25 feb 2014
Hamas movement warned the Israeli occupation of the repercussions of continuing the war against the city of al-Khalil and the Ibrahimi mosque. Hamas stressed that the occupation's attempts to impose a fait accompli in the city will not succeed in obliterating its historical facts, adding that the Palestinians will never give up their land and holy places.
It said in a statement on Tuesday that the crimes of the Israeli forces and settlers against the Palestinian people, their land and sanctities will not be subjected to a statute of limitations, and that the criminals will not escape punishment.
The movement also emphasized its absolute rejection of any agreement that leads to relinquishing the Palestinian rights, constants and sanctities. "Our steadfast people will continue to resist the occupation and its plans until the liberation of the land and the holy sites and the achievement of the right of return”, it said.
Hamas called on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jerusalem and the 1948 occupied territories to continue to confront the occupation until defeating it.
Tuesday marks the 20th anniversary of the massacre of the Ibrahimi mosque in al-Khalil city which claimed the lives of 29 worshipers and wounded 150 others, and which was committed in 1994 by Baruch Goldstein, with the participation of the occupation forces and settlers from Kiryat Arba settlement.
After the massacre, the Israeli soldiers closed the doors of the mosque to prevent worshipers from escaping and prevented citizens from entering the mosque to rescue the wounded, bringing the total number of martyrs to 50.
On the same day, the city of al-Khalil and all Palestinian cities witnessed tension and clashes with the Israeli soldiers, and the number of those killed reached 60 martyrs.
The occupation forces closed the Ibrahimi mosque and the Old City for six months on the grounds of investigating the crime. They formed the Shamgar committee to investigate the massacre and its causes.
The committee came up with several recommendations, including the division of the Ibrahimi mosque into two parts; 40% for Muslims and 60% under the Jewish sovereignty, and placed security guards on the mosque in an attempt to control it.
The occupation authority then installed 26 cameras and electronic gates at all the mosque's entrances and closed most of the roads leading to it, except for one on which it has imposed tight security measures.
It said in a statement on Tuesday that the crimes of the Israeli forces and settlers against the Palestinian people, their land and sanctities will not be subjected to a statute of limitations, and that the criminals will not escape punishment.
The movement also emphasized its absolute rejection of any agreement that leads to relinquishing the Palestinian rights, constants and sanctities. "Our steadfast people will continue to resist the occupation and its plans until the liberation of the land and the holy sites and the achievement of the right of return”, it said.
Hamas called on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jerusalem and the 1948 occupied territories to continue to confront the occupation until defeating it.
Tuesday marks the 20th anniversary of the massacre of the Ibrahimi mosque in al-Khalil city which claimed the lives of 29 worshipers and wounded 150 others, and which was committed in 1994 by Baruch Goldstein, with the participation of the occupation forces and settlers from Kiryat Arba settlement.
After the massacre, the Israeli soldiers closed the doors of the mosque to prevent worshipers from escaping and prevented citizens from entering the mosque to rescue the wounded, bringing the total number of martyrs to 50.
On the same day, the city of al-Khalil and all Palestinian cities witnessed tension and clashes with the Israeli soldiers, and the number of those killed reached 60 martyrs.
The occupation forces closed the Ibrahimi mosque and the Old City for six months on the grounds of investigating the crime. They formed the Shamgar committee to investigate the massacre and its causes.
The committee came up with several recommendations, including the division of the Ibrahimi mosque into two parts; 40% for Muslims and 60% under the Jewish sovereignty, and placed security guards on the mosque in an attempt to control it.
The occupation authority then installed 26 cameras and electronic gates at all the mosque's entrances and closed most of the roads leading to it, except for one on which it has imposed tight security measures.
20 feb 2014
U.S President Barack Obama phoned on Wednesday evening Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, urging him to complete the reconciliation negotiations with Israel, Haaretz Daily Newspaper reported. According to a statement released by the White House, the conversation touched the Syrian issue in addition to other topics. “ Obama told Erdogan about the importance of ending negotiations with Israel to quickly re-normalize relations with both countries.”
This conversation came almost three weeks after Turkey and Israel agreed on a draft agreement for mending ties between them, newspaper said.
Netanyahu refused to approve the agreement and Erdogan recently demanded that Israel has to lift its siege on the Gaza Strip as a condition for normalization.
Haaretz revealed that as part of the draft agreement, Israel would pay compensation of some $20-23 million to the families of the Turkish citizens killed and injured by Israeli occupation forces during the Gaza Flotilla incident. The agreement also includes Turkish agreement to pass a law that would lead to cancellation of lawsuits filed against soldiers who had participated in the raid, and an outline of the diplomatic normalization.
This conversation came almost three weeks after Turkey and Israel agreed on a draft agreement for mending ties between them, newspaper said.
Netanyahu refused to approve the agreement and Erdogan recently demanded that Israel has to lift its siege on the Gaza Strip as a condition for normalization.
Haaretz revealed that as part of the draft agreement, Israel would pay compensation of some $20-23 million to the families of the Turkish citizens killed and injured by Israeli occupation forces during the Gaza Flotilla incident. The agreement also includes Turkish agreement to pass a law that would lead to cancellation of lawsuits filed against soldiers who had participated in the raid, and an outline of the diplomatic normalization.
