10 apr 2014
Palestine’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, sent identical letters to the UN Secretary General, President of the UN Security Council and President of the UN General Assembly briefing them on the escalating Israeli dangerous violations in East Jerusalem.
NEW YORK, April 10, 2014 (WAFA) In his letter, Mansour stated that Israel’s illegal procedures, by state officials, settlers or extremists, against the Palestinian people, their land and their holy sites, destabilize the situation and pose religious sensitivities at a time the United States, the Arab League and the Quartet Committee are exerting efforts to salvage the floundering peace talks.
Mansour referred to the nonstop Israel settlers’ raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem as well as the restrictions imposed by police on Palestinian worshipers’ entry to the mosque yards.
He said the imminent Israeli draft law to allow Jewish settlers to perform rituals inside the mosque campus is not only provocative to the already exacerbating political atmosphere, but is also a disregard to the sensible status of the mosque, which is still under the Jordanian custody.
Furthermore, Mansour said these illegal procedures by Israel in al-Aqsa Mosque requires serious and prompt attention by the international community and the UN Security Council to restore peace and security.
In reference to the nonstop settlement construction, Mansour said settlements undermine peace talks and the two-state solution within the 1967 borders.
He finally called upon the international community to take immediate actions to pressure Israel to put an end to its grave infringement to the international law, including the humanitarian law.
M.N./T.R.
NEW YORK, April 10, 2014 (WAFA) In his letter, Mansour stated that Israel’s illegal procedures, by state officials, settlers or extremists, against the Palestinian people, their land and their holy sites, destabilize the situation and pose religious sensitivities at a time the United States, the Arab League and the Quartet Committee are exerting efforts to salvage the floundering peace talks.
Mansour referred to the nonstop Israel settlers’ raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem as well as the restrictions imposed by police on Palestinian worshipers’ entry to the mosque yards.
He said the imminent Israeli draft law to allow Jewish settlers to perform rituals inside the mosque campus is not only provocative to the already exacerbating political atmosphere, but is also a disregard to the sensible status of the mosque, which is still under the Jordanian custody.
Furthermore, Mansour said these illegal procedures by Israel in al-Aqsa Mosque requires serious and prompt attention by the international community and the UN Security Council to restore peace and security.
In reference to the nonstop settlement construction, Mansour said settlements undermine peace talks and the two-state solution within the 1967 borders.
He finally called upon the international community to take immediate actions to pressure Israel to put an end to its grave infringement to the international law, including the humanitarian law.
M.N./T.R.
The Israeli government is considering subtracting from the monthly tax revenue it transfers to the Palestinian Authority the amount the PA pays to (terrorists) and their families, a government official said on Wednesday.
Holding back the monthly tax revenues – or a part of them – is one option Israel is considering, the official said, in response to the PA ’s (unilateral) application last week to join 15 international conventions and treaties, a move that sent the diplomatic talks into a tailspin.
Israel transfers to the PA each month about NIS 400 million it collects for it in tax and duty revenue.
According to a document released from the Prime Minister’s Office, the PA transferred $153.5m. in 2012 to (terrorists) in Israeli prisons and to their families, as well as to families of deceased (terrorists), including suicide bombers. This amounts to nearly 16 percent of all foreign aid to the PA .
The PA received $786m. in foreign aid in 2012, a substantial component of its $3.1 billion budget that year, the document said.
According to these figures, money paid to the (terrorists) and their families represents fully 5 percent of the PA ’s annual total budget.
The document was written in January but released by the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday.
One Israeli government official said it would be “morally justified” for Israel to subtract from the money it transfers to the PA each month the amount that is spent on grants and monthly payments to (terrorists) and their families. The PA cannot complain about its financial difficulties, and then pay huge sums to support (terrorists), he claimed.
According to the document, “the Palestinian Authority is highly dependent on foreign aid. This money, which supports the PA budget, is fungible to meet payments for imprisoned and released (terrorists.)”
Seventy-eight of the 104 convicted (terrorists) who Israel released as part of the deal that led to the PLO agreeing to restart negotiations in July receive monthly stipends of up to $3,500, and grants of up to $25,000, the document said.
“In this way the PA is giving a strong financial incentive to terrorism, including through the misuse of fungible foreign financial assistance,” the document read.
“Publicly rewarding convicted (murderers) gives an official stamp of approval to terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians. It is a highly persuasive form of incitement to violence and (terrorism.)”
Providing financial support for (terrorists) “not only violates basic morality, it encourages further (terrorist) outrages” and “may tempt young Palestinians to seek an answer to familial financial difficulties through the use of violence,” the document further stated.
Since 1967, when (Israel) occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, more than 650,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel. This represents approximately 20% of the total population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), and 40% of all males. Despite prohibition by international law, Israel detains Palestinians in prisons throughout Israel, far from their families, who almost never obtain the necessary permits to leave the Occupied Palestinian Territories to visit them.
Source: THE JERUSALEM POST
Holding back the monthly tax revenues – or a part of them – is one option Israel is considering, the official said, in response to the PA ’s (unilateral) application last week to join 15 international conventions and treaties, a move that sent the diplomatic talks into a tailspin.
Israel transfers to the PA each month about NIS 400 million it collects for it in tax and duty revenue.
According to a document released from the Prime Minister’s Office, the PA transferred $153.5m. in 2012 to (terrorists) in Israeli prisons and to their families, as well as to families of deceased (terrorists), including suicide bombers. This amounts to nearly 16 percent of all foreign aid to the PA .
The PA received $786m. in foreign aid in 2012, a substantial component of its $3.1 billion budget that year, the document said.
According to these figures, money paid to the (terrorists) and their families represents fully 5 percent of the PA ’s annual total budget.
The document was written in January but released by the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday.
One Israeli government official said it would be “morally justified” for Israel to subtract from the money it transfers to the PA each month the amount that is spent on grants and monthly payments to (terrorists) and their families. The PA cannot complain about its financial difficulties, and then pay huge sums to support (terrorists), he claimed.
According to the document, “the Palestinian Authority is highly dependent on foreign aid. This money, which supports the PA budget, is fungible to meet payments for imprisoned and released (terrorists.)”
Seventy-eight of the 104 convicted (terrorists) who Israel released as part of the deal that led to the PLO agreeing to restart negotiations in July receive monthly stipends of up to $3,500, and grants of up to $25,000, the document said.
“In this way the PA is giving a strong financial incentive to terrorism, including through the misuse of fungible foreign financial assistance,” the document read.
“Publicly rewarding convicted (murderers) gives an official stamp of approval to terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians. It is a highly persuasive form of incitement to violence and (terrorism.)”
Providing financial support for (terrorists) “not only violates basic morality, it encourages further (terrorist) outrages” and “may tempt young Palestinians to seek an answer to familial financial difficulties through the use of violence,” the document further stated.
Since 1967, when (Israel) occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, more than 650,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel. This represents approximately 20% of the total population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), and 40% of all males. Despite prohibition by international law, Israel detains Palestinians in prisons throughout Israel, far from their families, who almost never obtain the necessary permits to leave the Occupied Palestinian Territories to visit them.
Source: THE JERUSALEM POST
The decision by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to sign 15 international treaties brought further proof of Israeli racist attitudes towards the Palestinians.
Public statements by senior Israeli officials, as well as commentaries and analyses by Israeli pundits show angry reactions to the Palestinian move, something akin to the anger one would read about when slaves did not show enough respect and actually dared "suggest" that they wanted to be free.
The Israeli prime minister set the tone during the start of the weekly Israeli Cabinet meeting. He argued that Palestinians can only get their coveted state through his style of negotiations and based on his conditions, including his new demand that Palestinians recognise Israel as a Jewish state.
Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz joined the attack with a diatribe reflecting a slave owner mentality: "Truth be told, Mahmoud Abbas is spitting in our faces. The Palestinian Authority exists thanks to us. Not only because of the Oslo Accords, but because of the funds we transfer them, and the security we give them. Otherwise, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as they control Gaza, would also take down Abbas and take over Ramallah."
Other Israeli officials made similar remarks. Settlements representative in the Cabinet Neftali Bennett mocked the Palestinian president's UN move: "If he wants to go to the UN, I will buy him the ticket and there he will face a personal lawsuit for war crimes."
The Israelis are not signatories to the Rome Convention, which created the International Court of Justice, an institution the Palestinians have not signed up to.
While the vulgarity of Israeli officials came out loud and clear in reaction to the Palestinian move, a more nuanced Israeli racism showed up in the analyses published after the decision. Instead of explaining the truth about the breakdown of the talks, Israeli analysts came up with all sorts of excuses except the real one.
Rarely was the Israeli refusal to implement an agreed-to quid pro quo dealt with.
Palestinians had agreed not to join UN agencies or treaties in return for Israel releasing 104 prisoners who had served more than 20 years and jail and who had been imprisoned prior to the Oslo Accords. Israel reneged on that US-sponsored agreement and the Palestinians felt that they were free of their obligation.
Israeli analysts focused on blaming the Palestinians for the lack of progress in the peace talks, saying that Abbas was trying to salvage a supposedly lost public support.
All these are factually false, and fail to point at Israel for failure of progress in the peace talks.
The Palestinian president has made tough decisions and showed he is able to take difficult choices, like when he told Israeli students one month ago that Palestinians do not plan to flood Israel with refugees. His public compromise on one of the most difficult issues, the right of return, clearly belies the Israeli claim that he is no partner for talks.
Neither has Abbas lost public support, as the Israelis claim.
Two independent polls taken in March (a month before the Palestinian decision) show high approval rating for Abbas. The Arwad poll conducted around March 11 shows 58 per cent of Palestinians approving his efforts. In another poll, 53 per cent said that they would vote for Abbas if national elections were to take place, an increase from 52 per cent a few months earlier. Certainly these are not numbers of a failing leader who is looking for a public relations stunt to improve his standings, as claimed by Israel.
Israelis also claim that Palestinians are "drunk with power" because they made a number of claims in the April 2 meeting between chief Palestinian and Israeli negotiators Saeb Erekat and Tzipi Livni.
By demanding the return of the 2002 deportees from the Church of Nativity incident, the release of 1,200 prisoners and the opening of closed institutions (such as the chamber of commerce) in Jerusalem, Palestinian negotiators were repeating requests that had already been agreed to but not implemented.
These demands were made numerous times before. The mostly forgotten Roadmap Agreement calls for the return to the situation prior to October 2000 and the release of 1,200 prisoners. Israel's short memory does not mean that the oppressive acts that it carries out must be tolerated forever.
The childish statement made by Israel's prime minister vis-à-vis the unilateral move made by these rebellious Palestinian slaves could be almost comic.
"If Palestinians take unilateral moves we will respond by unilateral moves," he warned.
Every single day Israel continues its occupation and colonial settlement activities, it is acting unilaterally. The idea that it will take another unilateral move does not scare Palestinians who have little more to lose through their newfound, albeit tiny, act independent of their Israeli occupiers.
Public statements by senior Israeli officials, as well as commentaries and analyses by Israeli pundits show angry reactions to the Palestinian move, something akin to the anger one would read about when slaves did not show enough respect and actually dared "suggest" that they wanted to be free.
The Israeli prime minister set the tone during the start of the weekly Israeli Cabinet meeting. He argued that Palestinians can only get their coveted state through his style of negotiations and based on his conditions, including his new demand that Palestinians recognise Israel as a Jewish state.
Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz joined the attack with a diatribe reflecting a slave owner mentality: "Truth be told, Mahmoud Abbas is spitting in our faces. The Palestinian Authority exists thanks to us. Not only because of the Oslo Accords, but because of the funds we transfer them, and the security we give them. Otherwise, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as they control Gaza, would also take down Abbas and take over Ramallah."
Other Israeli officials made similar remarks. Settlements representative in the Cabinet Neftali Bennett mocked the Palestinian president's UN move: "If he wants to go to the UN, I will buy him the ticket and there he will face a personal lawsuit for war crimes."
The Israelis are not signatories to the Rome Convention, which created the International Court of Justice, an institution the Palestinians have not signed up to.
While the vulgarity of Israeli officials came out loud and clear in reaction to the Palestinian move, a more nuanced Israeli racism showed up in the analyses published after the decision. Instead of explaining the truth about the breakdown of the talks, Israeli analysts came up with all sorts of excuses except the real one.
Rarely was the Israeli refusal to implement an agreed-to quid pro quo dealt with.
Palestinians had agreed not to join UN agencies or treaties in return for Israel releasing 104 prisoners who had served more than 20 years and jail and who had been imprisoned prior to the Oslo Accords. Israel reneged on that US-sponsored agreement and the Palestinians felt that they were free of their obligation.
Israeli analysts focused on blaming the Palestinians for the lack of progress in the peace talks, saying that Abbas was trying to salvage a supposedly lost public support.
All these are factually false, and fail to point at Israel for failure of progress in the peace talks.
The Palestinian president has made tough decisions and showed he is able to take difficult choices, like when he told Israeli students one month ago that Palestinians do not plan to flood Israel with refugees. His public compromise on one of the most difficult issues, the right of return, clearly belies the Israeli claim that he is no partner for talks.
Neither has Abbas lost public support, as the Israelis claim.
Two independent polls taken in March (a month before the Palestinian decision) show high approval rating for Abbas. The Arwad poll conducted around March 11 shows 58 per cent of Palestinians approving his efforts. In another poll, 53 per cent said that they would vote for Abbas if national elections were to take place, an increase from 52 per cent a few months earlier. Certainly these are not numbers of a failing leader who is looking for a public relations stunt to improve his standings, as claimed by Israel.
