Day: 16 June 2023

The chief executive of airline Ryanair has apologised after a flight attendant announced that the Israeli city of Tel Aviv was in Palestine.

Eddie Wilson told Jewish human rights group the Simon Wiesenthal Center it was an “innocent mistake”.

Some passengers complained, and the row gathered momentum after the flight.

Mr Wilson said that he had written to the Israeli ambassador in Ireland, adding that Israel was “an important partner” for Ryanair.

On 10 June, on a flight from Bologna to Tel Aviv, a junior cabin crew member “innocently but inexplicably” announced that the flight would soon be landing in Palestine, Mr Wilson wrote in a letter to the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Mr Wilson said that Ryanair was “100% satisfied that this was an innocent mistake with no political overtones or intent”.

After the announcement, which was made in Italian and English, several passengers complained, and “continued to be abusive” even after the cabin crew apologised, he said.

Police had to be called to meet the aircraft when it landed, Mr Wilson said.

The use of the name Palestine in place of modern day Israel represents non-recognition of the Jewish state and is seen as highly provocative by most Israelis.

Following the flight, the row gained momentum. Some Israeli media commentators called for Israelis to boycott the airline if an apology was not made.

Mr Wilson said that Israel was an “important partner” for Ryanair, adding that it was Israel’s second-largest airline.

“We plan to invest in Israel to grow traffic and connectivity both for Israelis travelling to Europe and also to bring much-needed inbound tourism to Israel,” he said.

In a letter to Ryanair, the Simon Wiesenthal Center said it had received “numerous complaints” about the incident.

It said after the announcement passengers had asked for a correction, which was refused.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Simon Wiesenthal Center associate dean, said: “How would Ryanair react if their flight attendant on a flight to Dublin announced multiple times that passengers would soon be arriving in the UK?”

He added: “Everyone is entitled to their opinions but not to alternative facts.”

Source: BBC

Minister of Agriculture, Khalid Hneifat, on Friday followed up on the implementation of the plan on resuming the export of local sheep to the Saudi market, after the KSA’s recent decision to resume importing local Jordanian sheep. The Ministry’s cadres, the Mafraq Agricultural Directorate and the Al-Omari Border Crossing Agricultural Center, also followed up on the work plan that includes work during official holidays and around the clock, in coordination with the Ministry with the Jordanian Customs and the Land Transport Authority, a Ministry statement said Friday. According to the statement, stakeholders completed procedures for 15 trucks loaded with local breed sheep headed to the KSA until dawn today, and work is underway to complete the procedures for 30 other trucks until dawn tomorrow, while the numbers ready to leave are estimated at 15 thousand sheep.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) today resumed its service delivery to Palestine Refugees in the West Bank, after nearly four months of disruption due to a work dispute with the West Bank Staff Union and a strike. . “We are relieved that UNRWA is now able to restart providing services to the refugee communities across the West Bank. Palestine Refugees have been severely impacted by the strike, which started on 4 March,” said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General. As of this morning, UNRWA teams across the West Bank are preparing all Agency facilities and installations to go back to normal as early as possible next week. With education and health services as a priority, efforts include cleaning and disposing of solid waste, maintenance of the Agency’s buildings to receive staff and refugees, putting in place security measures and pre-positioning of supplies including medicines and sanitation material. As soon as the preparations are complete, UNRWA facilities will be open for services, some as soon as tomorrow. “Our top priority right now is to reopen 90 UNRWA schools, so that more than 40,000 children who were on the verge of losing a whole school year and are at a risk of dropping out, will be able to catch up on education losses and move to the next levels,” he added.

Source: Jordan News Agency

On his way back from China, President Mahmoud Abbas made a stop today in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, where he met with the President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov. During the meeting, President Abbas briefed his Kyrgyz counterpart on the latest developments in Palestine, the ongoing Israeli occupation violations against our people, the unilateral Israeli measures of settlements and daily killings, and the attacks on Christian and Islamic sanctities in Jerusalem by Israeli occupation forces. President Abbas also briefed Japarov of the talks he recently held with the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping. After the meeting, the President of Kyrgyzstan held a luncheon in honor of President Mahmoud Abbas and his accompanying delegation.

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA

Scores of Palestinians rallied today in the village of Saffa, to the west of Ramallah, in protest of Israeli plans to confiscate large swathes of Palestinian lands in the village in favor of the construction of an industrial complex for Israeli settlers, according to local sources. During the rally, held immediately following the Friday prayer and sermon, the protesters shouted slogans condemning the Israeli colonial settlement policy and affirming their right to their own lands that are at risk of confiscation by the Israeli occupation authorities. Israel has already confiscated nearly 400 dunums of Palestinian lands in the village for the construction of an industrial complex for Israeli settlers.

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA

Israeli occupation forces clamped down today on activists demonstrating outside the house of the Sub Laban family in occupied Jerusalem in protest of expulsion threats that the family is facing by the occupation authorities. Israeli police officers physically assaulted and beat up international, Palestinian and Israeli activists demonstrating in support of the Sub Laban family outside their home in Aqabat al-Khaldia quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, according to local sources. The protesters raised the Palestinian flag and banners in Arabic and English that read: “No to the occupation”, “Save the Sub Laban family”, “Displacement is a war crime”, “Save Aqabat Khalidiyah and Aqabat al-Saraya”, “Dignity, Justice”. Freedom’, ‘Stop Noura’s Displacement’, and ‘This House Is Ours’. Meantime, Israeli settlers attempted to harass those participating in the vigil, and chanted racist slogans under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces. Last week, the United Nations Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territories said that it was is deeply concerned by the imminent forced eviction of the Ghaith-Sub Laban family in the Old City of Jerusalem scheduled for 11 June. Despite repeated efforts to protect their family home, the Israeli High Court had previously ruled that the protected tenancy of the elderly couple, Nora Ghaith, 68, and Mustafa Sub Laban, 72, would be terminated making way for the property to be seized by Galicia Trust, a settler organization that has been engaged in a legal battle since 2010 to evict the Sub Laban family. On May 11, an Israeli enforcement office delivered a notice of forced eviction to Nora Ghaith and her husband, Mustafa Sub Laban, and set the date for their forced displacement to Sunday, June 11. The elderly couple are at risk of being forcibly evicted and their home in the Aqbat al-Khalidiya neighborhood in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem. The Ghaith-Sub Laban family home has been leased from Jordan since 1953 and is subject to a protected lease. After more than 45 years of repeated lawsuits and harassment against the family by the occupation authorities first, and since 2010 by the Galicia settler association, which claims that the family home is a Jewish endowment, the Israeli courts decided to end the family’s protected lease and evict them from the home. The courts had previously evicted the rest of the family in 2016 and prevented the children from living with their parents, which led to the separation of the family. The family’s failure to abide by the eviction decision and voluntarily leave their home before the mentioned date, which the family rejects, means that the Israeli settlers, with the support of the government and the occupation forces, will forcibly evict the elderly couple on that date, who will be forced to pay the high cost of evicting them and their property from their home.

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) today resumed its service delivery to the Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, after nearly four months of disruption due to a strike by the West Bank Staff Union. ‘We are relieved that UNRWA is now able to restart providing services to the refugee communities across the West Bank. Palestine Refugees have been severely impacted by the strike, which started on 4 March,’ said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General. With education and health services as a priority, the UNRWA said, efforts include cleaning and disposing of solid waste, maintenance of the Agency’s buildings to receive staff and refugees, putting in place security measures and pre-positioning of supplies including medicines and sanitation material. ‘Our top priority right now is to reopen 90 UNRWA schools, so that more than 40,000 children who were on the verge of losing a whole school year and are at a risk of dropping out, will be able to catch up on education losses and move to the next levels,’ he added.

