Palestine – Page 2

Terrorists celebrate 20 years of terror

Former Palestinian terrorist Leila Khaled’s visit to Soweto on Sunday turned into a celebration of violence, armed terror and crime “for a noble cause”.

Posters of Nelson Mandela adorned the walls of the Donaldson Orlando Community Centre in Soweto with the words: “The belligerent attitude adopted by the Israeli government is to us unacceptable.” Mandela however had welcomed armed terror in South Africa.

One of the main reasons why Mandela had lingered in prison for 27 years, was because he had refused to call off the ANC’s armed struggle campaign against innocent civilians.

The Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform Mcebisi Skwatsha reminded the audience that weapons were an essential part of the struggle: “You are told it’s a matter of life or death, but the cause is a noble one. It was a matter of being inducted into the use of an AK47.”

“Two people stood out for us young ones. It was that picture of comrade Leila carrying an AK47. And it was also a pic of comrade Che Guevara carrying an AK47.

Without irony Skwatsha said Khaled, like Nelson Mandela, had been labelled a terrorist.

“The chief terrorist became the president of a liberated South Africa. Look at the difference the terrorists have made in our country in the last 20 years.”

Since Mandela’s release South Africa has become a criminal paradise, making it one of the most dangerous countries in the world and a child rapist’s dream.

Max Ozinsky, a national executive committee member of the MK Veterans Association, said Israel and apartheid South Africa had worked together to fight the ANC and its “armed struggle against apartheid and its supporters”.

Skwatsha said he had been involved in terror against civilians in South Africa. He joined the ANC’s military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe “at an early age in the 1980s”.

Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans and Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans’ Association chairman Kebby Maphatsoe meanwhile declared war on the EFF, saying it was “in parliament because of our sweat and blood”.

He told a raucous crowd at the Centre: “They’ve declared war on us and we’ve been left with no choice but to defend ourselves.”

The mostly ANC crowd chanted struggle threats against EFF members, promising violence.

Khaled, who has reportedly had no less than nine facial plastic surgery interventions, leaves for Jordan today.

Her visit was to raise funds for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Against Israel in South Africa.

“Now you’re enjoying the streets of Soweto. I feel I’m with my family. You’re sisters and brothers. We [Palestinians] were celebrating in 1994 when you got your elections. Freedom is important because it is dignity. Why don’t they [Israelis] admit that occupation is terrorism?”

France to vote on Palestinian state recognition

A symbolic vote planned in the French parliament on December 2 will call on the government to “use the recognition of the state of Palestine as an instrument to gain a definitive resolution of the conflict” and follows a similar motion adopted by Spain last week.

Earlier the UK adopted a similar non-binding resolution calling for recognition of the Palestinian state as a step to securing a two-state solution.

Meanwhile Sweden has become the first West-European EU state to officially recognize the occupied state of Palestine, infuriating Israel who recalled its ambassador in Sweden.

A vote at the UN General Assembly in 2012 secured de facto Palestinian statehood, although a ‘yes’ vote from most EU members is still pending. While Sweden is the first EU member in Western Europe to have recognized the state, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Malta, Romania, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic have already done so.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has warned it would be a “grave mistake” for the French parliament to follow the suit of several other European nations in recognizing a Palestinian state in a vote scheduled early December.

“Recognition of a Palestinian state by France would be a grave mistake,” Netanyahu told reporters in Jerusalem. “Do they have nothing better to do at a time of beheadings across the Middle East, including that of a French citizen?” apparently referring to Herve Gourdel executed by Algerian jihadists in September.

“The State of Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people, the only state that we have, and the Palestinians demanding a state do not want to recognize the right to have a state for the Jewish people,” Netanyahu added.

‘Israel’s attempts to change Jerusalem status should be annulled’

Israel’s attempts to change Jerusalem status should be annulled, the Palestinian ambassador urged.

The State of Palestine asked the UN General Assembly to get Israel to annul all measures to change the status of Jerusalem which under international accords should remain a capital of two states.

All Israeli measures, including the extension of the so-called ‘basic law’ should be cancelled immediately, Palestinian permanent observer at the UN Riyad Mansour said.

‘The basic law’ which Israel’s unicameral national legislature Knesset adopted in 1980 proclaims united Jerusalem the capital of Israel.

