21 oct 2015
Ask Google Maps for directions from the Old City of Jerusalem to Issawiya, a Palestinian neighborhood in the occupied eastern half of the city, and the app will tell you it’s a 14-minute drive. Just take the road below the ancient walls, climb past the Hebrew University, and swoop down the long curve that descends from French Hill — and you’re there.
As I found out Saturday morning, the journey is not quite so simple. The road from French Hill was blocked by six square chunks of concrete; no traffic was allowed through. Cars and buses approaching from the village dropped off people heading to work on the other side of the blockade; from there, they walked. Israeli police with assault rifles slung across their chests manned the checkpoint, calling forward Palestinians to be searched one by one. Google hasn’t yet caught up with what it’s like to enter or leave Issawiya today.
Jerusalem has been the epicenter of the latest round of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. There have been almost daily clashes between the Israeli police and stone-throwing Palestinians since the murder last year of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, the 16-year-old boy abducted and killed in retaliation for the deaths of three Israeli teenagers in June 2014 (which eventually sparked last year’s conflict in Gaza).
But since the beginning of October, there has been a dramatic increase in Palestinians targeting Israeli civilians, police and soldiers in stabbing and shooting attacks. Israeli forces have responded by shooting at and killing many of these attackers, in some cases using intentional lethal force where it was not necessary. The Israeli authorities have also ramped up security in response to this series of attacks.
The Israeli authorities have a duty to put in place proportionate security and other measures to protect people. However, what I saw on Saturday was disproportionate, and fundamentally an attempt to punish Palestinian civilians in general for attacks by a few.
As I walked down the hill, the sound of car horns became louder and louder. A long line of cars, vans and buses extended hundreds of yards toward the town’s single remaining exit open to vehicles
I talked to drivers to find out where they were going and how long they had been waiting. I heard the same stories again and again. A woman who had already missed an appointment at the doctor by half an hour, and wasn’t sure when she’d get there, and if they’d be able to see her. An architect trying to get to work. Another woman trying to get to the dentist. All had been stuck for nearly an hour.
At the bottom of the hill, the Israeli police were conducting stringent checks on each car. Tensions were high, and community leaders were working to direct traffic and prevent furious young men from confronting the police. At one point, a policeman started shouting at me in Hebrew, chased me up the road and threw a sound bomb at my feet.
At the head of the line, people had been waiting for two hours. Cecile, a French national married to a Palestinian from Jerusalem, had come from Ras al-Amoud to Issawiya to drop off her two-year-old son at her in-laws’. The drive back normally takes 10 minutes. “I’m five months pregnant,” she told me, “and for the last five days I’ve been unable to get to work because of the clashes and closures. The tear gas makes me afraid for the safety of my baby.”
Again and again I heard how the checks meant people lost out on business and were denied access to essential services. More than 60 disabled students who attend a school for children with special needs were also caught up in the traffic, sitting for hours in buses as the noonday sun beat down and temperatures shot into the 90s.
For Huda Muhammad Darwish, 65, the wait seemed to have tragic consequences. She was pronounced dead at the hospital in the early hours of Monday after suffering breathing difficulties. Her family had tried to rush her to the emergency room, but were delayed at the checkpoint by about 30 minutes, local media reported.
These roadblocks and closures are discriminatory and unlawful, violating Israel's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Arbitrary restrictions on freedom of movement and other human rights violations cannot be justified in the name of security.
What I saw in Issawiya was the collective punishment of thousands of people — there is no other way to describe it.
Jacob Burns is Amnesty International’s Research and Campaign Assistant on Israel/Palestine.
This blog was first published by Global Post
As I found out Saturday morning, the journey is not quite so simple. The road from French Hill was blocked by six square chunks of concrete; no traffic was allowed through. Cars and buses approaching from the village dropped off people heading to work on the other side of the blockade; from there, they walked. Israeli police with assault rifles slung across their chests manned the checkpoint, calling forward Palestinians to be searched one by one. Google hasn’t yet caught up with what it’s like to enter or leave Issawiya today.
Jerusalem has been the epicenter of the latest round of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. There have been almost daily clashes between the Israeli police and stone-throwing Palestinians since the murder last year of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, the 16-year-old boy abducted and killed in retaliation for the deaths of three Israeli teenagers in June 2014 (which eventually sparked last year’s conflict in Gaza).
But since the beginning of October, there has been a dramatic increase in Palestinians targeting Israeli civilians, police and soldiers in stabbing and shooting attacks. Israeli forces have responded by shooting at and killing many of these attackers, in some cases using intentional lethal force where it was not necessary. The Israeli authorities have also ramped up security in response to this series of attacks.
The Israeli authorities have a duty to put in place proportionate security and other measures to protect people. However, what I saw on Saturday was disproportionate, and fundamentally an attempt to punish Palestinian civilians in general for attacks by a few.
As I walked down the hill, the sound of car horns became louder and louder. A long line of cars, vans and buses extended hundreds of yards toward the town’s single remaining exit open to vehicles
I talked to drivers to find out where they were going and how long they had been waiting. I heard the same stories again and again. A woman who had already missed an appointment at the doctor by half an hour, and wasn’t sure when she’d get there, and if they’d be able to see her. An architect trying to get to work. Another woman trying to get to the dentist. All had been stuck for nearly an hour.
At the bottom of the hill, the Israeli police were conducting stringent checks on each car. Tensions were high, and community leaders were working to direct traffic and prevent furious young men from confronting the police. At one point, a policeman started shouting at me in Hebrew, chased me up the road and threw a sound bomb at my feet.
At the head of the line, people had been waiting for two hours. Cecile, a French national married to a Palestinian from Jerusalem, had come from Ras al-Amoud to Issawiya to drop off her two-year-old son at her in-laws’. The drive back normally takes 10 minutes. “I’m five months pregnant,” she told me, “and for the last five days I’ve been unable to get to work because of the clashes and closures. The tear gas makes me afraid for the safety of my baby.”
Again and again I heard how the checks meant people lost out on business and were denied access to essential services. More than 60 disabled students who attend a school for children with special needs were also caught up in the traffic, sitting for hours in buses as the noonday sun beat down and temperatures shot into the 90s.
For Huda Muhammad Darwish, 65, the wait seemed to have tragic consequences. She was pronounced dead at the hospital in the early hours of Monday after suffering breathing difficulties. Her family had tried to rush her to the emergency room, but were delayed at the checkpoint by about 30 minutes, local media reported.
These roadblocks and closures are discriminatory and unlawful, violating Israel's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Arbitrary restrictions on freedom of movement and other human rights violations cannot be justified in the name of security.
What I saw in Issawiya was the collective punishment of thousands of people — there is no other way to describe it.
Jacob Burns is Amnesty International’s Research and Campaign Assistant on Israel/Palestine.
This blog was first published by Global Post
On 16 October 2015, Israeli Ambassador Roet addressed the UN Security Council in an emergency session on the escalating situation in Israel and Palestine. Below are his statements followed by facts disproving the statements.
“Israel is facing an onslaught of terrorism; men, women and children are being stabbed to death on the streets on a daily basis. Yet for them there has been no demand for an emergency session at the Security Council.”
Fact: The Palestinian people are a defenseless and unarmed population suffering gross violations of human rights under Israel’s illegal occupation. It is in fact the Israeli occupation that is the source and context of all of the violence, violence that has been inflicted by Israel with total impunity for over 48 years on the Palestinian people.Yet Israel has the audacity to oppose international action to protect the civilian population.
“These are just a few of the silent victims of Palestinian terror.”
Fact: Individuals that carried out the alleged stabbings acted alone and without the support of others. On the contrary, Israeli settlers carry out terrorist acts with Israeli state protection – military and political. Nearly 200 acts have been carried out by settlers against Palestinian civilians in the past month. These include stoning and firebombing Palestinian cars, houses and civilians; trespassing on villages and property; setting fire and damaging crops; and attacking, beating, and shooting at Palestinians, including children.
“Over the course of the last month, 24 terror attacks have claimed the lives of 8 Israelis, and injured 70.”
Fact: Israel, the occupying Power, is not a victim in this situation. Since 1 October 2015, over 1850 Palestinians have been injured and at least 46 killed, including at least 18 in demonstrations. The Israeli occupying forces (IOF) have greatly intensified their excessive use of force, especially to suppress protests, through the use of rubber bullets, tear gas, sound canisters and live fire.
“The root cause of this wave of terror is clear.”
Fact: The root cause of the current violence is Israel’s half century illegal occupation of the Palestinian land and its subjugation of the Palestinian people. Palestinians, many of them children, are killed, wounded, arrested and harassed and intimidated every day while their property is seized, demolished, or bombed. This incessant oppression leaves little hope for a peaceful and stable future, deepens despair, and encourages the oppressed to resist injustice.
“Israel is firmly committed to the status quo which protects the right of Muslims to pray in the mosque.”
Fact: The IOF has intensified incursions and attacks at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound by allowing terrorist settlers free reign to storm the holy site in attempts to change the historic status quo. Between 14 January and 15 September, the IOF and settlers under their protection carried out more than 450 attacks against this holy site and Palestinian civilian worshipers.
“It is inflammatory rhetoric and lies lit the fuse, and incitement that keeps feeding the flames.”
Fact: Israeli leaders have long and recklessly cultivated a culture of hate against Palestinians that’s manifested in the constant and excessive use of violence by the IOF and terrorist settlers. For example:
·“We will not provide immunity to any rioter, inciter, or terrorist, not anywhere and under no conditions. Israel’s security forces have no limits when it comes to defending Israelis.” ~Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, 5 October 2015
·“Palestinians have to understand they won’t have a state & Israel will rule over them.” ~Eli Ben-Dahan, Deputy Defense Minister of Israel, 10 October 2015
·“The entire Palestinian people is the enemy…in wars the enemy is usually an entire people, including its elderly and its women, its cities and its villages, its property and its infrastructure.” ~Ayelet Shaked, Justice Minister, 7 July 2014
“Instead of calming tensions, Palestinian leaders continue to lie and use inflammatory rhetoric.”