Israelis also claim that Palestinians are "drunk with power" because they made a number of claims in the April 2 meeting between chief Palestinian and Israeli negotiators Saeb Erekat and Tzipi Livni.
By demanding the return of the 2002 deportees from the Church of Nativity incident, the release of 1,200 prisoners and the opening of closed institutions (such as the chamber of commerce) in Jerusalem, Palestinian negotiators were repeating requests that had already been agreed to but not implemented.
These demands were made numerous times before. The mostly forgotten Roadmap Agreement calls for the return to the situation prior to October 2000 and the release of 1,200 prisoners. Israel's short memory does not mean that the oppressive acts that it carries out must be tolerated forever.
The childish statement made by Israel's prime minister vis-à-vis the unilateral move made by these rebellious Palestinian slaves could be almost comic.
"If Palestinians take unilateral moves we will respond by unilateral moves," he warned.
Every single day Israel continues its occupation and colonial settlement activities, it is acting unilaterally. The idea that it will take another unilateral move does not scare Palestinians who have little more to lose through their newfound, albeit tiny, act independent of their Israeli occupiers.
9 apr 2014
Israel is preparing a series of sanctions in case negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians completely collapse and the Palestinians turn to the United Nations institutions, the Israeli news website WALLA reported.
The sanctions package will include withdrawing the Palestinian leaders and officials’ VIP cards in the Palestinian Authority, confiscating the taxes that should go to the Palestinian Authority to offset obligations with the oil companies, delaying the implementation of economic projects in the Palestinian territories and restricting the movement of senior Palestinian businessmen who work in public economy projects.
According to WALLA, the Coordinator of the Israeli Government Activities, Major General Yoav Mordechai, prepared a series of sanctions for all the territories, in addition to a list that includes the names of the leaders who have VIP cards.
An Israeli security official said that this second package of sanctions is a direct result of the ongoing deterioration of the situation, adding that there will be more severe sanctions like cutting off the security cooperation. Nonetheless, another senior official said that security cooperation is not included in the third package of sanctions, because it serves the interest of both sides.
The sources said that this step will affect Israel's interests and that the Palestinian side will respond to this step.
In response to the Israeli decision to sanction the Palestinian side, Mustafa Barghouthi welcomed the Israeli decision to withdraw VIP cards because they facilitate Israel to exert political pressure on the Palestinians in exchange for silly privileges, as he described them.
Barghouthi told Palestine News Network that the Palestinian leadership should throw the VIP cards to the face of the occupation authorities, because Israel uses these benefits in exchange of violating more Palestinian rights.
Regarding the economic sanctions, Barghouti said they are a violation of international law and that they would be an even stronger incentive to adhere to international treaties, including the International Criminal Court, to prosecute and try Israel for its crimes.
Barghouthi added that it is clear that returning to negotiations was a mistake and said, "We have to realize that we are not in a stage to reach a solution with Israel, but in a stage of confrontation."
He also noted that Palestinians have suffered these sanctions before, but what is really needed is to provide a safety net to protect the internal domestic situation and the Palestinian economy.
The sanctions package will include withdrawing the Palestinian leaders and officials’ VIP cards in the Palestinian Authority, confiscating the taxes that should go to the Palestinian Authority to offset obligations with the oil companies, delaying the implementation of economic projects in the Palestinian territories and restricting the movement of senior Palestinian businessmen who work in public economy projects.
According to WALLA, the Coordinator of the Israeli Government Activities, Major General Yoav Mordechai, prepared a series of sanctions for all the territories, in addition to a list that includes the names of the leaders who have VIP cards.
An Israeli security official said that this second package of sanctions is a direct result of the ongoing deterioration of the situation, adding that there will be more severe sanctions like cutting off the security cooperation. Nonetheless, another senior official said that security cooperation is not included in the third package of sanctions, because it serves the interest of both sides.
The sources said that this step will affect Israel's interests and that the Palestinian side will respond to this step.
In response to the Israeli decision to sanction the Palestinian side, Mustafa Barghouthi welcomed the Israeli decision to withdraw VIP cards because they facilitate Israel to exert political pressure on the Palestinians in exchange for silly privileges, as he described them.
Barghouthi told Palestine News Network that the Palestinian leadership should throw the VIP cards to the face of the occupation authorities, because Israel uses these benefits in exchange of violating more Palestinian rights.
Regarding the economic sanctions, Barghouti said they are a violation of international law and that they would be an even stronger incentive to adhere to international treaties, including the International Criminal Court, to prosecute and try Israel for its crimes.
Barghouthi added that it is clear that returning to negotiations was a mistake and said, "We have to realize that we are not in a stage to reach a solution with Israel, but in a stage of confrontation."
He also noted that Palestinians have suffered these sanctions before, but what is really needed is to provide a safety net to protect the internal domestic situation and the Palestinian economy.
By Ata Hindi
Ata Hindi is the Communications Officer, Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat/Researcher at the Institute of Law at Birzeit University.
I originally wrote this piece with the usual Palestinian uneasiness a couple of weeks ago after President Mahmoud Abbas' meeting with US President Barack Obama.
I, like many other Palestinians, feared that he would be pressured into accepting an extension of what have been termed "negotiations" past the April 29 deadline, while Israel continued its ongoing violations against Palestine and the Palestinian people.
The Palestinians had gone too many years questioning decision after decision, policy after policy, on behalf of Palestine and the Palestinian people -- particularly insofar as international law was concerned.
What immediately comes to mind is Palestine's disconcerting failure in acceding to international treaties and joining international organizations, supported by a robust legal and victim-based strategy at the international level.
Many have been frustrated with the PLO for the perceived continuing disregard for the pain and suffering of the Palestinian people that continues to occur even while its representatives are seated at the negotiating table. Legal strategies were substituted with inexcusable political lingo and seemed lacking, unclear and substandard.
Then, on April 1, 2014, Palestine decided it will be "joining 15 international treaties including those pertaining to human, civil, women and disabled rights." These include both treaties and sets of treaties, equaling more than 15 in total -- some of which Israel is not yet party to. Palestine's ability to take this step was provided by General Assembly Resolution 67/19 -- which upgraded Palestine to non-member observer state status at the United Nations. The resolution provided the State of Palestine and the Palestinian people a means to pursue justice and accountability at the international level.
So have the Palestinians finally seen their leaders employ our ability to join international treaties and organizations as a right, rather than a threat? Palestine's accessions on April 1 indicate that justice and accountability for the Palestinian people was not the priority.
It has been reported that the Palestinian leadership has done the work necessary to join 63 agencies, organizations and treaties. The Palestinian people are, for the most part, unaware of this list and its contents. It does not suffice to say [PDF] that Palestine can join "as and when it sees fit."
