS may have adopted some despicable tactics against its foes.
But the United States, which assumes the role of world leader, is definitely a million times more savage, more barbaric and more nefarious in comparison to the IS.
The same thing can also be said about Shiite thugs in Iraq and Syria, who have committed every imagined crime against innocent people, especially Sunni Muslims.
Does the world have any doubt about the diabolical nature of Bashar al-Assad? Doesn't the murder of 200,000 Syrian civilians at the hands of this thug carry any weight or influence on the decision-making process in America and Europe? It seems it doesn't.
"Civilized barbarianism" vs. "uncivilized barbarianism"
We are told that unlike al-Qaeda and IS, the U.S. and its spoiled child, Israel, murder people in a "civilized manner," e.g. by raining death on crowded neighborhoods and apartment buildings packed with civilians, using deadly missiles and laser-guided bombs, fired from high altitudes, or by using drones to kill people on the ground. But hundreds –if not thousands of innocent civilians- have been killed in such raids in Gaza, Yemen, Afghanistan and Iraq.
But does this make America and its allies, especially Nazi Israel, any less barbarian than their thoroughly demonized foes?
Indeed, it is probably the ultimate oxymoron to call mass murder civilized or honorable.
We must be honest. The ongoing American-led campaign of bombing in Syria and Iraq is not about right and wrong or virtue and vice.
Under the rubric of fighting terror, the most terrorist state on earth, namely the United States of America, has killed millions of people from Hanoi to Gaza.
The US dropped on Vietnam more than 20 million bombs, more than were dropped during the two world wars combined. The United States dropped nuclear bombs on Japan killing countless men, women and children. The US invaded and destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan, killing millions, leaving millions of orphans and refugees.
The US enabled Judeo-Nazi Israel to play the Nazi game rather relentlessly against the Palestinian people, whose only crime is their adamant refusal to succumb to Talmudic Nazism and ethnic cleansing.
Hence, the US is absolutely in no position to lecture the world, especially its victims, on what is right and what is wrong. In the final analysis, it is morally impossible to use the words "United States" and "moral rightness" in the same line or even the same page.
IS is "effect", not "cause"
I am absolutely convinced that the ongoing war against IS (It is actually against Islamic revivalism) will fail. Yes, many people will get killed, many will be maimed, and there will be a lot of havoc and destruction. But at the end of the day, IS and similar groups will emerge stronger and more popular.
The reason for that lies in the malicious American policy of imposing on the Muslim peoples of the region tyrannical vicious regimes that deny the masses the most elementary human rights and civil liberties.
Yes, it is oppression, tyranny, state-terror, rulers’ decadence and corruption that helped create IS and will help make it more popular amongst the people.
According to some public opinion surveys, sympathy with IS reaches 80% in some Arab countries.
If true, this should make Washington rethink its entire approach to the region. Ultimately, IS is an effect rather than a cause, and it is impossible to eliminate the effect without eradicating the cause first.
But I don't think Washington will ever change its approach. Washington has always been and continues to be overwhelmed with hypocrisy and evil as far as the way it relates to Muslims, especially in the Middle East. America doesn't really think correctly in this regard. It lets a small group of self-worshipping Jews to do the job on its behalf.
It is sad and lamentable that America's criminal hypocrisy is actually the enabler and sustainer of criminal tyranny and terrorist states in much of the world.
Indeed, were it not for America's greed, rapacity and imperialistic ambitions, the Hitler of Damascus wouldn't have continued to murder his own people en masse in order to stay in power a few more years.
The same can be said about the Sissi junta in Cairo, which murdered more innocent people in two hours than IS and like-minded groups have done ever since their appearance.
With a bluntly Machiavellian America reverting to its pre-Arab Spring modus operandi, there will be a prolonged internecine struggle throughout the Arab world for freedom and justice.
Yes, America and its contemptuous puppets won't raise the white flags, but neither will the IS.
But then, America will have incurred the wrath of hundreds of millions of people, who will be thoroughly convinced of America's evil role in depriving hundreds of millions of Arabs and Muslims of their right to human rights and liberties by way of backing bloody tyrants and military dictators.