Fact: The Palestinian Government has repeatedly affirmed that it supports peaceful and legal means to end the illegal Israel occupation. President Abbas recently stated, “I support a popular, nonviolent struggle and oppose all violence and use of weapons. I’ve made clear a number of times that I don’t want to return to the cycle of violence.”
“Such acts of terror do not occur in a vacuum.”
Fact: Indeed, they don’t occur in a vacuum. They occur when there is constant impunity for brutal crimes by the IOF and terrorist settlers. This includes the burning of teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir, the arson attack of the Dawabsheh family home, and the mounting executions of Palestinian civilians, including children and youth,by the IOF with live fire. When the IOF investigates soldiers forsuspected criminal activity against Palestinians, it closes 94% of cases without prosecution.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu stood here in the UN and declared that he is ready for direct negotiations with the Palestinians without any preconditions.”
Fact: The Israeli government tells the UN it’s prepared for negotiations while telling the Israeli public a Palestinian state will never come to be. On 18 October, Justice Minister Shaked avowed, “We are against a Palestinian state. There is not and there will be no Palestinian state.” Direct negotiations are inherently asymmetrical as Palestine is under Israel’s occupation. The international community must present a multilateral and time-bound negotiating process to salvage the prospects of peace, beginning with concrete steps to end this illegal occupation without delay.
“Israel is facing an onslaught of terrorism; men, women and children are being stabbed to death on the streets on a daily basis. Yet for them there has been no demand for an emergency session at the Security Council.”
Fact: The Palestinian people are a defenseless and unarmed population suffering gross violations of human rights under Israel’s illegal occupation. It is in fact the Israeli occupation that is the source and context of all of the violence, violence that has been inflicted by Israel with total impunity for over 48 years on the Palestinian people.Yet Israel has the audacity to oppose international action to protect the civilian population.
“These are just a few of the silent victims of Palestinian terror.”
Fact: Individuals that carried out the alleged stabbings acted alone and without the support of others. On the contrary, Israeli settlers carry out terrorist acts with Israeli state protection – military and political. Nearly 200 acts have been carried out by settlers against Palestinian civilians in the past month. These include stoning and firebombing Palestinian cars, houses and civilians; trespassing on villages and property; setting fire and damaging crops; and attacking, beating, and shooting at Palestinians, including children.
“Over the course of the last month, 24 terror attacks have claimed the lives of 8 Israelis, and injured 70.”
Fact: Israel, the occupying Power, is not a victim in this situation. Since 1 October 2015, over 1850 Palestinians have been injured and at least 46 killed, including at least 18 in demonstrations. The Israeli occupying forces (IOF) have greatly intensified their excessive use of force, especially to suppress protests, through the use of rubber bullets, tear gas, sound canisters and live fire.
“The root cause of this wave of terror is clear.”
Fact: The root cause of the current violence is Israel’s half century illegal occupation of the Palestinian land and its subjugation of the Palestinian people. Palestinians, many of them children, are killed, wounded, arrested and harassed and intimidated every day while their property is seized, demolished, or bombed. This incessant oppression leaves little hope for a peaceful and stable future, deepens despair, and encourages the oppressed to resist injustice.
“Israel is firmly committed to the status quo which protects the right of Muslims to pray in the mosque.”
Fact: The IOF has intensified incursions and attacks at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound by allowing terrorist settlers free reign to storm the holy site in attempts to change the historic status quo. Between 14 January and 15 September, the IOF and settlers under their protection carried out more than 450 attacks against this holy site and Palestinian civilian worshipers.
“It is inflammatory rhetoric and lies lit the fuse, and incitement that keeps feeding the flames.”
Fact: Israeli leaders have long and recklessly cultivated a culture of hate against Palestinians that’s manifested in the constant and excessive use of violence by the IOF and terrorist settlers. For example:
·“We will not provide immunity to any rioter, inciter, or terrorist, not anywhere and under no conditions. Israel’s security forces have no limits when it comes to defending Israelis.” ~Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, 5 October 2015
·“Palestinians have to understand they won’t have a state & Israel will rule over them.” ~Eli Ben-Dahan, Deputy Defense Minister of Israel, 10 October 2015
·“The entire Palestinian people is the enemy…in wars the enemy is usually an entire people, including its elderly and its women, its cities and its villages, its property and its infrastructure.” ~Ayelet Shaked, Justice Minister, 7 July 2014
“Instead of calming tensions, Palestinian leaders continue to lie and use inflammatory rhetoric.”
Fact: The Palestinian Government has repeatedly affirmed that it supports peaceful and legal means to end the illegal Israel occupation. President Abbas recently stated, “I support a popular, nonviolent struggle and oppose all violence and use of weapons. I’ve made clear a number of times that I don’t want to return to the cycle of violence.”
“Such acts of terror do not occur in a vacuum.”
Fact: Indeed, they don’t occur in a vacuum. They occur when there is constant impunity for brutal crimes by the IOF and terrorist settlers. This includes the burning of teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir, the arson attack of the Dawabsheh family home, and the mounting executions of Palestinian civilians, including children and youth,by the IOF with live fire. When the IOF investigates soldiers forsuspected criminal activity against Palestinians, it closes 94% of cases without prosecution.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu stood here in the UN and declared that he is ready for direct negotiations with the Palestinians without any preconditions.”
Fact: The Israeli government tells the UN it’s prepared for negotiations while telling the Israeli public a Palestinian state will never come to be. On 18 October, Justice Minister Shaked avowed, “We are against a Palestinian state. There is not and there will be no Palestinian state.” Direct negotiations are inherently asymmetrical as Palestine is under Israel’s occupation. The international community must present a multilateral and time-bound negotiating process to salvage the prospects of peace, beginning with concrete steps to end this illegal occupation without delay.
Leading Jewish historians, according to the PNN, have rubbished Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that the Holocaust was caused by Palestinians.
Netanyahu blamed the slaughter of millions of people during World War II on the then Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, in a controversial speech at the 37th World Zionist Congress this week.
Startling video footage shows the Israeli Prime Minister telling the audience that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had only wanted to expel the Jews – but was instead convinced to slaughter them by the Muslim leader, who died in 1974.
Professor Dina Porat, chief historian at The World Center for Holocaust Research (Yad Vashem) told Ynet that Netanyahu’s statements were factually incorrect.
She said: “You cannot say that it was the mufti who gave Hitler the idea to kill or burn Jews.
“It’s not true. Their meeting occurred after a series of events that point to this.”
Professor Meir Litvak, who teaches at Tel Aviv University’s Department of Middle Eastern History, said the idea of annihilating the Jews came up in 1939.
While the initial plan was to send Europe’s Jews to an area north of the Ural Mountains so that they would die of disease, he said, the plan was nixed when the Soviet Union did not surrender in 1941.
At that point, Litvak said, the extermination idea arose.
“Husseini supported the extermination of the Jews, he tried to prevent rescuing of Jews, he recruited Arabs for the SS,” said Litvak. “He was an abominable person, but this must not minimize the scale of Hitler’s guilt.”
Dr. Saeb Erekat, Secretary General of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, said Netenyahu “deepened the divide during a time when a just and lasting peace is needed most.”
He said it was a “sad day in history” adding “”Palestinian efforts against the Nazi regime are a deep-rooted part of our history.
“Palestine will never forget – though it seems Netanyahu’s extremist government has."
Dr. Erekat added: “Mr. Netanyahu should stop using this human tragedy to score points for his political ends.
“On behalf of the thousands of Palestinians that fought alongside the Allied Troops in defense of international justice, the State of Palestine denounces these morally indefensible and inflammatory statements.
“Palestinian efforts against the Nazi regime are a deep-rooted part of our history. Palestine will never forget – though it seems Netanyahu’s extremist government has.
” It is a sad day in history when the leader of the Israeli government hates his neighbor so much so that he is willing to absolve the most notorious war criminal in history, Adolf Hitler, of the murder of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust.
Netenyahu made similar statements three years ago in the Knesset (the Israeli parliament), claiming that the Mufti was “one of the leading architects of the Final Solution”.
Netanyahu blamed the slaughter of millions of people during World War II on the then Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, in a controversial speech at the 37th World Zionist Congress this week.
Startling video footage shows the Israeli Prime Minister telling the audience that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had only wanted to expel the Jews – but was instead convinced to slaughter them by the Muslim leader, who died in 1974.
Professor Dina Porat, chief historian at The World Center for Holocaust Research (Yad Vashem) told Ynet that Netanyahu’s statements were factually incorrect.
She said: “You cannot say that it was the mufti who gave Hitler the idea to kill or burn Jews.
“It’s not true. Their meeting occurred after a series of events that point to this.”
Professor Meir Litvak, who teaches at Tel Aviv University’s Department of Middle Eastern History, said the idea of annihilating the Jews came up in 1939.
While the initial plan was to send Europe’s Jews to an area north of the Ural Mountains so that they would die of disease, he said, the plan was nixed when the Soviet Union did not surrender in 1941.
At that point, Litvak said, the extermination idea arose.
“Husseini supported the extermination of the Jews, he tried to prevent rescuing of Jews, he recruited Arabs for the SS,” said Litvak. “He was an abominable person, but this must not minimize the scale of Hitler’s guilt.”
Dr. Saeb Erekat, Secretary General of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, said Netenyahu “deepened the divide during a time when a just and lasting peace is needed most.”