If it is in the best interests of the Palestinian people, then the time is now. This is a right, not a threat.
If the PLO wanted to provide justice and accountability, the Palestinians should enjoy greater access to justice and accountability at the international level, including through accession to those instruments providing complaint mechanisms to these treaties. This would be complemented by a robust international legal strategy.
Now that we have acceded to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, we should challenge the fundamental flaws of the Oslo Accords. We should challenge the restraints on our ability to investigate and prosecute Israeli war criminals.
With the International Court of Justice, we must strategize and return to the ICJ on questions of fundamental importance [PDF] to Palestine and the Palestinian people.
We should not delay our accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in order to protect the Palestinian people from future violations. The Palestinian leadership failed before when they fell short of continuing their push towards the 12(3) declaration accepting the jurisdiction of the Court from July 1, 2002. They should have further challenged the determination made by the Office of the Prosecutor (which had been shared beforehand).
Palestine's decision not to accede to the Rome Statute in exchange for a release of prisoners implies that accession to these treaties is a means for negotiations, rather than a sincere effort at providing justice and accountability for the Palestinian people. Israel has an obligation to release prisoners regardless -- not at the expense of the rights we can exercise as a state.
In relation, it has been the case that certain intergovernmental bodies have invited Palestine as an "entity" rather than a "state" due to pressure from the US. Such is a situation that cannot be accepted.
We should not sit back while the Report of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict sits on the shelves in New York and Geneva. The past session of the United Nations Human Rights Council has given us another an opportunity to pursue justice and accountability for Gaza. In relation, the Palestinians should immediately request a conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to remind Israel and third states of their obligations as it relates to the serious breaches of international humanitarian law committed by the State of Israel.
Ata Hindi is the Communications Officer, Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat/Researcher at the Institute of Law at Birzeit University.
I originally wrote this piece with the usual Palestinian uneasiness a couple of weeks ago after President Mahmoud Abbas' meeting with US President Barack Obama.
I, like many other Palestinians, feared that he would be pressured into accepting an extension of what have been termed "negotiations" past the April 29 deadline, while Israel continued its ongoing violations against Palestine and the Palestinian people.
The Palestinians had gone too many years questioning decision after decision, policy after policy, on behalf of Palestine and the Palestinian people -- particularly insofar as international law was concerned.
What immediately comes to mind is Palestine's disconcerting failure in acceding to international treaties and joining international organizations, supported by a robust legal and victim-based strategy at the international level.
Many have been frustrated with the PLO for the perceived continuing disregard for the pain and suffering of the Palestinian people that continues to occur even while its representatives are seated at the negotiating table. Legal strategies were substituted with inexcusable political lingo and seemed lacking, unclear and substandard.
Then, on April 1, 2014, Palestine decided it will be "joining 15 international treaties including those pertaining to human, civil, women and disabled rights." These include both treaties and sets of treaties, equaling more than 15 in total -- some of which Israel is not yet party to. Palestine's ability to take this step was provided by General Assembly Resolution 67/19 -- which upgraded Palestine to non-member observer state status at the United Nations. The resolution provided the State of Palestine and the Palestinian people a means to pursue justice and accountability at the international level.
So have the Palestinians finally seen their leaders employ our ability to join international treaties and organizations as a right, rather than a threat? Palestine's accessions on April 1 indicate that justice and accountability for the Palestinian people was not the priority.
It has been reported that the Palestinian leadership has done the work necessary to join 63 agencies, organizations and treaties. The Palestinian people are, for the most part, unaware of this list and its contents. It does not suffice to say [PDF] that Palestine can join "as and when it sees fit."
If it is in the best interests of the Palestinian people, then the time is now. This is a right, not a threat.
If the PLO wanted to provide justice and accountability, the Palestinians should enjoy greater access to justice and accountability at the international level, including through accession to those instruments providing complaint mechanisms to these treaties. This would be complemented by a robust international legal strategy.
Now that we have acceded to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, we should challenge the fundamental flaws of the Oslo Accords. We should challenge the restraints on our ability to investigate and prosecute Israeli war criminals.
With the International Court of Justice, we must strategize and return to the ICJ on questions of fundamental importance [PDF] to Palestine and the Palestinian people.
We should not delay our accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in order to protect the Palestinian people from future violations. The Palestinian leadership failed before when they fell short of continuing their push towards the 12(3) declaration accepting the jurisdiction of the Court from July 1, 2002. They should have further challenged the determination made by the Office of the Prosecutor (which had been shared beforehand).
Palestine's decision not to accede to the Rome Statute in exchange for a release of prisoners implies that accession to these treaties is a means for negotiations, rather than a sincere effort at providing justice and accountability for the Palestinian people. Israel has an obligation to release prisoners regardless -- not at the expense of the rights we can exercise as a state.
In relation, it has been the case that certain intergovernmental bodies have invited Palestine as an "entity" rather than a "state" due to pressure from the US. Such is a situation that cannot be accepted.
We should not sit back while the Report of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict sits on the shelves in New York and Geneva. The past session of the United Nations Human Rights Council has given us another an opportunity to pursue justice and accountability for Gaza. In relation, the Palestinians should immediately request a conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to remind Israel and third states of their obligations as it relates to the serious breaches of international humanitarian law committed by the State of Israel.
Palestinian civilians run to safety during an Israeli strike over a UN school in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip on Jan. 17, 2009
These are all but a few steps that the Palestinians should strongly consider. Perhaps most importantly, we must seriously assess the illegality of this occupation as it relates to colonialism and apartheid.
Our occupiers and their supporters have lobbied heavily against these routes because they fear the law.
How can we negotiate with a state (Israel), through the mediation of another state (the United States), neither of which recognize the State of Palestine?
It must be made clear: we are a state and should be recognized as such at the negotiating table. There is no compromise on our borders, just like there will be no recognition of Israel as a "Jewish State" and just like there is no forfeiture on the legal right of return for all Palestinian refugees.
The law and justice are right there in front of President Mahmoud Abbas. He must continue moving forward and not turn back.
The free State of Palestine and justice and accountability for the Palestinian people are past due. It is time for the Palestinian Authority to rethink its current configuration. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs should take a leading role in creating and implementing a robust and aggressive international legal and victim-based strategy.
The negotiators should not monopolize Palestine's legal options to only be a used as playing cards on the negotiation table. An strategy should be drafted with the participation of NGOs on the ground that have been fighting through years of pain and frustration (perhaps a working group that can create a plan of action for the State of Palestine).
We must go to New York, to Geneva and The Hague and not look back. It is our time to get what has been long ours: peace, justice, accountability and freedom.
The Palestinian people cannot be held hostage to the situation created by the facade of negotiations.
We are a State. We must act like one.
Here, I remind the Palestinian leadership of the words of Malcolm X: "Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it."