18 feb 2014
If the Palestinians take Israel to the International Criminal Court, it will fundamentally alter the relationship with Jerusalem and likely “suck the air” out of the diplomatic process, the Foreign Ministry’s deputy legal adviser said Monday.
Tal Becker, speaking at the annual meeting in Jerusalem of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said the challenge of the Palestinians joining the ICC and then taking Israel before the court is “potentially very significant.”
“One of the main problems with the ICC is the attempt to put Israel in the chair of the accused,” he said, adding that this would give a huge boost to the delegitimizers and the Boycott and Divestment (BDS) movement. Becker is considered a confidant of Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and was closely involved with her in the negotiations with the Palestinians that followed the Annapolis Conference in 2007.
“The risk of criminal process would fundamentally alter the relationship and suck the air out of the political process,” he said. “No Israeli government would engage in the process with that threat over its head.”
One of the dangers of the Palestinians seeking admission to the ICC, he claimed, “was that they would attempt to draw Israeli militarysoldiers into “impossible” situations where they would have no choice but to take actions that could be criticized internationally.”
Regarding the threat of boycotts, Becker said that the boycott and divestment movement presents Israel with the challenge of not giving it too much significance, while at the same time not being dismissive of it. There is no better gift to someone engaged in the BDS efforts than to describe it as a “great threat” facing Israel, he said.
Yossi Kuperwasser, director- general of the Intelligence Ministry, alleged that the boycott efforts were part of the actions by “a formidable group of organizations” who aim to weaken Israel’s ability to defend itself by weakening its legitimacy in international forums. His ministry is involved in drawing up plans to combat these efforts.
“Israel is not going to change policies on the peace process because of threats of economic pressures,” Kuperwasser said. “If the purpose of establishing Israel was to have a prosperous economy, we would not have come here. We came here because this is our ancestral homeland,” He claimed
Kuperwasser said he did not expect “significant economic pressure” from the European Union or individual states as entities, but only sporadic “events” from various institutions.
Kuperwasser, who has been active in Israel’s campaign to get support for its demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state, said that while it was difficult to convince the US of this at first, “they have adopted the idea and now understand that it is very critical.”
Tal Becker, speaking at the annual meeting in Jerusalem of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said the challenge of the Palestinians joining the ICC and then taking Israel before the court is “potentially very significant.”
“One of the main problems with the ICC is the attempt to put Israel in the chair of the accused,” he said, adding that this would give a huge boost to the delegitimizers and the Boycott and Divestment (BDS) movement. Becker is considered a confidant of Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and was closely involved with her in the negotiations with the Palestinians that followed the Annapolis Conference in 2007.
“The risk of criminal process would fundamentally alter the relationship and suck the air out of the political process,” he said. “No Israeli government would engage in the process with that threat over its head.”
One of the dangers of the Palestinians seeking admission to the ICC, he claimed, “was that they would attempt to draw Israeli militarysoldiers into “impossible” situations where they would have no choice but to take actions that could be criticized internationally.”
Regarding the threat of boycotts, Becker said that the boycott and divestment movement presents Israel with the challenge of not giving it too much significance, while at the same time not being dismissive of it. There is no better gift to someone engaged in the BDS efforts than to describe it as a “great threat” facing Israel, he said.
Yossi Kuperwasser, director- general of the Intelligence Ministry, alleged that the boycott efforts were part of the actions by “a formidable group of organizations” who aim to weaken Israel’s ability to defend itself by weakening its legitimacy in international forums. His ministry is involved in drawing up plans to combat these efforts.
“Israel is not going to change policies on the peace process because of threats of economic pressures,” Kuperwasser said. “If the purpose of establishing Israel was to have a prosperous economy, we would not have come here. We came here because this is our ancestral homeland,” He claimed
Kuperwasser said he did not expect “significant economic pressure” from the European Union or individual states as entities, but only sporadic “events” from various institutions.
Kuperwasser, who has been active in Israel’s campaign to get support for its demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state, said that while it was difficult to convince the US of this at first, “they have adopted the idea and now understand that it is very critical.”
16 feb 2014
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh
Arian Azarbar says Israeli spy was granted news passport after participating in the 2010 plot to kill Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel. An Israeli Mossad agent living in Canada was secretly provided a new identity and passport by the government, a Canadian-Iranian businessman alleged in an interview, the Canoe website reported Saturday.
Al-Mabhouh was killed on January 14, 2010 when a team of assassins broke into his hotel room and killed him silently, leaving a 'do not disturb' sign on the door. The hotel security cameras caught images of the killers sharing an elevator ride with Mabhouh prior to the assassination.
On the basis of the video clips and the information provided by Dubai police officers investigating the murder at the time, the assassination squad involved 10 men carrying British, French, German and Irish passports. A woman carrying an Irish passport was also captured by the cameras.
The Dubai authorities claimed there were two teams: one carried out surveillance of the target, while the other - which appears to be a group of younger men, at least as far as the camera shots show - carried out the killing.