He said it was a “sad day in history” adding “”Palestinian efforts against the Nazi regime are a deep-rooted part of our history.
“Palestine will never forget – though it seems Netanyahu’s extremist government has."
Dr. Erekat added: “Mr. Netanyahu should stop using this human tragedy to score points for his political ends.
“On behalf of the thousands of Palestinians that fought alongside the Allied Troops in defense of international justice, the State of Palestine denounces these morally indefensible and inflammatory statements.
“Palestinian efforts against the Nazi regime are a deep-rooted part of our history. Palestine will never forget – though it seems Netanyahu’s extremist government has.
” It is a sad day in history when the leader of the Israeli government hates his neighbor so much so that he is willing to absolve the most notorious war criminal in history, Adolf Hitler, of the murder of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust.
Netenyahu made similar statements three years ago in the Knesset (the Israeli parliament), claiming that the Mufti was “one of the leading architects of the Final Solution”.
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News sites around the world today are talking about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assertion in a speech yesterday that Hitler didn’t want to kill the Jews, just expel them, till he was convinced to exterminate them by the Palestinian leader, Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.
The criticism is so universal, and angry, that the remarks look to be a landmark in Netanyahu’s cynicism; they draw back the curtain for the world on his refusal to sincerely address Palestinians aspirations for freedom today. Yet, in the face of the criticism Netanyahu is doubling down on his |
contention that Palestinians incited the holocaust. Here is what he said today before leaving to Berlin:
My intention was not to absolve Hitler of his responsibility, but rather to show that the forefathers of the Palestinian nation, without a country and without the so-called ‘occupation’, without land and without settlements, even then aspired to systematic incitement to exterminate the Jews.
Meanwhile, Germany says it has no idea what Netanyahu is talking about.
Here is the speech to the World Zionist Organization, in which Netanyahu relates the ten biggest lies told about Israel. One lie is that Israel intends to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. He says this lie has a long pedigree, going back to the mufti. The relevant portion begins at 2:55.
Here’s the passage:
My grandfather came to this land in 1920 and he landed in Jaffa, and very shortly after he landed he went to the immigration office in Jaffa. And a few months later it was burned down by marauders. These attackers, Arab attackers, murdered several Jews, including our celebrated writer Brenner.
And this attack and other attacks on the Jewish community in 1920, 1921, 1929, were instigated by a call of the Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini, who was later sought for war crimes in the Nuremberg trials because he had a central role in fomenting the final solution. He flew to Berlin. Hitler didn’t want to exterminate the Jews at the time, he wanted to expel the Jews. And Haj Amin al-Husseini went to Hitler and said, “If you expel them, they’ll all come here.” “So what should I do with them?” he asked. He said, “Burn them.” And he was sought in, during the Nuremberg trials for prosecution. He escaped it and later died of cancer, after the war, died of cancer in Cairo. But this is what Haj Amin al-Husseini said. He said, “The Jews seek to destroy… the al-Aqsa Mosque.”
The remarks are a huge embarrassment. Even Israeli leaders are characterizing them as “shameful,” according to the Times of Israel.
An overwhelming majority of Holocaust historians reject the notion that Husseini planted the idea of a “Final Solution” for Europe’s Jews in Hitler’s mind.
The Guardian says the speech has drawn a storm of criticism with many saying that Netanyahu is trivializing the Holocaust.
India Today says the speech has stirred up trouble for Netanyahu, and quotes Saeb Erekat:
It is a sad day in history when the leader of the Israeli government hates his neighbour so much that he is willing to absolve the most notorious war criminal in history, Adolf Hitler, of the murder of six million Jews,” Saeb Erekat, the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s secretary general, said.
“Mr Netanyahu should stop using this human tragedy to score points for his political end,” said Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator with the Israelis.
Ali Abunimah says that Netanyahu is practicing Holocaust denial and seeking to “whitewash Hitler.”
Scott Roth characterizes this as an ad hoc historical theory.
The philosophical underpinnings of Israel r intellectually & morally bankrupt. This is why we see these sort of ad hoc historical theories.
CJ Werleman cracks:
Netanyahu blames Palestinians – not Nazis – for Holocaust. Somewhere in Hell, Hitler high-fives the Devil.
Knesset member Ahmad Tibi had perhaps the best line in reference to Netanyahu’s race baiting before the last Israeli elections:
It was the mufti who rented the buses that took Arabs to the polls in droves
Max Blumenthal points out that Netanyahu has peddled this theory before, in 2009 speech. Netanyahu:
Eichmann’s deputy, Dieter Wisliceny, provided the following chilling testimony at Nuremberg: “The Mufti played a role in the decision to destroy the Jews of Europe. The importance of his role cannot be ignored. The Mufti repeatedly proposed to the authorities with whom he was in contact, first and foremost Hitler, Ribbentrop and Himmler, to destroy the European Jews. He saw in that an appropriate solution to the Palestinian question”. Wisliceny even provided hearsay evidence that the Mufti was directly involved in the Final Solution. “The Mufti was one of the initiators of the methodical destruction of the Jews of Europe and was a partner and consultant to Eichmann and Hitler on how to execute the plan. He was one of Eichmann’s best friends and constantly pushed him to speed up the destruction. With my own ears,” he said, “I heard him say that he visited the gas chambers of Auschwitz anonymously in the company of Eichmann”.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As opposed to the things being said by Iran’s representatives and others, the Zionist leaders did not use the Holocaust to destroy the Palestinian national movement. On the contrary, the most senior Palestinian leader at the time, the Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini preached and acted to implement the Holocaust in order to destroy the Zionist movement. It almost worked.
The Times of Israel quotes Tom Segev disputing Netanyahu’s history:
the notion that Hitler needed to be convinced to exterminate the Jews was “entirely absurd.” He stressed that “one can surely say that [Husseini] was a war criminal, but one cannot say Hitler needed his advice.”
Segev, born in Jerusalem to parents who escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, further stressed that by the time Husseini and Hitler met in 1941, the annihilation of the Jews had already begun. In fact, hundreds of thousands of Jews had been killed by the Nazis and their collaborators by the time of the meeting.
Here is another sign of how the speech is blowing up in Netanyahu’s face. From the Huffington Post’s Jessica Schulberg, on Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer’s claim:
Dermer says if US spent 1/10 the time worrying about Palestinian incitement as “Jews building apartments in Jerusalem” things would be diff
Israelis are trying to change the subject.
My intention was not to absolve Hitler of his responsibility, but rather to show that the forefathers of the Palestinian nation, without a country and without the so-called ‘occupation’, without land and without settlements, even then aspired to systematic incitement to exterminate the Jews.
Meanwhile, Germany says it has no idea what Netanyahu is talking about.
Here is the speech to the World Zionist Organization, in which Netanyahu relates the ten biggest lies told about Israel. One lie is that Israel intends to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. He says this lie has a long pedigree, going back to the mufti. The relevant portion begins at 2:55.
Here’s the passage:
My grandfather came to this land in 1920 and he landed in Jaffa, and very shortly after he landed he went to the immigration office in Jaffa. And a few months later it was burned down by marauders. These attackers, Arab attackers, murdered several Jews, including our celebrated writer Brenner.
And this attack and other attacks on the Jewish community in 1920, 1921, 1929, were instigated by a call of the Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini, who was later sought for war crimes in the Nuremberg trials because he had a central role in fomenting the final solution. He flew to Berlin. Hitler didn’t want to exterminate the Jews at the time, he wanted to expel the Jews. And Haj Amin al-Husseini went to Hitler and said, “If you expel them, they’ll all come here.” “So what should I do with them?” he asked. He said, “Burn them.” And he was sought in, during the Nuremberg trials for prosecution. He escaped it and later died of cancer, after the war, died of cancer in Cairo. But this is what Haj Amin al-Husseini said. He said, “The Jews seek to destroy… the al-Aqsa Mosque.”
The remarks are a huge embarrassment. Even Israeli leaders are characterizing them as “shameful,” according to the Times of Israel.
An overwhelming majority of Holocaust historians reject the notion that Husseini planted the idea of a “Final Solution” for Europe’s Jews in Hitler’s mind.
The Guardian says the speech has drawn a storm of criticism with many saying that Netanyahu is trivializing the Holocaust.
India Today says the speech has stirred up trouble for Netanyahu, and quotes Saeb Erekat:
It is a sad day in history when the leader of the Israeli government hates his neighbour so much that he is willing to absolve the most notorious war criminal in history, Adolf Hitler, of the murder of six million Jews,” Saeb Erekat, the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s secretary general, said.
“Mr Netanyahu should stop using this human tragedy to score points for his political end,” said Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator with the Israelis.
Ali Abunimah says that Netanyahu is practicing Holocaust denial and seeking to “whitewash Hitler.”
Scott Roth characterizes this as an ad hoc historical theory.
The philosophical underpinnings of Israel r intellectually & morally bankrupt. This is why we see these sort of ad hoc historical theories.
CJ Werleman cracks:
Netanyahu blames Palestinians – not Nazis – for Holocaust. Somewhere in Hell, Hitler high-fives the Devil.
Knesset member Ahmad Tibi had perhaps the best line in reference to Netanyahu’s race baiting before the last Israeli elections:
It was the mufti who rented the buses that took Arabs to the polls in droves
Max Blumenthal points out that Netanyahu has peddled this theory before, in 2009 speech. Netanyahu:
Eichmann’s deputy, Dieter Wisliceny, provided the following chilling testimony at Nuremberg: “The Mufti played a role in the decision to destroy the Jews of Europe. The importance of his role cannot be ignored. The Mufti repeatedly proposed to the authorities with whom he was in contact, first and foremost Hitler, Ribbentrop and Himmler, to destroy the European Jews. He saw in that an appropriate solution to the Palestinian question”. Wisliceny even provided hearsay evidence that the Mufti was directly involved in the Final Solution. “The Mufti was one of the initiators of the methodical destruction of the Jews of Europe and was a partner and consultant to Eichmann and Hitler on how to execute the plan. He was one of Eichmann’s best friends and constantly pushed him to speed up the destruction. With my own ears,” he said, “I heard him say that he visited the gas chambers of Auschwitz anonymously in the company of Eichmann”.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As opposed to the things being said by Iran’s representatives and others, the Zionist leaders did not use the Holocaust to destroy the Palestinian national movement. On the contrary, the most senior Palestinian leader at the time, the Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini preached and acted to implement the Holocaust in order to destroy the Zionist movement. It almost worked.
The Times of Israel quotes Tom Segev disputing Netanyahu’s history:
the notion that Hitler needed to be convinced to exterminate the Jews was “entirely absurd.” He stressed that “one can surely say that [Husseini] was a war criminal, but one cannot say Hitler needed his advice.”
Segev, born in Jerusalem to parents who escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, further stressed that by the time Husseini and Hitler met in 1941, the annihilation of the Jews had already begun. In fact, hundreds of thousands of Jews had been killed by the Nazis and their collaborators by the time of the meeting.
Here is another sign of how the speech is blowing up in Netanyahu’s face. From the Huffington Post’s Jessica Schulberg, on Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer’s claim:
Dermer says if US spent 1/10 the time worrying about Palestinian incitement as “Jews building apartments in Jerusalem” things would be diff
Israelis are trying to change the subject.
Bashar al-Jabari 15 Hossam Al-Jabari 17
Orders to Kill
Number of Palestinian Victims Rises to 47 Killed, Including 12 Children and Woman, in oPt, Since Early October, Occupied East Jerusalem Isolated and Divided into Small Cantons.
With the continuing international policy of silence over grave crimes and violations committed by Israeli forces in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), Israeli forces have continued to flagrantly commit more crimes and violations against the Palestinian civilians.
In less than 12 hours, Israeli forces killed four Palestinian civilians, including two children, from Hebron and a fifth in the Gaza Strip.
This escalation coincides with the Israeli arbitrary and coercive measures in occupied East Jerusalem and its suburbs to isolate the Arab neighborhoods in application of a series of the Israeli Cabinet's decisions.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns with the strongest terms the Israeli forces' disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians, shooting-to-kill policy in suspicion of attempts to stab Israeli soldiers and settlers, and the arbitrary policies applied in occupied Jerusalem.
Moreover, PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate action and fulfill its legal and moral obligations to protect the Palestinian civilians in the oPt. PCHR also believes that the silence of the international community towards these crimes encourages the Israeli government to continue its policy that violates the international humanitarian law.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR regarding the latest Israeli crimes:
· At approximately 08:00 on Tuesday, 20 October 2015, dozens of schoolboys from Beit Awwa village, southwest of Doura, southwest of Hebron, organized a protest heading to the annexation wall, west of the said village.
Due to which, Israeli forces moved into the area through the security iron gate at the wall. The protestors threw stones at Israeli soldiers who chased them and fired tear gas canisters until they reached the Palestinian houses.
At approximately 10:45, while four Israeli soldiers were present between the Palestinian houses, Oday Hesham Mohammed al-Masalma (24) was carrying a bag with olives inside it and walking between the trees.
Oday stabbed one of the soldiers in his arm, but the 3 other soldiers opened fire at him, due to which he fell to the ground and rolled in a dirt downhill.
They went after him and shot him dead. Israeli forces denied paramedics, who arrived in the Palestine Red Crescent Society's (PRCS) ambulance, access to the wounded for half an hour. Israeli forces then withdrew, while the corpse was taken to Hebron Governmental Hospital.
Following medical examination, it was found out that Oday sustained several bullet wounds to the left leg causing laceration in the blood vessels and a bullet wound to the back left side of the head. According to PCHR's investigations, Israeli forces could have arrested the aforementioned person after wounding him.
· At approximately 15:00, Israeli forces stationed on the main road, opposite to "Gosh Etzion" settlement, south of Bethlehem, opened fire at a Palestinian civilian vehicle. As a result, the driver Hamza Mousa al-'Amla (25), from Beit Oula village, west of Hebron, was killed by several bullets.
The corpse was taken by an Israeli military ambulance to an unknown destination. Israeli forces claimed that al-'Amla had run over 2 settlers on the side of the road.
· In new cold-blooded crime, Israeli forces killed in the evening two children from al-Ja'bari family in the vicinity of "Kiryat Arba" settlement, east of Hebron.
According to PCHR's investigations and statements of eyewitnesses, at approximately 21:30, dozens of settlers organized a protest heading from "Kiryat Arba" settlement to the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.
Meanwhile, Bashar Nizam Jamil al-Ja'abari (15) and his cousin Hussam Isma'il Jamil al-Ja'abari (17) were on their way back home in al-Ras area adjacent to the aforementioned settlement.
While watching the demonstration, the two children stood beside an Israeli soldier, who was around the corner of al-Rajabi building that the Israeli settlers are attempting to seize control over.
The soldier was leaning against the wall and normally talking to the two children when the later asked the soldier to help them to cross via the iron gate, which separates the aforementioned building from where they live.
When the two children heading towards the gate were only two meters away from the soldier, other Israeli soldiers fortified in a military watchtower in the area opened fire at the children and killed them immediately.
The Israeli forces detained the children's corpses and denied the Palestinian civilians and ambulances access to the area.
In the Gaza Strip, at approximately 16:00, Israeli forces stationed along the border fence with Israel, east of al-Bureij refugee camp, opened fire at a group of Palestinian civilians, who were in an agricultural field that is around 350 meters away from the aforementioned fence.
As a result, Ahmed Sharif al-Sarahi (30) from Deir al-Balah was killed after being hit with 3 bullets to the chest, while two others were wounded.
The Israeli Army Radio reported that the Israeli forces killed a Palestinian sniper and wounded two others.
It should be mentioned that the Israeli warplanes had already targeted al-Sarhi's house in summer 2014 during the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Thus, the number of the killed Palestinian civilians since early October has risen to 47 Palestinians, including 12 children and a woman, in the oPt.
The escalation of committing such crimes coincides with the Israeli arbitrary and coercive measures in occupied Jerusalem and its suburbs.
Following the Israeli Cabinet's decision to isolate the Arab neighborhoods in response to the "attacks" in the city, the Israeli forces started imposing a cordon on the villages and neighborhoods of occupied East Jerusalem by closing its entrances with cement cubes and establishing checkpoints in addition to erecting iron barriers in the streets and main roads.
All of this is part of the collective punishment policy practiced by Israeli forces against Jerusalemites. Since the aforementioned decision was issued, Israeli forces started to apply the policy of isolating the neighborhoods of the city from each other, and erecting iron barriers and checkpoints in the streets, especially in the Old City and its markets.
They tightly closed the entrances and streets leading to al-Sawana, al-Jouz Valley, Sour Baher, al-Mukaber Mountiain, al-Eisawiya, Silwan and Ras al-Amoud villages. Thus, they deliberately disrupt life in the occupied city, obstruct civilians' movement and increase their daily suffering.
PCHR strongly condemns these crimes that prove the increasing number of killings among Palestinian civilians in the oPt in general and occupied East Jerusalem in particular.
Moreover, PCHR stresses that in the above-mentioned cases, Israeli forces could have used less force against the victims or could have arrested and tied them if their allegations were true.
PCHR reiterates its call upon the international community to take immediate and effective actions to put an end to such crimes and reiterates its call for the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to fulfill their obligations under Article 1; i.e., to respect and to ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances, and their obligation under Article 146 to prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
These grave breaches constitute war crimes under Article 147 of the same Convention and Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions.
Orders to Kill
Number of Palestinian Victims Rises to 47 Killed, Including 12 Children and Woman, in oPt, Since Early October, Occupied East Jerusalem Isolated and Divided into Small Cantons.
With the continuing international policy of silence over grave crimes and violations committed by Israeli forces in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), Israeli forces have continued to flagrantly commit more crimes and violations against the Palestinian civilians.
In less than 12 hours, Israeli forces killed four Palestinian civilians, including two children, from Hebron and a fifth in the Gaza Strip.
This escalation coincides with the Israeli arbitrary and coercive measures in occupied East Jerusalem and its suburbs to isolate the Arab neighborhoods in application of a series of the Israeli Cabinet's decisions.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns with the strongest terms the Israeli forces' disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians, shooting-to-kill policy in suspicion of attempts to stab Israeli soldiers and settlers, and the arbitrary policies applied in occupied Jerusalem.
Moreover, PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate action and fulfill its legal and moral obligations to protect the Palestinian civilians in the oPt. PCHR also believes that the silence of the international community towards these crimes encourages the Israeli government to continue its policy that violates the international humanitarian law.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR regarding the latest Israeli crimes:
· At approximately 08:00 on Tuesday, 20 October 2015, dozens of schoolboys from Beit Awwa village, southwest of Doura, southwest of Hebron, organized a protest heading to the annexation wall, west of the said village.
Due to which, Israeli forces moved into the area through the security iron gate at the wall. The protestors threw stones at Israeli soldiers who chased them and fired tear gas canisters until they reached the Palestinian houses.
At approximately 10:45, while four Israeli soldiers were present between the Palestinian houses, Oday Hesham Mohammed al-Masalma (24) was carrying a bag with olives inside it and walking between the trees.
Oday stabbed one of the soldiers in his arm, but the 3 other soldiers opened fire at him, due to which he fell to the ground and rolled in a dirt downhill.
