There has been a long term war about the Gaza strip. This matter has not been resolved for a very long time. Diplomats and Politicans all over the world has been unable to do anything about it.
Although it is illegal what Israel was doing taking over the Gaza strip, I can understand the reason for doing it. Palestine has shrunk due to the fact Israel has taken over most of the area for so many years. That has upset the Palestinian people a lot.
I suggest that Israel either keep the Gaza strip for reason it is placed geographically within Israel. Israel must surrender the West Bank and north of the former Palestine, and have no right to place restrictions of any kind including barriers etc which must be removed.
Israel and Palestine has got mixed nationalities and are living together.
Another suggestion is that the Gaza Strip like Jerusalem is neither Israel or Palestine.
Another suggestion is that Palestine must take over the land geographically further up north so that it appears it is split in half geographically.
Israel says their motive is to protect Christians. What they failed to do was not to protect Christians in Northern Syria. Israel could do a deal with Syria, and ask if they can agree on Israel to take part of Northern Syria to protect Christians and Alawites. The same to protect Coptic Christians in Egypt.
Although there are not many Christians left living in Syria, a deal could be reached to whether Israel can have part of Northern Syria so that any Christians living there could be protected, and whether there are any Christian refugees wishing to return to their own homes.
Palestinians do have a right to have their own state, and are capable of self rule as long as it is not a militant state, and they can accept all existing nationalities living in Palestine.
It is completely unacceptable to take lives because of a dispute of territories. It is so childish, and so unprofessional for leaders to fight with their fists or use arms to get what they want.
We must have a diplomatic solution to protect each others interests.
We must have a diplomatic solution to protect each others interests.
Israel and Palestine must sign a peace treaty to solve the problem of states geographically.
This is the only way Israel and Palestine can achieve peace, and we must have decommissioning of arms.
Israel, situated in the region of Western Asia, on the south-eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It shares land borders with Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan the east, the Palestinian territories (or State of Palestine) comprising the West Bank and Gaza Strip on the east and southwest respectively, Egypt and the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea to the south, and it contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish and Democratic State; it is the world's only Jewish-majority state.
On 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly recommended the adoption and implementation of the partition plan of Mandatory Palestine. On 14 May 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared "the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel," a state independent upon the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine, 15 May 1948.
Neighboring Arab armies invaded Palestine on the next day and fought the Israeli forces.[ Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula (between 1967 and 1982), part of South Lebanon (between 1982 and 2000), Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. It annexed portions of these territories, including East Jerusalem, but the border with the West Bank is disputed. Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, but efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have so far not resulted in peace.
Israel's financial center is Tel Aviv, while Jerusalem is the region's most populous city and its designated capital, though internationally Jerusalem is neither part of Israel or Palestine.
The population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2014 to be 8,146,300 people. 6,110,600 citizens, or 75.3% of Israelis, are Jewish, 61% of whom are of Mizrahi Jewish ancestry. The country's second largest group of citizens are designated as Arabs, with 1,686,000 people (including the Druze and most East Jerusalem Arabs).The great majority of Israeli Arabs are settled Muslims, with smaller but significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins; the rest are Christians and Druze. Other minorities include Maronites, Samaritans, Dom people, Black Hebrew Israelites, other Sub-Saharan Africans, Armenians, Circassians, Roma and others. Israel also hosts a significant population of non-citizen foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia.
Please support our fellow human beings in Palestine being slaughtered by the Zionist Israelis in an open prison with no escape. It seems the world has gone completely mad, in that this brutality and crime against humanity and a war crime has not even been acknowledged.
Israel has been ethnic cleansing for decades, and there is still no sign of that stopping. It is injustice that Israel wants to take over the old Palestine. We feel for the Palestinians being driven from their own homeland, and it is making them so angry and frustrated.
Compare this Inaction with the economic sanctions against Russia regarding the Ukraine situation….and lots of other examples of duplicity and hypocrisy and double standards.
Perhaps this is an indication and supporting evidence of who really controls the world powers.
Each country like Israel should seek authority and permission to use weapons of minor or mass destruction from the UN only. It is an error of judgement and lack of common sense that Israel is making, thinking what they are doing is right when in fact it is so wrong.
Obviously there is a lack of trust from both Israel and Palestinians. They do not know how to stop fighting. They both want demilitarisation, and both want the army to withdraw. The best thing to do for humanitarian reasons is to get someone to observe, and order the armies to withdraw at the same time so there is a proper ceasefire, and that discussions should take place on how to move forward when the time is right.
Hamas needs to have pause to mark Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, and is the most important holiday in the Muslim calendar. In Gaza City, people ventured out to stock up on food and essentials for the three-day holiday, which starts on Monday.
"In response to UN intervention and considering the situation of our people and the occasion of Eid, it has been agreed among resistance factions to endorse a 24-hour humanitarian calm, starting from 2pm on Sunday," Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman.
Israel, however, rejected the call, and the country's prime minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, later said the militants had "violated even their own ceasefire". They are shooting at us as we speak. Under these circumstances, Israel will do what it must do to defend its people." He has been telling white lies and making excuses.
Khalid Meshaal, Hamas's leader in exile, told PBS that Israel must end its occupation. "We are not fanatics. We are not fundamentalists. We are not actually fighting the Jews because they are Jews per se. We do not fight any other races. We fight the occupiers," he said.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said he does not know whether his organization will ever recognize Israel’s right to exist, but cannot even think about it until there is a Palestinian state.
“When we have a Palestinian state then the Palestinian state will decide on its policies. You cannot actually ask me about the future. He is “ready to coexist” with Jews, but that “I do not want to live with a state of occupiers.”
Meshaal called for the right of return to Israel for all Palestinians, including those who are United States citizens, who Meshaal said “long for their home country.”
Meshaal blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the breakdown in the last round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and laid out his conditions for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
“When Israel practically commits itself to withdraw from Gaza completely and the West Bank without any settlements, and if we have Jerusalem as our capital and the return of the refugees is there, then we will reach peace,” he said.
Meshaal on whether he would be willing to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Meshaal answered “no”.
Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour did not hide his disappointment. He said the council should have adopted a strong and legally binding resolution a long time ago demanding an immediate halt to Israel's "aggression," providing the Palestinian people with protection and lifting the siege in the Gaza Strip so goods and people can move freely.
The weekend saw a confusing sequence of unilateral ceasefires.
Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour did not hide his disappointment. He said the council should have adopted a strong and legally binding resolution a long time ago demanding an immediate halt to Israel's "aggression," providing the Palestinian people with protection and lifting the siege in the Gaza Strip so goods and people can move freely.
"You cannot keep 1.8 million Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip in this huge prison," Mansour told reporters. "That is a recipe for disaster. It is inhumane, and it has to be stopped and it has to be lifted."
Some Palestinians said Israel's ongoing siege of Gaza will not help topple Hamas and that an alternative strategy would be a better solution.
"We want an real solution to our misery – we just want to have a decent life," said Gaza City resident, Sadai Ahmad, 57. "We want an airport, a seaport, we do not want to rely on Egyptians or Israelis whenever we want to travel or trade."
"I cannot understand how the on-going Israeli siege is helping Israelis get rid of Hamas," he added, before referring to prior conflicts with Israel. "Collective punishment did not work before."
The weekend saw a confusing sequence of unilateral ceasefires.
An immediate obstacle to an agreed ceasefire centres on dozens of cross-border tunnels that Hamas has constructed. Israel has insisted that its forces must be allowed to continue to search for, and destroy the tunnels during any pauses in the fighting.
Hamas is unlikely to agree to a continued Israeli military presence inside Gaza
There are also wide gaps between each sides' demands concerning a longer-term ceasefire. Israel wants to see the demilitarisation of Gaza, including the destruction of tunnels and measures to prevent Hamas and other militant groups from rearming.
Hamas wants the seven-year siege of Gaza to be lifted, with crossings to both Israel and Egypt opened, plus the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Israel’s destruction of Gaza is a “war crime” which is “brutally disproportionate, and so grossly indiscriminate”. Gaza is a very heavy populated area of strip, and the population is so hemmed in, and trapped making the people vulnerable to unnecessary attacks and violence. They have no where to go.
Israel does have obligations under International Law to take "all feasible precautions" to avoid casualties. There is no justification of taking lives of so many Palestinian people.
The other problem now lies if Israel do start to try and get rid of Hamas, then Hamas will do everything to get rid of Israel.
This is not the way to work if they both fight to total destruction, and they both will not win, and there will be very heavy casualties. There will be no country. Israel and Hamas will both indeed die in vain.
It will be a duplicate of Syria.
The world wants unconditional ceasefire as this war is futile. We all must respect Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, and let Muslims have that in peace. Then we must have talks.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/29-Jul-2014/method-to-the-gaza-madness
This article is a must read and it exposed Israel's method of madness of wanting Gaza Strip.
The dispute of territories is escalating, and shows no signs of easing. Israel just want to keep playing with rockets like child's toy. Israel is guilty of illegally blockading the Gaza strip and seem to be acting like a mad dog causing astronomical vandalism within the Gaza strip. Israel is certainly guilty of this great criminal offence of causing millions of pounds worth of damage to properties either belonging to UN, and the Palestinians.
It does not help when USA has funded for the Iron Dome, and some arms and armament. USA is willing to fund more arms and armament to Israel to cause more damage, and take more lives. That is aiding and abetting which is criminal by great proportions.
Israel had been "very foolish" to launch its military strikes given it had the "best anti-missile system in the world".
Israel had lost the "support and sympathy of world opinion".
Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu is not acting like a Prime Minister but a soldier. He can no longer be reasonable and sensible, and filled with insecurities, over protectiveness, paranoia, and could be heading for a mental breakdown. Benyamin Netanyahu must stand down, and if he refused, be committed to a psychiatric evaluation of his present state of mind.
Peace Treaty
To ensure the future of Palestinians, Israelis and Jews who are really Palestinians.
The peace treaty must include that Gazans be Hamas free, and rule the Gaza Strip themselves with free trade and open borders.
There are to be no rockets or unacceptable weapons and arms perceived to be dangerous to the public and must be disposed of.
Decommissioning of arms.
Iron Dome must be destroyed.
No Israelis soldiers present within the Gaza Strip.
There will be two states, Israel and Palestine with Israel in control of the south and Palestine in control of the north with the country split in half.
Hamas will only be an army for all Palestinians in the north.
The Israelis or Jews living in the north have their own devolved councils, and pay taxes to the Palestinian State government.
Israelis or Jews will be protected by their own devolved councils, and have nothing to do with Hamas.
Israel commit itself to withdraw from Gaza completely, and the West Bank without any settlements.
Palestinian prisoners to be released.
Jerusalem to be capital, and the return of the refugees to there.
Jerusalem, Bethlehem, holy places and holy waters to be protected as pilgrimages for everyone all over the world.
This will ensure that all Palestinians, Israelis or Jews can live in peace in the safety of their own homes, and neighborhood to live their own lives, and live together.
Agreements must be reached and signed in the Gaza Peace Treaty without delay.
This is shocking news that the UK government have been accused of failing to regulate arms sales to Israel amid evidence that "weapons containing British-made components are being used in the bombardment of Gaza". The paper says it's seen documents showing that export licences worth £42m have been granted to 130 UK firms to supply Israel since 2010.
We simply cannot let countries sell arms to each other as it is seen to be supporting violence.
If Israel wants to secure lasting safety for its people, it must use political will, not military might, to break the cycle of violence."
Since Israel began its offensive in Gaza on 8 July, more than 1,420 Palestinians have been killed and 8,265 injured, most of them civilians, according to the health ministry.
Neither Israel nor Palestine could "blast their way to victory" and that the only way forward was for them to "sit down and talk to each other".
Winding down the offensive
Winding down the offensive
Amid the fighting, Israel announced it was pulling out of indirect ceasefire talks with Hamas in Cairo, and will not be sending an Israeli delegation.
This leaves me to be peacemaker, mediator and representative of the Palestinians. Israel will not have talks with Hamas or Palestinians.
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said: "Hamas cannot be trusted to keep their word. They cannot stop because, for them, a ceasefire at this stage, whether by arrangement or not by arrangement, would mean acknowledging the worst possible defeat."
The UK Government said it was reviewing all its existing arms export licences with Israel following newspaper claims that weapons containing British components could be being used in the bombardment of Gaza.
A UK government spokesman said: "We will not issue a licence if there is a clear risk that the equipment might be used for internal repression, or if there is a clear risk that it would provoke or prolong conflict."
The UK has also announced it will send another £3m of emergency humanitarian aid to Gaza, taking its total to £13m.
I expect other countries to do the same that they do not sell arms or equipment for internal repression, if there is a clear risk that would provoke or prolong conflict.
It has been confirmed that some troops and tanks are withdrawing from Gaza. Israel was "quite close to completing" the destruction of tunnels it claims were used by Hamas to infiltrate the country.
Signs that Israel was winding down its offensive came earlier in the day, when Palestinians who fled fighting in the northern Gaza towns of Beit Lahiya and Al-Atatra were told they could return home.
I strongly appeal for Hamas to release Lt Goldin or help find him to return him to Israel. IDF cannot leave Gaza unless they have him back.
Strike on UN school in Rafah killing ten Palestinians
Rocket attacks continue which is futile and unnecessary. Israel will simply complete its stated goal of destroying Hamas tunnels and then withdraw from Gaza without a long-term agreement.
It is despicable and intolerable. The Palestinians must have heard explosions while the Israelis soldiers were carrying out the demolition of the last few tunnels and reacted with fire.
Israelis knows so much better not to target the UN schools as well as public services.
These public services are lifelines to survival and meeting the Palestinian's needs. There will be widespread disease having no clean water and electricity.
Gaza should never have been deprived of such public services.
Palestinians must keep away from all UN schools and public services in case they get bombed again.
Egypt and Palestinian talks in Cairo
Truce talks would include Hamas's demand that Egypt ease movement across its border with blockaded Gaza. The source said that until Israel arrives, the heads of Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, the Palestinian Authority, and Frank Lowenstein, a representative from the US State Department, and Khaled Meschaal the exiled leader of Hamas will continue to meet.
Palestinian demands included a cease-fire, a complete withdrawal of IDF soldiers from the Gaza Strip, adoption of conditions agreed upon in 2012, and an end to the blockade of Gaza, including from the buffer zone, and the release of prisoners held by Israel, especially those that were already supposed to be released after the Schalit deal.
Senior Hamas official Izzat a-Rishak said that the organization would not agree to hold its fire while Israeli troops remain in Gaza.
The representatives of various Palestinian factions in Cairo for talks have reportedly agreed on a number of main points for a cease-fire with Israel regarding the fighting in Gaza.
Different Palestinian factions had agreed on a unified list of conditions.
Cease-fire, the pullout of Israeli forces, ending the blockade, releasing the prisoners ... and starting the reconstruction process," .
The document detailing the Palestinian conditions, which was drafted by representatives of Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian groups, called, among other things, for a cease-fire in return for an immediate Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said.
The document calls for an end to Israeli “incursions, invasions, assassinations, house shelling and flights over the Gaza Strip,” the sources told the Palestinian news agency Safa.
Palestinian demands include lifting the siege, reopening the border crossings, and allowing construction material into the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinians are also demanding free passage between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, freedom of fishing within 12 miles of the coast, reopening the Palestinian airport in the southern Gaza Strip, construction of a seaport and cancellation of buffer zones along the border with Israel.
The document calls for cancelling all measures taken by Israel following the abduction and killing of three Israeli youths in the West Bank in June, including the release of all former prisoners who were rounded up by the IDF since then.
The Palestinians are demanding that the Palestinian “national consensus” government, which was formed following the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas last April, embark on the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip in cooperation with the United Nations. The document also calls for donor countries to hold an international conference to discuss providing financial aid for rebuilding the Gaza Strip.
US Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns and Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair also arrived in Cairo to participate in efforts to achieve a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
Egyptian sources said that Egypt is “flexible towards any details that the Palestinian factions would find appropriate to add to the initiative whether directly or indirectly, “The Egyptian side explained many times in the past few days that the main aim is to put an end to the bloodshed in Gaza and end the severe conditions in which civilians there are living in.”
According to the report, the negotiations that began on Sunday afternoon in Cairo would be held in three phases: reaching an agreement between the Palestinian factions concerning the Egyptian initiative, indirect negotiations with Israel through Egyptian mediators to reach a cease-fire or truce, and negotiating about the remaining matters, including the border crossings with the Gaza Strip.
Taking the first next step to unconditional ceasefire
Taking the first next step to unconditional ceasefire
Israel believes they should continue its battle in the Gaza Strip until Hamas is totally beaten and its infrastructure obliterated, no matter what the cost. They like to re-establish having an Israeli administration there. Also Israel sees Hamas and the warring parties, a great threat to Israel when it comes to the matter of safety for its own civilians. They would like to see all warring parties obliterated, and objects strongly to the Unity Government formed last April. Not only that, they have this great desire and greed to take over the West bank and rid the Palestinians of their homeland. Which is why it seems impossible to Israel to have the Palestinians close by.
It is evident that Israel government has rejected the idea of turning the wheel back to the pre - Oslo situation, even though this idea is supported by some of the cabinet ministers.
What is it that has deterred them? The financial cost? The cost in lives? Unwillingness to get into an open-ended adventure?
Do they really believe that there is a chance that the international community will be willing and capable of acting to ensure that the Gaza Strip is demilitarized in return for its economic rehabilitation?
Gaza's future is so uncertain as it is not clear if it should be independent.
The current situation is as follows: The IDF has apparently successfully destroyed all the known tunnels
As to Hamas, this dissident organisation, which is currently ruler of the Gaza Strip, does not seem to have a clear line of command or decision making process, which precludes the possibility of any sort of negotiations with it, at least at this juncture.
Clearly, there is little coordination between the political and military branches of the organisation, and the leadership in the Gaza Strip seems detached from the leadership abroad.
It is said that the top goal of the Hamas at the moment, besides doing everything in its power to try to convince the world that Israel is an inhuman savage intent on killing innocent civilians, is to bring about a lifting of the blockade on the Gaza Strip for economic recovery.
Hamas and the warring parties with Palestinian demands, included a cease-fire, a complete withdrawal of IDF soldiers from the Gaza Strip, adoption of conditions agreed upon in 2012, and an end to the blockade of Gaza, including from the buffer zone, and the release of prisoners held by Israel, especially those that were already supposed to be released after the Schalit deal.
This is the first next step to unconditional ceasefire.
The Egypt and Palestinian talks was just the beginning, and it was a great improvement to have all warring parties taking part in the talks, instead of fighting with their hands, and using their heads. That is politics. Palestinian's politics has been born.
We only have got to wait for an Israeli delegation to agree to the Palestinians demands before unconditional ceasefire can go ahead.
It could be a long drawn out war with no victory, if Israel will not meet the Palestinian demands, and they will fight to the death if they have to.
Palestinians will remain defiant and stubborn, until Israel will give in and meet their demands.
The killing of some 1,700 Palestinians in Gaza in the course of four weeks of fighting – even if over half of them were innocent women and children is so unacceptable and unjustificable.
If it had not been for Israel's motive to start a war in the first place for decades, there would be no warring parties.
The Palestinians and the warring parties are not a real threat to Israel. They are fighting for their homeland and are dissidents. Most of their homeland was taken away from them. They are the Lost People of Palestine scattered all over the world.
There are as many Palestinians as there are Israelis or Jews all over the world. Palestinians being Muslims, wants to have their own identity and culture, and be with their own people. It does not matter if their politics are communist etc as long they are together, and can look after each other, and learn along the way.
The Palestinians wanted their voices heard, but went unheeded by Israel, so they have to be armed ready to fight what they call the enemy. But they will not call or regard Israel the enemy if Israel meets their demands for a country mostly filled with Palestinians to live their lives peacefully and enrich their lives having their own economy etc.
That applies to Gaza too, and hope it will not be a war for a very long time.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/oslo/negotiations/
Oslo Accord..........
Ongoing problems
There are ongoing problems that needs to be addressed to secure the future and safety of the Gaza Strip civilians and the West Bank.
Hamas has signaled flexibility on ceding some authority to Abbas in Gaza, but insists on having a say on reconstruction and that it will not disarm.
Izzat Rishq, a senior Hamas official, said disarming isn't up for discussion.
Despite such tough talk, Hamas is in a position of relative weakness.
Nearly 1,900 Palestinians have been killed, the vast majority civilians, according to Gaza health officials and U.N. figures. On the Israeli side, 64 soldiers and three civilians were killed.
The truce is to remain in effect for at least three days, with an expectation that it will be extended to allow Cairo talks on a Gaza solution to proceed. Both the United States and the U.N. are sending representatives.
Robert Serry, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process will be attending.
The gaps remain wide, especially between Israel and Hamas.
The three Israeli delegation has already taken part in the talks since Tuesday. One of them is a Defence Minister. They are presently in talks with a few of the Palestinian delegation.
During the last month of fighting, Israel said it destroyed 32 such tunnels.
The war caused at least $6 billion in immediate damage.
The three Israeli delegation started talks on demilitarisation and disarmament.
It is a very big mistake for Hamas and the warring parties to say that it is not up for discussion.
The real obstacle to the Oslo Accord is that Hamas and the warring parties are not going to talk about demilitarisation and disarmament.
They must talk about it because the problem is causing a greater rift for the whole world.
The reason is that ;
After four weeks of intensive fighting, including close to 5,000 Israeli strikes on Gaza targets, the devastation is widespread.
According to initial figures from Gaza's main U.N. aid agency, some 10,000 homes were destroyed or damaged beyond repair. Gaza's only power plant was forced to shut down last week after being shelled by Israel, and repairs will take months.
The Hamas friendly government must comply to the regulations of the Electoral Commission. I do not think there is an Electoral Commission in the West Bank saying that no military factions must not be involved in taking part in the governance of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
We must not have a military government.
Hamas and military factions must disband and dissolve to achieve peace. It is all very well saying they are trying to defend the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the underground tunnels.
Khaled Meshaal still can be a leader of the party, but under another name that has no military connections, and still be involved in helping to run the government.
It is real and proper politics.
Their weaponry is so inferior compared to Israel and useless tool to use. Not because of its own weaponry but a provocation.
If the rivals of Israel wanted to be martyrs, then they must do it properly by dying unarmed making them true martyrs.
Israel has breached human rights killing Palestinians unarmed, illegally destroying tunnels, having a siege, creating a blockade and caused astronomical criminal damage or vandalism.
Israel have breached human rights making civilians in the Gaza Strip prisoners with no right to trade and movement.
It is inhumane and barbaric.
Achieving demiitarisation and disarmament or decommissioning of arms between Israel and Palestinians would be a great first next step towards peace, and would enable Palestinians to have their own state.
The hope is that promises of a better life for Gazans will coax compromise, and avert what had been looking like a fight to the finish.
Israel says it has inflicted a painful blow to Hamas' military capabilities in the month long fighting, and wants to make sure the group cannot re-arm if border restrictions are eased.
"The extent to which we are going to be ready to cooperate with the efforts to have better access and movement in Gaza will deeply depend on the kind of arrangements that would secure our peace and security," said Yossi Kuperwasser, a senior official in Israel's Strategic Affairs Ministry.
The other problem is that the West Bank and the Gaza Strip seem to be Policeless and got no real government army. We certainly do need peace keeping troops to keep Israel away from the Gaza Strip.
Like what Khaled Meschaal said in the interview with Stephen Sackur, he said "We must fight against aggression and the siege lifted".
It must be done in the right way, and the right way is to have demilitarisation and disarmament.
Israel is so superior with their rockets and arms, including the Iron Dome (blowing up missiles and causing shrapnels), and other countries are finding Israel a real threat to them.
Please note and keep in mind also that ;
There is an UN Article.6. (3) of Arms Treaty.
Parties shall not transfer arms if knowledge of use in genocide, crimes against humanity as they are breaches of Geneva Convention.
The last of the ceasefire
It will be the last of the ceasefire after talks broke down in Cairo, Egypt.
That is not suprising as Israel has refused to meet the Palestinians demands including opening up borders between them to enable access to the West Bank daily.
Israel and Egypt says they do not want the blame in blockading of the borders. They are both to blame.
Rafah crossing should also be open, as Palestinians would be able to get goods from Egypt cheaper as it is expensive through Israel.
The only way the Palestinians can have their demands being met is to have the Prime Minister and its cabinet removed now that they are accused of "War Crimes".
Sadly it may never happen, and the war will go on until something is done about them.
Palestinians feels so betrayed, and made to feel small because of Israel's bad treatment towards them.
We must stop the incarceration of the Palestinians who live in the world's biggest open air prison among other demands.
Palestinians's demands must be met without delay to avert the war.
Israel is now regarded as divisive, hateful and racist.
Which is why the whole world is so against them, and condemn for what they have done.
We are not against good Islam just as Islam have nothing against good Christians.
Palestinians say they want people living in the West Bank or Gaza to convert to Islam.
Christians are saying the same thing wanting to convert non-believers. It is nothing alarmist.
We are equal as we all believe in God. No one has got to change religion if they do not want to.
Palestinians just want people to be an Islam believer if they want to be part of their country, and do want to be looked after by them. It is a qualifying process of receiving government help etc.
Like Christians who wants to qualify to get help from their Church and get pastoral guidance.
Amended Gaza Peace Treaty amid warnings from Ban Ki Moon and the United Nations
Palestinians have made it clear not to go back to the negotiating table, which only leaves a Gaza Peace Treaty.
Ban Ki Moon said “We must spare no effort to turn the current calm into a durable ceasefire that addresses the underlying issues of the conflict.”
He said that meant ending weapons smuggling into and rocket fire from Gaza, opening its crossings, lifting Israel’s blockade and bringing the Hamas-ruled strip back under a unified Palestinian government.
Ban also called on Hamas to honour past commitments made by Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organisation, including the right of the state of Israel to exist.
Ban said the UN understood Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas rockets, but “the horror that was unleashed on the people of Gaza” raises questions about international law and distinguishing between civilians and combatants, and proportionality in attacks.
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay told the assembly that “any attacks in violation of these principles, on civilians, homes, schools and hospitals, must be condemned, and may amount to war crimes, and every single rocket fired is a war crime”.
She told the assembly that the casualty toll in this conflict – nearly 1 900 Palestinians, the vast majority civilians, and 64 Israeli soldiers and three civilians – tops conflicts in 2008-2009.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, accused Israel of “savagery”.
He said the Palestinians sought a durable ceasefire and an end to the Israeli blockade “which has suffocated and disfigured life in Gaza for the past eight years”.
Amended Gaza Peace Treaty
To recognise the right not to fire rockets, as it constitutes to be war crimes, and putting civilian lives at risk, and even murdering them.
To agree there are guarantees that there will be demilitarisation and decommissioning of arms or disarmament.
To release Palestinian prisoners.
To open borders North and South. It is Egypt and Israel's responsibility to monitor the crossings ,and check customs.
No Israeli soldiers within the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Honour past commitments made by Yasser Arafat's PLO.
State of Palestine to have military free government
Recognise the right for State of Israel to exist.
State of Israel to recognise the right for Palestinians to exist, and have a State of Palestine approved by United Nations.
Freedom of fishing within 12 miles off the coast.
Reopen international airport. Must submit proposals to say how it should be run, and what kind of security will take place.
Have a new seaport. Must submit proposals to say how it should be run, and what kind of security will take place.
There will be two States.
Israel and Palestinians to agree unconditional ceasefire.
Failing to sign the Gaza Peace Treaty means neither parties will agree. And United Nations may not have any part in trying to create a new, free Palestine. Gaza strip may be taken over eventually against the Palestinian Authority's wishes, and will no longer be able to rule it.
Ticking any boxes would help make progress to long term peaceful Gaza Strip.
Shocking history
It is only by ignoring the entire history of the conflict that it can be portrayed as some wearisome ancient ethnic hatred.
Last month’s centenary of the outbreak of the First World War should help. British Prime Minister David Cameron claims it was fought for freedom. In reality, it was a savage industrial slaughter perpetrated by a gang of imperial powers to carve up territories, markets and resources.
Far from defending democracy or the rights of small nations, Britain and France ended the war divvying up the defeated German and Ottoman empires between them, from Iraq to Palestine. A century on, we’re still living with the consequences.
So began its full-scale colonisation by mainly European colonists — something that could have happened only under colonial rule — which three decades later would lead to the establishment of Israel and the dispossession or expulsion of the majority of the Palestinian people.
Four Arab-Israeli wars on, the 44 per cent of Palestine allocated to the Palestinian majority under the 1947 UN partition plan had been entirely occupied by Israel — and the Palestinians were fighting a guerrilla war for self-determination, and the refugees’ right of return.
Israel staged an even larger-scale invasion of Lebanon in 1982, and occupied the south for another 18 years. Since the Oslo agreement of the early 1990s failed to produce the Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza it was supposed to, Israel has colonised, bombed and reinvaded the Palestinian territories it illegally occupies (along with Syria and Lebanon) time and again: in 2002, 2006, 2008 and 2012.
The justification is always the same: the security of the occupier must be upheld against the resistance of the occupied and blockaded population. And at every stage Israel has had the military, financial and diplomatic support of the west, the US above all.
Despite the hand-wringing, that backing has been unwavering throughout the past month’s devastation of Gaza. Not only is Israel’s right of “self-defence” in a territory it illegally controls upheld, while the same right is denied to the Palestinians, but the US, whose military aid to Israel runs to $3 billion (Dh11 billion) a year, has been re-supplying it with weapons as its troops and aircraft pulverised and massacred their way through an impoverished territory from which its captive people are unable to escape.
Europe is in the same game. Britain has licensed the sale of a startling £8 billion (Dh49.4 billion) worth of military or dual-use equipment since 2010, and £42 million of direct arms sales — including parts for drones and tanks used in the destruction of Gaza.
But a month on, Israel has failed to achieve its objectives. . But Hamas has been strengthened by its defiance and military performance; its rate of rocket fire was barely reduced by Israel’s attacks; and the united front with other Palestinian groups Israel is so keen to destroy has been shored up.
If the Palestinians are going to break out of their current subjection, that will have to go further. For the rest of the world it’s the outrageous big-power backing for Israel’s 47-year illegal occupation, colonisation and denial of Palestinian rights — while orchestrating an endless phoney peace process that simply allows the land grab to continue — that has to be challenged and dismantled.
Global public opinion has shifted decisively in favour of justice for the Palestinians. What’s needed is to turn that into unrelenting pressure for an end to support for occupation, an arms embargo and sanctions, from above and below. The horror of Gaza is a crime made in Washington and London, as well as Tel Aviv.
Agreements yet to be confirmed after the 72 hour ceasefire
Israel has agreed to ease conditions in the Gaza Strip during indirect cease-fire talks in Cairo, a senior Israeli official has revealed.
The easing of conditions, if agreed, will not include the construction of a seaport or an airport in Gaza.
The construction of a seaport or an airport in Gaza will not be a problem as Turkey and Norway have offered to run the seaport. Turkey at present, have been delivering aid by boat while talks were going on. It is possible that one of the Airways possibly British Airways could buy the airport, and run it themselves along with the other Airways around the world depending on holding bays etc.
However, they will include the expansion of the fishing zone off Gaza from its current range of three nautical miles to six. If the security situation improves, Israel said it would consider expanding this to 12 nautical miles, the amount that Hamas wants. This would be an improvement for the Palestinians have more access to have more basic needs to live on fish as well as other things.