We are a people asking for justice and accountability. Let us take it.
The views expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect Ma'an News Agency's editorial policy.
These are all but a few steps that the Palestinians should strongly consider. Perhaps most importantly, we must seriously assess the illegality of this occupation as it relates to colonialism and apartheid.
Our occupiers and their supporters have lobbied heavily against these routes because they fear the law.
How can we negotiate with a state (Israel), through the mediation of another state (the United States), neither of which recognize the State of Palestine?
It must be made clear: we are a state and should be recognized as such at the negotiating table. There is no compromise on our borders, just like there will be no recognition of Israel as a "Jewish State" and just like there is no forfeiture on the legal right of return for all Palestinian refugees.
The law and justice are right there in front of President Mahmoud Abbas. He must continue moving forward and not turn back.
The free State of Palestine and justice and accountability for the Palestinian people are past due. It is time for the Palestinian Authority to rethink its current configuration. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs should take a leading role in creating and implementing a robust and aggressive international legal and victim-based strategy.
The negotiators should not monopolize Palestine's legal options to only be a used as playing cards on the negotiation table. An strategy should be drafted with the participation of NGOs on the ground that have been fighting through years of pain and frustration (perhaps a working group that can create a plan of action for the State of Palestine).
We must go to New York, to Geneva and The Hague and not look back. It is our time to get what has been long ours: peace, justice, accountability and freedom.
The Palestinian people cannot be held hostage to the situation created by the facade of negotiations.
We are a State. We must act like one.
Here, I remind the Palestinian leadership of the words of Malcolm X: "Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it."
We are a people asking for justice and accountability. Let us take it.
The views expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect Ma'an News Agency's editorial policy.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu early Wednesday ordered government officials to stop cooperation with the Palestinian Authority, according to an Israeli newspaper.
Haaretz said on its website that Israeli ministers were told not to communicate with Palestinian officials, including minsters and director generals.
Haaretz quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that only "low-level field cooperation" would be permitted.
The move comes as an imposition of sanctions against the PA in response to the PLO's decision to apply to join 15 international conventions, the report said.
Netanyahu's actions seem to be at odds with comments made by US and Palestinian officials about Tuesday's peace talks session.
"There are still differences between the Israeli and Palestinian positions, and the Americans are making great efforts to overcome the difficulties," a Palestinian source close to the talks told AFP.
A US official confirmed the latest meeting. "Gaps remain but both sides are committed to narrowing the gaps," he said.
Palestinian officials say the decision to apply to the international conventions was in direct response to Israel's failure to release a fourth and final round of veteran prisoners as agreed.
Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians were relaunched in July under the auspices of the US after nearly three years of impasse.
Israel's government has announced the construction of thousands of settler housing units and its army has killed 60 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza since the negotiations began.
Haaretz said on its website that Israeli ministers were told not to communicate with Palestinian officials, including minsters and director generals.
Haaretz quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that only "low-level field cooperation" would be permitted.
The move comes as an imposition of sanctions against the PA in response to the PLO's decision to apply to join 15 international conventions, the report said.
Netanyahu's actions seem to be at odds with comments made by US and Palestinian officials about Tuesday's peace talks session.
"There are still differences between the Israeli and Palestinian positions, and the Americans are making great efforts to overcome the difficulties," a Palestinian source close to the talks told AFP.
A US official confirmed the latest meeting. "Gaps remain but both sides are committed to narrowing the gaps," he said.
Palestinian officials say the decision to apply to the international conventions was in direct response to Israel's failure to release a fourth and final round of veteran prisoners as agreed.
Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians were relaunched in July under the auspices of the US after nearly three years of impasse.
Israel's government has announced the construction of thousands of settler housing units and its army has killed 60 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza since the negotiations began.
8 apr 2014
Israel has confiscated equipment belonging to mobile phone operator Wataniya Telecom
By Mohamed Khubaisa
Palestinian Communication Minister( in Ramallah) Safa Nasser has accused Israel of tightening the noose around the local communication sector in the besieged Gaza Strip.
"Israel has confiscated equipment belonging to mobile phone operator Wataniya Telecom," Nasser told Anadolu Agency on Monday.
She said that Israeli authorities had suspended an earlier decision to allow Palestinian firms to provide third-generation (3G) mobile telecommunications technology.
The latest restriction is part of a raft of Israel-imposed penalties against the Palestinian Authority (PA) following a recent decision by PA President Mahmoud Abbas to sign 15 applications for Palestinian membership in various U.N. agencies and conventions.
Abbas signed the applications last week in response to an Israeli refusal to release a fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners despite earlier pledges to do so.
According to Nasser, the new Israeli restrictions have already cost Palestinians some $200 million in losses.
She said that her ministry had asked the International Telecommunication Union to pressure Israel to reverse its restrictions on the Palestinian telecom sector.
Source: Anadolu Agency
By Mohamed Khubaisa
Palestinian Communication Minister( in Ramallah) Safa Nasser has accused Israel of tightening the noose around the local communication sector in the besieged Gaza Strip.
"Israel has confiscated equipment belonging to mobile phone operator Wataniya Telecom," Nasser told Anadolu Agency on Monday.
She said that Israeli authorities had suspended an earlier decision to allow Palestinian firms to provide third-generation (3G) mobile telecommunications technology.
The latest restriction is part of a raft of Israel-imposed penalties against the Palestinian Authority (PA) following a recent decision by PA President Mahmoud Abbas to sign 15 applications for Palestinian membership in various U.N. agencies and conventions.
Abbas signed the applications last week in response to an Israeli refusal to release a fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners despite earlier pledges to do so.
According to Nasser, the new Israeli restrictions have already cost Palestinians some $200 million in losses.
She said that her ministry had asked the International Telecommunication Union to pressure Israel to reverse its restrictions on the Palestinian telecom sector.
Source: Anadolu Agency
7 apr 2014
The US government should support rather than oppose Palestinian actions to join international treaties that promote respect for human rights. On April 1, 2014, the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, signed accession instruments for 15 treaties, including the core treaties on human rights and the laws of war. On April 2, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, testified in front of Congress, that in response to the “new Palestinian actions” that the “solemn commitment” by the US to “stand with Israel,” “extends to our firm opposition to any and all unilateral [Palestinian] actions in the international arena.”
“It is disturbing that the Obama administration, which already has a record of resisting international accountability for Israeli rights abuses, would also oppose steps to adopt treaties requiring Palestinian authorities to uphold human rights,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The US should press both the Palestinians and the Israelis to better abide by international human rights standards.”
Palestine’s adoption of human rights and laws-of-war treaties would not cause any change in Israel’s international legal obligations.
Abbas signed letters of accession to core human rights treaties including the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the conventions on the rights of the child; the elimination of discrimination against women; and against torture, apartheid, and genocide. Abbas also signed requests for Palestine to accede to treaties on the laws of war, including the Hague Regulations of 1907, the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, and their first additional protocol.
The human rights treaties he signed would impose obligations on the Palestinian government to respect, protect, and fulfill the human rights of people under their authority and effective control. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank was not eligible to sign human rights treaties but its officials had repeatedly pledged to uphold human rights norms. Human Rights Watch has documented serious abuses by Palestinian security forces, including torture, arbitrary arrest, and the suppression of free speech and assembly.
Ratification of the Hague Regulations and Geneva Conventions would strengthen the obligations of Palestinian forces to abide by international rules on armed conflict. Palestinian armed groups are already obliged by customary international law on armed conflict, including prohibitions on targeting civilians and on carrying out attacks that do not discriminate between civilians and combatants. Armed groups in Gaza, which operate outside the authority or effective control of the Palestinian leadership that signed the treaties, have committed war crimes by launching indiscriminate rocket attacks against Israeli population centers.
Abbas signed the treaties for the state of Palestine, which the UN General Assembly granted non-member observer state status in 2012.
The US appears to oppose Palestine joining human rights treaties in part because it is afraid they will gain greater support for Palestinian statehood outside the framework of negotiations with Israel. According to Power’s testimony to a congressional subcommitteeon April 2, the US has “a monthly meeting with the Israelis” to coordinate responses to possible Palestinian actions at the UN, which the US is concerned could upset peace negotiations. Power said that the US had been “fighting on every front” before peace negotiations restarted in 2013 to prevent such Palestinian actions. Discussing US legislation that bars US funding from UN agencies that accept Palestine as a member, Power noted, “The spirit behind the legislation is to deter Palestinian action [at the UN], that is what we do all the time and that is what we will continue to do.”
The US may also fear that the Palestinian moves are only a first step towards joining the International Criminal Court (ICC). But Abbas did not sign the Rome Statute of the ICC, which would allow the court to have jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed in Palestine or by Palestinians. Power, in her remarks, said that the US is “absolutely adamant” that Palestine should not join the ICC because it “really poses a profound threat to Israel” and would be “devastating to the peace process.”
In either case, the US is mistaken to oppose a step that might lead to greater respect for rights, which could help create a better environment for peace negotiations, Human Rights Watch said.
“The US should stop allowing its separate concerns to stand in the way of a step that could enhance Palestinian authorities’ and armed groups’ respect for basic rights,” Stork said. “The US made the wrong decision to oppose greater rights protections.”
On April 1, the day Abbas signed the accession instruments for the treaties, Israel reissued tenders for the construction of 708 settlement housing units in the Israeli settlement of Gilo, while Israeli forces demolished 32 Palestinian-owned homes and other structures in the occupied West Bank, forcibly displacing 60 people, according to data collected by Ir Amim, an Israeli civil society group, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Under the Geneva Conventions and the ICC statute, settlement construction and the deliberate forcible transfer of civilians from their homes and communities in occupied territory are war crimes.
Israel has ratified core human rights treaties but officially claims that its rights obligations do not extend to Palestinians in the territory it occupies, where it says the laws of armed conflict apply exclusively. UN rights bodies have completely rejected this argument on the basis that an occupying power’s human rights obligations extend to people living under its effective control. Israel additionally claims, also in the face of nearly universal rejection, that the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits transferring its civilian population into occupied territory, does not apply to its settlements in the West Bank.
Source: HUMAN RIHGHTS WATCH
“It is disturbing that the Obama administration, which already has a record of resisting international accountability for Israeli rights abuses, would also oppose steps to adopt treaties requiring Palestinian authorities to uphold human rights,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The US should press both the Palestinians and the Israelis to better abide by international human rights standards.”
Palestine’s adoption of human rights and laws-of-war treaties would not cause any change in Israel’s international legal obligations.
Abbas signed letters of accession to core human rights treaties including the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the conventions on the rights of the child; the elimination of discrimination against women; and against torture, apartheid, and genocide. Abbas also signed requests for Palestine to accede to treaties on the laws of war, including the Hague Regulations of 1907, the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, and their first additional protocol.
The human rights treaties he signed would impose obligations on the Palestinian government to respect, protect, and fulfill the human rights of people under their authority and effective control. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank was not eligible to sign human rights treaties but its officials had repeatedly pledged to uphold human rights norms. Human Rights Watch has documented serious abuses by Palestinian security forces, including torture, arbitrary arrest, and the suppression of free speech and assembly.
Ratification of the Hague Regulations and Geneva Conventions would strengthen the obligations of Palestinian forces to abide by international rules on armed conflict. Palestinian armed groups are already obliged by customary international law on armed conflict, including prohibitions on targeting civilians and on carrying out attacks that do not discriminate between civilians and combatants. Armed groups in Gaza, which operate outside the authority or effective control of the Palestinian leadership that signed the treaties, have committed war crimes by launching indiscriminate rocket attacks against Israeli population centers.
Abbas signed the treaties for the state of Palestine, which the UN General Assembly granted non-member observer state status in 2012.
The US appears to oppose Palestine joining human rights treaties in part because it is afraid they will gain greater support for Palestinian statehood outside the framework of negotiations with Israel. According to Power’s testimony to a congressional subcommitteeon April 2, the US has “a monthly meeting with the Israelis” to coordinate responses to possible Palestinian actions at the UN, which the US is concerned could upset peace negotiations. Power said that the US had been “fighting on every front” before peace negotiations restarted in 2013 to prevent such Palestinian actions. Discussing US legislation that bars US funding from UN agencies that accept Palestine as a member, Power noted, “The spirit behind the legislation is to deter Palestinian action [at the UN], that is what we do all the time and that is what we will continue to do.”
The US may also fear that the Palestinian moves are only a first step towards joining the International Criminal Court (ICC). But Abbas did not sign the Rome Statute of the ICC, which would allow the court to have jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed in Palestine or by Palestinians. Power, in her remarks, said that the US is “absolutely adamant” that Palestine should not join the ICC because it “really poses a profound threat to Israel” and would be “devastating to the peace process.”
In either case, the US is mistaken to oppose a step that might lead to greater respect for rights, which could help create a better environment for peace negotiations, Human Rights Watch said.
“The US should stop allowing its separate concerns to stand in the way of a step that could enhance Palestinian authorities’ and armed groups’ respect for basic rights,” Stork said. “The US made the wrong decision to oppose greater rights protections.”
On April 1, the day Abbas signed the accession instruments for the treaties, Israel reissued tenders for the construction of 708 settlement housing units in the Israeli settlement of Gilo, while Israeli forces demolished 32 Palestinian-owned homes and other structures in the occupied West Bank, forcibly displacing 60 people, according to data collected by Ir Amim, an Israeli civil society group, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Under the Geneva Conventions and the ICC statute, settlement construction and the deliberate forcible transfer of civilians from their homes and communities in occupied territory are war crimes.
Israel has ratified core human rights treaties but officially claims that its rights obligations do not extend to Palestinians in the territory it occupies, where it says the laws of armed conflict apply exclusively. UN rights bodies have completely rejected this argument on the basis that an occupying power’s human rights obligations extend to people living under its effective control. Israel additionally claims, also in the face of nearly universal rejection, that the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits transferring its civilian population into occupied territory, does not apply to its settlements in the West Bank.
Source: HUMAN RIHGHTS WATCH
6 apr 2014
Israeli prime minister Netanyahu responded to the growing negotiations crisis on Sunday, accusing Palestinians of undermining the talks through "empty declarations" and "unilateral actions" at the beginning of the weekly government cabinet meeting according to Israeli media.
Other Israeli officials also denounced the moves, with strategic affairs minister Yuval Steinitz going so far as to say that Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas was "spitting" in Israelis' faces by trying to join international rights conventions.
"Unilateral steps by the Palestinians will be answered with unilateral steps on our part," Netanyahu was quoted as saying by Israeli news site Ynet, in his first public comments on the deterioration of talks in recent days.
"The Palestinians will get a state only though direct negotiations, and not through empty declarations, nor through unilateral actions that will only keep the peace agreement further away," he added during the meeting.
The comments come after the Palestinian Authority submitted letters to accede to a number of international conventions after Israel failed to release a group of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails for more than two decades. Israeli leaders condemned the move, decrying Palestinian attempts at international recognition and potential intervention.
"Throughout these talks, we have taken tough steps and demonstrated willingness to continue executing difficult in the upcoming months as well to create a framework to allow ending the conflict."
"Unfortunately, as we approached the talks' deadline, the Palestinian leadership rushed to unilaterally join 14 international treaties. Thus the Palestinians significantly violated the agreements that were achieved. The threats to turn to the UN do not affect us. The Palestinians have plenty to lose in a unilateral step."
'Mahmoud Abbas is spitting in our faces'
Netanyahu's comments followed remarks from other top Israeli politicians slamming the Palestinian Authority's move.
Economy Minister and right-wing Jewish Home party chairman Naftali Bennett was quoted by Ynet as saying that the Palestinians "shut down the negotiations by unilaterally going to the UN against all agreements. This is a flagrant violation of the accords, including the Oslo Accords. The negotiations with the Palestinians, even though they only turned unilaterally to the UN, makes the State of Israel a shelter for extortion."
"If the seller runs off with the merchandise, you don't need to chase him -- cash in hand -- begging to buy his goods. In short, if they retract the UN application we'll negotiate, and if they don't the negotiations must stop."
Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz joined the critical remarks against the Palestinians, and said: "Truth be told, (Palestinian President) Mahmoud Abbas is spitting in our faces, he tells us he is not interested in peace, he is willing to recognize the existence of the Jewish people and its right to its own state, and now he shuts down the negotiations," according to Ynet.
"This Palestinian Authority exists thanks to us. No only because of the Oslo Accords, but because of the funds we transfer them, and the security we give them. Otherwise, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as they control Gaza, would also taken down Abbas and take over Ramallah."
The statements come amid a wider breakdown in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that followed Israel's refusal to release the fourth batch of veteran Palestinian prisoners as promised as part of a trust-building measure to restart US-backed peace talks.
Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians were relaunched in July under the auspices of the United States after nearly three years of impasse, but over the course of the talks Israel has announced plans to build thousands of homes in illegal settlements across the West Bank, angering Palestinian and US officials.
Israeli officials now fear that the Palestinian Authority may attempt to appeal to international bodies against Israeli policies.
The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.
Other Israeli officials also denounced the moves, with strategic affairs minister Yuval Steinitz going so far as to say that Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas was "spitting" in Israelis' faces by trying to join international rights conventions.
"Unilateral steps by the Palestinians will be answered with unilateral steps on our part," Netanyahu was quoted as saying by Israeli news site Ynet, in his first public comments on the deterioration of talks in recent days.
"The Palestinians will get a state only though direct negotiations, and not through empty declarations, nor through unilateral actions that will only keep the peace agreement further away," he added during the meeting.
The comments come after the Palestinian Authority submitted letters to accede to a number of international conventions after Israel failed to release a group of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails for more than two decades. Israeli leaders condemned the move, decrying Palestinian attempts at international recognition and potential intervention.
"Throughout these talks, we have taken tough steps and demonstrated willingness to continue executing difficult in the upcoming months as well to create a framework to allow ending the conflict."
"Unfortunately, as we approached the talks' deadline, the Palestinian leadership rushed to unilaterally join 14 international treaties. Thus the Palestinians significantly violated the agreements that were achieved. The threats to turn to the UN do not affect us. The Palestinians have plenty to lose in a unilateral step."
'Mahmoud Abbas is spitting in our faces'
Netanyahu's comments followed remarks from other top Israeli politicians slamming the Palestinian Authority's move.
Economy Minister and right-wing Jewish Home party chairman Naftali Bennett was quoted by Ynet as saying that the Palestinians "shut down the negotiations by unilaterally going to the UN against all agreements. This is a flagrant violation of the accords, including the Oslo Accords. The negotiations with the Palestinians, even though they only turned unilaterally to the UN, makes the State of Israel a shelter for extortion."
"If the seller runs off with the merchandise, you don't need to chase him -- cash in hand -- begging to buy his goods. In short, if they retract the UN application we'll negotiate, and if they don't the negotiations must stop."
Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz joined the critical remarks against the Palestinians, and said: "Truth be told, (Palestinian President) Mahmoud Abbas is spitting in our faces, he tells us he is not interested in peace, he is willing to recognize the existence of the Jewish people and its right to its own state, and now he shuts down the negotiations," according to Ynet.
"This Palestinian Authority exists thanks to us. No only because of the Oslo Accords, but because of the funds we transfer them, and the security we give them. Otherwise, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as they control Gaza, would also taken down Abbas and take over Ramallah."
The statements come amid a wider breakdown in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that followed Israel's refusal to release the fourth batch of veteran Palestinian prisoners as promised as part of a trust-building measure to restart US-backed peace talks.
Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians were relaunched in July under the auspices of the United States after nearly three years of impasse, but over the course of the talks Israel has announced plans to build thousands of homes in illegal settlements across the West Bank, angering Palestinian and US officials.
Israeli officials now fear that the Palestinian Authority may attempt to appeal to international bodies against Israeli policies.
The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.
4 apr 2014
The extremist government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to “punish” the Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas for filing a formal application to join 15 UN conventions, by imposing a series of measures and restrictions. Israeli daily Haaretz has reported that Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni stated during what was described as tensed meeting between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, that “Israel will not implement the release of the fourth phase of veteran political prisoners.”