Several countries have expressed deep concern over the rising tensions in Arab-dominated East Jerusalem, stressing the need for restraint and avoidance of provocation.

Marking the International day of solidarity with the Palestinian People, India called for dialogue as the “only viable option” for a durable, comprehensive and peaceful solution to the Palestinian issue.

“We hope that both sides will demonstrate the necessary political will to return to the negotiating table and resume dialogue,” he said, adding that India supports a negotiated solution, resulting in a sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, living within secure and recognized borders, side by side and at peace with Israel.

India called for the blockade on Gaza to be fully lifted and humanitarian supplies and desperately-needed materials for reconstruction be allowed in without restrictions.

The fighting, which raged from July 8 to August 26, saw entire neighbourhoods in the Strip flattened, and almost one-third of Gaza’s population uprooted.

The violence killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, including more than 500 children, and more than 70 Israelis while also damaging or destroying over 100,000 homes.

India is implementing development projects in Palestine, jointly with Brazil and South Africa within the framework of IBSA, and has pledged a million dollars for a new project to reconstruct the Atta Habib medical centre in Gaza.

Palestinian leader to visit Pretoria

President Jacob Zuma will host his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, in Pretoria this week.

This visit follows a war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza earlier this year. More than 2100 Palestinians, most of them civilians, were killed in Gaza. Sixty-seven Israeli soldiers and six civilians were killed by rockets and attacks by Hamas and other militant groups.

The war prompted Pretoria to send a special envoy to the Middle East in an attempt to secure peace.

Zuma will receive Abbas on Wednesday, presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said.

Source: timeslive.co.za

Spain’s parliament calls for recognition of Palestine

The Spanish parliament supported Palestine’s recognition in a symbolic vote Tuesday.

Spanish Congress of Deputies (lower chamber of the parliament) has called on the government to recognize Palestine as a state in a non-binding motion.

According to a member of parliament and former Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez, the “formal and symbolic recognition” of Palestine by the parliament should spur peace talks, RIA Novosti reporter said.

In late October Britain held a similar vote that recognized the Palestinian state. France is to have symbolic voting on November 28.

Sweden officially recognized the state of Palestine on October 30, becoming the first EU country to do so.

Palestinians seek the creation of an independent state on the territories of the West Bank in East Jerusalem, partially occupied by Israel, as well as on the Gaza Strip territory controlled by Hamas militants. Palestine has designated Jerusalem as its capital and calls on Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories it took after the 1967 war.

Israel’s ex-generals urge peace deal with Palestinians

Over 100 former high-ranking Israeli army members, police officers and spy chiefs have called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pursue peace with the Palestinians, media reported Monday.

“We, the undersigned, reserve IDF (army) commanders and retired police officers, who have fought in Israel’s military campaigns, know first-hand of the heavy and painful price exacted by wars,” 105 signatories said in a joint letter addressed to Netanyahu.

Excerpts of the letter were published by Ynet news website.

It called on Netanyahu to embark on a “courageous initiative” and make peace with Palestine and other Arab states.

“We fought bravely for the country in the hope that our children would live here in peace, but we got a sharp reality check, and here we are again sending our children out onto the battlefield,” it said.

“This is not a question of left or right. What we have here is an alternative option for resolving the conflict that is not based solely on bilateral negotiations with the Palestinians, which have failed time and again.

“We expect a show of courageous initiative and leadership from you. Lead — and we will stand behind you,” said the letter.

The website said the letter was the brainchild of major general Amnon Reshef, a former armored corps commander.

Ynet said that Reshef was “sick and tired of a reality of rounds of fighting every few years instead of a genuine effort to adopt the Saudi initiative.”

It was referring to the Arab Peace Initiative drawn up in 2002 by oil kingpin Saudi Arabia, which called on Israel to withdraw from occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, in exchange for a normalization of ties with Arab countries.

Former president Shimon Peres made a similar appeal last week, saying: “It’s a shame that the only peace initiative was an Arab initiative. Where is the Israeli peace initiative?”

US-brokered peace talks between Israel and Palestine have been frozen since April.

Source: AFP

Palestine to apply for full-fledged UN membership

Palestine plans to submit an application in 2015 to obtain a status of a full-fledged UN member and expects that by late November the UN Security Council will vote on the resolution on the time framework for ending the Israeli occupation, the Palestinian UN envoy said on Wednesday.