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA

Armed Israeli settlers today assaulted and opened fire on Palestinians in the Ein Samia village, east of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, according to local sources. They said that as the villagers headed to their farmland in the village, they were shocked to find out that dozens of armed settlers, under army protection, barged their way into the area. The settlers opened live ammunition and fired barrages of bombs towards the villagers, but there was not any injury. On 21 May 2023 overnight, according to the Israeli human rights organization BTselem, the last residents of the community of ‘Ein Samia, a community next to Ramallah that was home to about 200 residents, were forced to leave their land. Israel has made their lives unbearable, leaving residents with no other choice. For years, residents of the community have suffered from violence carried out by Israeli forces, from settler violence carried out with the full backing of the State, and from extreme restrictions on building homes and infrastructure, as well as demolitions. The community’s school is set to be demolished soon, following a recent court approval. In his article, Israeli journalist Gideon Levy said that most of the villagers’ property had been left in their village, to which they feared to return. Israeli settlers had rushed in to forcibly appropriate its lands, use their fields for grazing, and prevent their return – even clearing away some of their furniture. ‘This displacement, spurred by violent settler abuse, is not an isolated incident. It is the ‘silent transfer’ model in all its ugliness: a systematic scheme that serves the settlers’ vision to ultimately remove all Palestinians from the occupied West Bank,’ he said. ‘From the Bedouin and Palestinian standpoint, Ein Samia is unequivocal proof that the Nakba, the Palestinian national catastrophe that accompanied Israel’s founding in 1948, is still not over. It has continued mostly without interruption since then; the catastrophe has not ended.’ ‘Israel continues using the same methods with the same national goals. The ultimate intention has been revealed as a state for all Jews – and for Jews only, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Ein Samia is the model for what some term the second Palestinian Nakba. Only the international community can prevent this from happening.’

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA

Weather inshore tonight until 6:00 pm on Friday will be hot to very hot daytime and blowing dust at places at times with some clouds, the Department of Meteorology said in its daily weather report, warning of expected strong wind and poor horizontal visibility at places.

Offshore, it will be slight dust at times, the report added, warning of strong winds and high sea.

Wind inshore will be mainly Northwesterly 10 – 20 KT Gusting to 27 KT at places at times.

Offshore, it will be Northwesterly 10 – 20 KT Gusting to 28 KT at times.

Visibility will be 04 to 08 kilometers, decreases to 3 kilometers or less at some places.

Sea state inshore will be 2 to 4 FT, rises to 5 FT sometimes. Offshore will be 3 to 6 FT rises to 9 FT at times.

Area High Tide Low Tide Mini-Max ———- —————- ——————- ————- Messaid 16:20 ** : ** ** : ** 10:24 28 Wakrah: 18 : ** 01:35 22:48 09:49 33 Doha: 16:26 01:33 23:43 09:37 36 Al Khor: ** : ** 15:03 21:16 08:27 32 Ruwais: 16:06 03:44 23:04 10:03 33 Dukhan: 20:43 08:31 14:33 02:14 31 Sunrise: 04:43 LT Sunset: 18:25 LT ——————

Source: Qatar News Agency

– HE Minister of Endowments (Awqaf) and Islamic Affairs Ghanem bin Shaheen Al Ghanem issued a decision forming Qatari Haj mission for Hijri year 1444 (2023 CE).

– HE Minister of Culture Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad Al-Thani held Thursday separate meetings with HE Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Uzbekistan Nazarbekov Akhmadovich and Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance of the Islamic Republic of Iran Yaser Ahmadvand.

– Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA), in cooperation with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) hosted the fifth meeting of the Aerodrome Safety, Planning and Implementation Group (ASPIG) of the Middle East Regional Aviation Safety Group (RASG-MID).

– The State of Qatar pledged to provide $75 million to contribute to providing the humanitarian needs of the brotherly Syrian people, and pointed out that the Qatari aid to Syrians since the beginning of the crisis has exceeded $2 billion, whether through government aid, civil society organizations, humanitarian and charitable societies, and Qatari donor institutions.

– Experts and specialists emphasized that participation in the Central Municipal Council elections is a right guaranteed by the country’s permanent constitution, a patriotic duty and a real opportunity to participate in the decision-making process by selecting members of the municipal council who have experience and competence to improve municipal services throughout the country.

– The State of Qatar chaired the 38th meeting of the Executive Office of Arab Ministerial Council for Electricity, currently held at the Arab League headquarter in Cairo.

– The Administrative Control and Transparency Authority (ACTA), in cooperation with Qatar Finance and Business Academy (QFBA), concluded on Thursday a training program on “conflict of interest,” to train and enhance the competency of the state employees on the use of advanced methods to detect corruption.

