Day: 10 December 2021

The Jewish Voice for Peace slammed candidates representing their countries in the 2021 Miss Universe pageant in Israel for “glamorizing” the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.

The organization, which works for a just and lasting peace according to principles of human rights, equality, and international law, decried the contestants for appropriating Palestinian culture after cooking Palestinian food in Palestinian traditional dresses.

“Miss Universe contestants are influencers glamorizing the ethnic cleansing and erasure of Palestinians and their culture on the global stage,” JVP said in a press statement.

“Through social media posts sponsored by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, the contestants have advertised their engagement with Palestinian food, clothing, and dance traditions — but they have called this Palestinian culture, and the Palestinian land and people from which it originated, “Israeli.” And, while they said they were living “the life of a Bedoiun,” they neglected to illustrate the actual conditions of Bedouin life, which include home demolitions, forced expulsions, and Israeli police violence,” it added.

“Like many other settler-colonies, Israeli society has a long legacy of co-opting native culture and downplaying or disavowing foreign — in this case, diaspora Jewish — culture. This simultaneous cultural theft and disavowal is an attempt to “self-indigenize.” In other words, settlers want to make themselves (and the rest of the world) believe they belong on the land that birthed the indigenous culture, even as they ethnically cleanse the actual indigenous people from it.”

JVP called for the boycott of Israel and resisting participation in events that “camouflage” the oppression of the Palestinian people.

“Viral social media posts like these clearly demonstrate the importance of a cultural boycott of Israel, including but not limited to the Miss Universe pageant. The Israeli government blatantly uses culture as a tool to glamorize or camouflage its oppression of Palestinians, so we must collectively resist participating in it or giving it our attention.”

JVP thanked Miss Malaysia and Miss Indonesia for withdrawing from the pageant, and the grandson of former South African President Nelson Mandela, Inkosi Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela, for calling on all former Miss South Africa winners to boycott the event as well.

“There is nothing beautiful about occupation, brutality and institutionalized discrimination against the Palestinian people,” JVP quoted Inkosi as saying.

Miss Philippines, Beatrice Luigi Gomez, posted on Instagram photos of herself and her competitors cooking Palestinian food in traditional Palestinian dresses, sparking an outcry on social media, with some social media users calling for a boycott of the event and accusing some contestants of promoting tourism in a colonial state and supporting the gross appropriation of Palestinian culture.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Israeli settlers Thursday night vandalized Palestinian vehicles in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, according to WAFA correspondent.

She said that a group of armed settlers attacked five Palestinian-owned vehicles in the neighborhood, smashing their windshields.

The neighborhood has become a scene of massive protests against Israel’s settler-colonialism in the occupied territories since the Israeli occupation authorities decided to forcibly expel dozens of families from their houses in favor of colonial settler groups.

Palestinians have maintained that the Israeli occupation authorities decision to “evict” the families from their houses in favor of the settler groups is politically-motivated and comes as part of Israel’s efforts to ethnically cleanse Jerusalemite Palestinians.

Since the occupation of Jerusalem by Israel in June 1967, Israeli settlers colonial organizations, including Elad and Ateret Cohanim, have claimed ownership of Palestinian property in Jerusalem. Backed by the Israeli state, judiciary and security services, these organizations have been working on wresting control of Palestinian property and convert it into colonial outposts as part of the efforts to ensure a Jewish majority in the city, as well as on managing archaeological sites in Silwan and overseeing their excavation. This scheme involves building new colonial tourist sites, such as the “City of David”, to bolster their propaganda.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

The Israeli navy Friday morning detained two fishermen offshore the northern Gaza Strip, according to local sources.

They said that Israeli naval boats intercepted a Palestinian fishing boat offshore the northern besieged coastal enclave and rounded up two fishermen.

Sixteen years following the Israeli “disengagement” from Gaza, Israel has not actually disengaged from Gaza; it still maintains control of its land borders, access to the sea and airspace.

Two million Palestinians live the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to a punishing and crippling Israeli blockade for 12 years and repeated onslaughts that have heavily damaged much of the enclave’s infrastructure.

Gaza’s 2-million population remains under “remote control” occupation and a strict siege, which has destroyed the local economy, strangled Palestinian livelihoods, plunged them into unprecedented rates of unemployment and poverty, and cut off from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories and the wider world.

Gaza remains occupied territory, having no control over its borders, territorial waters or airspace. Meanwhile, Israel upholds very few of its responsibilities as the occupying power, failing to provide for the basic needs of Palestinian civilians living in the territory.