It later became clear that Israeli Mossad agents used fake British passports in in the operation.
His assassination attracted international attention in part due to allegations that it was ordered by the Israeli government and carried out by Mossad agents holding fake or fraudulently obtained passports from several European countries and Australia.
The photographs of 26 suspects, and the names they used, have been placed on Interpol's most-wanted list. According to Dubai's authorities, there are up to 29 suspects, 12 of whom carried British passports, six Irish, four French, one German, and four Australian, and another two Palestinians who were arrested.
Arian Azarbar says Israeli spy was granted news passport after participating in the 2010 plot to kill Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel. An Israeli Mossad agent living in Canada was secretly provided a new identity and passport by the government, a Canadian-Iranian businessman alleged in an interview, the Canoe website reported Saturday.
Al-Mabhouh was killed on January 14, 2010 when a team of assassins broke into his hotel room and killed him silently, leaving a 'do not disturb' sign on the door. The hotel security cameras caught images of the killers sharing an elevator ride with Mabhouh prior to the assassination.
On the basis of the video clips and the information provided by Dubai police officers investigating the murder at the time, the assassination squad involved 10 men carrying British, French, German and Irish passports. A woman carrying an Irish passport was also captured by the cameras.
The Dubai authorities claimed there were two teams: one carried out surveillance of the target, while the other - which appears to be a group of younger men, at least as far as the camera shots show - carried out the killing.
It later became clear that Israeli Mossad agents used fake British passports in in the operation.
His assassination attracted international attention in part due to allegations that it was ordered by the Israeli government and carried out by Mossad agents holding fake or fraudulently obtained passports from several European countries and Australia.
The photographs of 26 suspects, and the names they used, have been placed on Interpol's most-wanted list. According to Dubai's authorities, there are up to 29 suspects, 12 of whom carried British passports, six Irish, four French, one German, and four Australian, and another two Palestinians who were arrested.
12 feb 2014
Haim Bar-Lev and Sharon, 1973
Book: During secret 1972 military operation in Sinai, dozens of children and elderly were expelled in the bitter cold of night, and died.
It was one of the most important, expensive and creative exercises the Israel Defense Forces had ever held - an entire armored division crossing a large obstacle of water. Exercise "Oz" (valor) strengthened the Israeli strategy that envisaged crossing the Suez Canal and fighting on the Egyptian side if war was to break out again in the Sinai Peninsula.
Twenty months later, that was the scenario that played out in the critical stage of the Yom Kippur War. The exercise, the largest the IDF had ever held to date, began in the southern Negev and proceeded deep into Sinai and its center, the crossing of an artificial lake near Abu Agheila, created by opening the Rueifa Dam. It took six days, beginning on February 20, 1972, in the presence of Prime Minister Golda Meir, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan and Chief of Staff Lieutenant General David (Dado) Elazar and was carried out in deep secrecy.
Neither the leaders nor the thousands of soldiers taking part were aware that a few weeks earlier, the man whose idea the exercise was, head of Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Ariel Sharon, had ordered the expulsion of three thousand civilians, members of two Bedouin tribes whose encampments and grazing grounds were in the exercise area. The expulsion took place without warning, during a freezing desert cold snap, without time for the Bedouin to take their belongings, causing around forty deaths, mainly of children, babies and old people.
The story has not been told for 42 years and even after it was revealed to Lt. Gen. David Elazar who ordered to return the Bedouin to their homes, no-one was ever held responsible. It was published for the first time last month in "Arik," a new biography of Ariel Sharon, written by former Haaretz editor-in-chief David Landau. The belated revelation is based on a report written in 1972 by Israel's foremost researcher of Bedouin life, Clinton (Yitzhak) Bailey.
Bailey, an immigrant from the United States lived and taught Hebrew at Kibbutz Sde Boker and was making his first steps in researching the Bedouin tribes of the Negev and Sinai. He heard of the expulsion at the end of February 1972 when he met a sheikh of the Tarabin tribe in El-Arish. The sheikh told him of a large group of his kinsmen who had been expelled from their lands near Abu Agheila and had been forced to walk dozens of kilometers and relocate south of the Jabel Khalal mountain.
"I went out there with my jeep and met them living there in groups in makeshift tents," Bailey told Haaretz this week. "They had been forced to leave most of their property behind. They told me that IDF officers had arrived at their encampments in the night, some with jeeps, others on camels and ordered them to leave at once." The expulsions took place over three nights in January 1972 and at least in one case where the Bedouin refused to leave, the IDF soldiers had fired in the air and began tearing up their tents.
They lead him to two temporary burial grounds where Bailey recorded and photographed at least 28 little graves. "I returned to El-Arish and spoke with a few officers of the military governorship who told me the Bedouin had been removed on Sharon's orders and Arik probably wants to use their land now for Israeli settlement." Bailey, himself a reserve officer in the governorship decided to notify his commander, Military Governor Brig. Gen. Shlomo Gazit. "Gazit said he would look into it" recalls Bailey, "but nothing happened and the Bedouin weren't allowed to go back."
He next turned to Haaretz's veteran reporter in the south of Israel, Mordehai Artzieli, who was a friend of Sharon's and of other senior officers. Artzieli, who died in 2004, chose not to publish the report (it probably would have been blocked by the military censorship due to the secret exercise) but updated the chief of staff instead.
Lt. Gen. Elazar had only a few weeks earlier been forced to order a high-level investigation into another expulsion ordered by Sharon of Bedouin living in the Rafah Salient. That case had reached the press and caused an uproar in the government and a High Court petition after Negev kibbutz members embarked on a campaign on behalf of the Bedouin. Anxious to prevent another scandal, Elazar summoned Bailey to his office in Tel-Aviv and called Sharon in his presence. "Dado was surprised by what I told him and read my report then and there. I don't think he was putting on an act. His tone when he called Sharon was cold and formal. 'Why haven't they been allowed to return?' he asked. 'Make sure they are back tomorrow.' Sharon asked him how he knew about it and Dado told him about me and my report."
A few days later Bailey was invited to meet Sharon at Southern Command in Beer Sheva. "Sharon was very friendly and told me how much he loves the Bedouin and visiting the Azazme tribe. He said 'I didn't know what happened to those Bedouin' though I knew it was his orders. I realized later he was trying to neutralize me and he had issued an order forbidding my entrance into all IDF bases in Sinai. I had to appeal to Dado to have that order rescinded." Over the years, Bailey, who was to become a lieutenant-colonel in the Civil Administration in the Territories and an advisor on Arab affairs to the Defense Ministry, would meet Sharon a number of times. "A love-hate relationship developed between us," he said. "He was always suspicious of me but he appreciated that I was a field man and wanted to see my maps and reports."
It is still unclear which unit carried out the expulsions. A number of officers who served at the time in Southern Command and in the military governorship told Haaretz they do not remember or were not aware of this case. Maj. Gen. (res.) Gazit, whom Bailey first notified, said this week he has no recollection of an expulsion at Abu Agheila, though he remembers the Rafah Salient case. "I would have to take care of such a thing but I don't remember it. There were various canal-crossing exercises but I don't remember that specific one." It is clear that the senior officers who were aware and the chief of staff who heard about it from Bailey wanted to keep the case under wraps due to the secrecy of the exercise and their desire to prevent another public scandal.
The Sharon family was not interested in commenting. Arik's son, Omri, said "I don't know about it and have no interest in dealing with this."
The IDF also preferred not to comment. The IDF Spokesperson's Unit confirmed that the case is known and has been documented by the army's history department but since all the officers involved have left the army long ago, it does not want to comment.
Forty years passed between Bailey's first attempt at interesting Haaretz's correspondent in the south in reporting the case to his approaching David Landau who was researching for his biography of Sharon where the story has now been published for the first time. "No-one has ever accounted for what happened to the Bedouin and those deaths," Bailey said.
"I didn't really think about that at the time. I only wanted them to be allowed to go home and I was happy that happened. I'm not proud of this as an Israeli. You have to remember the situation then. No-one criticized the army and Sharon; the hero of the Six Day War was a demi-god, larger than life. I was a thirty-year-old researcher. The treatment of the Bedouin then was awful; they were constantly under suspicion and Sharon was Sharon - a man who always saw whoever stood in his way, especially Arabs, as expendable. He wanted his big exercise and the Bedouin were just an incidental nuisance. He didn't care about civilians getting hurt in the way. They could have been temporarily evacuated in a humane way, with proper transport and shelter. But that just didn't occur to him."
Book: During secret 1972 military operation in Sinai, dozens of children and elderly were expelled in the bitter cold of night, and died.
It was one of the most important, expensive and creative exercises the Israel Defense Forces had ever held - an entire armored division crossing a large obstacle of water. Exercise "Oz" (valor) strengthened the Israeli strategy that envisaged crossing the Suez Canal and fighting on the Egyptian side if war was to break out again in the Sinai Peninsula.
Twenty months later, that was the scenario that played out in the critical stage of the Yom Kippur War. The exercise, the largest the IDF had ever held to date, began in the southern Negev and proceeded deep into Sinai and its center, the crossing of an artificial lake near Abu Agheila, created by opening the Rueifa Dam. It took six days, beginning on February 20, 1972, in the presence of Prime Minister Golda Meir, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan and Chief of Staff Lieutenant General David (Dado) Elazar and was carried out in deep secrecy.
Neither the leaders nor the thousands of soldiers taking part were aware that a few weeks earlier, the man whose idea the exercise was, head of Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Ariel Sharon, had ordered the expulsion of three thousand civilians, members of two Bedouin tribes whose encampments and grazing grounds were in the exercise area. The expulsion took place without warning, during a freezing desert cold snap, without time for the Bedouin to take their belongings, causing around forty deaths, mainly of children, babies and old people.
The story has not been told for 42 years and even after it was revealed to Lt. Gen. David Elazar who ordered to return the Bedouin to their homes, no-one was ever held responsible. It was published for the first time last month in "Arik," a new biography of Ariel Sharon, written by former Haaretz editor-in-chief David Landau. The belated revelation is based on a report written in 1972 by Israel's foremost researcher of Bedouin life, Clinton (Yitzhak) Bailey.