– The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and Microsoft on Thursday hosted the exclusive “From Imagination to Reality: Rise with Microsoft AI” event.

– The Consumer Price Index (CPI) of the State of Qatar rose by 2.61% y-o-y in May 2023, compared to May 2022, reaching 105.82 points. On m-o-m basis, the CPI showed an increase by 0.22 % when compared to CPI of April 2023.

– Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA) is participating in the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA), which started Thursday in London.

– The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index concluded this week’s trading, up by 0.140 percent, to add 14,250 points, compared to the end of last week’s trading, to stand at 10,271 points.

– Estithmar Holding Company (A Qatari, publicly-listed company) revealed that it signed agreements with the Iraqi investment authority worth $7 billion that includes real-estate and tourism development, in addition to the operation and management of hospitals.

– HE Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Qatar National Archive Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Attiyah chaired the second meeting of the Board at the Qatar National Archive building Thursday morning.

– Qatar Media Corporation (QMC) won two silver awards from the TV exchange, co-production, and radio exchange awards, during the 23rd edition of the Arab Radio and Television Festival, which is held in Tunisia’s City of Culture.

– The University of Doha for Science and Technology (UDST) honored its 2023 outstanding graduates in a special ceremony.

– HE President of Qatar Olympic Committee Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani crowned on Thursday Al Sadd team champions of HH the Amir Basketball Cup after defeating Al Ahli team in the final game held at Al-Gharafa Sports Hall.

– Qatar defeated Jamaica 2-1 friendly on Thursday, as part of the two sides’ preparations for the Gold Cup 2023 slated to be held in the US and Canada from June 24 to July 16.

– Qatar Foundations (QF) Ladies Night has a new home for the summer the scene of some of the most thrilling moments of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Here is a summary of local news released on Thursday: – HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani sent on Thursday a cable of congratulations to HE President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo on the anniversary of his country’s Independence Day.

– HH the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Thani sent on Thursday a cable of congratulations to HE President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo on the anniversary of his country’s Independence Day.

– HE Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani sent on Thursday a cable of congratulations to HE President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo on the anniversary of his country’s Independence Day.

– HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani sent on Thursday a cable of condolences to HE President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol on the death of his father. ( – HH the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Thani sent on Thursday a cable of condolences to HE President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol on the death of his father.

– HE Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani sent on Thursday a cable of condolences to HE President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol on the death of his father.

– HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani received at the Amiri Diwan office on Thursday morning the credentials of five new Ambassadors to the State.

– HE Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani received a written message from HE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Than Swe, pertaining to bilateral relations.

– The State of Qatar strongly condemned the Israeli aggression against the city of Jenin in the West Bank, which led to the fall of a Palestinian martyr, as well as the storming of dozens of settlers into Al Aqsa Mosque, and performing Talmudic rituals in its courtyards, considering these attacks a new episode in the series of continuous and horrific crimes against the defenseless Palestinian people.

– Qatar Youth Hostels concluded its summer programs which included 7 activities for different age groups from 10 years to 29 years.

– Qatar’s Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activities (RACA) called for raising awareness of “World Humanitarian Day” to honor the efforts of humanitarian and charity workers, showcase their role in the field, stand in solidarity in their endeavors and call for their protection during their work.

– The Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) has released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of July 2023. The CPI of July 2023 reached 106.87 points showing an increase of 0.37% when compared to CPI of June 2023.

– The general index of the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) dropped 20.98 points, or 0.20%, at the beginning of Thursday’s trading, to reach the level of 10,642.52 points, compared to yesterday’s closing.

– The volume of real estate trading in sales contracts at the Department of Real Estate Registration at the Ministry of Justice during the period from August 6 to August 10, 2023 reached QR 118,381,852.

– The general index of the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) closed Thursday’s trading down by 91.93 points, or by 0.86 percent, to the level of 10,571.63 points.

– Qatar SC and Al Gharafa played out a highly-entertaining 4-4 draw in Week 1 of the 2023-2024 Expo Stars League at the Khalifa International Stadium on Thursday.

– Al Sadd coach Bruno Miguel spoke to the media ahead of their 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League Week 1 match against Umm Salal.

Source: Qatar News Agency