They went after him and shot him dead. Israeli forces denied paramedics, who arrived in the Palestine Red Crescent Society's (PRCS) ambulance, access to the wounded for half an hour. Israeli forces then withdrew, while the corpse was taken to Hebron Governmental Hospital.
Following medical examination, it was found out that Oday sustained several bullet wounds to the left leg causing laceration in the blood vessels and a bullet wound to the back left side of the head. According to PCHR's investigations, Israeli forces could have arrested the aforementioned person after wounding him.
· At approximately 15:00, Israeli forces stationed on the main road, opposite to "Gosh Etzion" settlement, south of Bethlehem, opened fire at a Palestinian civilian vehicle. As a result, the driver Hamza Mousa al-'Amla (25), from Beit Oula village, west of Hebron, was killed by several bullets.
The corpse was taken by an Israeli military ambulance to an unknown destination. Israeli forces claimed that al-'Amla had run over 2 settlers on the side of the road.
· In new cold-blooded crime, Israeli forces killed in the evening two children from al-Ja'bari family in the vicinity of "Kiryat Arba" settlement, east of Hebron.
According to PCHR's investigations and statements of eyewitnesses, at approximately 21:30, dozens of settlers organized a protest heading from "Kiryat Arba" settlement to the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.
Meanwhile, Bashar Nizam Jamil al-Ja'abari (15) and his cousin Hussam Isma'il Jamil al-Ja'abari (17) were on their way back home in al-Ras area adjacent to the aforementioned settlement.
While watching the demonstration, the two children stood beside an Israeli soldier, who was around the corner of al-Rajabi building that the Israeli settlers are attempting to seize control over.
The soldier was leaning against the wall and normally talking to the two children when the later asked the soldier to help them to cross via the iron gate, which separates the aforementioned building from where they live.
When the two children heading towards the gate were only two meters away from the soldier, other Israeli soldiers fortified in a military watchtower in the area opened fire at the children and killed them immediately.
The Israeli forces detained the children's corpses and denied the Palestinian civilians and ambulances access to the area.
In the Gaza Strip, at approximately 16:00, Israeli forces stationed along the border fence with Israel, east of al-Bureij refugee camp, opened fire at a group of Palestinian civilians, who were in an agricultural field that is around 350 meters away from the aforementioned fence.
As a result, Ahmed Sharif al-Sarahi (30) from Deir al-Balah was killed after being hit with 3 bullets to the chest, while two others were wounded.
The Israeli Army Radio reported that the Israeli forces killed a Palestinian sniper and wounded two others.
It should be mentioned that the Israeli warplanes had already targeted al-Sarhi's house in summer 2014 during the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Thus, the number of the killed Palestinian civilians since early October has risen to 47 Palestinians, including 12 children and a woman, in the oPt.
The escalation of committing such crimes coincides with the Israeli arbitrary and coercive measures in occupied Jerusalem and its suburbs.
Following the Israeli Cabinet's decision to isolate the Arab neighborhoods in response to the "attacks" in the city, the Israeli forces started imposing a cordon on the villages and neighborhoods of occupied East Jerusalem by closing its entrances with cement cubes and establishing checkpoints in addition to erecting iron barriers in the streets and main roads.
All of this is part of the collective punishment policy practiced by Israeli forces against Jerusalemites. Since the aforementioned decision was issued, Israeli forces started to apply the policy of isolating the neighborhoods of the city from each other, and erecting iron barriers and checkpoints in the streets, especially in the Old City and its markets.
They tightly closed the entrances and streets leading to al-Sawana, al-Jouz Valley, Sour Baher, al-Mukaber Mountiain, al-Eisawiya, Silwan and Ras al-Amoud villages. Thus, they deliberately disrupt life in the occupied city, obstruct civilians' movement and increase their daily suffering.
PCHR strongly condemns these crimes that prove the increasing number of killings among Palestinian civilians in the oPt in general and occupied East Jerusalem in particular.
Moreover, PCHR stresses that in the above-mentioned cases, Israeli forces could have used less force against the victims or could have arrested and tied them if their allegations were true.
PCHR reiterates its call upon the international community to take immediate and effective actions to put an end to such crimes and reiterates its call for the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to fulfill their obligations under Article 1; i.e., to respect and to ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances, and their obligation under Article 146 to prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
These grave breaches constitute war crimes under Article 147 of the same Convention and Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions.
By Khalid Amayreh in Occupied Palestine
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has arrived in Israel-Occupied Palestine, in an effort to defuse mounting tension between Israel and the Palestinians as the Israeli occupation army killed five more Palestinians Tuesday, bringing the number of Palestinian victims of Israeli repression to as many as 51 in less than three weeks..
More than 3000 other Palestinians are thought to have sustained varied injuries from live bullets, rubber-coated bullets, and stun grenades or from tear-gas inhalation.
Moreover, Palestinian eyewitnesses and some human rights groups have accused Israel of executing in cold blood a number of Palestinian youngsters on the mere suspicion that they were planning to stab Israeli soldiers and settlers.
Around nine Israeli soldiers and settlers were also killed and dozens injured in the same period.
The violence, often dubbed as the Third Palestinian Intifada or uprising, started after government-backed Messianic Jewish fanatics carried out forced encroachments, nearly on a daily basis, into the Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam's holiest sanctuaries.
Messianic Jewish groups, including government ministers, make no secret of their desires to see the Islamic Shrines at the Haram al-Sharif destroyed by whatever means necessary in order to build a Jewish Temple in the area.
Most Palestinians consider the Aqsa Mosque a matter of life or death since it symbolizes their national existence. Hence, the repeated storming of the Mosque by fanatical Jewish groups is viewed by most Palestinians as the ultimate provocation.
On the other hand, Israel seems thoroughly intoxicated with arrogance of power as a result of Israel's military might and also by Jewish domination over the American government, especially Congress.
Following his arrival in Tel Aviv, Moon reiterated platitudes, repeated ad nauseam, about the Palestinian question.
However, the UN Chief avoided blaming Israel for effectively killing the proposed two-state solution through settlement expansion which most observers contend has eliminated any remaining prospects for the establishment of any viable Palestinian state.
“It is not too late to avoid a broader crisis,” Moon insisted. “In my meetings today and tomorrow with the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships, I will be appealing to all to take concerted steps to limit new incidents on both sides. Violence only begets violence.”
Moon added that extremists on either side, or those who think violence is the answer, must not be allowed to further fuel the conflict.
“Beyond the immediate tensions, what is missing is the resolve to restore a political horizon for talks, and a political process that delivers real results and hope,” Mr. Ban noted. “Violence only undermines the legitimate Palestinian aspirations for statehood and the longing of Israelis for security.”
Underlining that “the status quo is only making things worse,” the Secretary-General stated that this conflict has gone on for far too long.
“We must, for the future of our children, turn back from this dangerous abyss, safeguard the two-state solution and lead people back onto the road towards peace,” he urged, adding that the UN, and himself as Secretary-General, will continue to support all efforts to create the conditions for a return to meaningful negotiations and a just and lasting peace.
Moon's visit is unlikely to contribute to the restoration of calm, especially in light of Israel's failure to stop tampering with the delicate situation at the Aqsa Mosque.
Moreover, the deadly Israeli response to Palestinian protests over the Aqsa crisis and also the vanishing of real hopes for Palestinian statehood seem to have created an incendiary situation which can only be contained by drastic UN action against Israel's lebensraum policies in Palestine, namely the settlement expansion.
However, such an intervention by the UN is highly unlikely due to US hegemony over the international organization.
The US, Israel’s guardian-ally, has used its veto power at the UN Security Council numerous times to kill dozens of UNSC resolutions that would have forced Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories and allow for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.
Moreover, the virtually unlimited military support for Israel by the US has made the Zionist state a virtual military superpower that is capable of defying the entire international community, including the U.S. Hence, the UN failure to resolve the Palestinian question.
Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, who is notorious for his dishonesty and mendacity, has been saying that Israel will not seek to change the status quo in Jerusalem's al-Haram al-Sharif.
However, those familiar with Netanyahu's mindset and twisted language realize too well that Netanyahu, when referring to the status quo, is only alluding to the fait accompli where fanatic Jews are allowed, with army escort and protection, to enter the Islamic sanctuary, not to visit the place as Israeli propaganda alleges, but rather to hold Talmudic rituals, in order to desensitize Muslim objections and to arrogate a foothold at the 1400-year Islamic sanctuary.
Hence, Israel bears absolute and full responsibility for the current violence engulfing the area, first for knowingly killing all prospects for peace due to unrelenting settlement expansion and, second, for tampering with the powder keg at the Aqsa Mosque.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has arrived in Israel-Occupied Palestine, in an effort to defuse mounting tension between Israel and the Palestinians as the Israeli occupation army killed five more Palestinians Tuesday, bringing the number of Palestinian victims of Israeli repression to as many as 51 in less than three weeks..
More than 3000 other Palestinians are thought to have sustained varied injuries from live bullets, rubber-coated bullets, and stun grenades or from tear-gas inhalation.
Moreover, Palestinian eyewitnesses and some human rights groups have accused Israel of executing in cold blood a number of Palestinian youngsters on the mere suspicion that they were planning to stab Israeli soldiers and settlers.
Around nine Israeli soldiers and settlers were also killed and dozens injured in the same period.
The violence, often dubbed as the Third Palestinian Intifada or uprising, started after government-backed Messianic Jewish fanatics carried out forced encroachments, nearly on a daily basis, into the Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam's holiest sanctuaries.
Messianic Jewish groups, including government ministers, make no secret of their desires to see the Islamic Shrines at the Haram al-Sharif destroyed by whatever means necessary in order to build a Jewish Temple in the area.
Most Palestinians consider the Aqsa Mosque a matter of life or death since it symbolizes their national existence. Hence, the repeated storming of the Mosque by fanatical Jewish groups is viewed by most Palestinians as the ultimate provocation.