The official said that Israel is also willing to ease the passage of people from Gaza to both Israel and the West Bank, and to increase the number of permits authorized each month to 5,000.
Furthermore, Israel said it is willing to significantly increase the number of Gazan trucks carrying various goods which can enter Israel through the Kerem Shalom crossing on the Gaza Strip-Israel-Egypt border.
Furthermore, Israel said it is willing to significantly increase the number of Gazan trucks carrying various goods which can enter Israel through the Kerem Shalom crossing on the Gaza Strip-Israel-Egypt border.
This would be a great breakthrough, and have world's approval to have access to the outside world, and restore the economy as well as meeting the needs of Palestinians, and enabling the start of a big construction to build more homes for Palestinians whose homes are destroyed by the war.
We probably have more higher rise blocks, and probably Hong Kong style to accommodate the heavily populated Palestinians.
Finally, the official said that Israel is prepared to allow the transfer of money to Gaza to pay the salaries of Hamas through a third party, provided it is not Qatar or the United Nations. This transfer will have to be monitored to ensure that the funds are not used to finance terror activities. This sounds very good.
According to the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, Israel will also be prepared to release a few dozen Palestinian prisoners held during the latest conflict, "Operation Protective Edge," in return for the remains of Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin. The IDF declared both soldiers dead, based on forensic findings, but believes Hamas is holding Shaul's body and partial remains of Goldin. It is believed that Goldin was blown up by a suicide bomber packed with explosives while in one of the tunnels, and may be difficult to find. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The world will wait with abated breath to see if there will be a glimmer of peace and order.
Bodies of two soldiers
Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has said that Israel will not agree to any truce with Hamas, unless the bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed in action in Gaza are returned.
"If the terrorists from the other sides don't get it, don't understand it, they have to understand they will get in return the bodies of Mohammed Deif, [Ismail] Haniyeh and all of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. My colleagues and I will not accept any resolution, any framework, without the return of the soldiers' bodies. Israel should continue its operation in Gaza if a ceasefire collapses, and finish the story. Israel cannot afford a war of attrition. If the current ceasefire is heading towards collapse, we must take the initiative, even if it means a significant escalation. Finish the story in the shortest time possible."
These are harsh words from Israeli Foreign Minister. He has got the map of the tunnels and he should order the Israeli soldiers to look for the deceased bodies of Shaul and Goldin. Israelis can look for the collapsed tunnel which was blown up linking to the other tunnels. They are believed to be buried somewhere underground near the Rafah crossing entrance. Israel should start looking and get the diggers out. As far as we know, no one really knows where they are.
We all do understand why Shaul and Goldin should be returned to their families for proper burial and that they should not be left behind. All soldiers all over the world can never be left behind, and each country will always make sure that is so.
It is no good that the Israeli Foreign Minister is blowing his head off, and letting off steam and saying things that does not make sense.
Besides it is violation of International Law keeping Palestinian prisoners, and encroaching on their territories to take them against their will. Israel has got nothing to do with the Palestinians, and cannot rule over them. Israel cannot just start a war or anything whenever it suits or try and punish the Palestinians anytime. Israel just cannot even fight back when it suits them.
It is a bit too rich from Israel who started the war in the first place.
Palestinian people have had enough
While the deliberate and indiscriminate bombardment of Israeli civilians, and the threat of abductions, and mass killings from the terror tunnels, have been the trigger for this latest war.
There is a longer and underlying proximate cause: the Hamas Terrorist War of Attrition against Israel since 2000.
Simply put, from 2000 to 2004, Hamas suicide bombers murdered over 1,000 Israelis wounding some 3,000 in a horrific and sustained terrorist assault that was defeated in part by the Israeli "Operation Defensive Shield" in 2002, and in part by the building of a security barrier, which dramatically reduced penetration by Hamas suicide bombers.
In 2005, with the Hamas terrorist onslaught defeated, Israel moved to unilaterally disengage from Gaza. Accordingly, Israel withdrew all its soldiers and citizens, uprooted all its settlements and synagogues, but left behind 3,000 operating greenhouses and related agricultural assets, the whole as the basis for industrial and agricultural growth and development
They destroyed the greenhouses, brutalized the Fatah opposition, effectively instituted a theocratic dictatorship in 2007, repressed its own people, and began the launching of more than 14,000 rockets and missiles targeting Israeli population centres.
In effect, then, Hamas squandered the opportunity offered by Israel to live in peace, to utilise the industrial and agricultural assets, to engage in state-building. Hamas preferred to divert resources for the building of a terrorist infrastructure that would punish its own people while threatening Israel.
This is the third Israel-Hamas war since the 2005 disengagement, with each prior truce or ceasefire only providing a basis and incipient trigger for the next war. In this latest conflagration, Hamas has repeatedly repudiated, yet again, a series of ceasefires arrangements and "humanitarian" pauses while launching more than 3,000 rockets and missiles in the last month alone.
But while these unceasing terror attacks and ongoing threats have once again forced Israel to take action in self-defence, and to target the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza the unwillingness of Hamas to recognize Israel's existence within any boundaries. And more: the public call in the Hamas Charter and in its declarations for the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews wherever they may be.
This genocidal anti-semitism is the root cause, and has fuelled the ongoing Hamas terrorist war of attrition. This anti-semitism stemmed from Israel taking most of the Palestinians's homeland for decades.
What is so necessary now is a ceasefire that is enduring and comprehensive, that will put an end to the Hamas Terrorist War of Attrition that has targeted Israel's population, and engulfed its own, and that will be protective of both Israeli and Palestinian civilians.,
Such a ceasefire will hopefully be the basis for an Israeli-Palestinian peace, anchored in two states for two peoples living side by side in peace and security. agreed upon, and guaranteed, set of international, legal, diplomatic, political, security, economic, and humanitarian undertakings and initiatives.
Simply put, Hamas must cease and desist from its policy and practice of targeting Israeli civilians and terrorising Israeli civilian populations.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist militias must be disarmed, as called for by EU Foreign Ministers, as a sine qua non for the cessation of hostilities. There is a call for prohibition of the transfer or smuggling of weapons by the international communities all over the world.
A robust international stabilisation and protection force on the whole to protect against the targeting of Israeli civilians, and the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields. Indeed, while Israel has been forced to use weapons to protect civilians, Hamas has been using its captive civilian population to protect its weapons.
This international protection force must also be empowered to secure a total interdiction of the transfer, import, or smuggling of weapons into Gaza which is what triggered the blockade of Gaza in the first place after Hamas assumed power in 2007.
The dismantling of Hamas' extensive military and terrorist infrastructure which is embedded amongst Gaza's civilian population, and the demilitarisation of Gaza can ultimately lead to a pan for Gaza with the ultimate goal of securing economic growth, development, and a sustainable peace.
With order restored, an international governing authority be taken to a peaceful and democratic Palestinian State.
The direct financing of Hamas which was put to military, and terrorist purposes must end.
Palestinian society in Gaza must be freed from the cynical and oppressive culture of hate and incitement. This not only constitutes a standing threat to Israel, but undermines the development of authentic Palestinian self-determination, as in the cruel deployment of Palestinian child labour in the terror tunnels.
No peaceful solution will be possible if massive resources continue to be poured into state-controlled media, mosques, refugee camps, training camps, and educational systems that serve the sole purpose of demonising Israel and the Jewish people, and inciting to war against them.
Hamas' militant rejectionism of Israel's right to exist, its public call for Israel's destruction and the killing of Jews wherever they may be, have threatened the safety and security not only of Israelis but of Palestinians too. In effect, Israel's rejectionism of Palestinian's right to exist too.
Regrettably, the Gazan people's desire and right to live in peace and security cannot be realised so long as Hamas continues to hold its own people hostage, and to pursue a strategy of terror and incitement.
Indeed, this war in Gaza is not only one of self-defence for the Israeli people, but should lead to the securing of the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people, who deserve better than to be held hostage by a terrorist regime.
To realize that if we want to protect the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians, these initiatives and undertakings have to be done.
The Palestinian people more so, than the Israeli people have had a enough, and do not want militants living among them. They do not want any Hamas presence in the Gaza strip just as much as they do not want the Israelis.
The Palestinians have suffered and lost a lot of their loved ones and friends. The war has gone on far too long.
We cannot allow militants to rule the Gaza strip, and the best place for them is to be in the Palestinian Authority acting as Politicians. These militants have caused so much suffering, death, destruction and losses that they could lose the next elections.
For so long Hamas and the militants have been fighting with arms and not words.
The Gaza strip have shrunk by about 40% as Israel have used the 40% as buffer zones. I do not think Israel should go on keeping the 40% of the buffer zones, and Israel must give them back to the Gaza strip, and give up any settlements.
The Palestinians has got rights to be protected from Hamas and other militants as well as from Israel, and is entitled to have a new Airport, Seaport and other things to enable them to live a normal life, and have access to the outside world.
On behalf of the Palestinian people as representative for them, I say to Hamas and other militants, "Please get out and leave us alone to live in peace, order and harmony"
The Middle East is already destablising because of what Israel and the Militants has done.
More assassinations are ongoing
Palestinian militants launched dozens of rockets and Israel responded with airstrikes on Wednesday after Egyptian efforts to mediate a lasting truce in the month long Gaza war collapsed in a hail of fire a day earlier.
One of the Israeli airstrikes appeared to have targeted the home of Mohammed Deif, the Islamic militant group's elusive military chief, who has escaped numerous Israeli assassination attempts in the past. It was not immediately clear whether he was there at the time of the attack.
The fighting resumed Tuesday when Gaza militants fired rockets at Israeli cities just hours before a temporary cease-fire was set to expire, prompting Israel to withdraw its delegation from Cairo and launch retaliatory airstrikes.
Israel's military said it targeted two Palestinian militants after they fired rockets at Israel in the early afternoon.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said they were killed.
The violence left the Egyptian mediation efforts in tatters and raised the likelihood of a new escalation. Palestinian negotiators said the talks were finished.
Three people — two women and a two-year-old girl — were killed in an airstrike on a house in Gaza City, al-Kidra said. In Cairo, Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas leader, said the dead included the wife and a child of Deif. There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas leaders in Gaza.
Israel has not formally commented on the strike but local media quoted an anonymous official as saying it was meant to hit Deif.
"With the assumption that Israel was behind this, it shows its intelligence capabilities...and it is an important indication that no head of the Hamas military wing is immune to a targeted killing," he said.
Hamas is seeking an end to a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade tightened when it seized power in Gaza in 2007, while Israel wants guarantees that the Islamic militant group will disarm.
On Wednesday the Egyptian Foreign Ministry expressed "deep regret" over the breaking of the cease-fire. It said in a statement that it "continues bilateral contacts" with both sides aimed at restoring calm and securing a lasting truce that "serves the interest of the Palestinian people, especially in relation to the opening of the crossings and reconstruction."
Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas, and other militant groups from getting weapons.
The latest round of Gaza fighting was precipitated by Israel's arrest of hundreds of Hamas members in the West Bank in the aftermath of the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers in June. Their deaths were followed by the slaying of a Palestinian youth in Jerusalem in what was a likely revenge attack.
We still cannot have rockets fired intended to maim, kill, and destroy. These have intelligence capabilities too, as Israelis can pinpoint the targets with so much ease.
It was Israel who finished the week long truce by provoking Hamas assassinating people with such relish trying to get rid of the militants.
If Israel wants to get rid of the militants. They must not assassinate anyone as there are ways to solve this problem.
Hamas are moderate Islamists, and we may need them to fight the extremists like the ISIL so it is understandable they cannot give up weaponry and arms.
The only best way is to ask the militants is to leave Gaza, so that the Palestinians's lives can resume normality, and construction to start without delay as demanded by the UN.
The militants can no longer look after its own people and are incompetent to do so. It is time to let go and move forward, and let the International Community take over and rebuild Gaza.
Palestinian people have had a enough and there is so much suffering. We cannot let them suffer further any more.
There is a very firm guarantee that Gaza will have everything it wants, if the militants do leave.
Otherwise, Israel will continue this evil vendetta on killing all the militants starting from the top.
Palestinians have basic human rights to live without the war, without being held hostage, without fear, hate and suffering.
This is a very grave, serious situation that could lead to a full scale blown war if Israel does not stop the killings, injuring Palestinians and destroying buildings. It is also a very grave situation starting to land grab again in the West Bank destroying nine homes to make way for more settlements.
Hostilities have resumed since the ceasefire has stopped, and there has been no truce.
Israel shows no signs in stopping the killings and continues bombing. There have been more civilian deaths including three of the top commanders. They have been going full on collision course in killings, while the Palestinian militants are just popping their rockets harmlessly.
Israel has vowed to pursue its campaign until "full security" is achieved.
Six weeks of fierce fighting have left at least 2,103 people dead, all but 67 of them Palestinians and most of them said to be civilians.
The UN Security Council voiced "grave concern" at the resumption of hostilities and "called upon the parties to resume negotiations to urgently reach a sustainable and lasting ceasefire".
Egypt expressed "profound regret" at the end of a 10-day period of "calm" during the talks, and said it would continue to try to secure a lasting truce.
Benjamin Netanyahu said "I will continue to operate with firmness and insistence".
Well said Benjamin Netanyahu! Your words have fallen on deaf ears. You will have no friends left if you continue like this. The International Community is against you. The whole world is against you.
Israel’s survival and military dominance in the region is not inevitable. We, as a people, must grasp that humbling and harsh fact if Israel is to survive. The next war may be against the Iranian proxy Hezbollah from the north.
With an arsenal of over 100,000 missiles more advanced than those of Hamas, today’s onslaught may look like a popgun in retrospect. Their tunnel networks are probably more complex than the ones in Gaza.
Israel’s survival and military dominance in the region is not inevitable. We, as a people, must grasp that humbling and harsh fact if Israel is to survive. The next war may be against the Iranian proxy Hezbollah from the north.
With an arsenal of over 100,000 missiles more advanced than those of Hamas, today’s onslaught may look like a popgun in retrospect. Their tunnel networks are probably more complex than the ones in Gaza.
Earlier this year someone interviewed the physician head of a NGO in South Lebanon who told me that missiles were embedded in people’s homes in every village he visited in Hezbollah-controlled Southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah is closely watching to see if the international community forces Israel to stop military action before its mission is accomplished. Hezbollah will strategise accordingly.
Hamas will be more dangerous and harder to contain in the next war. We already have evidence that Hamas planned a major ground operation to terrorise and kill thousands of Israeli civilians. The only question is, will they coordinate with Iran, ISIL, or Hezbollah?
Will Hamas start terrorising properly? Will Iran, ISIL and Hezbollah with Hamas and other militants to go full on, leading the charge in wiping out the State of Israel?
I think they will, and so does the whole world. They fear it will happen if Israel does not give in to the full demands of the Palestinians.
Will Hamas start terrorising properly? Will Iran, ISIL and Hezbollah with Hamas and other militants to go full on, leading the charge in wiping out the State of Israel?
I think they will, and so does the whole world. They fear it will happen if Israel does not give in to the full demands of the Palestinians.
It would be nice if Israel publicly offered a 100-year cease-fire for a complete demilitarization of Gaza enforced by NATO.
As Boycott Sanctions and Divestment movement gains steam, Operation Protective Edge is no help against this non-violent legal warfare against Israel. Many in Europe and the progressive far Left correctly believe that BDS is a more effective way to destroy Israel than bullets and missiles.
Hamas will develop new, more sophisticated strategies against Israel. The real problem is that Israel lacks HUMINT (human intelligence) in Gaza.