A Palestinian man left homeless by Israel's assault on Gaza sleeps outside on a makeshift bed.
Palestinians in Gaza who were displaced by Israel's recent military offensive on the region are still waiting for solutions, as winter now approaches.
The assault left over 110,000 Palestinians homeless, and the displaced are going from one place to another to find refuge, Ma'an News Agency reports.
Muin Bahar, who lives in the rubble of his destroyed home, told Ma'an that it is difficult to find anywhere to live, eat or drink.
"All we are able to eat is canned food and I do not have a job or money for us and for the kids in schools," he said.
He urged Palestinian authorities to start the rebuilding process before winter arrives.
"Soon, we could be sleeping under the rain."
With indirect talks with Israel suspended until late October, life for Gazans is becoming more difficult by the day, Ma'an further reports, as the necessary materials needed for reconstruction are not allowed entry into the enclave.
"The (ceasefire) agreement imposes strict security on the materials allowed into the Gaza Strip and is monitored by Israel," says economist Maher al-Tabba.
Reconstruction also requires obtaining licenses from Ramallah, indicating that Israel does not recognize the unity government.
See: 09/25/14 Fateh & Hamas Agree to Let PA Take Charge in Gaza
"This way the process will not be serious or quick because the private sector needs licenses from the government in Ramallah for projects and Gaza does not only need rebuilding but many development projects that were prevented by eight years of the siege," al-Tabba further stated.
According to Anadolu Agency, the Popular Committee for Breaking the Gaza Siege warned, Thursday, that residents of the Strip would face "catastrophe" if winter came before they had found shelter, urging the international community to find a swift solution for thousands of Gazans rendered homeless by the 51-day onslaught.
The cost for full reconstruction of homes and infrastructure destroyed during the war is reportedly estimated at $7.8 billion by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction.
See: 09/20/14 Cabinet Approves $5 Billion Plan for Gaza Reconstruction
Fadl al-Helw, a 40-year-old unemployed worker, says that he lost most of his modest home to the Israeli assault.
"I can't buy a new house," al-Helw told Anadalou. "That's why I have to stay here along with my family."
He said that he was bracing for a cold winter season, which is expected to show signs of arriving in the Gaza Strip as soon as this weekend.
Palestinians in Gaza who were displaced by Israel's recent military offensive on the region are still waiting for solutions, as winter now approaches.
The assault left over 110,000 Palestinians homeless, and the displaced are going from one place to another to find refuge, Ma'an News Agency reports.
Muin Bahar, who lives in the rubble of his destroyed home, told Ma'an that it is difficult to find anywhere to live, eat or drink.
"All we are able to eat is canned food and I do not have a job or money for us and for the kids in schools," he said.
He urged Palestinian authorities to start the rebuilding process before winter arrives.
"Soon, we could be sleeping under the rain."
With indirect talks with Israel suspended until late October, life for Gazans is becoming more difficult by the day, Ma'an further reports, as the necessary materials needed for reconstruction are not allowed entry into the enclave.
"The (ceasefire) agreement imposes strict security on the materials allowed into the Gaza Strip and is monitored by Israel," says economist Maher al-Tabba.
Reconstruction also requires obtaining licenses from Ramallah, indicating that Israel does not recognize the unity government.
See: 09/25/14 Fateh & Hamas Agree to Let PA Take Charge in Gaza
"This way the process will not be serious or quick because the private sector needs licenses from the government in Ramallah for projects and Gaza does not only need rebuilding but many development projects that were prevented by eight years of the siege," al-Tabba further stated.
According to Anadolu Agency, the Popular Committee for Breaking the Gaza Siege warned, Thursday, that residents of the Strip would face "catastrophe" if winter came before they had found shelter, urging the international community to find a swift solution for thousands of Gazans rendered homeless by the 51-day onslaught.
The cost for full reconstruction of homes and infrastructure destroyed during the war is reportedly estimated at $7.8 billion by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction.
See: 09/20/14 Cabinet Approves $5 Billion Plan for Gaza Reconstruction
Fadl al-Helw, a 40-year-old unemployed worker, says that he lost most of his modest home to the Israeli assault.
"I can't buy a new house," al-Helw told Anadalou. "That's why I have to stay here along with my family."
He said that he was bracing for a cold winter season, which is expected to show signs of arriving in the Gaza Strip as soon as this weekend.
The Russell Tribunal on Palestine found during an extraordinary session held a few days ago in Brussels on Israel's last war in the Gaza Strip evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of murder, extermination, and incitement to genocide.
President of the Russell Tribunal Pierre Galand said “the court has found evidence of deliberate war crimes against humanity aimed at destroying Palestinians’ structures, schools, and homes. The court has also found out about Israel’s attempts to commit genocide. As it is known, genocide is a crime of intents.”
Member of the Russell jury panel Michael Mansfield warned that “in case the international community remains silent, another genocide is very likely to occur.”
“This is a very brave move and a universal wake-up on the part of the international community and the European Union,” Gazan citizen Muhammad al-Mughir who attended the court hearings said. “It is the right time to bring criminals to justice.”
Brussels-based al-Jazeera reporter Noureddine Bouziane said the court ruled, after a round of hearings and arguments released by law and arms experts, that Israel has perpetrated genocidal crimes, willful murder of civilians, and extensive destruction of property.
An affidavit filed by a former Israeli soldier revealed that the Israeli army gave instructions to its soldiers in the field to kill every moving human being and supplied its units with ammunition containing amounts of depleted uranium.
Another testimony given by an Israeli journalist unveiled the involvement of Israeli preachers and intellectuals in war crimes during the war on Gaza through inciting soldiers and settlers to kill Palestinian Arabs.
President of the Russell Tribunal Pierre Galand said “the court has found evidence of deliberate war crimes against humanity aimed at destroying Palestinians’ structures, schools, and homes. The court has also found out about Israel’s attempts to commit genocide. As it is known, genocide is a crime of intents.”
Member of the Russell jury panel Michael Mansfield warned that “in case the international community remains silent, another genocide is very likely to occur.”
“This is a very brave move and a universal wake-up on the part of the international community and the European Union,” Gazan citizen Muhammad al-Mughir who attended the court hearings said. “It is the right time to bring criminals to justice.”
Brussels-based al-Jazeera reporter Noureddine Bouziane said the court ruled, after a round of hearings and arguments released by law and arms experts, that Israel has perpetrated genocidal crimes, willful murder of civilians, and extensive destruction of property.
An affidavit filed by a former Israeli soldier revealed that the Israeli army gave instructions to its soldiers in the field to kill every moving human being and supplied its units with ammunition containing amounts of depleted uranium.
Another testimony given by an Israeli journalist unveiled the involvement of Israeli preachers and intellectuals in war crimes during the war on Gaza through inciting soldiers and settlers to kill Palestinian Arabs.
Following successive ongoing international campaigns to achieve boycott divestment and sanctions on Israel in different countries around the world, especially in colleges, the Israeli government is now acting on an extensive strategy that includes Israeli reservist soldiers, to recap its losses.
Tel Aviv knows it can count on the ongoing financial, political and military support from the United States, but wants to get US campuses to topple any move that aims at divesting from Israeli and international companies that invest and benefit from the illegitimate Israeli occupation and its settlements.
Many reserve soldiers, especially those who graduated from American Universities, have been asked to “go back to school” in order to operate on preventing any move that calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions, and to try to encourage students’ support to Israel.
The moves came after successful BDS campaigns in different colleges, and aim at restoring “Israel’s image” especially after its latest offensive on Gaza that led to the death of 2137 Palestinians, while at least 11100 have been wounded.
The number includes 578 children, 264 women, and 103 elderly, while more than 11100, including 3374 children, 2088 women and 410 elderly, have been injured.
Tel Aviv is now aiming at regaining support, and encouraging investments, especially in colleges and universities that voted for divestment.
Israeli sources said Israel faced a similar situation during the Second Palestinian Intifada, especially during the era of late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adding that back then Israeli soviet-born politician Natan Sharansky toured in many US Universities, and informed Sharon that Israel needs to operate in those colleges, as BDS moves “could have a significant impact on Tel Aviv.”
He said such moves, which he dubbed as “hostile”, managed to achieve some positive outcomes, and could lead to more financial losses to Israel, adding that many liberal Jews told him back then that they preferred to live “without a Jewish State,” Maan said.
Israel now observes US colleges as one of the main “battle fronts” that have been able to achieve divestment from Israel, and are successful in highlighting the Palestinian cause and the ongoing struggle against the illegitimate Israeli occupation and settlements.
In August of 2013, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the government would be granting scholarships to certain students who actively participate in activities promoting Israel, and improving its image, especially on social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter, the Associated Press said.
Israel recruited students who were organized in units, while “chief coordinators” of these groups received full scholarships.
Each of those “chief coordinators'” recruits three “desk coordinators” tasked with “language, graphics and research," and receive lesser scholarships while some active pro-Israel students get “minimal scholarships.”
Tel Aviv knows it can count on the ongoing financial, political and military support from the United States, but wants to get US campuses to topple any move that aims at divesting from Israeli and international companies that invest and benefit from the illegitimate Israeli occupation and its settlements.
Many reserve soldiers, especially those who graduated from American Universities, have been asked to “go back to school” in order to operate on preventing any move that calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions, and to try to encourage students’ support to Israel.
The moves came after successful BDS campaigns in different colleges, and aim at restoring “Israel’s image” especially after its latest offensive on Gaza that led to the death of 2137 Palestinians, while at least 11100 have been wounded.
The number includes 578 children, 264 women, and 103 elderly, while more than 11100, including 3374 children, 2088 women and 410 elderly, have been injured.
Tel Aviv is now aiming at regaining support, and encouraging investments, especially in colleges and universities that voted for divestment.
Israeli sources said Israel faced a similar situation during the Second Palestinian Intifada, especially during the era of late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adding that back then Israeli soviet-born politician Natan Sharansky toured in many US Universities, and informed Sharon that Israel needs to operate in those colleges, as BDS moves “could have a significant impact on Tel Aviv.”
He said such moves, which he dubbed as “hostile”, managed to achieve some positive outcomes, and could lead to more financial losses to Israel, adding that many liberal Jews told him back then that they preferred to live “without a Jewish State,” Maan said.
Israel now observes US colleges as one of the main “battle fronts” that have been able to achieve divestment from Israel, and are successful in highlighting the Palestinian cause and the ongoing struggle against the illegitimate Israeli occupation and settlements.
In August of 2013, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the government would be granting scholarships to certain students who actively participate in activities promoting Israel, and improving its image, especially on social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter, the Associated Press said.
Israel recruited students who were organized in units, while “chief coordinators” of these groups received full scholarships.
Each of those “chief coordinators'” recruits three “desk coordinators” tasked with “language, graphics and research," and receive lesser scholarships while some active pro-Israel students get “minimal scholarships.”
25 sept 2014
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Scores of Palestinian journalists staged a stand-in on Thursday morning, in Gaza, to mark an International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian journalists.
According to Al Ray, the event was organized by the Palestinian Ministry of Information, and took place outside of the United Nation's office in Gaza. Dozens of Palestinian journalists and family members of 16 of the journalists who lost their lives in the recent Israeli offensive participated in the event. Head of Public Relations in the Ministry, Senan Felfel, pointed out that the Israeli occupation is still detaining Palestinian journalists inside of its jails as a planned measure to blur the truth and silence the voice of freedom: “We stand here today before the United Nations Office to greet the |
journalists who participate in unveiling Israel’s war crimes and expose its aggressive policies. Such efforts done by those heroes made them legitimate targets for killing and detaining by the Israeli occupation,” Felfel said in a speech at the event.