Palestine is not planning to wait until next year when one third of the UN Security Council will be renewed and Australia, Argentina, Luxemburg, South Korea and Rwanda will be replaced by Angola, Venezuela, Spain, Malaysia and New Zealand.

“We welcome the new members of the Council, but we have a new agenda for them which will be topical since January 1,” a diplomat said. “The first thing we are preparing is to submit our application to get a full-fledged membership [in the UN].”

Palestine got a status of a non-member observer state at the United Nations in late November 2012. It needs to receive a recommendation from the UN Security Council to get a full-fledged membership in the organization.

A total of 135 member states of the United Nations have recognized the State of Palestine by late October.

Palestine was officially recognized as a sovereign state by the Soviet Union in November 1988.

Israel shuts down Al-Asqa Mosque

‘The decision to close the site was very dangerous and irrational, it would lead to destabilization and a strengthening of tensions not only in Jerusalem, but in the entire region’

The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem has been closed to all worshipers for the first time since 1967. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called the closure a ‘declaration of war.’

Both Jewish and Muslim worshipers will be prohibited from visiting the site “until further notice,” Israel’s public security minister said. Following the announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered “a significant hike” in the number of police forces patrolling Jerusalem, Naharnet daily reports.

Palestinian authorities quickly responded to the move, saying it was a “dangerous and blatant challenge” that would lead to more tension and instability in an already volatile situation.

“This dangerous Israeli escalation is a declaration of war on the Palestinian people and its sacred places and on the Arab and Islamic nation,” Abbas’ spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina quoted him as saying.

“We hold the Israeli government responsible for this dangerous escalation in Jerusalem that has reached its peak through the closure of the Al-Aqsa mosque this morning,” he told AFP.

He added that the state of Palestinian would employ all legal means to “hold Israel accountable” and put an end to “these ongoing attacks.”

Omar Al-Kiswani, director of Al-Aqsa Mosque, told RT the decision to close the site was very dangerous and irrational, saying it would lead to destabilization and a strengthening of tensions not only in Jerusalem, but in the entire region. He said the situation in Jerusalem has been turbulent as a result of the closure.

Source:RT

Sweden officially recognizes state of Palestine

The decision, which has drawn the ire of Israel, comes unexpectedly early

The Swedish government became the first E.U. member to officially recognize the state of Palestine on Thursday.

Newly elected Prime Minister Stefan Lofven first announced the move at his swearing-in ceremony on Oct. 3, but he was not expected to follow through so soon, writes the Israeli daily Haaretz.

“Some will claim that today’s decision comes too early. I’m rather afraid it’s too late,” writes Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom in the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter. “The past year, we’ve seen how the peace negotiations once again have halted, how decisions on new settlements on occupied Palestinian land have obstructed a two-state solution and how violence has returned to Gaza.”

Wallstrom writes that the recognition aims to support moderate forces among the Palestinians, make future negotiations more equal and give young Palestinians hope of a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Israel has publicly protested the move, which some believe is feeding unrealistic Palestinian expectations of working out a resolution with the international community but without involving Israel, writes the Jerusalem Post.

A total of 134 other countries recognized Palestine before Sweden. Hungary, Poland and Slovakia all did so before joining the E.U.

Those fighting for Palestine – currently Hamas – are labeled as “terrorists” by Israel.

“EU members confirmed in 2009 their readiness to recognize the state of Palestine when it was appropriate,” Wallstrom said.

“We are now ready to take the lead. We hope this can show the way for others.”

She added that the fact that the Palestinians don’t have full control of their land or have fixed borders should not be an obstacle to international recognition.

A vote at the UN General Assembly in 2012 secured a de facto Palestinian statehood, although a ‘yes’ vote from most EU members is still pending. While Sweden is the first EU member in Western Europe to have recognized the state, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Malta, Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic have already done so.

Iceland – the only non-EU member in the pack, has also recognized the Palestinian state.

CIA report: Israel will fall in 20 years

A study conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has cast doubt over Israel’s survival beyond the next 20 years.

The CIA report predicts “an inexorable movement away from a two-state to a one-state solution, as the most viable model based on democratic principles of full equality that sheds the looming specter of colonial Apartheid while allowing for the return of the 1947/1948 and 1967 refugees. The latter being the precondition for sustainable peace in the region.”

The study, which has been made available only to a certain number of individuals, further forecasts the return of all Palestinian refugees to the occupied territories, and the exodus of two million Israeli – who would move to the US in the next fifteen years.

“There is over 500,000 Israelis with American passports and more than 300,000 living in the area of just California,” International lawyer Franklin Lamb said in an interview with Press TV on Friday, adding that those who do not have American or western passport, have already applied for them.

“So I think the handwriting at least among the public in Israel is on the wall…[which] suggests history will reject the colonial enterprise sooner or later,” Lamb stressed.

He said CIA, in its report, alludes to the unexpectedly quick fall of the apartheid government in South Africa and recalls the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, suggesting the end to the dream of an ‘Israeli land’ would happen ‘way sooner’ than later.

The study further predicts the return of over one and a half million Israelis to Russia and other parts of Europe, and denotes a decline in Israeli births whereas a rise in the Palestinian population.

Lamb said given the Israeli conduct toward the Palestinians and the Gaza strip in particular, the American public — which has been voicing its protest against Tel Aviv’s measures in the last 25 years — may ‘not take it anymore’.

Some members of the US Senate Intelligence Committee have been informed of the report.

Source: MRS/MMN

Peace Prize winner says Ukraine not protecting their children

Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi said that protecting Ukrainian citizens and especially children, 20 of whom died in bombings in September alone, is a direct responsibility of the Ukrainian authorities.

In an exclusive Saturday interview to RIA Novosti (Rossiya Segodnya) Satyarthi, who has been struggling against child labor for most of his life, and whose Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save Childhood Movement) organization has freed over 80,000 children from various forms of servitude, the Nobel Peace Prize winner said children should not be the victims of conflict.

Satyarthi lamented on the current plight of children in Syria and Ukraine.

“Whatever happening in Syria, Ukraine, Palestine is due to political reasons but children are bearing the brunt of these crises. It’s very painful that we have not made our place safer for the children,” he said.

He urged the world community to act against these shortcomings. “So far, we have not been able to create a world where children will be safe. They are innocent and have nothing to do with violence but often they are targets. We should not only condemn it but also act against it.”

The Peace Prize recipient said it was the responsibility of the Ukrainian government to save their citizens, particularly children.

He appealed to the Ukrainian government to ensure that such incidents against children will not occur in future.

“Safety of children should be their utmost priority,” Satyarthi said.

US authorities have pursued their own goals by creating the crisis in Ukraine, blinded by violations committed by the new Ukrainian authorities, said former Assistant to the US Treasury Secretary in the Reagan administration, head of the Institute of Political Economy, Paul Craig Roberts.

According to him, the Ukrainian government is a “puppet” government.

“As you know, Washington uses the atrocities that Kiev commits against Russians in Ukraine, to push Putin for action, to make Russia send troops to protect the Russian nationals and the territories.”

The end of evangelical support for Israel

A mere decade ago, Christian Zionism was seen as an emerging force in American politics. As if out of nowhere, a block of fifty to one hundred million friends of Israel were poised to enter the national debate and safeguard the U.S.-Israel relationship for generations to come. Evangelical love for Israel appeared so solid that the only debate within the Jewish community was whether or not to “accept” it.

Just a few years ago, almost every significant evangelical leader, such as pro-Israel stalwart Pastor John Hagee came out squarely behind the Jewish state.

How quickly things change. The days of taking evangelical support for Israel for granted are over. As they are increasingly confronted with an evangelical-friendly, anti-Israel narrative, more and more of these Christians are turning against the Jewish state.

There is troubling precedent for such an about-face. At one time—prior to the 1967 war— the mainline Protestant denominations were among Israel’s most reliable American supporters. Israel’s opponents, therefore, targeted these denominations with mainline-friendly, anti-Israel messages. There are still many mainline Protestants who support Israel today. But to the extent the mainline denominations act corporately in connection with the Jewish state, it is to divest from it. And it is from Israel—not Iran—that they seek to divest.

In a similar fashion, Palestinian Christians and their American sympathizers are successfully promoting a narrative aimed at reaching the rising generation of evangelicals and turning them against Israel. As a result, more leaders of this generation are moving toward neutrality in the conflict while others are becoming outspoken critics of Israel. Questioning Christian support for the Jewish state is fast becoming a key way for the millennials to demonstrate their Christian compassion and political independence. In short, this population is in play.

Almost every significant evangelical leader who took a position on the issue of Palestine came out squarely behind the Jewish state. A center-right evangelical world simply was not taking its political cues from stalwarts of the left.

This situation is changing dramatically. With every passing month, more evidence is emerging that anti-Israel Christians are succeeding in reaching beyond the evangelical left and are influencing the mainstream. In particular, they are penetrating the evangelical world at its soft underbelly: the millennial generation. These young believers (roughly ages 18 to 30) are rebelling against what they perceive as the excessive biblical literalism and political conservatism of their parents. As they strive with a renewed vigor to imitate Jesus’ stand with the oppressed and downtrodden, they want to decide for themselves which party is being oppressed in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Source: The Middle East Quarterly

Israeli strike levels 12-story Gaza building

The targeting of large buildings appears to be part of a new military tactic by Israel. Over the weekend, the army began warning Gaza residents in automated phone calls that it would target buildings harboring “terrorist infrastructure” and that they should stay away.

A senior military official confirmed that Israel has a policy of striking at buildings containing Hamas operational centers or those from which military activities are launched. The official said each strike required prior approval from military lawyers and is carried out only after the local population is warned.

However, he said, there was now a widening of locations that the military can target. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to discuss the matter with reporters.

In the 12-story apartment tower, the target was a fourth-floor apartment where Hamas ran an operations center, according to Israeli media. In the past, Israel has carried out pinpoint strikes, targeting apartments in high-rises with missiles, while leaving the buildings standing. However, this time a decision was made to bring down the entire tower, according to Channel 10, an Israeli TV station.

The military declined immediate comment when asked why it collapsed the entire building instead of striking a specific apartment.

Source: AP

Pentagon hands Guantanamo to G4S

A British private security company that has been accused of numerous human rights violations has been handed a $118 million deal by the Pentagon to provide “operating support services” for the Guantanamo Bay naval base that houses the U.S. military’s notorious prison.

The Department of Defense announced earlier this week that G4S has been granted the contract to provide services that include “family housing, facility management, facility investment, other (swimming pools), custodial, pest control, integrated solid waste management, grounds maintenance and landscaping, base support vehicles and equipment, electrical, wastewater, water, and limited facilities support functions.” The statement did not mention any duties relating to the Guantanamo Bay prison, which currently holds 149 men without charge or trial.

But Kat Craig, legal director for UK-based legal charity Reprieve, told the Independent that “G4S must make clear exactly what the nature of its work at Guantanamo is.”

“Any company which associates itself with the legal black hole which is Guantanamo Bay has serious questions to answer,” she added. “Guantanamo has been the site of detention without trial and brutal mistreatment for over a decade—even now, Reprieve’s clients are being subjected to torturous force-feedings in response to their peaceful protests.”

British authorities are currently investigating G4S for fraud, following evidence that the company over-charged for the electronic monitoring of incarcerated people, including alleged prisoners who were actually dead.

The largest “private security” company in the world, G4S became the target of a global boycott campaign following revelations of its role in Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian people. G4S signed a deal with the Israeli Prison Authority in 2007 to provide “security” for five prisons that hold large numbers of Palestinians—many of them children—who are denied due process. These facilities have proven track records of at times deadly torture and abuse. Palestinian prisoner Arafat Jaradat was tortured to death at Israel’s Megiddo prison in February 2013—where G4S provides security and surveillance systems.

The company fell under international criticism when 46-year-old Angolan man Jimmy Mubenga died in 2010 while in the custody of G4S guards while being deported from Britain. Witnesses say the guards used excessive force as Mubenga cried for help approximately 50 times.

G4S also faces numerous allegations that people detained in its Mangaung prison in South Africa face widespread torture, including forced injections and electric shocks.

“G4S has a horrible human rights track record,” Ramah Kudaimi of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation told Common Dreams. “It would be much better if the U.S. did not award contracts to companies with horrendous track records and itself stopped human rights abuses at Guantanamo.”

Source: commondreams.org