The future of Europe is that Europe has become a leader in de-legitimising Israel and boycotting its goods. With its growing Muslim population, England, France and other EU nations find it convenient to boycott Israel. They throw Israel under the bus and side with the terrorists, abdicating their moral responsibility to remember their 2,000- year history of pogroms, Crusades, Inquisitions and Holocaust.
Israel, you have had your final warning!
If you do not stop what you are doing. Palestinian deaths, gross injuries and mass destruction of buildings weighs very heavily on you.
Please stop and think carefully before you do any more damage, and not cause any more consequences before the real next war starts to wipe out the State of Israel. Do you understand?
And please meet the Palestinian demands without delay!
New final Gaza peace treaty
This new Gaza Peace treaty is for all countries to show solidarity for an immediate, and sustainable ceasefire that would put an end to the firing of rockets and military operations in the Gaza Strip.
It calls for a lifting of the Israeli blockade and a monitoring mechanism to report on ceasefire violations and verify the flow of goods into the Gaza Strip.
This is aimed at advancing efforts to reach agreement within the 15-member UN Security Council on a resolution.
The so-called "elements" document lays out the parameters for a ceasefire deal that would address Israel's security concerns and meet Palestinian demands.
We have to address the spiralling violence to respond to the needs of Gaza's 1.8 million people as well as in the West Bank.
The initiative would shore up the Egyptian-led peace track, and lead to a lasting ceasefire that would avoid a relapse into war. The New Gaza Peace Treaty calls for the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza, which has been under Hamas control for the past seven years.
It provides the lifting of economic and humanitarian restrictions on the Gaza Strip to allow for a massive reconstruction effort, and for the re-opening of border crossings. An international monitoring and verification mission would be established with a mandate to report on ceasefire violations and check the flow of goods into Gaza. There is no reason why border crossings should not be open all day as long as there are border controls, security checks as well as custom checks.
To ensure the future of Palestinians, Israelis and Jews who are really Palestinians. This will ensure that all Palestinians, Israelis or Jews can live in peace in the safety of their own homes, and neighborhood to live their own lives, and live together.
No Israelis soldiers present within the Gaza Strip or the West Bank.
There will be two states, Israel and Palestine with UN's approval.
Israel commit itself to withdraw from Gaza, and the West Bank completely, give up any settlements, and remove occupiers.
Palestinian prisoners to be released.
Jerusalem to be capital, and the return of the refugees to there.
Jerusalem, Bethlehem, holy places and holy waters to be protected as pilgrimages for everyone all over the world.
To recognise the right not to fire rockets, as it constitutes to be war crimes, and putting civilian lives at risk, and even murdering them.
To open borders North and South.
Palestinians to honour past commitments made by Yasser Arafat's PLO.
State of Palestine to have military free government
Recognise the right for State of Israel to exist.
State of Israel to recognise the right for Palestinians to exist, and have a State of Palestine approved by United Nations.
Freedom of fishing within 12 miles off the coast.
Have a new International airport.
Have a new International airport.
Have a new seaport.
Israel to give up 40% of the Gaza Strip used as buffer zones. There will be a very high wall of unbroken buildings on buffer zones with thick walls.
Palestinian Authority to have control of Gaza from Hamas control.
Israel and Palestinians to agree unconditional ceasefire.
I ask for all countries to give support and free Gaza from oppression, war and poverty to sign in the comment box as a show of solidarity with their signatures and capital letters of their signatures. These signatures will then be forwarded to the UN who can then issue a document of the new Gaza Peace Treaty and a new Resolution.
United Nations have been kept well informed of this blog and is following........................
More breaches of human rights
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.612012
84 Palestinian MPs have either been detained, under investigation or imprisoned. It is breach of human rights enshrined in International Law.
There may be more possible breaches of other Palestinian prisoners who are being held against their will without evidence, and may be deprived of religious instruction, prayers and the reading of the Quran. These prisoners are just prisoners of war who have been on hunger strike.
More than fifteen journalists have died in the Israel-Gaza war who were killed by Israeli bombardment, and some may have been injured.
Another part of the Resolution
This is similar to Resolution 242 and Israel has violated this resolution.
Operative Paragraph One "Affirms that the fulfillment of Charter principles requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East which should include the application of both the following principles:
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- (i) Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict;
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- (ii) Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force."
Israel and Palestine has got to accept the Security Council resolution for the promotion of agreement on the establishment of a just and lasting peace. They have got to authorise to reaffirm that they are willing to seek agreement with each Arab State on all matters included in that resolution."
In a statement to the General Assembly on 15 October 1968, the PLO rejected Resolution 242, saying "the implementation of said resolution will lead to the loss of every hope for the establishment of peace and security in Palestine and the Middle East region." In September 1993, the PLO agreed that Resolutions 242 and 338 should be the basis for negotiations with Israel when it signed the Declaration of Principles.
Resolution 242 is one of the most widely affirmed resolutions on the Arab–Israeli conflict and formed the basis for later negotiations between the parties. These led to Peace Treaties between Israel and Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994), as well as the 1993 and 1995 agreements with the Palestinians.
It is a negotiated agreement based on the resolution's principles rather than one imposed upon the parties.
"Condemning civilian casualties, and an end to excessive use of force against Palestinian civilians", said Jordan in their rejected resolution. This needs more thought as it is complex, but thought provoking. I would say .......
Condemning civilian casualties, and an end to excessive use of force against Palestinian civilians by war.
To recognise the right not to fire rockets intended to maim, kill and destroy.
To have peace and security by having a very high wall of unbroken buildings with thick walls if Israel gives up 40% of buffer zones for Gaza to build on. Gaza will be able to have flats, offices and apartments with double skinned walls between them side by side. Israel will be able to have flats, offices and shops side by side on the other side of the wall making it look like the buffer zones are shared by both parties with extra thickness in the middle. Having that, neither Israel or Gaza can see over either side, and cannot gain access to either side. Airport, Seaport, other buildings will be protected by any invasion from either sides. Safety, peace and security is guaranteed for all civilians for Gaza and Israel. Lack of light is remedied inside buildings if each apartment, office or shop have a sun tube inserted into the walls as it will have one window each.
Timescale for Israel commit itself to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and West Bank completely and give up any settlements, and remove occupiers.
To recognise human rights for Palestinian prisoners to be released as they are hostages to war.
To recognise human rights for Israeli prisoners if any, to be released as they are hostages to war.
Israel and Palestinans both to give each other any dead bodies belonging to each other for burials.
To recognise human rights for Israeli prisoners if any, to be released as they are hostages to war.
Israel and Palestinans both to give each other any dead bodies belonging to each other for burials.
Israel and Palestinians must not have a policy to kidnap, kill each other's civilians, and hold them as hostages.
Hamas to hand over control of Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority.
No Israeli soldiers to be present in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
To welcome investment from the International Community to have a new airport, seaport, etc to bring employment and strengthen economy.
To have two states, Israel and Palestine recognised and accepted.
Hamas to hand over control of Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority.
No Israeli soldiers to be present in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
To welcome investment from the International Community to have a new airport, seaport, etc to bring employment and strengthen economy.
To have two states, Israel and Palestine recognised and accepted.
To open borders North and South. An international monitoring and verification mission would be established with a mandate to report on ceasefire violations and check the flow of goods into Gaza with border crossings open all day, as long as there are border controls, security checks as well as custom checks.
Palestinians to honour past commitments made by Yasser Arafat's PLO.
State of Palestine to be military free government.
Freedom of fishing within 12 miles off the coast for both Israel and Palestinians.
Jerusalem to be capital, and the return of the refugees to there.
Jerusalem, Bethlehem, holy places and holy waters to be protected as pilgrimages for everyone all over the world.
Unconditional ceasefire.
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The resolution would address Israel's and Palestinian's security concerns and meet Israel and Palestinian demands.
I do sincerely hope that the UN Security Council's problem has been solved if all the other countries agree to it first. I would welcome any changes, amendments or alterations.
As I am representing for the Palestinians and a voice for them, I am helping to speed things up to get the unconditional ceasefire we all want which is imperative.
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Palestinian-Authority-slams-Hamas-executions-372095
Palestinian Authority is right to speak up against random killings of suspected traitors for Hamas. We do reject the right for Hamas to kill them, as it is against human rights, and should be tried under the law. It is violation of International Law. It is horrific for the world to see the shootings on video, and will always be imprinted on their minds. It is deeply regrettable that the Palestinians have to witness the shootings personally.
Links for information about what is going on in Gaza, West Bank and Israel regarding human rights
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.612012
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israel-weighing-deal-war-probe-24997517
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/subtle-voices-dissent-surface-war-torn-gaza-24983497
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/08/11/374934/sony-helps-israel-in-gaza-offensive/
http://fall-river.wickedlocal.com/article/20140808/NEWS/140807008/12449/LIFESTYLE
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2715466/Israeli-official-calls-concentration-camps-Gaza-conquest-entire-Gaza-Strip-annihilation-fighting-forces-supporters.html
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/gaza-strip-jews-loathe-israel-130539656.html#kSATPPO
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israels-shin-bet-intelligence-agency-claims-planned-suicide-attack-shows-alqaida-is-taking-root-in-palestine-9078342.html
Long term truce
It is such a very big relief that there is a long term truce ending seven weeks of fighting which has left more than 2,200 people dead.
The truce, was brokered by Egypt and began at 19:00 local time (16:00 GMT).
It is a victory.
Israeli government officials said it would ease its blockade of Gaza to allow in aid and building materials.
Indirect talks on more contentious issues, including Israel's call for militant groups in Gaza to disarm, will begin in Cairo within a month.
The breakthrough came as both sides continued to trade fire.
Palestinian officials said Egypt's ceasefire proposal called for an indefinite end to hostilities, the immediate opening of Gaza's crossings with Israel and Egypt, and an extension of the territory's Mediterranean fishing zone.
Israel was hell bent on destroying everything left of Hamas in the Gaza Strip before any truce could happen. What Israel do not realise is the great damage it has done, and caused so much pain and trauma and suffering of the Palestinians including children who may be scarred for life.
We would be very concerned about what children would pick up having gone through a war, and thinking that war is part of their lives when they grow up. It is a generational thing of being passed down from parents to children.
These Palestinian children are going to need a lot of love and education to see them right to man/womanhood to help them realise that war is a very bad thing, and that their next generation of children deserves better and decent lives.
This war does not solve problems of escalation and a dialogue was needed. So I say "Well done to the Palestinians for perservering and being steadfast and brave" "Well done for taking part in talks".
The International Community and United Nations will do everything they can to rebuild the Palestinian lives and begin reconstruction with immediate effect.
I hope that once is done, these Palestinians can forget the horrors of the war and the scale of it.
Breakthrough - 1st time since 2007, a @WFP humanitarian convoy successfully crossed from Egypt into #Gaza, w/enough food for 150,000 people for 5 days.
31st August 2014
Israel announced Sunday it will expropriate 400 hectares (988 acres) of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, angering the Palestinians and alarming Israeli peace campaigners. The move to seize the land, in the Bethlehem area in the south of the territory, is the biggest of its kind in three decades.
http://www.arabnews.com/news/623081
Land grabbing continues to rise by Israel angering Palestinians.
5th September 2014
Ismail Haniyeh told a gathering near Gaza City that "we cannot accept or deal with any international decision to disarm the resistance" - a reference to Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups.
Israel has said it will press for Hamas' disarmament in indirect talks in Cairo aimed at charting a way forward for Gaza in the wake of a 50-day war that killed more than 2,200 people - almost all Palestinian. The fighting ended on August 26.
Hamas is pushing for the opening of an air and sea port in the densely populated coastal strip and the lifting of Israeli border restrictions imposed in 2007.
Israel has long said it must restrict the import of cement, pipes and other construction materials into Gaza because militants use them to build rockets, bunkers and cross-border attack tunnels.
Israel must stop blackmailing Hamas and the Palestianian Authority. Israel cannot force anyone to give up arms as they will not do it themselves anyway.
The Gaza strip can do what it likes regarding Airport and Seaport and, Israel must not destroy or halt the building of them like last time when construction workers commissioned from EU had to flee amidst the bombing.
Israel could do it all again if work on the Airport and Seaport did commence. Which is why it is so unreasonable to ask Hamas to give up arms.
The buffer zones needs to be discussed first as to whether it can be built on as I suggested earlier to have a very high rise wall of flats, offices and shops on both sides. That way, Israel cannot even see what is going on inside the Gaza Strip. It is a very good compromise.
18th September 2014
Last week, Abbas said he would go to the U.N. to "seek international protection" for the Palestinian people.
And that recent Palestinian activity at the United Nations aimed to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, to reinforce the notion of two states living side by side in peace and security
Most Israelis supported the two-state solution.
There is a call for "more cooperation" between Israeli and Palestinian "forces of peace" with a view to kick-starting the moribund peace process.
Israelis and Palestinians would work to enhance the "forces of peace" that support the two-state solution.
http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.nsf/5C9CAF890E561FED85257AD400545E5B/5FB672F7A5B9434285257D56006B0315
Mr Robert Serry, Special Co-ordinator for the Middle East Process and Personal Representative of the Secretary General gave this speech at the United Nations. He spoke of his concerns, his horror, hoping for peace and order yesterday. The link is above.
Written by Sir Vincent Fean served as British Consul-General in Jerusalem from 2010 to 2014.
The recent announcement by the Israeli government that it is expropriating another 1,000 acres of the West Bank has only reinforced in the minds of many that the Israel-Palestine conflict is stuck in an impasse. Yet it is at such bleak times that leaders need to find new ways to move forward. That is why I believe the time is right for the United Kingdom to recognise the state of Palestine. The turmoil in Syria and Iraq may overshadow this issue, but it is wrong to neglect it.
Britain is uniquely placed to give a lead by recognising Palestine now, just as we recognised Israel in 1950. Where we lead, Europe will follow – and there is urgency. John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, said in April 2013 that we had two years at most to resolve the conflict. Today’s chronic cycle of violence and violent deterrence will not do that, but will recur if we do nothing. The combination of illegal Israeli settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank and the closure of Gaza means that time is not on our side if the two neighbourly states we seek are to be realised.
Why the UK, you may ask? Well, we are party to the history of this conflict – originators of the Balfour Declaration and holders of the Mandate for Palestine between 1920 and 1948. Under the Mandate, we took on a “sacred trust of civilisation” to advance the welfare of the Palestinian people and guide them to independence.
Today, we are major donors to the Palestinian Authority and to UNRWA, the UN agency that strives to meet the needs of Palestinian refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Lebanon and war-torn Syria. For the third time in a decade, we will contribute to rebuilding Gaza after a conflict. When we choose, we can make a difference in the EU and at the UN.
Now, when the two-state solution – the only viable solution – is at risk, we should affirm our commitment to what is right and just for both Israelis and Palestinians. Both deserve security. Both deserve statehood. A one-state outcome is no solution. It means further discrimination in an apartheid-style system, and more violence – but with no way out.
Bilateral recognition of Palestine is in the UK’s gift. The UK recognises states, not governments, so this would not be tied to any Palestinian political party. In 2011, Britain noted at the UN that “the Palestinian Authority has developed successfully the capacity to run a democratic and peaceful state, founded on the rule of law and living in peace and security with Israel… Palestine largely fulfils the legal and technical criteria for UN membership, including statehood, in as far as the Occupation allows.”
Recognising Palestine is a political step, which 134 out of 193 UN member states have taken. Britain waits for “a moment of our choosing and when it can best help bring about peace”. That moment is now. For this veto-bearing permanent member of the Security Council, a further abstention is abdicating responsibility. If we choose to act decisively, we change the dynamic in the EU and at the UN.
Undoubtedly, such a decision will serve as a reaffirmation of current UK policy. We already believe that the Palestinian people have the inalienable right to self-determination; and that the Israeli people have the unquestionable right to live in peace and security, with all Arab/Muslim states recognising the State of Israel, as in Saudi Arabia’s 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. Also, that the two states will determine borders based on 1967 lines, with agreed land swaps of equal size and value; that Gaza will be demilitarised, like the rest of Palestine, and linked with the West Bank; and that Jerusalem will be the shared capital of both states, which will agree a just and fair solution to the refugee question.
Moreover, UK policy is that US/Nato troops will guarantee the security of both states after the full, phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestine; and that the negotiations will be on a “no victor, no vanquished” basis to preserve parity of esteem of both parties. America would do well to enshrine this policy in a unanimous UN Security Council Resolution. But with the US mid-term elections looming, will Washington reaffirm the international consensus? If not, it’s back to us.
What do we ask of the Palestinians? Adherence to President Abbas’s policy of non-violence and full security co-operation with Israel, across the territory of Palestine, plus early, free and fair elections. Of Israel, we ask respect for the Geneva Conventions she has signed, human rights and international humanitarian law.
Recognition will renew Palestinian belief that the path of non-violence, not the Hamas path, leads somewhere: to a state coming into being through diplomacy and democratic expression, not destruction. Israelis will see that we regard both peoples as equal in dignity and in rights. Recognition will help safeguard Israel from the folly of a one-state outcome, by validating the second state. Peace negotiations will be on a more equal basis.
It is important to note that recognition is not sufficient to end the Occupation. Negotiations based on equity will end it, along with respect for the international law that the United Kingdom helped to create, and which we are bound to uphold.
24th September 2014
President Obama's speech at UN
Leadership will also be necessary to address the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. As bleak as the landscape appears, America will never give up the pursuit of peace. The situation in Iraq, Syria and Libya should cure anyone of the illusion that this conflict is the main source of problems in the region; for far too long, it has been used in part as a way to distract people from problems at home. And the violence engulfing the region today has made too many Israelis ready to abandon the hard work of peace. But let’s be clear: the status quo in the West Bank and Gaza is not sustainable. We cannot afford to turn away from this effort – not when rockets are fired at innocent Israelis, or the lives of so many Palestinian children are taken from us in Gaza. So long as I am President, we will stand up for the principle that Israelis, Palestinians, the region, and the world will be more just with two states living side by side, in peace and security.
This is what America is prepared to do – taking action against immediate threats, while pursuing a world in which the need for such action is diminished. The United States will never shy away from defending our interests, but nor will we shrink from the promise of this institution and its Universal Declaration of Human Rights – the notion that peace is not merely the absence of war, but the presence of a better life.
25th September 2014
I am so full of praise for rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah, as they have reached an agreement on Thursday by which the Unity Government run by President Mahmoud Abbas would take control of the Gaza Strip, negotiators said in Egypt-mediated reconciliation talks.
"All civil servants will be paid by the unity government because they are all Palestinians and it is the government of all Palestinians," said Azzam Ahmed of Fatah.
It is a great step forward, and I know how hard it is for Hamas to give control over to Palestinian Authority. Israel must be very relieved. No doubt the PA is very delighted.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/hamas-fatah-agree-to-unity-government-headed-by-abbas/article20798562/
http://www.wkrn.com/story/26742095/palestinian-unity-cabinet-to-meet-1st-time-in-gaza
9th October 2014
http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinian-unity-government-meets-in-gaza-strip/
To Recognise Palestine
British lawmakers on Monday will take part in a non-binding vote to recognise "Palestine," after Sweden made a storm by likewise pledging its commitment to recognise a Palestinian state late last Friday on the Jewish Holiday.
British lawmakers on Monday will take part in a non-binding vote to recognise "Palestine," after Sweden made a storm by likewise pledging its commitment to recognise a Palestinian state late last Friday on the Jewish Holiday.
The symbolic vote, which is being followed closely as a barometer of greater European pressure on the Jewish state, is on a motion put forward by Grahame Morris, an MP of the left-wing Labour opposition party.
The Labour MP added "the UK recognizing Palestine could give decisive momentum to more EU states following suit. Recognition now would be a clear and legitimate message that Britain and others recognise Palestinian rights, and that the illegal settlement enterprise has no validity."
In fact it has been proven in legal committees that Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria is fully legal, and in accordance with international law, despite the MP's protestations.
The "war" includes a request that the UN demand Israel withdraw behind the 1949 Armistice lines by 2016.
Prisoner swaps
Hamas "political wing" official Muhammad Nazal on Thursday, announced his terrorist organization is preparing for the start of a channel of negotiations with Israel, meant to release hundreds of terrorists in exchange for the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul
Nazal said the talks will begin very soon, and apparently will take place in Cairo with Egyptian intermediaries.
According to Nazal, Egypt has officially told Hamas that the channel of communications for the terrorist swap will be held separately from the Cairo truce talks to be resumed in the last week of October, in which Hamas is leveling enormous demands such as a sea and airport as reward for its recent terror war on Israel.
The statement comes after Hamas official Mushir al-Masri last week said "Hamas has a bargaining chip, by forcing Israel to accept Palestinian demands.
Ongoing indirect negotiations, brokered by Egypt, may lead to a new deal for prisoner releases. "We will release as many Palestinian prisoners as possible", Egypt negotiators said.
Hamas has demanded the 63 re-arrested Shalit deal terrorists to be released along with hundreds of others as part of the newest round of swaps.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29596822
MPs in UK have backed for Palestine to be recognised to have a state.
14th October 2014
I agree with Israel and US that a Palestinian state should be created through negotiations with Israel.
British Parliament passed a non-binding resolution Monday offering diplomatic recognition to Palestinian statehood as Sweden did earlier this month.
While we still support the Palestinian statehood, we believe that process needs to be reached through a two-state solution, following revelations that UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon found out about the new underground tunnels, and explored the tunnels. He said there must be more peace talks.
Countries are attending an international donor conference on Gaza's re-construction in Cairo on Sunday, called for a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
20th October 2014
Earlier the Palestinian and Egyptian presidents called on Israel to commit to a long-term peace initiative.
Mahmoud Abbas and Abdul Fattah al-Sisi urged Israel to give up land seized in the 1967 Middle East war and accept a fair solution for Palestinian refugees in exchange for full recognition.
The seven-week Gaza conflict, which ended in a truce on 26 August, killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, most of them civilians, the UN says, along with 67 Israeli soldiers and six civilians in Israel.
Envoys from dozens of countries attended the Cairo conference, which was hosted by Egypt's President Sisi.
The total, announced by the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Boerge Brende, exceeded the $4bn (£2.5bn) the Palestinian Authority had asked for.
Half the sum would be "dedicated" to work in Gaza, he said, without specifying a use for the other half.
This is a major breakthrough, a very important signal of solidarity to the Palestinian people in general and not at least to the people that are suffering so badly in Gaza.
Winter is approaching with so many Palestinians homeless.
27th October 2014
Gaza Power Plant is now operating and has been since last Sunday. The generators went online sooner than expected. This is good news for Palestinians wanting to keep warm for the pending winter.
Egyptian authorities today announced the decision to build buffer zone on its borders with Gaza, with the depth of 500 meters, and a height of 14 Km, to hinder terrorist groups from entering Sinai, that recently resulted in killing 33 Egyptian soldiers.
The buffer zone construction will result in displacing thousands of bedouins in the Sinai desert, that Egypt vowed to relocate and give compensations before beginning the construction.
The Egyptian soldiers were killed during an attack on a checkpoint on Friday in the Sinai Peninsula bordering Israel and Gaza. The assault bore the marks of attacks claimed by Egypt's most active militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis.
Egyptian president, Abdul Fattah Sissi, promised taking "many measures" in the border, that it is likely to be expanded in order to pursue militants, and stop them from entering Egyptian land.
Sissi expected help from the US to stop "terror" in Egypt.
As a result of the attacks on Egyptian soldiers, the indirect negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli delegations, which were decided to take place last Monday, have been postponed until the second half of November.
2nd November 2014
Hamas reacted badly by having fired a missile at the Jewish state a day earlier after Israel closed two of its border crossings Erez and Keren Shalom with Gaza.
The rocket fired into southern Israel on Friday afternoon did not cause any injuries or damage, but marked the first clear violation of a ceasefire that brought to an end the 50-day armed conflict that raged in the area over the summer months.
Egypt has also closed the border crossing between Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula as it creates a new buffer zone to thwart future attacks by those using the Hamas-ruled territory as haven. Dozens of Egyptian soldiers and police have been killed in recent weeks while combatting Islamists in Sinai and along the Gaza border. Creating a new buffer zone was a blessing for Egypt and Israel to destroy any existing underground tunnels at the same time.
The rocket fire and the border crossings raised new fears that full-scale military conflict in and around Gaza could resume.
12th November 2014
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/newcastle-councillor-arrested-blindfolded-beaten-7814392
In Chronicle Live, shocking news about Israeli Defense Force having arrested, blindfolded and beaten a Newcastle upon Tyne councillor (UK) who was on a peace mission to Palestine with his fellow councillors. Shows how very vicious and agressive the Israeli Defense Force really is. Makes you think that Palestinians were treated badly and provoked to such an extent the way Israeli Defense Force is behaving.
13th November 2014
300 new homes are planned in the part of Jerusalem's old city which Palestinians claim are theirs.
The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as their capital, and the international community opposes Israeli construction in the area.
Amnon Arbel, the deputy head of planning in the Jerusalem municipality, said a planning committee approved the project today in the Ramot area.
He said the project needs to clear other hurdles and construction is years away.
An attack against a mosque in a West Bank village earlier today ignited a fire that destroyed its first floor, an assault the village's mayor blamed on Jewish settlers. The attack came against the background of competing claims to a holy site in Jerusalem's Old City.
There have been some violence and vandalism as Israeli and Palestinians both wants to pray on Temple Mount.
http://en.ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleno=27012#.VGSVeDSsWSo
This is a very important read as Jordan fully supports the Palestinians. Jordan has a role in the peace process and very involved.
18th November 2014
http://www.imemc.org/article/6973
Shocking treatment of Palestinians. They are shot at on a daily basis, they are imprisoned in appalling conditions. Palestinians have either been hanged from a bus or killed etc. Children have been kidnapped and killed. They also have been treated badly by Israelis either in Jerusalem, West Bank or Gaza Strip.
The Israelis are so evil, and they would stoop so low as to try and destroy Palestine for their own gains.
I feel so angry that I could just cut the old Palestine in half so the Palestinians could have what they were entitled to in the first place taking in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem among other places.
Then have Nato troops along across the half of old Palestine.
18th November 2014
Copy from United Nations
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned today’s attack on a synagogue in West Jerusalem that claimed four lives and injured several persons, calling for political leadership and courage on both sides to address the “very tense” situation in the region.
In a statement attributed to his spokesperson, the Secretary-General noted that beyond today’s “reprehensible” incident, clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli security forces continue on a near daily basis in many parts of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
“The steadily worsening situation on the ground only reinforces the imperative for leaders on both sides to make the difficult decisions that will promote stability and ensure long-term security for both Israelis and Palestinians,” the Secretary-General said.
Extending his condolences to the families of the victims and wishing the injured a speedy recovery, Mr. Ban emphasized that attacks against religious sites in Jerusalem and the West Bank point to an additional dangerous dimension to the conflict which reverberates far beyond the region.
Welcoming the condemnation of today’s attack by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Secretary-General stressed that all sides must “avoid using provocative rhetoric which only encourages extremist elements.”
Earlier today, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, also strongly condemned the attack, calling on all sides to do everything possible to avoid further escalation.
“There can be no justification whatsoever for these deliberate killings,” Mr. Serry stressed in a statement published by his Office today.
Noting that he “abhorred” the attack and that his thoughts are with the families of the victims, the Special Envoy reiterated the UN’s “urgent call on all sides to do everything they can possibly do to avoid further escalation in the already very tense situation in Jerusalem.”
In related news, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) voiced alarm today at the recent series of violent incidents in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
“We condemn all acts of violence, which have resulted in deaths and injuries,” OHCHR spokesperson Rupert Colville emphasized in a briefing to reporters in Geneva earlier today.
While Israel has a duty to ensure law and order, including by bringing to justice those responsible for the attacks, any response must be in accordance with international law, the spokesperson said.
“We urge Israeli authorities to refrain from taking measures, such as punitive demolitions, which violate international law and may further inflame the situation,” he added.
Mr. Colville said that in addition to the attack in the synagogue, on Sunday a Palestinian bus driver was found hanged in his bus in Jerusalem in “unclear circumstances.”
At least six other people – including five Israelis and one Ecuadorean – have been killed in the past month in alleged attacks involving cars driven at people and knife attacks, and at least three Palestinian suspects were killed when Israeli security forces reacted to those incidents, the spokesperson said. In response, he said that Israel has reportedly announced that it will demolish or seal six homes of Palestinians allegedly involved in previous attacks.
Meanwhile, OHCHR also continues to follow with concern the “extremely tense and volatile situation” across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Mr. Colville said. There are near-daily clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces that have resulted in deaths and injuries, including as a result of the use of live ammunition by Israeli security forces, he noted.
“We call on Israelis and Palestinians to exercise restraint, and for all responses to the escalating situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory to be grounded in respect for human rights,” Mr. Colville said.
As representative for the Palestinians, I also condemn these attacks on the Synagogue.
Please keep away from Jerusalem and the Israelis to try and defuse the escalating situation in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza Strip. You will get your own State if you keep calm. If you are worried about the attacks on your people, please get in touch with United Nations, and ask them to protect your children.
The children are the priority.
I will inform the United Nations to tell them that Israelis Security troops should not be in Gaza Strip, and should not set foot on Gaza Strip and the same for West Bank. Security must be tightened on the refugee camps, and other vulnerable places.
We must respect human rights. We must promote long term stability and security for Palestine.
22nd November 2014
22nd November 2014
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/PA-chief-warns-against-resorting-to-religious-war-382499
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/middle-east-unrest/israel-begins-controversial-demolitions-palestinian-suspects-homes-n253506
Israel is inflaming tensions with hate and fury, and being racist. Israel deeds are still not justified. Islam is peace.
24th November 2014
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/23/israeli-cabinet-approves-bill-defining-nation-state-jewish-people
Israel cannot really define, and what they say is partly racist in a way. It is up to UN to recognise Israel as a nation or a state. Israel at present cannot keep all the land that has been taken from Palestine, and must be given back.
30th November 2014
Following the "Jewish State" bill, Israel now intends to build a water barrier to expand its political hegemony.
PNN reporter said on Sunday that Israeli sources declared Israeli intentions to build a security water barrier along the borders with Jordan and Egypt in the Red Sea. The barrier will be 2.8 miles high.
The Israeli Sources pointed that the troubled security conditions in Egypt forced 'Israel' to make this decision to abort any attempt from outsiders to sneak into "Israeli beaches".
Walla Israeli Website mentioned that 'Israel' has already started a construction process to build a water barrier along the borders with Jordan in Aqaba.
An Israeli senior Officer in the Navy said, "Due to the closed land borders between 'Israel' and Jordan, and the coordination between land and see arms, the necessity to build a barrier along the water borders with Jordan was conducted to put an end to sneak in attempts".
Earlier today Mahmood Abbas have said that Palestine will never recognise a Jewish State.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last Saturday accused the United States of preventing the establishment of a State of Palestine, urging the Obama administration in an interview aired on Egyptian television to support the Palestinian bid at the United Nations Security Council – or at the very least, to refrain from vetoing it. He regrets US lawmaker's recommendation to cut aid, also says Egyptian help will be essential for security in future State of Palestine.
http://www.ibtimes.com/president-abbas-renews-effort-push-palestinian-statehood-un-1730923
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-2858296/Jordan-push-UN-Palestine-resolution.html
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Differences between Churches and Mosques are no longer nearly as critical as the rifts within them as we are living in a post denominational age.
As a result, the most arduous form of ecumenism today often is not between Churches and Mosques, but rather within one’s own house.
Pope Francis delivered a strong message of unity that was ostensibly about the first sort of ecumenism, meaning the press for better relations among Churches and rites.
Diversity, may seem to create disorder, but that is where faith in the Holy Spirit enters the picture. Under his guidance, [differences] constitute an immense richness, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of unity, which is not the same thing as uniformity.
Pope Francis provided an impressive visual of Unity by pausing in Istanbul's famed blue Mosque alongside the Grand Mufti for a moment of silent prayer. This is hailed as a turning point in Muslim/Christian relations.
Last Saturday, the Pope celebrated a Mass at Istanbul’s Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, which was “inter-ritual” in the sense that it brought together Syrian, Armenian, and Chaldean Catholics, as well as members of the Latin rite that’s most familiar to Catholics in the West. Also on hand were a number of Orthodox dignitaries, including Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.
That mix of rites and confessions naturally elicited reflections from the Pontiff on unity and diversity. The message had clear relevance, because relations among the various Catholic rites and Churches in the Middle East are notoriously fractious.
They were also celebrating being together, and reunited since Christianity, Orthodoxy and Islam was created thousand of years ago at the same time.
Pope Francis argued that coping with such divisions takes faith.
“Only the Holy Spirit is able to kindle diversity, multiplicity, and, at the same time, bring about unity". When we try and create unity through our own human designs, we end up with uniformity. Unity can only be achieved through being together understanding and cooperating with each other.
“If we let ourselves be led by the Spirit, richness, variety, and diversity will never create conflict, because the Spirit spurs us to experience variety in the communion of the Church".
“The temptation is always within us to resist the Holy Spirit, because he takes us out of our comfort zone and unsettles us. It is always easier and more comfortable to settle in our sedentary and unchanging ways.
Our defensiveness is evident when we are entrenched within our bad ideas and our own false strengths — in which case we slip into Pelagianism (was an early Christian heresy which held that believers could earn salvation through their own efforts, rather than depending on the grace of God.) or when we are ambitious or vain, These defensive mechanisms prevent us from truly understanding other people, and from opening ourselves to a sincere dialogue with them.”
The Holy Spirit works inside Islam, inside Christianity, inside Orthodoxy and other Faiths. The Holy Spirit is always there. You can feel it, see it, touch it and moved by it.
All we have to do is open our hearts and minds and the Holy Spirit enflames the heart. The Churches and Mosques are moved by the breath of the Holy Spirit which does not transmit a power. But rather an ability to serve in love, a language which everyone is able to understand.
This language means we all have to be on the same level of understanding, cooperating, loving and wanting peace, wanting only the good, and not accepting evil. We are all capable of loving and that is something we all have in common all over the world. We all have a religion and respect that and that is also something we all have in common all over the world as well.
Having read some excerpts from the Q'uran, Christians find that we have something in common in the Q'uran and Islam find they have something in common in the Bible. The Holy Spirit guides us to a better understanding to interpret clearly and transparently what Q'uran and the Bible each means.
There is only one Islam, one Christianity, one Orthodox and so on. If there is evil in Islam, Islam is divided by good and evil. (Evil is twisted ideology and violence). If there is evil in Christianity, Christianity is divided by good and evil and so on.
Pope Francis leading a joint prayer service with Patriarch Bartholomew at the Phanar, the headquarters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and then joining him for an Orthodox liturgy Sunday morning. Bartholomew called the Pontiff’s visit to the headquarters of his church a “historic moment.”
We will pray together for the Unity of our Churches, for divided Christendom, for Mosques and divided Islam, as well as for peace in the Middle East and around the globe. We try to have close collaboration to face together the acute problems of the present world.”
The two leaders are scheduled to sign a joint declaration Sunday morning, which will pledge the Catholic and Orthodox churches to continue the press for closer ties.
We are all free to pray together any time not as a show for unity, but to be in spirit with each other respecting our own religion, and think of each other......., of peace,....... and unity......
22nd December 2014
http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/iran-world/17710-unga-adopts-resolution-on-right-of-the-palestinian-people-to-self-determination
United Nations General Assembly adopts resolution on right of the Palestinian people to self determination.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4606571,00.html
International donors have failed to deliver billions of pounds in aid as promised for reconstruction.
28th December 2104
In the ruling late Thursday, Israel Supreme Court has ordered the government to demolish the Israeli occupied West Bank settlement of Amona. President Asher Grunis acknowledged that demolishing the community would be “difficult and painful” for its residents. However, he wrote, “this difficulty cannot enable illegal construction on private land” or justify failure to comply with the law. The Israeli government has got within two years to relocate its 300 Jewish residents, moving to end a years-long legal battle.
Established in 1995 without explicit government permission, Amona is the largest of the unauthorized outposts in the West Bank and was built largely on privately owned Palestinian land.
A group of Palestinians claiming ownership of the land petitioned Israeli courts through the Israeli nongovernmental rights group Yesh Din in 2008, demanding removal of the outpost, access to the land and compensation.
This is a victory for the Palestinians getting the justice they want to deter Israelis to grab any more of the lands belonging to Palestinians which used to be a former Palestine.
31st December 2014
UN Security Council have rejected a Palestinian resolution calling for an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and the establishment of a Palestinian state by late 2017.
The resolution called for negotiations based on territorial lines that existed before Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Six-Day war. It also called for a peace deal within 12 months.
Even if the draft had received the minimum nine votes in favour, it would have been defeated by Washington’s vote against it. The United States is one of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the council.
There were eight votes in favour of the resolution, including France, Russia and China, two against and five abstentions, among them Britain. Australia joined the United States in voting against the measure. The European and African camps were split in the vote. France and Luxembourg voted in favour of the resolution while Britain and Lithuania abstained. Among the African nations, Chad voted yes while Rwanda and Nigeria abstained.
America should not be on the Security Council, and I have appealed to UN to have US removed as US always seem to say no to everything, and is not capable of making a decision.
US said the text was “deeply imbalanced” and contained “unconstructive deadlines that take no account of Israel’s legitimate security concerns.” She also said the text “was put to a vote without a discussion or due consideration among council members.”
UN Security Council have rejected a Palestinian resolution calling for an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and the establishment of a Palestinian state by late 2017.
The resolution called for negotiations based on territorial lines that existed before Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Six-Day war. It also called for a peace deal within 12 months.
Even if the draft had received the minimum nine votes in favour, it would have been defeated by Washington’s vote against it. The United States is one of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the council.
There were eight votes in favour of the resolution, including France, Russia and China, two against and five abstentions, among them Britain. Australia joined the United States in voting against the measure. The European and African camps were split in the vote. France and Luxembourg voted in favour of the resolution while Britain and Lithuania abstained. Among the African nations, Chad voted yes while Rwanda and Nigeria abstained.
America should not be on the Security Council, and I have appealed to UN to have US removed as US always seem to say no to everything, and is not capable of making a decision.
US said the text was “deeply imbalanced” and contained “unconstructive deadlines that take no account of Israel’s legitimate security concerns.” She also said the text “was put to a vote without a discussion or due consideration among council members.”
That is not good considering, that Israel should consider Palestinians legitimate security concerns as they are so defenceless. Something Israel would not consider, due to their extreme hostility towards Muslims. Israel is forgetting that their people used to be part of Palestine and has ancestors from Palestine. Jews must accept that they have to be equal with Muslims. Jesus was born in Palestine and could well be a born Muslim.
Council members could have more time to discuss the proposal but it is no excuse to reject or abstain from the UN Resolution without stating reasons why. They could have shown a very good example to vote the UN Resolution against occupation and extreme suffering to other parts of the world. Countries like Zimbabwe, Nigeria etc have the same problems of land grabbing etc.
The UN Resolution was supposed to bring peace and hope. I think it is up to the UN Secretary General now to draw up a peace plan for the whole world, to make countries accountable to making it legitimate that occupation, land grabbing and extreme suffering is illegal. We also have to pave the way to removing obstacles to have progress to peace. These would be the next steps forward, unless we can come up with something constructive.
Unless the countries do get together and voice concerns, there will be no progress.
The Palestinians, frustrated by the lack of progress in peace talks, have sought to internationalise the issue by seeking UN membership and recognition of statehood via membership in international organisations.
Palestinian observer Riyad Mansour thanked delegations that voted for the resolution, noting that lawmakers in a number of European countries have called for recognition of Palestine. He said it was time to end the “abhorrent Israeli occupation and impunity that has brought our people so much suffering.”
Palestinians have also threatened to join the International Criminal Court, which they could then use as a forum to push for war crimes proceedings against Israel
An earlier Palestinian draft called for Jerusalem to be the shared capital of Israel and a Palestinian state. The draft that was voted on reverted to a harder line, stating that East Jerusalem would be Palestine’s capital and calling for an end to Israeli settlement building.
The rejection of the UN Resolution would only deepen the conflict and making Palestinians more vulnerable, if Israel is not going to end the Israeli occupation and land grabbing etc.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, told reporters who asked why the Palestinians were pressing for a vote in the face of a US veto that it was time for the Security Council "to shoulder its responsibility and to adopt this resolution."
"If one party decides for whatever reason that they do not want to go along with this massive support by the international community to find a just solution to this conflict, to try to save the two-state solution by asking for the end of the occupation that started in 1967 ... then nobody should blame us as Arabs and Palestinians and Muslims ... and so many others for not opening a door - a responsible door for peace through the Security Council," Mansour said.
The draft resolution affirms the urgent need to achieve "a just, lasting and comprehensive peaceful solution" to the decades-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict within 12 months and sets a Dec. 31, 2017 deadline for "Israel's occupation" to end. It calls for an independent state of Palestine to be established within 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and demands "a just solution" to all other outstanding issues including Palestinian refugees, prisoners in Israeli jails, and water.
The Palestinians initially circulated a draft resolution on Oct. 1 asking the council to set a deadline of November 2016 for an Israeli withdrawal from all Palestinian territory captured since 1967.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201501021131.html
In the Africa news, it says why Rwanda and Nigeria abstained from voting for the resolution, and could have voted if it was not for Israel persuading them to abstain.
7th January 2015
Israel have frozen the transfer of more than $127 million in tax revenues collected on behalf of the Palestinians in the wake of their bid to join the International Criminal Court.
The Palestinians have taken the legitimate step to join the ICC and will be a member from April 1st 2015. The bid sets the stage for the Palestinian Authority to pursue war crime complaints against Israel.
Israel failed to stop the Palestinians from joining the ICC, and is failing to stop them for making another UN bid to get the resolution passed.
Israel freezing assets of the Palestinians is a violation of the Oslo Accord, and is against human rights.
Negotiations between Israel and Palestine cannot commence unless the UN bid for resolution is passed. Once Palestine gets it, it will put a lot of pressure on Israel to get motivated to have talks, and do some giving in relation to land grab and occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Talks will get going to solve other issues like airport, seaport etc.
8th February 2015
The Middle East Quartet, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, United States Secretary John Kerry, European Union High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and United Nation Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson have taken part in the meeting.
They have called for resuming talks on the Palestinan-Israeli settlement as soon as possible with a view to reaching a just, lasting and comprehensive peace on the basis of UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, the Madrid Principles including land for peace, and the agreements previously reached between parties.
The Quartet expressed its deep concern over the difficult situation in Gaza, "where the pace of reconstruction needs to be accelerated to address the basic needs of the Palestinian population and to ensure stability."
They have urged donors to disburse as soon as possible their financial commitments made at the October 2014 Cairo Conference, including the funding of UN agencies carrying out vital operations in Gaza for both the refugee and non refugee populations. Donor funding is critical.
They have called for resuming talks on the Palestinan-Israeli settlement as soon as possible with a view to reaching a just, lasting and comprehensive peace on the basis of UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, the Madrid Principles including land for peace, and the agreements previously reached between parties.
The Quartet expressed its deep concern over the difficult situation in Gaza, "where the pace of reconstruction needs to be accelerated to address the basic needs of the Palestinian population and to ensure stability."
They have urged donors to disburse as soon as possible their financial commitments made at the October 2014 Cairo Conference, including the funding of UN agencies carrying out vital operations in Gaza for both the refugee and non refugee populations. Donor funding is critical.
http://rt.com/op-edge/230675-israel-palestine-home-demolition/
Palestinians not Israelis should be planning and zoning committees on regarding stopping home demolitions.
24th February 2015
It is prepostorous and it amounts to great injustice that US should punish those who support terrorism just as the US federal court has done. A jury in Manhattan awarded the victims of the 2002 and 2004 attacks $218.5 million damages under the US Anti-Terrorism Act.
The Palestinian Authority already severely strapped for cash, is finding it impossible to pay. The PA could collapse in the immediate future unless it is given tax revenue currently being withheld by Israel.
The PA issued its own statement saying "were deeply disappointed by the adverse decision and that the charges against the PA is baseless".
Mahmood Khalifa, deputy minister of information for the PA, argues that the previous US judges had ruled that "US localities are not the proper jurisdiction for such a hearing". He also said it will appeal against the decision "as we have faith in the US legal system and are certain about our common sense belief and our strong legal standing".
Attorneys for the PA and the PLO have unsuccessfully tried to have the cases dismissed arguing that US courts had no jurisdiction over them or claiming that they are entitled to sovereign immunity.
Israel is taking advantage to abuse the US legal system to advance their narrow and political and ideological agenda. Israel is continuing to block the two state solution, advance the illegal settlements of the PA's lands. Continues to attack and divert the PLO and PA's limited resources from needed services like defending the West Bank from Israeli defence forces. Israel is also continuing to attack and divert programs for the Palestinians and to distract the public from the every day inequities and injustices Palestinians face.
When the case went to trial, individuals affiliated with Palestine carried out these attacks without the approval of the PA or with the PLO. No one including US should try and prosecute any government for any terrorism attacks or murders. I do not see a UK government be sued for damages just because a british citizen or two committed a crime on US patch claiming it to be terrorism or whatever.
It is a very unfair system and amounts to disbelief.
Palestinian groups will try and appeal the decision and will attempt to try and collect damages through bank accounts and assets in Israel and US. PA have lost a few cases in the past and feels so victimised.
This calls for a UN Resolution to rectify this problem, and condemning these kinds of actions depriving Palestinians of their rights to have a state, and depleting their finances on purpose.
http://rt.com/news/234943-israeli-settlement-record-tenders/
Settlement rush: Record highs of construction tenders in occupied territories last year. Israel will face consequences as all the settlements will have to be handed over. Israel will face a mass eviction if it keeps doing so. It is illegal to build on Palestinian territories. UN, the Criminal Court and Court of Human rights is on the Palestinian's side.
7th June 2015
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Analysis-Hamas-is-not-behind-the-latest-Gazan-rocket-fire-405263
Hamas currently stands to lose the most from a new escalation is making arrests of Salafi-jihadis who are firing rockets at Israel.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/06/07/Israel-strikes-Gaza-in-response-to-latest-rocket-attack.html
Israeli army strikes Gaza Strip after rocket attack last Saturday. ISIS took responsibility.
12th June 2015
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-33110099
Hamas is trying to control Salafis in Gaza.
23rd June 2015
UN Commission report
UN Commission report was a slightly more honest report, the report was overall and not well done.
Hostilities of 2014 erupted in the context of the protracted occupation of the West Bank including East Jerusalem.
- Gaza Strip was not occupied but West Bank is although there was always some presence of Israelis soldiers which the Gazans did not want and be free of.
- East Jerusalem is part of Jerusalem while Judea and Samaria referred to by its colonial name of the "West Bank" contains land that Palestinians dispute, and would like for a state but the argument that part of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria are occupied lands. Israel was part of Palestine and always belonged to Palestinians. Gaza meets no definition of occupation although it used to be part of Palestine and reclaimed.
- In the preceding months, there were few political prospects for reaching a solution to the conflict that would achieve peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis and recognise the right to self determination of the Palestinian people. Palestinians were deprived of the rights to rule, and violations against the Palestinians increased through wrongful arrests, land grabbing, being beaten, robbed and killed illegally.
- Israelis protected their rights to peace, security to territories that they do not really own and with a huge anti-missile shield and sophisticated weaponry and arms far superior than the Gazans.
- Jerusalem is an international city for all and is inhabited mainly by Arabs. Israel have built homes and demolished old homes to make way with new ones. And against the wishes of Arabs and Palestinians.
- The blockade of Gaza by Israel is a continuing collective penalty against the population in Gaza imprisoning the Gazans and depriving them of human rights of not getting trade through to get food and necessities. Blockade is not legal in the north of Israel where access is needed between Gaza and the West Bank.
- Israel have invaded Gaza City to root out Hamas. Gaza City is the most densely populated city and was bombed out by Israel.
- UN schools was bombed out with loss of UN children and its staff.
- Israel was strangling the economy in Gaza and imposed severe restrictions on the rights of Palestinians.
- Israel bombed Gazan's airport, blocked Gaza's coastline and stopped fishermen from fishing near their Gazan shores. Blocked any boats and ships from entering Gaza while trying to get goods and stuff from Turkey and other countries.
- Israel made Gaza a war zone with heavy casualties of the Palestinians while Palestinians killed very few Israelis.
- Indiscriminate firing of rockets by Palestinians were a warning to defend themselves, tried to fire rockets on Israelis military bases to stop Israel, as they had nowhere to go. Tunnels were blown up with people still in them. A war zone imposes greater restriction on the rights of the Palestinians than a legal blockage. Israel was never a war zone while they have huge anti-missile shield and sophisticated arms and weaponry.
- Israel acted in revenge on the kidnapping and the murder of three Israeli teenagers which was not justified as Israel have been brutal to Palestinians in the past. Israel have caused high tensions before, especially in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel had not right to encroach on the Palestinian's territory and put their own policing there. There have been a widespread of extreme anti-Palestinian rhetoric, protests and violent clashes ensued between Palestinians and IDF.
- Israel started "Protective Edge" in the Gaza Strip with airstrikes and rocket attacks which was not needed as huge missile shield was protecting Israelis all that time. Meaning all the rocket attacks against Gazans were not meant to be used. It destroyed Palestinian's lives and their livelihoods and their homes.
- Israel launched terror and murder on Palestinians.
- There were brutal murders of children and kidnappings in Gaza by IDF trespassing in Gaza.
- Israel were uncooperative in peace talks while in Egypt.
- Gazans struggled to find ways to save their own lives and those of their families while confronted with intense attacks with no way of knowing which locations would be hit and which might be considered safe. People would move from one place to another only to encounter attacks in the new neighbourhood. They then would have to move on with no possibility of using any of the exits already blocked. There were no go areas and it was entrapment having no safe place to go.
- Gazans could have fled to Egypt but the exit was closed off.
- Warnings from Israel was not adequate.
- Israel failing to release all prisoners, and kept new prisoners including those who were MPs of Israel's Parliament.
- Israel violated International Laws.
- Israel killed civilians unnecessarily while Gazans was so very vulnerable with very inferior weapons and no missile shield.
- How many did Gazans kill in the Gaza conflict? Counting the cost of lives outweighs the other.
Israeli warplanes have carried out a number of airstrikes on an area in the north of the besieged Gaza Strip early this morning on the coastal enclave. There should not have been any airstrikes from Israel at all.
There have been no reports of damages or casualties for the rocket attack from Gaza. The rocket landed in an open field.
The Palestinian resistance movements of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Salafist movement claimed responsibility. The Salafist launched a rocket attack on Israel, not to attack Israel but to start a war with Hamas.
Israel should not have retaliated, and should have risen above it, as Israelis anti-missile shield is protecting Israel although shrapnel will not protect the Israelis.
On May 27, the Israeli air force carried out similar attacks on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip, on Rafah in the south, and on Khan Younis.
The Gaza Strip has been blockaded by Israel since June 2007, which has resulted in a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.
Over 2,200 Palestinians, including 577 children, were killed in a 50-day Israeli attack, which started in early July 2014 and ended in late August. Over 11,100 others, including 3,374 children, 2,088 women and 410 elderly people, were also injured.
27th June 2015
The Vatican has signed a treaty with Palestine, saying it hoped its legal recognition of the state would help stimulate peace with Israel and that the treaty itself would serve as a model for other Middle East countries. where christians are a minority and often persecuted. It is a great positive step to peace. The final agreement with the "State of Palestine" on the treaty is regulating the life of the Catholic Church in the Palestinians territories. The move is hoped in some way be a stimulus to bringing a definitive end to the long standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Vatican welcomed the decision by the UN General Assembly in 2012 to recognise a Palestinian State and had referred to the Palestinian State since. The treaty marked its first legal recognition of the Palestinian territory as a state. It is with great hope that any country who have not voted for the Palestinian State change their mind and vote to recognise it now the treaty has been signed. We desperately need cooperation and unite for recognition from other countries. And when we do, it will be a victory to end occupation, violence and discord.
Country Reports on the Human Rights Practices for 2014: Israel and the Occupied Territories by US State Department.
An annual US State Department report regarding human rights violations across the globe accuses Israel of institutional discrimination against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, with a special focus on Palestinian prisoners.
The "Country Reports on the Human Rights Practices for 2014: Israel and the Occupied Territories," released on Thursday, charges Israel with "excessive use of force against civilians, including killings; abuse of Palestinian detainees, particularly during arrest and interrogation."
The alleged mistreatment of Palestinians included “austere and overcrowded detention facilities; improper use of security detention procedures; demolition and confiscation of Palestinian property; limitations on freedom of expression, assembly, and association; and severe restrictions on Palestinians’ internal and external freedom of movement.”
The report also slammed the Israeli authorities for their interrogation methods, which purportedly made use of threats, intimidation, solitary confinement and physical violence, sometimes against minors.
Citing testimonies from NGOs - including the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Breaking the Silence and Defense for Children International in Palestine - the report claimed that in 2014, Israel detained 156 minors as security prisoners in addition to 51 others who had entered Israeli territory illegally.
While all prisoners had access to basic needs like food and water, it stated that one of the country's main detention centers did not provide adequate accommodation for female Palestinian prisoners.
The State Department also took aim at Israel for limiting movement in and out of the Gaza Strip, as well as for violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.
With regards to violations by the Palestinian Authority, the report described the "mistreatment of detainees, poor and overcrowded detention facilities, prolonged detention, and infringements on privacy rights.”
Other "serious problems" under the PA were child labor, discrimination against women, homosexuals and the disabled.
As for Hamas, the report accused the group of "killing, torturing, arbitrarily detaining, and harassing opponents, including Fatah members, and other Palestinians with impunity.”
The Islamist group, which rules over Gaza, was also criticized for condoning terror activities and launching rockets and mortars indiscriminately against Israeli civilians.
This is what I said.
Hamas is not really recognised as a terrorist group, and what they did must not be blown out of proportion. Hamas is not really a violent group, and although what they did was not acceptable. It is extremely difficult when Palestinians have been under great duress, unusual high pressure, unusual high tensions, and so on that led them to do crimes which is totally out of character given the years they had to endure so much discrimination and occupation by Israel. It is completely understandable why Palestinians had to retaliate. All these things coupled with poverty, high unemployment, low standard of living and lack of access to the outside world. There is an urgent need to end occupation, violence and discord, and think about humanitarian aid for so many Palestinian children as well as adults. This is the real reason why countries must rally around and unite for a Palestinian State to end all the suffering.
1st July 2015
http://tass.ru/en/russia/805141
Russia says Palestinian sovereignty serves interest of international community.
9th July 2015
Dialogues and talks are still ongoing by the Middle East Quartet to restore Gaza Strip, and the final settlement of the West Bank and its Palestinians.
9th August 2015
1967 Six Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
By 1966, Israeli-Arab relations had deteriorated to the point of actual battles taking place between Israeli and Arab forces. In May 1967, Egypt massed its army near the border with Israel, expelled UN peacekeepers, stationed in the Sinai Peninsula since 1957, and blocked Israel's access to the Red Sea. Other Arab states mobilized their forces. Israel reiterated that these actions were a casus belli. On 5 June 1967, Israel launched a pre-emptive strike against Egypt. Jordan, Syria and Iraq responded and attacked Israel.
In a Six-Day War, Israel defeated Jordan and captured the West Bank, defeated Egypt and captured the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula, and defeated Syria and captured the Golan Heights. Jerusalem's boundaries were enlarged, incorporating East Jerusalem, and the 1949 Green Line became the administrative boundary between Israel and the occupied territories. Since 1964, Arab countries, concerned over Israeli plans to divert waters of the Jordan River into the coastal plain, had been trying to divert the headwaters to deprive Israel of water resources, provoking tensions between Israel on the one hand, and Syria and Lebanon on the other.
Following the 1967 war and the "three nos" resolution of the Arab League, Israel faced attacks from the Egyptians in the Sinai, and from Palestinian groups targeting Israelis in the occupied territories, in Israel proper, and around the world. Most important among the various Palestinian and Arab groups was the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), established in 1964, which initially committed itself to "armed struggle as the only way to liberate the homeland".
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, On 6 October 1973, as Jews were observing Yom Kippur, the Egyptian and Syrian armies launched a surprise attack against Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights, that opened the Yom Kippur War. The war ended on 26 October with Israel successfully repelling Egyptian and Syrian forces but having suffered over 2,500 soldiers killed in a war which collectively took 10-35,000 lives in just 20 days.
Later that year, Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat made a trip to Israel and spoke before the Knesset in what was the first recognition of Israel by an Arab head of state. The two years that followed, Sadat and Begin signed the Camp David Accords (1978) and the Israel–Egypt Peace Treaty (1979). In return, Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula, which Israel had captured during the Six-Day War in 1967, and agreed to enter negotiations over an autonomy for Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Begin's government provided incentives for Israelis to settle in the occupied West Bank, increasing friction with the Palestinians in that area. The Basic Law: Jerusalem, the Capital of Israel, passed in 1980, was believed by some to reaffirm Israel's 1967 annexation of Jerusalem by government decree, and reignited international controversy over the status of the city. No Israeli legislation has defined the territory of Israel and no act specifically included East Jerusalem therein.
The position of the majority of UN member states is reflected in numerous resolutions declaring that actions taken by Israel to settle its citizens in the West Bank, and impose its laws and administration on East Jerusalem, are illegal and have no validity. 1981 Israel annexed the Golan Heights, although annexation was not recognized internationally.
The First Intifada, a Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule, broke out in 1987, with waves of uncoordinated demonstrations and violence occurring in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Over the following six years, the Intifada became more organised and included economic and cultural measures aimed at disrupting the Israeli occupation.
In 1992, Yitzhak Rabin became Prime Minister following an election in which his party called for compromise with Israel's neighbors.] The following year, Shimon Peres on behalf of Israel, and Mahmoud Abbas for the PLO, signed the Oslo Accords, which gave the Palestinian National Authority the right to govern parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The PLO also recognized Israel's right to exist and pledged an end to terrorism. In 1994, the Israel–Jordan Treaty of Peace was signed, making Jordan the second Arab country to normalize relations with Israel. Arab public support for the Accords was damaged by the continuation of Israeli settlements and checkpoints, and the deterioration of economic conditions. Israeli public support for the Accords waned as Israel was struck by Palestinian suicide attacks.
At the end of the 1990s, Israel, under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu, withdrew from Hebron, and signed the Wye River Memorandum, giving greater control to the Palestinian National Authority. Ehud Barak, elected Prime Minister in 1999, began the new millennium by withdrawing forces from Southern Lebanon and conducting negotiations with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and U.S. President Bill Clinton at the 2000 Camp David Summit.
During the summit, Barak offered a plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state. The proposed state included the entirety of the Gaza Strip and over 90% of the West Bank with Jerusalem as a shared capital, although some argue that the plan was to annex areas which would lead to a cantonisation of the West Bank into three blocs, which the Palestinian delegation likened to South African "bantustans", a loaded word that was disputed by the Israeli and American negotiators. Each side blamed the other for the failure of the talks.
Sharon became prime minister in a 2001 special election. During his tenure, Sharon carried out his plan to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip and also spearheaded the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier, ending the Intifada.
Palestine has a right to be a nation since 1967 to improve relations with Israel. Israel have violated international law of the continuation of Israeli settlements and checkpoints, and the deterioration of economic conditions. As well as the construction of Israeli West Bank Barrier. International law was violated by Israelis participation in the wars of the Middle East as well as renewed war in the Gaza Strip. Israel have annexed Golan Heights illegally which belonged to Syria. It is time that Palestine regain control of territories belonging to it since 1967 and there has got to be confirmation that this conflict has to be stopped, and declared the freedom of Palestine back to 1967 by way of a special declaration. It should have been included in the captive nations declaration or other. This would normalise relations between Israel and Palestine and end the conflict. There is no way that Israel can go on the way before and keep on ethnic cleansing and taking people's lands.
10th September 2015
Experts suggests Invoking Universal Jurisdiction among Legal Options to address Israeli settlements.
http://www.un.org/press/en/2015/gapal1346.doc.htm
UN envoy urges constructive steps for Palestinian unity amid postponement of key gathering 9 September - The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process urged all Palestinian leaders and factions to use the opportunity provided by the postponement of the meeting of the Palestine National Council to take constructive steps towards achieving unity. “This shows leadership and wisdom in giving adequate time for consultation with all factions in preparation of a regular session, which should strengthen unity and chart the way forward,” Nickolay Mladenov said in a statement, referring to the decision announced by the Council’s Chairman, Salim Zanoun. The meeting of the Council had been set to take place next week in the West Bank city of Ramallah, according to media reports. A new date has reportedly not been set for what would be the first gathering of the 700-plus member Council in nearly 20 years. “I urge all Palestinian leaders and factions to seize this opportunity to take constructive steps towards achieving genuine Palestinian unity on the basis of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) principles, and to strengthen the PLO as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people,” said Mr. Mladenov. “This would be an important step forward towards ending the occupation and realizing a just and lasting solution on the basis of two States – Palestine and Israel – living side-by-side in peace, security and mutual recognition.” Senior UN officials have repeatedly stressed the need for all Palestinian groups to resolve their differences and find common ground, on the basis of non-violence and reconciliation, to achieve national unity which is critical for a two-State solution.
18th September 2015
Israel is seen to be inciting violence against the Palestinians regarding actions at al Aqsa Mosque. President Mahmoud Abbas have spoken to the leaders in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt to raise concerns which he sees as an attempt to change the long standing status quo at the site where Jewish access is permitted but Jewish prayer is banned.
Palestinians protested in a number of cities in the Israeli occupied West Bank, including Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron where a young man was shot by IDF for throwing a fire bomb. Tensions have been high for the past week following clashes at al Aqsa Mosque.
Clashes caused by Israel is unacceptable, and should not be tolerated. Israel have already shown in the past, when it bombed nearly of the Palestinian's Mosques in the Gaza Strip.
There should be organisation of times of worship at al Aqsa Mosque for the Palestinians, and organisation of times of visiting for Jews wanting to act as tourists. There should be someone there to to supervise the closure of al Aqsa Mosque for worshipping by Palestinians, and supervise the tourists outside times of worship. Muslims have Friday prayers so al Aqsa Mosque should be closed to all tourists on Fridays. This calls for UN Peacekeeper to guard the al Aqsa Mosque.
10th October 2015
Since the Balfour declaration, UK had a view to favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and used their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.
I blame the United Nations for the convulsion of escalating violence since the Balfour declaration as they did nothing to stop the spread of continuing occupation, and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians. Israel have greatly abused Palestine State, and is still continuing to shrink Palestine in a strong deliberate effort to rid Palestinians of their civil, religious, and political rights. United Nations have turned a blind eye to the increasing occupation over the very long years, and Israelis' ethnic cleansing, with the countries favouring the Jews than the Muslims. Muslims were very much misunderstood and shunned in these days with the support of a great majority of Christians.
What went wrong is that there should have been a unity government between Israelis and Palestinians right from the beginning as they were living side by side peacefully then. There should never have been a creation of a State that would include only Jews making it a Jewish State. It should have been an Interfaith state with Jews and Palestinians sharing the government together without discrimination and segregation. United Nations should have stopped that a long time ago to stop the creation of an only Jewish State. And now Israelis is helping themselves to as much Palestinian homeland as much as possible, at the anger of the Palestinians.
The world has got to stop its Israelis' tyranny, arrogance, inhuman practices against the Palestinians to protect their rights. Palestinians does not want the Israelis to take the law into their own hands and militarise Palestine. There have been military confrontations against Palestinians. Palestinians are now confronting the increasing occupation, ethnic cleansing, discrimination and segregation finding a path that will lead to liberation from the oppression of Israelis and their crimes against humanity. This has lead to the Third Intifada with 22 years of empty talk, empty promise, nothing concrete, and not given anything. Palestine is Palestine and Israel was just a part of Palestine, and Israelis used to be Palestinians, and related to Palestinians. It was the Zionist movement that changed everything.
We cannot turn the clock back, but there must be two states Israel and Palestine having half each of one country. Israelis military must end to give peace to Palestinians. Occupation must end, and the international community must join forces to support a Palestinian State, the rights of the Palestinians, live in peace without occupation, ethnic cleansing, discrimination, segregation and violence. United Nations must do more to bring this about to achieve genuine peace. United Nations has a responsibility to protect Palestinians and their future of Palestine since the Balfour declaration, and give any protection for Palestinians from Israel. Without any help from the International Community, it will escalate into a fully fledged civil war.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/jordan-parliament-accuses-israel-state-terrorism-112602800.html#xdd1Ink
Jordan Parliament accuses Israel of 'state terrorism'. Nice to know Jordan does not support 'state terrorism'.
16th October 2015
http://tass.ru/en/politics/829602
At an extraordinary meeting at United Nations. Russian envoy urges to avoid any steps upsetting status quo of Jerusalem's Holy Sites.
17th October 2015
There has been a spate of stabbings of Israelis - several of them fatal - by Palestinians since early October, and one apparent revenge stabbing by an Israeli. The attackers have struck in Jerusalem and central and northern Israel, and in the occupied West Bank. Israel has tightened security, and its security forces have clashed with rioting Palestinians, leading to deaths on the Palestinian side. The violence has also spread to the border with Gaza.
I am very concerned about the escalating violence. Both sides needs to damp down their rhetoric, that may feed violence, anger or misunderstanding. There has been heavy handed approach by IDF [Israeli Defence Forces]. The world is not interested in escalating violence.
The problem is that some Israeli soldiers have extremist tendencies, and would shoot to kill if anyone would approach them. They should not be employed if they have so much hate and anger in them. This in turn, causes extremism in some Palestinians who are willing to die for freedom, to end the forces of provocative land grabbing. This has caused the birth of terrorism. Force should not have been used on the Palestinians at all.
The solution would be, not to use arms, tear gas etc that are provocative by the Israelis, as they are a threat to Palestinians' livelihood, and encouraged the Palestinians to arm themselves with knives. Disarming of guns and knives is the road to peace. This is something both sides should be able to agree. I have stated in my article earlier that United Nations should play a part in giving Palestine protection. I am very pleased that Palestine have now asked for protection from the international community. The international community must unite to speak out against violence, and give protection to the much needed Palestine State.
18th October 2015
It has been nearly fifteen years ago that Palestinians rose against Israel's occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. The third Intifada, a chaotic low tech uprising among the hopeless with a murderous tone of racism. Some extremists are to blame for turning the holy sites fiasco into a religious conflict. All holy sites including Joseph's tomb are sacred and should not be vandalised, have unrest, or have murderous crimes committed on holy soil. However, some Palestinians were very angry about their mosques being destroyed in the Gaza Strip and wanted revenge for not having anywhere to pray. Matters got worse when the IDF would not let the Palestinians pray in the al Aqsa mosque.
This latest rage against the machine of the occupation was just too much too bear, and there is no real leadership with no strategy or tactics, that Israel and Palestine are communicating only with guns, knives and stones. I have been the Palestinian's Representative for some time, and have been clarifying things from time to time. I have asked for dialogue and talks which did take place in Egypt previously.
Palestinians, especially in East Jerusalem, which is considered territory occupied by Israel since 1967 have been stabbing Jews. They are targeting settlers, the residents of Jewish colonies on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem whose camps and suburbs are considered illegal under international law.
A small number of Israelis who thinks Arabs are extremists have responded with attempts at mob attacks on people they believe to be Arabs. In several cases, police and others have been shot and either wounded or killed, believed to have been terrorists in controversial circumstances. This puts the blame on innocent Palestinians who genuinely wants a Palestine State. Victims are men and women mostly young, who are singled out for their ethnicity.
It would put Israel's minds at rest if there was no 'Hamas', that they disband and gone forever. It was Hamas who declared a 'third intifada' from its stronghold in Gaza. Although most stabbings and car attacks are being carried out mostly by people of no affiliation to any group. These are random attacks. We also have the al Aqsa Martyr's Brigades who defends the al Aqsa and is responsible for the attacks and vandalism etc, and Tanzim of the last intifada who is upholding the third intifada.
After 25 years of negotiations to end the occupation of Palestinian lands have gone nowhere. Jewish settlement colonies have continued to swallow up Palestinian farmland, and what remains of it often burned by armed settlers. Palestinians have been walled off from Israel causing more divisions. Jews are now occupying parts of the West Bank.
It is becoming a vicious circle, but this time some extremists have filtered through to make the 15 year old conflict into a religious war. We cannot control the extremists, but we cannot let innocent Palestinians stand by and take the blame.
21st October 2015
It is a miraculous effort for Ban Ki Moon being in the region to ease current tensions and bring peace between Israel and Palestine. Even astonishing that President of Israel, the Prime Minister of Israel and the President of Palestine agreed to meet to have talks with Ban Ki Moon. Ban Ki Moon have taken the lead, and have met victims of recent hostilities and attacks. We all have expressed anguish and deep concern at the escalating violence in Israel and Palestine. It is better late than never for a Secretary General of United Nations to take the lead. It is right that he should do so, and with new understanding, as any other country like Russia cannot take the lead for fear, that friendship with Israel would be severed as a result. Countries needs to maintain good friendships, and only the leader of the United Nations can intervene, and do something to ease tensions and bring peace. Words are never enough as in my case as Representative for Palestine, even as a witness or writing a diary. There are times when I wish I could do more, so it was a relief when Ban Ki Moon took over.
Ban Ki Moon said "My visit reflects the sense of global alarm at the dangerous escalation in violence between Israelis and Palestinians. I am here to encourage and support all efforts to lower tensions and prevent the situation from spinning out of control. No society should have to live in fear. No society can afford to see its youth suffer in hopelessness. If action is not taken fast, the dynamics on the ground may only get worse with serious repercussions in and beyond Israel and Palestine. It is not too late to avoid a broader crisis. In my meeting today and tomorrow with the Israeli and Palestinian leadership, I will be appealing to all to take concerted steps to limit new incidents on both sides. Violence only begets violence. Extremists on either side, or those who think violence is the answer must not be allowed to further fuel the conflict. Beyond the immediate tensions, what is missing is the resolve to restore a political horizon for talks, and a political process that delivers real results and hope. Violence only undermines the legitimate Palestinian aspirations for statehood and the longing of Israelis for security. The status quo is only making things worse, the conflict has gone on for far too long. We must, for the future of our children, turn back from this dangerous abyss, safeguard the two state solution and lead people back onto the road to peace. I will continue to support all efforts to create the conditions for a return to meaningful negotiations and a just and lasting peace. I understand the duty weighing on the Israeli leader to ensure that his citizens can enjoy safety and security and urged Israel to guard against violent incidents, and to conduct thorough investigations when necessary. However, security measures can be counterproductive if they are applied without special efforts to defuse situations before people lose their lives. If the use of force is not properly calibrated, it may breed the very frustrations and anxieties from which violence tends to erupt.
I urge the leaders on both sides to end the posturing and brinkmanship and get serious about pursuing the two state solution, the only solution capable of durably stanching the bloodshed hatred and fear. I am dismayed as we all should be, when I see young people, children picking up weapons and seeking to kill in what is called the dangerous escalation in violence across the occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel especially in Jerusalem. To the youth of Palestine, I understand your frustration. I know your hopes for peace have been dashed countless times. You are angry at the continued occupation and expansion of settlements. Many of you are disappointed in your leaders and in us, the international community, because of our inability to end this conflict. Youth should turn their frustration into a strong but peaceful voice for change. Harness the energy of your people in a peaceful way to make their dreams and aspirations a reality. Demand that your leaders act responsibly to protect your future. Demand progress for a political solution from your leaders, and from the international community. I am not asking you to be passive, but you must put down the weapons of despair. You have the right to live a decent life in dignity, respect and freedom. I know this is your goal. It is also our goal. But it can be reached by establishing a Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel, not through the violent acts we have been witnessing. I appreciate your genuine concern about peace and security. I also understand the anger many Israelis feel. When children are afraid to go to school, when anyone on the street is a potential victim, security is rightly your immediate priority. But walls, checkpoints, harsh responses by the security forces and house demolitions cannot sustain peace and safety that you need and must have. You the people of Israel as much as the Palestinian people need to see a political horizon to break this cycle of violence and fear, will continue to support all efforts to create the conditions for a return to meaningful negotiations. In this we have never wavered. I urge all leaders on both sides to stand firm against terror, violence and incitement and to demonstrate in both words and deeds that the historic status quo of holy sites in Jerusalem will be preserved. I urge leaders to reaffirm your commitment to end the occupation and pursue a two state solution by making changes in the ground. Non-violence requires more courage and strength than violence. At this difficult time, let us say 'enough is enough'. Let us get truly serious about reaching the only solution capable of durable stanching the bloodshed, the hatred and fear of even greater conflict.That is the courage and leadership the peoples of this holy land demand and deserve".
As Representative of Palestine, it is unacceptable not to respect the sanctity of all holy sites, use inflammatory actions or statements, and using any form of violence. We need to reject the extremist elements that are pursuing a political agenda seeking to transform the current situation into a religious conflict. We cannot let this be successful, as it would have catastrophic consequences for Israel and Palestine with serious reverberations in the region. There is a demand from the world to call on the community, religious and political leaders on all sides to work together to de-escalate the present situation, and turn into something very positive for peace leading to the economy, employment and the rights of Palestinians living without fear and prejudice.
12th November 2015
Message from Ban Ki Moon.
In recent years, my visits to Israel and Palestine have been undertaken on an emergency basis. I have just returned from another such crisis mission. I arrived in the region with a clear goal: To support collective efforts to stop the violence, reduce tensions and reestablish a political horizon that can lead to lasting peace. I saw firsthand how the upsurge in violence has touched the full spectrum of society: Israelis and Palestinians, men and women, young and old. It has created widows and orphans, and extinguished the dreams of too many at the outset of their lives.
There should be no need to convince Israelis and Palestinians that peace is better than perpetual violence and occupation, or that the two-state solution is the preferred formula for resolving the conflict. The main challenge is that, on both sides, people see a widening gap between the vision of a two-state solution and the realities of today.
Mistrust is deep, settlements and outposts are expanding, civilians are living under daily threats of attack, the stifling occupation will soon enter its 50th year, and the region is growing more volatile. Meanwhile, an entire generation has grown up since Oslo that has known only squandered dreams and failed leadership.
The longer the grievances remain unaddressed, the harder it will be to control the passions that continue to rage. It would be irresponsible to stand by and expect better conditions to magically emerge. It would be misguided to think that pursuing a policy of temporary quiet will ever lead to lasting peace.
After so many years of setbacks, we must spare no effort to bring the Israelis and Palestinians back to meaningful negotiations. Of course, it is up to the parties to make the difficult compromises that any two-state agreement will require. At the same time, finding a just and lasting solution is also integral to greater regional and global stability. The world has a profound stake and must provide the critical incentives, support and pressure to encourage the parties to follow the path to peace.
Rebuilding trust
First, we must rebuild trust and encourage bold and significant measures on the ground that will tangibly improve lives and irreversibly move toward the end of occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Second, we need to engage the region constructively, as the neighbours of Israel and Palestine stand to benefit most from peace and have an important role in sustaining it.
Third, we need to establish the appropriate international infrastructure, through the United Nations and the Quartet, that supports and encourages negotiations and a comprehensive and just resolution of the conflict.
Despite today’s uncertainties, the two-state solution can and must prevail. The vision of two states reflects the recognition that there are two peoples with an unbreakable bond to this land, and that both have a right to self-determination within it. I trust that Palestinian and Israeli leaders share this vision.
The United Nations and I, as its secretary-general, remain committed to the security of Israel and the realization of a viable, independent Palestinian state living beside it in peace and security. It is time to finally move from emergency and crisis to the dignified, hopeful future Israelis and Palestinians demand and deserve.
The writer is Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon.
It is essential to create two states without delay to bring an end to violence and have peace and security. But first we must get rid of extremist religious leaders who are causing trouble by vocally inciting violence telling Palestinians to arm themselves with knives in order to force the Israelis out of Jerusalem. These extremist religious leaders must be arrested and removed.
14th November 2015
Regional religious leaders meet in Jordan in an UN backed bid to counter hate speech and incitement.
I am delighted to hear that there is such a project to enable religious leaders get together which has the backing of the United Nations. It sounds like it is the first time that such a meeting could take place to counter hate speech and incitement. It might encourage more religious leaders all over the world to take part in understanding, cooperation and commitment to counter hate speech and incitement. I do hope that the religious leaders would eventually help at some point in ridding the extremist religious leaders who abuse true and genuine Islam and Christianity. The religious leaders do have the responsibility to look after each other and to keep the peace.
11th January 2016
Israel still persists with systematic breaches of International Law. The International Community can only exert all efforts if violence are removed. They provide humanitarian relief for the Palestinians so what about an International Army to stop the Israeli Defence Forces from doing anything in their power to rid the Palestinians of Palestine?
The Palestinians cannot commit to non-violence, if they are attacked on a frequent basis. Tensions and hostilities have increased markedly since the collapse of another round of negotiations in early 2014.
There have been a half century of foreign occupation. Immediate and serious political action is required to salvage the two state solution based on 1967 borders with UN resolutions, Madrid principles and the Arab Peace Initiative to address the injustice. There is still no peace settlement, and there is ongoing settler violence and incitement.
The inability of either side to recognise the validity of each other side's claims to the disputed territory has resulted in decades of instability and violence in the region, mostly in or around the West Bank, and with harsh restrictions of access. Palestinian's view the actions of IDF as a state sponsored terrorism. Palestinians continues to suffer heavier casualties as the impasse over territorial rights in the region continues.
As Palestinians cannot really use the Palestinian Defence Forces or their own Police, we need help of the international combat forces to protect the Palestinians, and stop the IDF from occupying more of the Palestinians homeland. Palestinians need help to protect themselves from being robbed of their livelihoods by IDF.
From what I gather there is only about 20% of Palestine left. This is so shocking especially as we have Palestinian refugees in huge numbers in several camps living in squalid conditions, waiting to return home.
Palestinians are hoping that the International Combat Forces will push the IDF down towards Israel and destroy all checkpoints and barriers etc which are illegal.
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