Every two in three Palestinians in Gaza is a refugee from lands inside what is now Israel. That government forbids them from exercising their right to return as enshrined in international law because they are not Jews.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Weather today is partly cloudy and relatively cold in daytime and cold in the night with a rise in temperature, which becomes seasonal, according to the Palestinian Meteorological Department (PMD).

Moderate to strong southeasterly to easterly wind blows. Sea waves are low.

Temperature in the capital, Jerusalem, and in Bethlehem is expected to reach a high of 16°C and a low of 12°C, and in Ramallah and Hebron a high of 15°C and a low of 11°C are expected. In Jericho, the Dead Sea, and the Jordan Valley, temperature is expected to reach a high of 25°C and a low of 15°C, while it is expected to reach a high of 23°C and a low of 15°C in Gaza and the coastal areas.

A further significant rise is expected in temperature, which becomes unseasonably high on Saturday, paving the way to clear and slightly cold to mild conditions in daytime and relatively cold to cold conditions in the night. Strong easterly wind will continue to prevail.

Sunday’s temperature is set to further rise and approach 5°C above the seasonal average, with clear and slightly cold to moderate conditions in the day and relatively cold to cold conditions in the night. Strong easterly wind will continue to blow.

Monday’s temperature is set to drop but remains unseasonably high, paving the way to clear slightly cold to moderate conditions in daytime and relatively cold to cold conditions in nighttime.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Israeli forces Friday overnight detained five Palestinians from the central West Bank district of Ramallah, according to local sources.

They said that Israeli forces re-arrested up three former prisoners, including a student enrolled in Birzeit University, after breaking into and searching their houses in al-Bireh city.

They also re-arrested two others after ransacking their houses in Beitunia town, west of Ramallah.

Israeli forces frequently raid Palestinian houses almost on a daily basis across the West Bank on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians, triggering clashes with residents.

These raids, which take place also in areas under the full control of the Palestinian Authority, are conducted with no need for a search warrant, whenever and wherever the military chooses in keeping with its sweeping arbitrary powers.

Under Israeli military law army commanders have full executive, legislative and judicial authority over 3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank. Palestinians have no say in how this authority is exercised.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the Government of Germany today signed agreements in support of Palestine refugees in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, amounting to a total of EUR 21 million.

The Government of Germany will provide €15 million to ensure that approximately 50,000 Palestine refugee children in Gaza and 46,000 in the West Bank have continued access to learning in UNRWA schools, and that Palestine refugees have access to life-saving health care services in three health centers in the Gaza Strip.

Additionally, Germany will support the early recovery of Palestine refugees in Gaza affected by the latest Israeli aggression through a €6 million contribution, by providing financial assistance for the reconstruction of approximately 150 destroyed shelters and by supporting 50 families in meeting their urgent psycho-social relief needs.

Oliver Owcza, Head of the German Representative Office in Ramallah, welcomed these agreements as essential assistance to Palestine refugees in Gaza and the West Bank following a particularly challenging year, especially in light of the instability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the May 2021 Israeli aggression.

Owcza thanked UNRWA for its work under likewise difficult conditions and added: “Supporting the provision of primary health care for people in need and of quality, inclusive education for Palestine refugee children in Gaza and the West Bank are key priorities for the Government of Germany.”

“Through this generous and timely contribution, the Government of Germany has once again demonstrated its tremendous commitment to the well-being of Palestine refugees, by supporting UNRWA in maintaining undisrupted education and health services in Gaza and the West Bank, during one of its most severe financial crises,” said Mr. Karim Amer, UNRWA Director of Partnerships.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Palestine today recorded 330 new Covid-19 cases and six deaths, according to Health Minister Mai Alkaila.

She announced that 330 Palestinians tested positive for the highly contagious virus and six others died of it in the occupied territories.

As part of the 330 new cases, 233 cases were registered in the West Bank and 97 others in the Gaza Strip.

She identified three of the death cases as residents of the Gaza Strip, another as a resident of the West Bank district of Bethlehem and two others as residents of the West Bank district of Hebron.

She added that 260 Covid-19 patients recovered; 215 recovery cases in the West Bank and 45 others in the Gaza Strip.

She pointed that 55 Covid-19 patients are getting treatment in intensive care units and 83 others are currently receiving treatment at hospitals, including 16 who are on ventilators.

She said that the recovery rate in Palestine has so far reached 98.2 percent and the active cases account for 0.8 percent. The death toll stood at 1 percent of total infections.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency