Category: Politics & Legal

Jordanian Foreign Affairs Minister today slammed Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over using a ‘Greater Israel’ map.

The Ministry strongly denounced Smotrich over delivering a speech an event in Paris with a map of what he termed as ‘Greater Israel’ hanging in front of him, which appeared to define Israel’s borders as including Jordan, the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Official Spokesman of the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Sinan Al-Majali stated that the use of such a map represents a reckless incitement that is in violation of international norms and the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty, as reported in Jordan News Agency (Petra).

The ministry condemned the racist, inciting and extremist statements made by Smotrich against the brotherly Palestinian people, their right to exist and their historical right to an independent and sovereign state on Palestinian national soil, al-Majali added, warning against the seriousness of such hardline remarks.

The ministry called on the international community to condemn Smotrich’s inflammatory actions and statements, which are in violation of human values and principles.

The ministry stresses the need for the Israeli government to take a clear and open position toward such extremism, and the inflammatory and malicious statements by a serving minister, said Majali.

The Ministry said it will take all necessary political and legal action against such statements, which amount to a dangerous escalation that threatens the region’s security and stability.

Such extremist statements and actions, the ministry stressed, will not undermine Jordan or undercut the rights of the brotherly Palestinian people, but rather will expose to the world the historical injustice to which the Palestinian people are being subjected and the dangerous extremism and racism of the Israeli minister.

On Sunday, Smotrich declared that “There’s no such thing as Palestinians because there’s no such thing as a Palestinian people” at a memorial service for a late Likud activist in Paris.

The far-right lawmaker said that the Palestinian people were “an invention” cooked up in the 20th century to fight Zionism and that it was people like him and his grandparents who were the “real Palestinians”.

Speaking at a podium adorned with a map based on the crest of the Zionist Irgun militia, which shows Israel straddling the West Bank and Jordan, Smotrich, who holds significant powers over the occupied West Bank, said that the French and US governments needed to hear “this truth” about the Palestinians.

‘Do you know who are the Palestinians?’ the head of the ultra-nationalist Religious Zionism party said. “I’m Palestinian.”

The map shown on the podium Smotrich was speaking at also showed parts of Syria and Lebanon, regions included in the concept of Eretz Yisrael – Greater Israel – a key part of ultra-nationalist Zionism that claims all of these lands for a Zionist state.

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), a pan-Canadian grassroots advocacy organization, said yesterday it was appalled by Foreign Minister Melanie Joly’s decision to meet with far-right Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen this week.

In a press statement, CJPME said it identifies Cohen as a far-right extremist and annexationist, who has said that Palestinian citizens of Israel can ‘move to Gaza on a one-way ticket.’ According to the readout of the meeting, Minister Joly expressed concerns about violence against Israelis but did not confront Israel on its escalation of violence and oppression against Palestinians.

CJPME reiterated its call for Canada to send a strong message in support of human rights and international law by imposing a diplomatic boycott on Israel’s far-right regime.

‘Minister Joly’s friendly meeting with Israel’s foreign minister lends legitimacy to this far-right and dangerous regime, which has already killed more than 80 Palestinians this year,’ said Michael Bueckert, Vice President of CJPME.

According to the organization, almost 2,000 Canadians have written to their country’s Foreign Minister requesting that she boycott all meetings with Israel’s far-right government, which poses an immediate threat to the safety of Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line. ‘Canada’s decision to continue business as usual with Israeli extremism demonstrates a shocking disregard for Palestinian lives,’ added Bueckert.

CJPME noted that the readout of the meeting between Minister Joly and Israeli Minister Cohen takes a warm tone, speaking of an ‘enduring friendship’ and ‘shared values,’ and congratulating Israel on upcoming celebrations.

Although the readout mentions ‘deep concerns’ over the ‘recent escalation of violence in Israel and the West Bank,’ these are presented as issues of security and a need to ‘restore calm,’ rather than expressing concern over Israel’s human rights record or the impact of its actions on Palestinians, the organization added.