Bailey, an immigrant from the United States lived and taught Hebrew at Kibbutz Sde Boker and was making his first steps in researching the Bedouin tribes of the Negev and Sinai. He heard of the expulsion at the end of February 1972 when he met a sheikh of the Tarabin tribe in El-Arish. The sheikh told him of a large group of his kinsmen who had been expelled from their lands near Abu Agheila and had been forced to walk dozens of kilometers and relocate south of the Jabel Khalal mountain.
"I went out there with my jeep and met them living there in groups in makeshift tents," Bailey told Haaretz this week. "They had been forced to leave most of their property behind. They told me that IDF officers had arrived at their encampments in the night, some with jeeps, others on camels and ordered them to leave at once." The expulsions took place over three nights in January 1972 and at least in one case where the Bedouin refused to leave, the IDF soldiers had fired in the air and began tearing up their tents.
They lead him to two temporary burial grounds where Bailey recorded and photographed at least 28 little graves. "I returned to El-Arish and spoke with a few officers of the military governorship who told me the Bedouin had been removed on Sharon's orders and Arik probably wants to use their land now for Israeli settlement." Bailey, himself a reserve officer in the governorship decided to notify his commander, Military Governor Brig. Gen. Shlomo Gazit. "Gazit said he would look into it" recalls Bailey, "but nothing happened and the Bedouin weren't allowed to go back."
He next turned to Haaretz's veteran reporter in the south of Israel, Mordehai Artzieli, who was a friend of Sharon's and of other senior officers. Artzieli, who died in 2004, chose not to publish the report (it probably would have been blocked by the military censorship due to the secret exercise) but updated the chief of staff instead.
Lt. Gen. Elazar had only a few weeks earlier been forced to order a high-level investigation into another expulsion ordered by Sharon of Bedouin living in the Rafah Salient. That case had reached the press and caused an uproar in the government and a High Court petition after Negev kibbutz members embarked on a campaign on behalf of the Bedouin. Anxious to prevent another scandal, Elazar summoned Bailey to his office in Tel-Aviv and called Sharon in his presence. "Dado was surprised by what I told him and read my report then and there. I don't think he was putting on an act. His tone when he called Sharon was cold and formal. 'Why haven't they been allowed to return?' he asked. 'Make sure they are back tomorrow.' Sharon asked him how he knew about it and Dado told him about me and my report."
A few days later Bailey was invited to meet Sharon at Southern Command in Beer Sheva. "Sharon was very friendly and told me how much he loves the Bedouin and visiting the Azazme tribe. He said 'I didn't know what happened to those Bedouin' though I knew it was his orders. I realized later he was trying to neutralize me and he had issued an order forbidding my entrance into all IDF bases in Sinai. I had to appeal to Dado to have that order rescinded." Over the years, Bailey, who was to become a lieutenant-colonel in the Civil Administration in the Territories and an advisor on Arab affairs to the Defense Ministry, would meet Sharon a number of times. "A love-hate relationship developed between us," he said. "He was always suspicious of me but he appreciated that I was a field man and wanted to see my maps and reports."
It is still unclear which unit carried out the expulsions. A number of officers who served at the time in Southern Command and in the military governorship told Haaretz they do not remember or were not aware of this case. Maj. Gen. (res.) Gazit, whom Bailey first notified, said this week he has no recollection of an expulsion at Abu Agheila, though he remembers the Rafah Salient case. "I would have to take care of such a thing but I don't remember it. There were various canal-crossing exercises but I don't remember that specific one." It is clear that the senior officers who were aware and the chief of staff who heard about it from Bailey wanted to keep the case under wraps due to the secrecy of the exercise and their desire to prevent another public scandal.
The Sharon family was not interested in commenting. Arik's son, Omri, said "I don't know about it and have no interest in dealing with this."
The IDF also preferred not to comment. The IDF Spokesperson's Unit confirmed that the case is known and has been documented by the army's history department but since all the officers involved have left the army long ago, it does not want to comment.
Forty years passed between Bailey's first attempt at interesting Haaretz's correspondent in the south in reporting the case to his approaching David Landau who was researching for his biography of Sharon where the story has now been published for the first time. "No-one has ever accounted for what happened to the Bedouin and those deaths," Bailey said.
"I didn't really think about that at the time. I only wanted them to be allowed to go home and I was happy that happened. I'm not proud of this as an Israeli. You have to remember the situation then. No-one criticized the army and Sharon; the hero of the Six Day War was a demi-god, larger than life. I was a thirty-year-old researcher. The treatment of the Bedouin then was awful; they were constantly under suspicion and Sharon was Sharon - a man who always saw whoever stood in his way, especially Arabs, as expendable. He wanted his big exercise and the Bedouin were just an incidental nuisance. He didn't care about civilians getting hurt in the way. They could have been temporarily evacuated in a humane way, with proper transport and shelter. But that just didn't occur to him."
11 feb 2014
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip issued an indictment against Israeli prime ministers Benjamin Netenyahu and Ehud Barak in a mock trial held Monday in Gaza.
Several national, Islamic, and faction leaders participated in the trial.