Livni threatened that, unless the Palestinians void their application to join the UN organizations, Israel will not release any Palestinian detainee.
Haaretz said that the Israeli government also decided to impose a series of punitive measures against the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
It said Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon instructed the coordinator of “Government Activities” in the occupied territories, Major General Yoav Mordechai “to prepare a list of all possible measures” to punish the Palestinians.
One of the measures is to suspend a permit to the “Wataniya” Palestinian wireless provider, operating in the West Bank, and to prevent it from bringing its equipment to the Gaza Strip where it intends to provide services.
On Thursday, United States Secretary General John Kerry allegedly tried to get Netanyahu to have restraint in order to avoid a “total collapse of peace talks”, yet, when he made public statements, he urged both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to act on saving the peace process.
Haaretz said that an Israeli-Palestinian and American talks session started on Wednesday evening around 7:30 in the evening, and continued until 4 at dawn on Thursday, but yielded no positive outcome.
Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and Netanyahu’s special envoy Yitzhak Molho, represented the Israeli side, while chief negotiator Dr. Saeb Erekat and Palestinian Intelligence Chief Majid Faraj represented the Palestinian side.
U.S. Special Envoy Martin Indyk supervised the meeting and tried to moderate it, but it ended with complete failure following a very stormy session filled with what Haaretz described as “threats and accusations”.
On Thursday, the White House said the Israeli decision to void the release of the fourth phase of veteran Palestinian detainees “poses more difficulties in achieving peace”.
The detainees were supposed to be released by the end of last Month, but Israel delayed the release and decided to void it.
Livni told Erekat that Israel will not release the 26 veteran detainees because the Palestinian Authority filed an application to join 15 UN and international agreements and treaties.
The United States said it “would continue its efforts” to ensure the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians despite the current impasse.
Israel's government has announced the construction of thousands of settler housing units and its army has killed 60 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza since the negotiations were resumed last year.
Hundreds of Palestinians were kidnapped, and hundreds were injured.
On Tuesday, at dawn, [December 31, 2013] Israel released 26 veteran Palestinian detainees, as part of the third phase of releasing all detained Palestinians held since before the first Oslo peace agreement in 1993.
During the first and second phases, Israel released, back in mid-August, 26 veteran detainees (14 from Gaza and 12 from the West bank) and, in late October, it released 26 veteran detainees (21 from Gaza and 5 from the West Bank).
The fourth and final stage of releasing veteran detainees was supposed to be implemented on March 28, 2014, but Israel decided not to let them go. In total 104 veteran detainees were supposed to be freed by March 28.
Israel holds more than 5,000 Palestinians in its prisons, most of them on security grounds. Around 150 of these are held under administrative detention, without charge or trial, and another 150 are minors.
Approximately 84% of the detainees are from the West Bank; all detainees are held in 17 prisons, detention and interrogation centers, including Nafha prison, the Negev Detention Camp, Be’er As-Sabe’ prison, Hadarim prison, Asqalan Prison, Ha-Sharon Prison, Ofer Prison, Majiddo Prison, Galboa’ Prison and Shatta Prison.
In a report published on April 1, 2014, the Ahrar Center for Detainees Studies and Human Rights has reported that Israeli soldiers have killed twelve Palestinians since the beginning of this year, kidnapped 364 in March, and 1059 since January first.
Related
Ahrar: “12 Killed In First Quarter Of 2014, 1059 Kidnapped”
Wednesday April 02, 2014 08:41
Livni threatened that, unless the Palestinians void their application to join the UN organizations, Israel will not release any Palestinian detainee.
Haaretz said that the Israeli government also decided to impose a series of punitive measures against the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
It said Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon instructed the coordinator of “Government Activities” in the occupied territories, Major General Yoav Mordechai “to prepare a list of all possible measures” to punish the Palestinians.
One of the measures is to suspend a permit to the “Wataniya” Palestinian wireless provider, operating in the West Bank, and to prevent it from bringing its equipment to the Gaza Strip where it intends to provide services.
On Thursday, United States Secretary General John Kerry allegedly tried to get Netanyahu to have restraint in order to avoid a “total collapse of peace talks”, yet, when he made public statements, he urged both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to act on saving the peace process.
Haaretz said that an Israeli-Palestinian and American talks session started on Wednesday evening around 7:30 in the evening, and continued until 4 at dawn on Thursday, but yielded no positive outcome.
Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and Netanyahu’s special envoy Yitzhak Molho, represented the Israeli side, while chief negotiator Dr. Saeb Erekat and Palestinian Intelligence Chief Majid Faraj represented the Palestinian side.
U.S. Special Envoy Martin Indyk supervised the meeting and tried to moderate it, but it ended with complete failure following a very stormy session filled with what Haaretz described as “threats and accusations”.
On Thursday, the White House said the Israeli decision to void the release of the fourth phase of veteran Palestinian detainees “poses more difficulties in achieving peace”.
The detainees were supposed to be released by the end of last Month, but Israel delayed the release and decided to void it.
Livni told Erekat that Israel will not release the 26 veteran detainees because the Palestinian Authority filed an application to join 15 UN and international agreements and treaties.
The United States said it “would continue its efforts” to ensure the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians despite the current impasse.
Israel's government has announced the construction of thousands of settler housing units and its army has killed 60 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza since the negotiations were resumed last year.
Hundreds of Palestinians were kidnapped, and hundreds were injured.
On Tuesday, at dawn, [December 31, 2013] Israel released 26 veteran Palestinian detainees, as part of the third phase of releasing all detained Palestinians held since before the first Oslo peace agreement in 1993.
During the first and second phases, Israel released, back in mid-August, 26 veteran detainees (14 from Gaza and 12 from the West bank) and, in late October, it released 26 veteran detainees (21 from Gaza and 5 from the West Bank).
The fourth and final stage of releasing veteran detainees was supposed to be implemented on March 28, 2014, but Israel decided not to let them go. In total 104 veteran detainees were supposed to be freed by March 28.
Israel holds more than 5,000 Palestinians in its prisons, most of them on security grounds. Around 150 of these are held under administrative detention, without charge or trial, and another 150 are minors.
Approximately 84% of the detainees are from the West Bank; all detainees are held in 17 prisons, detention and interrogation centers, including Nafha prison, the Negev Detention Camp, Be’er As-Sabe’ prison, Hadarim prison, Asqalan Prison, Ha-Sharon Prison, Ofer Prison, Majiddo Prison, Galboa’ Prison and Shatta Prison.
In a report published on April 1, 2014, the Ahrar Center for Detainees Studies and Human Rights has reported that Israeli soldiers have killed twelve Palestinians since the beginning of this year, kidnapped 364 in March, and 1059 since January first.
Related
Ahrar: “12 Killed In First Quarter Of 2014, 1059 Kidnapped”
Wednesday April 02, 2014 08:41