The statement said, ‘Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen is himself a far-right anti-Palestinian extremist, who supports annexing the occupied West Bank. Last year, Cohen sponsored a bill to ban Israeli institutions from displaying the Palestinian flag, saying of Palestinian citizens of Israel: ‘those who view themselves as Palestinian, by the way, will receive all the assistance they need from us to move to Gaza on a one-way ticket.’

CJPME also raised concerns over Canadian Trade Minister Ng’s meeting with her counterpart, Israeli MK Ofir Akunis, who has similarly promoted the annexation of the occupied West Bank and says that only the Jewish people have any right to the territory under Israeli control.

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency

A video clip taken by passers-by during yesterday’s brutal Israeli army raid into the city of Jenin, north of the occupied West Bank, shows a number of undercover Israeli soldiers shooting directly at the head of Nidal Amin Khazem, 28, who was critically injured and lying on the ground.
Witnesses in Jenin said the special Israeli forces, dressed in civil clothes, fired point-blank at Khazem, who fell on the ground, before one of their soldiers approached the young man’s body while he was lying on the ground, firing a final bullet directly into his head.
Three other Palestinians, including a 17-year-old child, Omar Awadin, were killed in the brutal raid, which took place in blatant daylight in one of the busiest streets of the Jenin city center, the Abu Bakr Street.
It was not possible to ascertain that Khazim was still alive after the last bullet was fired at him, as the undercover Israeli forces blocked access of medical staff to the scene. In any case however, this crime is classified as an extrajudicial execution, which is a flagrant violation of international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and the Fourth Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons, and therefore amounts to a war crime.
The Israeli occupation forces pursue a policy of extrajudicial execution amid international inaction that gives them the green light to continue their crimes with impunity, despite the existence of irrefutable testimonies and documents on these crimes, many of which were documented by cameras.
The crime the execution of the young man Khazem reminds us of several similar Israeli crimes that were documented in videos and photos.
On the 15th of January, the Israeli occupation soldiers manning a checkpoint near the village of Yabroud, east of Ramallah, fired point blank at Palestinian Ahmed Kahla, 45, killing him on the spot.
Two bullets in the neck put an end to the life of Kahla, who hails from the village of Ramoun, east of Ramallah, and who supports five children, the eldest of whom is Qusai, 20 years old, who was with him in his last moments of life.
Qusai said that his father and he were on their way to work in the morning, when their vehicle was stopped by Israeli occupation soldiers at the checkpoint. The soldiers, Qusai added, fired a stun grenade that hit the roof of the car, before they pulled his father out of the vehicle and shot him at point blank.
A videotape taken by a driver who was waiting his turn at the checkpoint showed that at the beginning, soldiers engaged in a fistfight with Kahla before other fellow Israeli soldiers at the site shot him at point blank range despite him posing no danger to the soldiers.
The Israeli occupation army later admitted that it killed Kahla without him posing a danger or threat, as was previously claimed, and that it concluded in an investigation that Kahla posed no danger to the soldiers, and that the accident shouldn’t have ended in his death.
On 2nd of December 2022, Palestinian young man Ammar Mufleh (23) from the village of Usarin, south of Nablus, was shot dead by an Israeli soldier at point blank range in the town of Huwara.
A video taken from the scene showed that an Israeli soldier fired live bullets at Mufleh at zero-point distance.
Despite international condemnations and calls for an investigation into Mufleh’s execution, the soldier who shot him is still at large without any accountability. Rather, the occupation government sometimes goes further by honoring and glorifying its murderous soldiers and the perpetrators of crimes against our people.
On March 24, 2016, Palestinian young Abd al-Fattah al-Sharif was killed by an Israeli soldier in the Tel Rumeida area of Hebron. The execution was documented in a video clip taken by the photographer of the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. The video sparked international outrage, which forced the Israeli occupation forces to arrest the murderous soldier, Elor Azaria. He was only detained for nine months.
The killer soldier said in a press interview after his release that he “does not regret what he did, ” and that he would “do it again if time turned back,” which reflects the criminal mentality in the occupation army, which is reinforced by the absence of accountability and impunity.
The crime of “extrajudicial execution” is added to a number of crimes committed by the occupation against our people, which all contradict with international and humanitarian laws, and amount to war crimes, such as demolishing homes, forcible displacement, oppression of male and female prisoners, appropriation of land and property, violation of the sanctity of holy places, and others.

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency

RAMALLAH, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh today told the US Special Representative for Palestinian Affairs, Hady Amr, that the Palestinian people are under unprecedented pressure as a result of the Israeli measures.

“Our people are living under unprecedented pressures, in terms of Israeli violations, including the escalation of settlement activity, killings, incursions, home demolitions, and land confiscations, as well as financially due to the increase in the illegal Israeli deductions from the Palestinian tax funds, a sharp decrease in foreign aid, and high cost of living and inflation on a global level,” said the Prime Minister.

“Israel’s denial of what was reached in Aqaba and its continued crimes reflects its lack of seriousness and disrespect for its commitments and the efforts of the mediators,” he added during a meeting at his Ramallah office.

The Prime Minister called for serious American pressure on the Israeli government to stop all violations against the Palestinian people and to release the Palestinian money that it deducts illegally.

The two parties discussed ways to make the upcoming Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) donors’ meeting, scheduled to be held in May in Brussels, a success.

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency

RAMALLAH, The Socialist International (SI) said it is appalled by the continuing violence and the attacks of Israeli settlers against Palestinians in Huwara (in Nablus) and other towns.

“Israel, as the occupying power, must ensure that the civilian population is protected and perpetrators held to account,” said SI in a statement.

The SI condemned the violence and asked the parties to refrain from further steps that led to more violence and victims. “Further violence will only serve to harm innocent citizens of both Palestine and Israel and only benefits those who have no interest in peace.”

The Socialist International expressed its strong condemnation of the Israeli finance minister’s call to wipe out the Palestinian town of Huwara and called the Israeli authorities to repudiate those words that constitute an incitement to hate and violence specifically directed at the Palestinian population.

The SI recalled all its previous statements and resolutions on Palestine and Israel and affirmed the unwavering commitment to justice, human rights, and freedom.

The SI continues to fully support the internationally agreed two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and the legitimate right of the Palestinian people for their independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, living in peace and security side by side with the state of Israel, said the statement.

“The SI remains committed to working with its member parties in Palestine and Israel, whose voices are among the most prominent for peace and the two-state solution and is needed now more than ever. The support and engagement of the international community in favor of Middle East peace and the recognition of Palestinian statehood remain vital. The SI will continue to act in support of the rights of both peoples to live in peace and will condemn any act that violates international law.”

The SI reiterated its solidarity and support with the Palestinian non-violent resistance in the pursuit of their right to live in peace. “The evictions of Palestinian families and the demolition of their homes in East Jerusalem and across the occupied Palestinian Territories must stop.”

The Socialist International called on all its member parties, MPs, heads of governments, and all progressive forces around the world to act and raise a strong voice in defense of justice, human rights, and international law in Palestine.

It called for defending the two-state solution and a fruitful peace process to realize a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace for Palestine and Israel.

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency

Israeli governments’ political agenda is based on extremism against the Palestinian people, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh stated on Tuesday.

Speaking during a meeting with the Swedish consul-general Julius Lilleström at the Prime Minister’s Office in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, Prime Minister Shtayyeh said that the successive Israeli governments have been adopting a political agenda that promotes competition for radical ization and aggression against the Palestinian people and their rights, including as manifested in more extrajudicial killings, detentions, incursions and land grab to make room for colonial settlement construction.

He added that the Palestinian people and leadership currently face the most openly extreme right-wing Israeli government whose all component parties are fundamentalist, while pointing that recent settler violent attacks across the occupied territories, including the February 26 Huwwara pogrom, were committed under the army protection and with government support, and hence there was no distinction between a settler and a uniform Israeli occupation soldier.

He stressed the necessity of exerting international pressure on Israel to end its occupation’s unilateral measures and abide by all signed agreements, including with regards to allowing all Palestinians, including the inhabitants of East Jerusalem, to participate in elections.

He concluded by exploring with the Swedish diplomat the prospects of strengthening joint cooperation and supporting the implementation of Palestinian development projects.

Source: Palestine news & Information Agency