People’s party political bureau member Walid al-Awad urged Palestinians to join international organizations starting with the Geneva Convention and the ICC to put Israeli “criminals” on trial.
Al-Awad emphasized the importance of achieving unity to face “Israeli and American projects that aim to neutralize the Palestinian cause”.
Several national, Islamic, and faction leaders participated in the trial.
People’s party political bureau member Walid al-Awad urged Palestinians to join international organizations starting with the Geneva Convention and the ICC to put Israeli “criminals” on trial.
Al-Awad emphasized the importance of achieving unity to face “Israeli and American projects that aim to neutralize the Palestinian cause”.
6 feb 2014
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A picture of two Gazan Kids suffering from cancer
The number of cancer patients in the besieged Gaza Strip is on the rise as Israel uses weapons containing carcinogenic agents against Palestinians, medical sources reported. On Tuesday, Gazan patients and doctors marked the World Cancer Day by staging a protest inside Gaza’s Shifa hospital. An average of 1,000 cancer cases has been recorded annually among Gazans for the past two years. Gaza’s Health Ministry said the Israeli occupation’s use of internationally-banned weapons has sharply increased the number of cancer cases. |
“Thousands of tons of unconventional weapons containing carcinogenic agents were fired on Gaza in the last 14 years. Many of the weapons used by the Israeli forces are internationally banned and contain illegal substances that not only affect people but they also have long-term effects on the environment,” said Health Ministry Spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra.
During the December 2008-January 2009 war against Gaza, Norwegian Doctor Mads Fredrik Gilbert, who volunteered at Gaza’s Shifa hospital, said that some victims had traces of depleted uranium in their wounds.
“The Israeli forces used all sorts of weapons against us. They are testing their weapons on us and on our children,” said a Gazan cancer patient.
Over 160 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed and about 1,200 others injured in Israel’s eight-day offensive on the coastal enclave, which ended on November 21, 2012.
Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standards of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.
The apartheid occupation denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education.
During the December 2008-January 2009 war against Gaza, Norwegian Doctor Mads Fredrik Gilbert, who volunteered at Gaza’s Shifa hospital, said that some victims had traces of depleted uranium in their wounds.
“The Israeli forces used all sorts of weapons against us. They are testing their weapons on us and on our children,” said a Gazan cancer patient.
Over 160 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed and about 1,200 others injured in Israel’s eight-day offensive on the coastal enclave, which ended on November 21, 2012.
Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standards of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.
The apartheid occupation denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education.
2 feb 2014
Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud of Saudi Arabia
A high-ranking Saudi official praised Israel’s chief negotiator in a rare instance of Israeli and Saudi officials interacting in the international spotlight, Israeli media reported. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Prince Turki bin Faisal al-Saud, former director of Saudi intelligence and a former ambassador to the US, told Livni warmly that he understood “why you are the negotiator for Israel.”
‘Times of Israel’ website reported that “The prince’s comments came after Livni remarked to her Palestinian counterpart that security arrangements in the occupied West Bank must ensure that ‘the West Bank not become a copy of Gaza.’”
The Israeli occupation and Saudi Arabia do not have formal relations, but both are staunch allies of the US . In recent years, numerous media reports surfaced alleging back-channel communications them.
It’s noteworthy that Saudi Arabia also strongly supports military-backed Egyptian rule under which Gaza population has been suffering inability to naturally travel via the Palestinian-Egyptian Rafah border.
Gulf Arab states have showered Egypt with billions of dollars since the army toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July.
Saudi Arabia would likely give Egypt up to $4 billion in additional aid in the form of central bank deposits and petroleum products, state-run Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram reported on Thursday, January 30.
A high-ranking Saudi official praised Israel’s chief negotiator in a rare instance of Israeli and Saudi officials interacting in the international spotlight, Israeli media reported. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Prince Turki bin Faisal al-Saud, former director of Saudi intelligence and a former ambassador to the US, told Livni warmly that he understood “why you are the negotiator for Israel.”
‘Times of Israel’ website reported that “The prince’s comments came after Livni remarked to her Palestinian counterpart that security arrangements in the occupied West Bank must ensure that ‘the West Bank not become a copy of Gaza.’”
The Israeli occupation and Saudi Arabia do not have formal relations, but both are staunch allies of the US . In recent years, numerous media reports surfaced alleging back-channel communications them.
It’s noteworthy that Saudi Arabia also strongly supports military-backed Egyptian rule under which Gaza population has been suffering inability to naturally travel via the Palestinian-Egyptian Rafah border.
Gulf Arab states have showered Egypt with billions of dollars since the army toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July.
Saudi Arabia would likely give Egypt up to $4 billion in additional aid in the form of central bank deposits and petroleum products, state-run Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram reported on Thursday, January 30.