On the other hand, Israel seems thoroughly intoxicated with arrogance of power as a result of Israel's military might and also by Jewish domination over the American government, especially Congress.
Following his arrival in Tel Aviv, Moon reiterated platitudes, repeated ad nauseam, about the Palestinian question.
However, the UN Chief avoided blaming Israel for effectively killing the proposed two-state solution through settlement expansion which most observers contend has eliminated any remaining prospects for the establishment of any viable Palestinian state.
“It is not too late to avoid a broader crisis,” Moon insisted. “In my meetings today and tomorrow with the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships, I will be appealing to all to take concerted steps to limit new incidents on both sides. Violence only begets violence.”
Moon added that extremists on either side, or those who think violence is the answer, must not be allowed to further fuel the conflict.
“Beyond the immediate tensions, what is missing is the resolve to restore a political horizon for talks, and a political process that delivers real results and hope,” Mr. Ban noted. “Violence only undermines the legitimate Palestinian aspirations for statehood and the longing of Israelis for security.”
Underlining that “the status quo is only making things worse,” the Secretary-General stated that this conflict has gone on for far too long.
“We must, for the future of our children, turn back from this dangerous abyss, safeguard the two-state solution and lead people back onto the road towards peace,” he urged, adding that the UN, and himself as Secretary-General, will continue to support all efforts to create the conditions for a return to meaningful negotiations and a just and lasting peace.
Moon's visit is unlikely to contribute to the restoration of calm, especially in light of Israel's failure to stop tampering with the delicate situation at the Aqsa Mosque.
Moreover, the deadly Israeli response to Palestinian protests over the Aqsa crisis and also the vanishing of real hopes for Palestinian statehood seem to have created an incendiary situation which can only be contained by drastic UN action against Israel's lebensraum policies in Palestine, namely the settlement expansion.
However, such an intervention by the UN is highly unlikely due to US hegemony over the international organization.
The US, Israel’s guardian-ally, has used its veto power at the UN Security Council numerous times to kill dozens of UNSC resolutions that would have forced Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories and allow for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.
Moreover, the virtually unlimited military support for Israel by the US has made the Zionist state a virtual military superpower that is capable of defying the entire international community, including the U.S. Hence, the UN failure to resolve the Palestinian question.
Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, who is notorious for his dishonesty and mendacity, has been saying that Israel will not seek to change the status quo in Jerusalem's al-Haram al-Sharif.
However, those familiar with Netanyahu's mindset and twisted language realize too well that Netanyahu, when referring to the status quo, is only alluding to the fait accompli where fanatic Jews are allowed, with army escort and protection, to enter the Islamic sanctuary, not to visit the place as Israeli propaganda alleges, but rather to hold Talmudic rituals, in order to desensitize Muslim objections and to arrogate a foothold at the 1400-year Islamic sanctuary.
Hence, Israel bears absolute and full responsibility for the current violence engulfing the area, first for knowingly killing all prospects for peace due to unrelenting settlement expansion and, second, for tampering with the powder keg at the Aqsa Mosque.
The Change and Reform Bloc at the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) expressed on Tuesday its appreciation of the calls launched by the Chairman of Kuwait’s National Assembly to expel Israel from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
The Change and Reform Bloc called on all Arab and Islamic parliaments to back up the Kuwaiti move in support for the Palestinian people and to pressure their governments to kick out Israeli ambassadors.
Kuwait’s National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim urged more than 145 parliaments, during the 133rd session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva, to expel the Israeli Knesset from IPU.
“Crimes of unspeakable cruelty are being committed by the Israeli occupation forces every day and aired on TV,” he said, affirming the Arab parliaments' support for Kuwait’s National Assembly towards this move.
The Change and Reform Bloc called on all Arab and Islamic parliaments to back up the Kuwaiti move in support for the Palestinian people and to pressure their governments to kick out Israeli ambassadors.
Kuwait’s National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim urged more than 145 parliaments, during the 133rd session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva, to expel the Israeli Knesset from IPU.
“Crimes of unspeakable cruelty are being committed by the Israeli occupation forces every day and aired on TV,” he said, affirming the Arab parliaments' support for Kuwait’s National Assembly towards this move.
Scandinavian airline SAS has decided to suspend its service to Israel, citing political instability as being behind the decision.
"The route to Tel Aviv is expensive to operate and is under tough competition and we do not have sufficient profitability to continue to operate it. We can also see that the political instability affects the route," a spokesman for SAS was quoted by Israeli news outlets as stating.
An Israeli official was quoted by the Yediot Aharonot newspaper as saying that the decision implies that it has become difficult to market for Israel in Scandinavia.
Officials in Israel’s ministry of tourism expressed their disappointment over the decision.
Since the outbreak of the Jerusalem Intifada, waged in response to Israel’s mounting terrorism against Palestinian civilians and al-Aqsa Mosque, Israel’s economy and tourism have seen sharp breakdowns.
Things have gone much worse for the Israeli occupation after calls to boycott Israeli goods have swept the world, trashing Israel’s already-ill famed repute.
"The route to Tel Aviv is expensive to operate and is under tough competition and we do not have sufficient profitability to continue to operate it. We can also see that the political instability affects the route," a spokesman for SAS was quoted by Israeli news outlets as stating.
An Israeli official was quoted by the Yediot Aharonot newspaper as saying that the decision implies that it has become difficult to market for Israel in Scandinavia.
Officials in Israel’s ministry of tourism expressed their disappointment over the decision.
Since the outbreak of the Jerusalem Intifada, waged in response to Israel’s mounting terrorism against Palestinian civilians and al-Aqsa Mosque, Israel’s economy and tourism have seen sharp breakdowns.
Things have gone much worse for the Israeli occupation after calls to boycott Israeli goods have swept the world, trashing Israel’s already-ill famed repute.
A consortium of Moroccan pro-Palestine institutions on Tuesday called for staging a mass-rally in Morocco’s capital of Casablanca next Sunday in support for the ongoing Jerusalem Intifada.
Morocco’s pro-Palestine institutions said in a press statement: “Palestine has been struggling; Palestinians’ blood has been shed; their land has been usurped by Israelis; yet silence and indifference have turned into the world’s official decisions. Only the free ones have risen up.”
The statement urged the Moroccan masses to join the demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Among the parties and organizations that signed the statement were the Istiqlal Party, The Justice and Development Party, Justice and Charity Party, and the National Union of Moroccan Students.
Morocco’s pro-Palestine institutions said in a press statement: “Palestine has been struggling; Palestinians’ blood has been shed; their land has been usurped by Israelis; yet silence and indifference have turned into the world’s official decisions. Only the free ones have risen up.”
The statement urged the Moroccan masses to join the demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Among the parties and organizations that signed the statement were the Istiqlal Party, The Justice and Development Party, Justice and Charity Party, and the National Union of Moroccan Students.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was meeting Palestinian and Israeli leaders on Tuesday in a surprise two-day visit to the region aimed at ending more than two weeks of confrontations in the West Bank.
In two separate video messages, Ban Ki-moon called on Israelis and Palestinians to halt “acts of violence” and to return to political negotiations in order to achieve progress in the peace process.
For his part, Dr. Ahmad Bahar, first deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), said Ban Ki-moon’s visit aims at stopping Jerusalem intifada, stressing that it is doomed to fail.
Dr. Bahar said, in the opening of an exhibition in Gaza on Tuesday, that the UN and the International Quartet are continuously exerting efforts in a desperate attempt to stop Jerusalem uprising, underlining that the intifada will continue until the liberation of Occupied Jerusalem.
Bahar demanded the prosecution of Israel at international courts for its crimes against the Palestinians especially the Jerusalemites. He called for supporting Palestinians in demanding their right of liberation, and condemned the continuation of the security coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
In two separate video messages, Ban Ki-moon called on Israelis and Palestinians to halt “acts of violence” and to return to political negotiations in order to achieve progress in the peace process.
For his part, Dr. Ahmad Bahar, first deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), said Ban Ki-moon’s visit aims at stopping Jerusalem intifada, stressing that it is doomed to fail.
Dr. Bahar said, in the opening of an exhibition in Gaza on Tuesday, that the UN and the International Quartet are continuously exerting efforts in a desperate attempt to stop Jerusalem uprising, underlining that the intifada will continue until the liberation of Occupied Jerusalem.
Bahar demanded the prosecution of Israel at international courts for its crimes against the Palestinians especially the Jerusalemites. He called for supporting Palestinians in demanding their right of liberation, and condemned the continuation of the security coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
20 oct 2015
Names of all 49 dead
Two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli soldiers in southern West Bank, on Tuesday, while a third Palestinian died after being shoot by Israeli troops during clashes at borders areas near central Gaza. Clashes between Palestinian youth and invading Israeli soldiers were reported all over the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Since October 1st, 49 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 1900 others injured by Israeli troops, according to Palestinian medical sources. An earlier report by the Ministry of Health showed that since the start of October, 5500 residents were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation fired by Israeli troops targeting Palestinian protesters.
On Tuesday afternoon, Hamza Mousa Al Amllah, 25, was shoot dead, after his car ran into a soldier and a civilian. The incident happened at the Gush Eztion Junction toward Jerusalem in the southern West Bank. Israeli media has reported that the car smashed into the two pedestrians before hitting a concrete barrier. It was alleged that Al Amllah got out of the car with a knife in his hand, before a soldier from the Kfir Brigade opened fire, shooting him fatally in the head.