The Ministry expressed appreciation for distinguished efforts made by Palestinian journalists during the recent Israeli assault.
The journalists called on the United Nations to intervene, in order to stop the Israeli violations against them and demanded the expulsion of Israel from all international organizations and journalistic bodies.
The International Day for Solidarity with the Palestinian journalist is an annual observance in September.
The Ministry expressed appreciation for distinguished efforts made by Palestinian journalists during the recent Israeli assault.
The journalists called on the United Nations to intervene, in order to stop the Israeli violations against them and demanded the expulsion of Israel from all international organizations and journalistic bodies.
The International Day for Solidarity with the Palestinian journalist is an annual observance in September.
Israeli navy forces opened fire at Palestinian fishermen early Thursday off Gaza’s coast, according to Palestinian sources. The Israeli naval boats opened fire at fishermen off the coast of Gaza with no injuries reported, the sources confirmed.
Israeli navy attacks have recently escalated injuring a number of fishermen in the process and arresting others in clear violation of the ceasefire agreement reached on Aug. 26 under Egyptian mediation.
Israeli navy attacks have recently escalated injuring a number of fishermen in the process and arresting others in clear violation of the ceasefire agreement reached on Aug. 26 under Egyptian mediation.
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani on Wednesday dubbed the latest Israeli war on Gaza “a crime against humanity,” urging the UN Security Council and the international community to step in so as to end Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Addressing the UN General Assembly on Wednesday Sheikh Tamim said the colonization of Palestinian, the last remaining issue on the decolonization agenda, cannot be worked out via provisional and useless half-solutions.
Speaking out against Israel’s atrocities and genocides in Gaza, the Emir said: “The conscience of mankind has been deeply shocked by the tragic pictures and unprecedented realities that the world has seen during the aggression on Gaza and targeting of civilians: babies were killed while in the arms of their mothers, almost half a million Palestinians were displaced, and Gaza Strip was destroyed on a large scale before we even finished the reconstruction of what was destroyed during the previous aggression.”
“The definition of what that aggression has committed, as per the provisions of international law and the international humanitarian law, is a crime against humanity,” he charged.
“The arrogance of power will not overcome the resistance of the Palestinian people. I salute the steadfastness of the resistance of the Palestinian people in Gaza in the face of the occupation and in insisting on regaining its legitimate rights,” Bin Hamad proceeded. “May the souls of the Palestinian martyrs rest in peace.”
“Peace and security can never see the day without commitment to the international law and legitimacy and without respect for human rights,” the Emir declared. “The aftermath of the Israeli aggression on Gaza makes it imperative that the international community urges the occupation state to put international resolutions into effect.”
Sheikh Tamim appealed to the UN Security Council to pass a resolution under Chapter VII of the Charter to force Israel to end its occupation of lands captured in 1967.
Speaking out against Israel’s atrocities and genocides in Gaza, the Emir said: “The conscience of mankind has been deeply shocked by the tragic pictures and unprecedented realities that the world has seen during the aggression on Gaza and targeting of civilians: babies were killed while in the arms of their mothers, almost half a million Palestinians were displaced, and Gaza Strip was destroyed on a large scale before we even finished the reconstruction of what was destroyed during the previous aggression.”
“The definition of what that aggression has committed, as per the provisions of international law and the international humanitarian law, is a crime against humanity,” he charged.
“The arrogance of power will not overcome the resistance of the Palestinian people. I salute the steadfastness of the resistance of the Palestinian people in Gaza in the face of the occupation and in insisting on regaining its legitimate rights,” Bin Hamad proceeded. “May the souls of the Palestinian martyrs rest in peace.”
“Peace and security can never see the day without commitment to the international law and legitimacy and without respect for human rights,” the Emir declared. “The aftermath of the Israeli aggression on Gaza makes it imperative that the international community urges the occupation state to put international resolutions into effect.”
Sheikh Tamim appealed to the UN Security Council to pass a resolution under Chapter VII of the Charter to force Israel to end its occupation of lands captured in 1967.
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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
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