27 jan 2014
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hoped not to “make a decision to take (Israel) to the International Criminal Court which will complicate things,”
In an interview with Yediot Ahranot daily on Monday evening, he added that "the use of force against Israel became an option not on the cards,” Abbas hoped to solve the pending issues peacefully with the Israelis “I do not want to complicate thing with the world and Israel," "I have the right to go wherever to sue Israel, but I have stopped here and paused to give peace efforts a chance,” he said. |
Commenting on Hamas, which is radically opposing any final-status settlement agreement between the [Palestinian] authority and Israel, he said that “there is an official agreement with Hamas in writing about our negotiations on the 1967 borders and they [Hamas] agree on a non-violent popular resistance, forming a government of technocrats and holding elections,”
“All the [Palestinian] security services are working on one goal; to prevent any one from smuggling weapons or wanting to use these weapons either in the Palestinian territories or Israel; this is the main concern of the Palestinian security forces,”
He said this solution [final-status settlement agreement] shall get a recognition from 57 Arab and Islamic countries, adding that it might be a 'one-off opportunity'.
“All the [Palestinian] security services are working on one goal; to prevent any one from smuggling weapons or wanting to use these weapons either in the Palestinian territories or Israel; this is the main concern of the Palestinian security forces,”
He said this solution [final-status settlement agreement] shall get a recognition from 57 Arab and Islamic countries, adding that it might be a 'one-off opportunity'.
25 jan 2014
A political committee of 12 members representing the Palestine Liberation Organization's various factions convened in Ramallah and agreed on recommendations to take the Palestinian plight to the UN and its various bodies, a PLO official said on Saturday.
Hanna Amirah, a member of the Executive Committee of the PLO, told Ma'an on Saturday that the committee recommended addressing the United Nations regardless of whether the ongoing peace talks make any progress or not, although he added that a date had not been set.
The goal of these recommendations, he said, is to enhance the Palestinian position. However, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas and the PLO Executive Committee need to approve them before they can be put into effect.
The Palestinian Authority is currently trying to counter demands made by the United States and Israel, added Amirah.
He asserted that the recent suggestions made by the US Secretary of State John Kerry were completely unacceptable to the Palestinians.
He highlighted that the proposals made related to Jerusalem, to Israeli settlements, and to Palestinian refugees were unacceptable in particular as well as the proposed Israeli military and civilian presence in the Jordan Valley.
Earlier this week, PLO official Wasil Abu Yousif, who is a member of the PLO’s political committee, said the committee agreed on prerequisites the PA needs to fulfill before signing international conventions and joining UN agencies and different bodies.
It is of great importance, he added, that the PA joins the International Criminal Court because that will enable the PA to sue the Israeli occupation over war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Hanna Amirah, a member of the Executive Committee of the PLO, told Ma'an on Saturday that the committee recommended addressing the United Nations regardless of whether the ongoing peace talks make any progress or not, although he added that a date had not been set.
The goal of these recommendations, he said, is to enhance the Palestinian position. However, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas and the PLO Executive Committee need to approve them before they can be put into effect.
The Palestinian Authority is currently trying to counter demands made by the United States and Israel, added Amirah.
He asserted that the recent suggestions made by the US Secretary of State John Kerry were completely unacceptable to the Palestinians.
He highlighted that the proposals made related to Jerusalem, to Israeli settlements, and to Palestinian refugees were unacceptable in particular as well as the proposed Israeli military and civilian presence in the Jordan Valley.
Earlier this week, PLO official Wasil Abu Yousif, who is a member of the PLO’s political committee, said the committee agreed on prerequisites the PA needs to fulfill before signing international conventions and joining UN agencies and different bodies.
It is of great importance, he added, that the PA joins the International Criminal Court because that will enable the PA to sue the Israeli occupation over war crimes and crimes against humanity.
24 jan 2014
Dr. Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations in New York, said that the international community must act collectively to hold Israel accountable for its violations and crimes and salvage the prospects for the realization of peace and justice in this year.
Mansour statements were made in identical letters sent to the UN Secretary-General, President of the Security Council (Jordan) and President of the UN General Assembly, on Israeli aggressive and illegal actions against the Palestinian people.
Mansour said in his letter: "While serious peace efforts are being undertaken both regionally and internationally to achieve peace and to salvage the Two-State solution, Israel instead continues to choose aggression and colonization. Since the resumption of peace talks, the occupying Power hasn't ceased its oppressive and destructive measures which threatening to derail the peace talks.
He pointed out to "the latest spate of Israeli crimes took place on Wednesday, 22 January, in the Gaza Strip, an integral part of the State of Palestine, which remains under an oppressive, unlawful blockade. For the second time in a week, Israeli occupying forces launched military strikes against the Gaza Strip, firing a missile at a car carrying Ahmed Zaanin, 21 years old, and Mahmoud Zaanin, 23 years old, killing them both."
He added, "In addition to the killing of Palestinian civilians, Israel continues with its illegal, provocative measures that continue to aggravate tensions. While all these issues were highlighted during the State of Palestine's intervention at the Security Council on 20 January 2014, in particular the issue of continued settlement activities, which more than 40 Member States who addressed the Council reiterated the illegality of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and the obstacle they pose to peace."
He also pointed out to the Israeli decision that was made in 22 January to "move forward with its plans for another 261 new units in two settlements located deep in the West Bank. This includes 256 units in the so-called settlement of "Nofei Prat", between Jerusalem and Jericho, which according to Peace Now dramatically changes the settlement, expanding its size and population significantly, in fact tripling its size. Another five settlement units in the massive settlement of "Ariel" in the North."
He also talked about the announcement made by the Jerusalem municipality to build a new settlement "neighborhood" south of the City, which would include 1700 settlement units. Furthermore, a further 381 new settlement units were approved to be built in the so-called settlement of "Givat Zeev" north of Jerusalem.
"Along with the innumerable violations to Palestinian rights as a result of illegal settlements, racist and fanatic Israeli settlers continue to wreak havoc and destruction on Palestinian properties and land throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem," said Mansour.
In the recent period, extremist settlers have continued to vandalize homes and to destroy olive groves and other farm lands. The most recent attacks occurred yesterday when Israeli settlers uprooted over 600 recently planted olive and almond saplings in the village of Sinjil, north of Ramallah in the West Bank. It should be noted that the saplings were planted by the International Committee of the Red Cross to support Palestinian farmers, and would have benefited more than 70 families."
"The occupying Power is also pushing ahead with excavation plans for a so-called second "visitors' center" at the entrance to Wadi Hilweh in Silwan, a densely-populated neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Such excavations by the occupying Power at the entrance to Wadi Hilweh are destroying deep-rooted Islamic antiquities from the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphate eras."
Mansour confirmed that all of these illegal Israeli policies and practices are fueling tensions on the ground, inciting violence and provoking deeper mistrust. The negative impact of such Israeli breaches on the situation on the ground is vast and is deepening pessimism in respect to the potential for the success of the current peace negotiations and the ultimate viability of the two-State solution.
He stressed that a clear demand must be made to Israel to cease its illegal actions and commit to the path of peace. He said, "The international community, foremost the Security Council, has clear responsibilities in this regard and must no longer tolerate the occupying Power's empty pretexts, deception and blatant contempt for international law."
Mansour statements were made in identical letters sent to the UN Secretary-General, President of the Security Council (Jordan) and President of the UN General Assembly, on Israeli aggressive and illegal actions against the Palestinian people.
Mansour said in his letter: "While serious peace efforts are being undertaken both regionally and internationally to achieve peace and to salvage the Two-State solution, Israel instead continues to choose aggression and colonization. Since the resumption of peace talks, the occupying Power hasn't ceased its oppressive and destructive measures which threatening to derail the peace talks.
He pointed out to "the latest spate of Israeli crimes took place on Wednesday, 22 January, in the Gaza Strip, an integral part of the State of Palestine, which remains under an oppressive, unlawful blockade. For the second time in a week, Israeli occupying forces launched military strikes against the Gaza Strip, firing a missile at a car carrying Ahmed Zaanin, 21 years old, and Mahmoud Zaanin, 23 years old, killing them both."
He added, "In addition to the killing of Palestinian civilians, Israel continues with its illegal, provocative measures that continue to aggravate tensions. While all these issues were highlighted during the State of Palestine's intervention at the Security Council on 20 January 2014, in particular the issue of continued settlement activities, which more than 40 Member States who addressed the Council reiterated the illegality of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and the obstacle they pose to peace."
He also pointed out to the Israeli decision that was made in 22 January to "move forward with its plans for another 261 new units in two settlements located deep in the West Bank. This includes 256 units in the so-called settlement of "Nofei Prat", between Jerusalem and Jericho, which according to Peace Now dramatically changes the settlement, expanding its size and population significantly, in fact tripling its size. Another five settlement units in the massive settlement of "Ariel" in the North."
He also talked about the announcement made by the Jerusalem municipality to build a new settlement "neighborhood" south of the City, which would include 1700 settlement units. Furthermore, a further 381 new settlement units were approved to be built in the so-called settlement of "Givat Zeev" north of Jerusalem.
"Along with the innumerable violations to Palestinian rights as a result of illegal settlements, racist and fanatic Israeli settlers continue to wreak havoc and destruction on Palestinian properties and land throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem," said Mansour.
In the recent period, extremist settlers have continued to vandalize homes and to destroy olive groves and other farm lands. The most recent attacks occurred yesterday when Israeli settlers uprooted over 600 recently planted olive and almond saplings in the village of Sinjil, north of Ramallah in the West Bank. It should be noted that the saplings were planted by the International Committee of the Red Cross to support Palestinian farmers, and would have benefited more than 70 families."
"The occupying Power is also pushing ahead with excavation plans for a so-called second "visitors' center" at the entrance to Wadi Hilweh in Silwan, a densely-populated neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Such excavations by the occupying Power at the entrance to Wadi Hilweh are destroying deep-rooted Islamic antiquities from the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphate eras."
Mansour confirmed that all of these illegal Israeli policies and practices are fueling tensions on the ground, inciting violence and provoking deeper mistrust. The negative impact of such Israeli breaches on the situation on the ground is vast and is deepening pessimism in respect to the potential for the success of the current peace negotiations and the ultimate viability of the two-State solution.
He stressed that a clear demand must be made to Israel to cease its illegal actions and commit to the path of peace. He said, "The international community, foremost the Security Council, has clear responsibilities in this regard and must no longer tolerate the occupying Power's empty pretexts, deception and blatant contempt for international law."