Moreover, Israeli soldiers shot and killed, on Tuesday before noon, Odai Hashem al-Masalma, 24 years of age in Beit 'Awwa town, southwest of the southern West Bank city of Hebron. he sources added that a soldier shot al-Masalma in the back of his head from a very close distance, and that the bullet exited through his face. Soldiers also fired several live rounds at the Palestinian, especially his legs.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian, and injured nine others with live fire on Tuesday, during clashes on the border of the northern and central Gaza Strip. Ahmad al-Sarhi, 27, was shot dead east of the al-Bureij refugee camp. Six others were injured with live fire. In northern Gaza, eight Palestinians were injured near the Erez crossing. Three Palestinians were shot and injured with live fire and five others suffered injuries from tear gas, at least one of which was hit with a tear gas canister.
Moreover, 206 Palestinians have been injured on Tuesday during ongoing clashes between local youth and invading Israeli soldiers in West Bank communities, Palestinian sources reported. Clashes were reported in the central West Bank city of Ramallah, Nablus and Qalqilia in northern West Bank, and in the southern West Bank cities of Bethlehem and Hebron.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said that 16 youth were injured by Israeli troops live gunfire, 28 by rubber-coated steel bullets, and 165 were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.
Two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli soldiers in southern West Bank, on Tuesday, while a third Palestinian died after being shoot by Israeli troops during clashes at borders areas near central Gaza. Clashes between Palestinian youth and invading Israeli soldiers were reported all over the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Since October 1st, 49 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 1900 others injured by Israeli troops, according to Palestinian medical sources. An earlier report by the Ministry of Health showed that since the start of October, 5500 residents were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation fired by Israeli troops targeting Palestinian protesters.
On Tuesday afternoon, Hamza Mousa Al Amllah, 25, was shoot dead, after his car ran into a soldier and a civilian. The incident happened at the Gush Eztion Junction toward Jerusalem in the southern West Bank. Israeli media has reported that the car smashed into the two pedestrians before hitting a concrete barrier. It was alleged that Al Amllah got out of the car with a knife in his hand, before a soldier from the Kfir Brigade opened fire, shooting him fatally in the head.
Moreover, Israeli soldiers shot and killed, on Tuesday before noon, Odai Hashem al-Masalma, 24 years of age in Beit 'Awwa town, southwest of the southern West Bank city of Hebron. he sources added that a soldier shot al-Masalma in the back of his head from a very close distance, and that the bullet exited through his face. Soldiers also fired several live rounds at the Palestinian, especially his legs.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian, and injured nine others with live fire on Tuesday, during clashes on the border of the northern and central Gaza Strip. Ahmad al-Sarhi, 27, was shot dead east of the al-Bureij refugee camp. Six others were injured with live fire. In northern Gaza, eight Palestinians were injured near the Erez crossing. Three Palestinians were shot and injured with live fire and five others suffered injuries from tear gas, at least one of which was hit with a tear gas canister.
Moreover, 206 Palestinians have been injured on Tuesday during ongoing clashes between local youth and invading Israeli soldiers in West Bank communities, Palestinian sources reported. Clashes were reported in the central West Bank city of Ramallah, Nablus and Qalqilia in northern West Bank, and in the southern West Bank cities of Bethlehem and Hebron.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said that 16 youth were injured by Israeli troops live gunfire, 28 by rubber-coated steel bullets, and 165 were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.
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A video posted on October 12th, by Shehab news agency, described an attack on a Palestinian girl from Haifa in her twenties, for allegedly trying to assault a taxi driver in Tel Aviv after an argument between them.
The video shows a woman pinned to the ground by a man as passers-by argue about whether or not to beat and kill her. One woman claims she saw the woman had a knife and screams “Why are you playing around. They are coming to kill our children!” and demands her execution. Another bystander asks the man “Did she come at you with a knife?” and he replies “She put her hand in her pocket.” Yet Another kicks her in the head. While there undoubtedly are stabbings of Israelis taking place, there are also undoubtedly mistaken or false accusations and pressure from Israeli civilians to kill people they suspect of being terrorists. The latest example being the Eritrean asylum seeker Mulu Habtom Zerhom who was shot and beaten to death in the Beersheva central bus station after being mistaken for an Arab. Because Mulu was not Palestinian there will be an investigation committee looking into his murder. Palestinians who are killed are assumed guilty by default. In the case of the Palestinian woman in the video taken in Tel Aviv, if some of the bystanders hadn’t intervened and the woman had been lynched it would have been reported as: “knife wielding terrorist neutralized”. This is how the Israeli media portrayed 23 year old Ahmed Sha’ban from Ras el-Amud in Occupied East Jerusalem. Al Quds Newspaper published a video showing an Israeli security guard shooting twice directly at Ahmed’s body after he is already on the ground. An Israeli eye witness is heard stating: “Central bus station in Jerusalem, just now, a terrorist was exterminated, bro, right in front of me! Right in front of me he shot him ten times! Ten bullets were shot at him now! It’s such a mess here! I don’t know, he didn’t touch anything… He didn’t have a knife in his hand. Everyone shouted ‘terrorist’. The security guard shot him. I am telling you the bullets are right in front of me. My head hurts.” Israeli officials have been criticised by human rights organisations for calling on Israelis with licensed guns to carry them in public and to kill any suspect. They have made it clear that it is not necessary to determine if the suspect is holding a knife before shooting to kill. At a press conference on October 8th Israeli Minister of defence Moshe Yaalon stated: “Right now it is required primarily to be vigilant, determined, to respond quickly to any local attack, to eliminate the terrorist stabber or |
the perpetrator, stone thrower and the like, immediately on the spot. This is the answer to this kind of terrorism.”
Other Israeli officials rushed to echo the sentiment On the 11th of October MK Yair Lapid Head of the Yesh Atid party said on a televised interview,” whoever takes out a knife or a screwdriver or whatever it may be, needs to be shot to kill”, adding “don’t hesitate. Even at the start of an attack, shooting to kill is correct.”
There have been many cases of alleged knife wielders shot in the last months since the killing of Hadeel al-Hashlamoun in Hebron that Amnesty International categorized as an extrajudicial execution. They all deserve an investigative committee. Whether a suspect is falsely accused or did actually carry out an attack, shooting and/or killing people who do not constitute an immediate threat to anyone is war crime.
Other Israeli officials rushed to echo the sentiment On the 11th of October MK Yair Lapid Head of the Yesh Atid party said on a televised interview,” whoever takes out a knife or a screwdriver or whatever it may be, needs to be shot to kill”, adding “don’t hesitate. Even at the start of an attack, shooting to kill is correct.”
There have been many cases of alleged knife wielders shot in the last months since the killing of Hadeel al-Hashlamoun in Hebron that Amnesty International categorized as an extrajudicial execution. They all deserve an investigative committee. Whether a suspect is falsely accused or did actually carry out an attack, shooting and/or killing people who do not constitute an immediate threat to anyone is war crime.
19 oct 2015
A galaxy of Palestinian doctors from the Gaza Strip intends to leave for the West Bank in order to help the medical cadres there tackle the huge number of Palestinians who suffer injuries in Israeli attacks.
"The health ministry plans to send eight doctors from the Gaza Strip to help our people in the West Bank and stitch up their wounds in light of the large number of the wounded there," spokesman for the ministry Ashraf al-Qudra stated on Sunday.
Qudra added that the ministry is working on obtaining travel permits for the doctors, who are composed of anesthesiologists and surgeons.
The spokesman affirmed that this step is a humanitarian and moral duty towards the Palestinians in the West Bank.
ِAbout 50 Palestinians had been killed and more than 2,500 others had suffered different injuries since al-Quds intifada started in early October.
"The health ministry plans to send eight doctors from the Gaza Strip to help our people in the West Bank and stitch up their wounds in light of the large number of the wounded there," spokesman for the ministry Ashraf al-Qudra stated on Sunday.
Qudra added that the ministry is working on obtaining travel permits for the doctors, who are composed of anesthesiologists and surgeons.
The spokesman affirmed that this step is a humanitarian and moral duty towards the Palestinians in the West Bank.
ِAbout 50 Palestinians had been killed and more than 2,500 others had suffered different injuries since al-Quds intifada started in early October.
Names of all 46 dead
The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported, Monday, that the number of Palestinians, killed by Israeli fire since the beginning of this month, has arrived to 45, including 10 children, in addition to a political prisoner who died of medical neglect.
The Ministry said the youngest slain Palestinian was 16 months of age, and that eight of the children were killed in the West Bank, and two in the Gaza Strip.
It stated that 31 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, and 14 in the Gaza Strip, including a mother and her infant, in addition to a young man in the Houra area, in the Negev.
As for wounded Palestinians, the Ministry said 1850 were shot with live rounds and rubber-coated steel bullets; some suffered burns and others were beaten and assaulted by soldiers and settlers, while more than 3500 suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation.
410 Palestinians were shot with live rounds, 700 with rubber-coated steel bullets; 160 were assaulted by soldiers and settlers, and ten others suffered burns.
290 Palestinians were shot with live rounds in the Gaza Strip, and 70 with rubber-coated steel bullets, while dozens suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation.
The Ministry stated that the large number of Palestinians shot with live rounds is a clear indication that the Israeli army resorts to lethal force against Palestinians.
In addition, soldiers carried out 136 attacks against medical crews since the beginning of the month, wounding 165 medics, while 39 ambulances were hit with gas bombs and concussion grenades, and the soldiers also stopped and delayed ambulances 32 times, while trying to transport, or reach, wounded Palestinians.
The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported, Monday, that the number of Palestinians, killed by Israeli fire since the beginning of this month, has arrived to 45, including 10 children, in addition to a political prisoner who died of medical neglect.
The Ministry said the youngest slain Palestinian was 16 months of age, and that eight of the children were killed in the West Bank, and two in the Gaza Strip.
It stated that 31 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, and 14 in the Gaza Strip, including a mother and her infant, in addition to a young man in the Houra area, in the Negev.
As for wounded Palestinians, the Ministry said 1850 were shot with live rounds and rubber-coated steel bullets; some suffered burns and others were beaten and assaulted by soldiers and settlers, while more than 3500 suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation.
410 Palestinians were shot with live rounds, 700 with rubber-coated steel bullets; 160 were assaulted by soldiers and settlers, and ten others suffered burns.
290 Palestinians were shot with live rounds in the Gaza Strip, and 70 with rubber-coated steel bullets, while dozens suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation.
The Ministry stated that the large number of Palestinians shot with live rounds is a clear indication that the Israeli army resorts to lethal force against Palestinians.
In addition, soldiers carried out 136 attacks against medical crews since the beginning of the month, wounding 165 medics, while 39 ambulances were hit with gas bombs and concussion grenades, and the soldiers also stopped and delayed ambulances 32 times, while trying to transport, or reach, wounded Palestinians.
A consortium of pro-Palestine Swiss rights groups on Sunday called for mobilizing protests over the crimes perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces across the occupied Palestinian territories.
A joint statement by Swiss organizations called for immediately ceasing cooperation with the Israeli occupation government, particularly in the military field.
The organizations pushed for canceling an arms deal to buy six Hermes 900 drones struck with an Israeli company and estimated at some 262 million U.S. dollars.
The statement further called for condemning Israel’s repressive policies, illegal settlement, and racial discrimination against Palestinians.
The organizations also appealed for lifting the Gaza siege and impeaching the Israeli occupation for violating international laws and the Geneva human rights conventions.
The statement stressed the need to mobilize support for the anti-Israel boycott company.
Rights for All, the Swiss People’s Party, the Green party of Switzerland, and the Center for Human Rights and International Justice were among the organizations that signed the statement.
A joint statement by Swiss organizations called for immediately ceasing cooperation with the Israeli occupation government, particularly in the military field.
The organizations pushed for canceling an arms deal to buy six Hermes 900 drones struck with an Israeli company and estimated at some 262 million U.S. dollars.
The statement further called for condemning Israel’s repressive policies, illegal settlement, and racial discrimination against Palestinians.
The organizations also appealed for lifting the Gaza siege and impeaching the Israeli occupation for violating international laws and the Geneva human rights conventions.
The statement stressed the need to mobilize support for the anti-Israel boycott company.
Rights for All, the Swiss People’s Party, the Green party of Switzerland, and the Center for Human Rights and International Justice were among the organizations that signed the statement.
The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) has called for dispatching international forces to Occupied Jerusalem in an effort to provide protection for the Palestinians against Israeli violations.
In a press release on Sunday, ISESCO said that Israel's persistence in killing and wounding dozens of children, young people and elders in Jerusalem and attacking and desecrating the Aqsa Mosque must be confronted with a firm position by the international community.
It underlined that "Israel does not give any consideration to the international law, so there is need to impose sanctions on it to force it to abide by this law."
In a related context, the Israeli government rebuffed a recent French initiative proposing the deployment of international observers at the Aqsa Mosque in order to protect the status quo there.
According to Maariv newspaper, the Israeli government and Washington are working together to thwart the French overture at the UN Security Council.
In a press release on Sunday, ISESCO said that Israel's persistence in killing and wounding dozens of children, young people and elders in Jerusalem and attacking and desecrating the Aqsa Mosque must be confronted with a firm position by the international community.
It underlined that "Israel does not give any consideration to the international law, so there is need to impose sanctions on it to force it to abide by this law."
In a related context, the Israeli government rebuffed a recent French initiative proposing the deployment of international observers at the Aqsa Mosque in order to protect the status quo there.
According to Maariv newspaper, the Israeli government and Washington are working together to thwart the French overture at the UN Security Council.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry issued a statement, Sunday, strongly condemning the ongoing “Israeli violations and crimes, carried out by soldiers and paramilitary settlers", on a daily basis in different parts of occupied Palestine, and demanding an international investigation into the violations and escalation.
It said that the escalating Israeli crimes and violations were a direct outcome of the latest decision of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his government, approving the use of live fire, especially sniper fire, against Palestinian protesters.
"The racist Israeli policies have led to the death of dozens of Palestinians, and became clearly apparent with the execution of Fadel al-Qawasmi, 18 years of age," the Ministry said, “Video surveillance proved he was executed in cold blood, and how soldiers and paramilitary settlers cooperate in justifying their crimes, and try to portray the killings acts of self-defense."
"The crimes, the lies and the fabrications prove the dangerous level of immorality, extremism and racism among both soldiers and settlers", the Foreign Ministry added, "Such crimes are supported and encouraged by the official Israeli political leadership."
It stated that the Palestinian Authority would continue to document the Israeli crimes to expose Tel Aviv to the world, and submit those files to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and to courts in different countries.
The Ministry also reiterated the Palestinian demands of international protection to the Palestinian people, the formation of an international committee to investigate the Israeli crimes and violations, and to hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions.
It said that the escalating Israeli crimes and violations were a direct outcome of the latest decision of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his government, approving the use of live fire, especially sniper fire, against Palestinian protesters.
"The racist Israeli policies have led to the death of dozens of Palestinians, and became clearly apparent with the execution of Fadel al-Qawasmi, 18 years of age," the Ministry said, “Video surveillance proved he was executed in cold blood, and how soldiers and paramilitary settlers cooperate in justifying their crimes, and try to portray the killings acts of self-defense."
"The crimes, the lies and the fabrications prove the dangerous level of immorality, extremism and racism among both soldiers and settlers", the Foreign Ministry added, "Such crimes are supported and encouraged by the official Israeli political leadership."
It stated that the Palestinian Authority would continue to document the Israeli crimes to expose Tel Aviv to the world, and submit those files to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and to courts in different countries.
The Ministry also reiterated the Palestinian demands of international protection to the Palestinian people, the formation of an international committee to investigate the Israeli crimes and violations, and to hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions.
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) have been withholding the bodies of 15 Palestinians recently shot dead by Israeli army troops in the West Bank and Occupied Jerusalem.
The bodies of 15 slain Palestinians have been withheld by the IOA, including those of 11 Jerusalemites and four West Bankers.
The 15 Palestinians were fatally shot by Israeli gunfire after they allegedly carried out or planned for stabbing attacks against the Israeli occupation soldiers and settlers.
Earlier, on October 15, Israel’s security cabinet voted in favor of a suggestion by public security minister Gilad Erdan not to return to families the bodies of Palestinian activists killed during anti-occupation attacks.
Israeli news outlets reported that the Israeli occupation government intends to withhold the dead bodies of slain Palestinian anti-occupation activists in the so-called cemetery of numbers.
According to human rights organizations, Palestinians are buried by the occupation authorities in the Numbers Cemeteries without regard, whatsoever, to religious law and national traditions.
In such cemeteries dead Palestinians are also thrown in small graves with a depth that does not exceed 50 centimeters. Once the body is buried, it is covered with a kind of earth that lays the cadaver bare with the lightest wind blows, and thus, allows wild animals to mutilate the body and gulp it down.
The bodies of 15 slain Palestinians have been withheld by the IOA, including those of 11 Jerusalemites and four West Bankers.
The 15 Palestinians were fatally shot by Israeli gunfire after they allegedly carried out or planned for stabbing attacks against the Israeli occupation soldiers and settlers.
Earlier, on October 15, Israel’s security cabinet voted in favor of a suggestion by public security minister Gilad Erdan not to return to families the bodies of Palestinian activists killed during anti-occupation attacks.
Israeli news outlets reported that the Israeli occupation government intends to withhold the dead bodies of slain Palestinian anti-occupation activists in the so-called cemetery of numbers.
According to human rights organizations, Palestinians are buried by the occupation authorities in the Numbers Cemeteries without regard, whatsoever, to religious law and national traditions.
In such cemeteries dead Palestinians are also thrown in small graves with a depth that does not exceed 50 centimeters. Once the body is buried, it is covered with a kind of earth that lays the cadaver bare with the lightest wind blows, and thus, allows wild animals to mutilate the body and gulp it down.
Ahmad Bahar, First Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, condemned Israeli killing of Jerusalemite youths in cold blood and described that as criminal murder.
In a statement on Sunday, Bahar stressed the Palestinian determination to resist Israeli occupation until the liberation of Palestine.
He warned of Israeli plans of establishing the alleged Temple of Solomon over the ruins of the Aqsa Mosque and pointed to the danger of the temporal and spatial division of the holy site.
Bahar called on Palestinian factions to get united in support of Jerusalem intifada. He also asked Arab leaders to bear their responsibilities for the Aqsa Mosque and to offer financial and political aid to Occupied Jerusalem and its people.
In a statement on Sunday, Bahar stressed the Palestinian determination to resist Israeli occupation until the liberation of Palestine.
He warned of Israeli plans of establishing the alleged Temple of Solomon over the ruins of the Aqsa Mosque and pointed to the danger of the temporal and spatial division of the holy site.
Bahar called on Palestinian factions to get united in support of Jerusalem intifada. He also asked Arab leaders to bear their responsibilities for the Aqsa Mosque and to offer financial and political aid to Occupied Jerusalem and its people.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called for escalating Jerusalem intifada by all means in protection of the Aqsa Mosque and in protest against Israeli crimes.
Abu Zuhri opined, in a statement on Sunday, that Israeli repeated incursions into the Aqsa Mosque proves Israeli lying in terms of its willingness to calm down the conditions in occupied Jerusalem.
Abu Zuhri opined, in a statement on Sunday, that Israeli repeated incursions into the Aqsa Mosque proves Israeli lying in terms of its willingness to calm down the conditions in occupied Jerusalem.