Hebron NGO receives award for outstanding work

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A Palestinian NGO in Hebron has received an award for outstanding work in its field, a statement said Monday.

The Hebron Youth Development Resource Center received a 2013 Clubhouse Kudos Award for its outstanding results in the area of mentor recruitment and retention.

The award was presented by US-based NGO The Computer Clubhouse, which implements youth projects to develop technological skills.

“It’s a privilege to pay tribute to the outstanding work of the Hebron YDRC. This award honors the creativity, innovation, and commitment that the Clubhouse demonstrates on a daily basis to encourage and support youth members of the local community,” said Gail Breslow, director of the Computer Clubhouse Network.

The Hebron YDRC implements social, cultural and sports programs for young people.

(Source / 20.05.2013)

Palestinians hold off on U.N. agency membership

The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in November to upgrade the Palestinians from U.N. observer to non-voting member state

A top official says Palestinians have done all the legal work necessary to join 63 U.N. agencies, conventions and treaties, but haven’t applied yet mainly to give the U.S. peace effort a chance to succeed.

Chief Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat said Monday that Palestinians have done “everything” to enable President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry to succeed, and “there is a good opportunity now.”

Kerry is heading to the Mideast this week to advance his two-month effort to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in November to upgrade the Palestinians from U.N. observer to non-voting member state, but have not begun seeking membership for Palestine in U.N. agencies – a move opposed by both Israel and the United States.

(Source / 20.05.2013)

 

Group: Israel to return seized land to Palestinian owners

 

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian land appropriated over thirty years ago to build an illegal settlement is set to be returned to its owners, an Israeli rights group said Sunday.

The Israeli state informed the High Court of Justice last week that the land near Jenin, formally the site of Homesh settlement, will be returned to its Palestinian owners after Yesh Din submitted a petition on behalf of villagers from Burqa.

“Thirty-five years have passed since the land was usurped from its lawful owners,” Yesh Din lawyer Shlomi Zachary said.

“It is regrettable that it has taken so many years for the state to decide to observe the law and to return the usurped land to its owners. Our main concern now is to ensure that the landowners will actually be able to reach their land.”

The land was seized in 1978 by Israel’s military on the pretext of security needs, with the Homesh settlement subsequently built in the area.

Homesh was evacuated in 2005 as part of Israel’s unilateral disengagement plan, but the land remained a closed military zone and the original seizure orders were not nullified.

Settlers regularly return to the site and try to re-establish the settlement, locals say, with some attacking Palestinian vehicles and homes.

(Source / 19.05.2013)

PA forces arrest 4 Hamas supporters, summon 5 others

OCCUPIED WB, (PIC)– PA Intelligence services re-arrested the liberated prisoner Nidhal Daghlas few moments after his release from Jericho prison on bail. The liberated prisoner Daghlas was detained in Israeli jails for more than 5 years after the IOF demolished his home in 2000. He was also detained more than 10 times in PA prisons where he was subjected to severe torture. In Ramallah, PA security forces summoned the former prisoner Maher Mohamed Yusuf Shritah who declared not to respond to the summon threatening to declare hunger strike in case he is arrested. PA preventive services arrested the student Ibrahim Aruri at Birzeit University, in addition to the liberated prisoner Imran Sulaiman a student at Jerusalem University and summoned three other students. The Islamic bloc at Jerusalem University declared its intention to set up its protests till the release of the students. In Tulkarem, Preventive Security summoned the Engineer Abdullah Rassous for the second time in two days and arrested the dismissed teacher Hamza Karna after summoning him. (Source / 19.05.213)

Hamas says talks underway to reopen Rafah crossing

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Hamas-run Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Gaza said Saturday that talks are underway with Egypt to reopen the Rafah crossing.

The crossing on Gaza’s border remained shut for the second day on Saturday as Egyptian police closed the gates in protest at the kidnapping of their colleagues.

“The ministry of foreign affairs is holding talks with senior officials in Egypt to re-open the Rafah crossing and ensure the safe return of people stranded by the closure,” deputy foreign minister Ghazi Hamad told Ma’an.

Maher Abu Sabha, the general director of crossings and borders, said 800 Palestinians were stranded on the Egyptian side of the crossing on Saturday morning.

The number was expected to reach 1,000 by the end of the day. Most travelers are waiting in hotels in el-Arish for the crossing to reopen. They include sick people who had received medical treatment abroad, pilgrims and students who study abroad.

Gaza’s Interior Ministry announced a state of alert along its border with Egypt on Thursday in case the kidnappers tried to smuggle the Egyptian servicemen into Gaza.

Early Thursday, gunmen ambushed two minibuses in Wadi al-Akhdar, between el-Arish and Sheikh Zuweid cities, and kidnapped seven Egyptian servicemen en route to Cairo for their monthly vacation, Egyptian security officials told Ma’an.

(Source / 18.05.2013)

Protesters break through separation wall

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinians on Friday tore a hole through part of Israel’s separation wall in the outskirts of east of Jerusalem, witnesses and a security official said.

Protesters were marking the Nakba anniversary and upon reaching the wall they ripped a 4-meter hole in it, onlookers said.

Clashes broke out after the incident and Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Several injuries were reported.

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed damage to the wall in the town of Abu Dis, which is outside East Jerusalem. A spokesman for the border police did not immediately return calls.

Activists uploaded footage of the damage on YouTube and Facebook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiVO9tGTICw&feature=player_embedded

(Source / 17.05.2013)

UFree Network raises the prisoners’ issue at the European Parliament

BRUSSELES, (PIC)– UFree Network to defend the rights of Palestinian prisoners raised the issue of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails on the sidelines of a meeting held at the European Parliament in Brussels on the 65th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba. UFree praised, in its statement issued on Thursday, the European Parliament meeting to mark the anniversary of Palestinian Nakba for the first time since its founding. The Oslo based network stated that the meeting discussed at first the European Parliament delegation’s visit to the Palestinian occupied territories. Dr. Salman Abu Sitta, chair of Palestine Land Foundation, detailed during the meeting the Israeli massacres and ethnic cleaning against the Palestinian people since the Nakba. He also stressed that the Palestinian Right of Return will never be compromised, calling to stop arming Israel. For his part, Dr. Arafat Madi, the Director of the Council for European Palestinian Relations (CEPR), stressed the need to end the Palestinian refugees’ suffering by reinforcing the right of return of millions of Palestinians who were forcibly deported from their homeland. Mr. Mohammed Hamdan, head of UFree Network, presented the Palestinian prisoners’ suffering in Israeli jails and detailed the Israeli violations and discrimination policies against the detainees particularly the prisoners carrying the blue ID cards. In a related context, Dr. Tareq Tahboub, vice president of the Assembly of Palestinian Doctors in Europe, highlighted the Israeli deliberate medical neglect policy against the Palestinian prisoners, calling for the formation of a European committee to check on the prisoners’ detention conditions in Israeli jails. (Source / 17.05.2013)

No peace deal without Palestinian unity: Turkey

 

US Vice President Joseph Biden (R) shakes hands with Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a luncheon at the State Department on May 16, 2013 in Washington, DC. It will be impossible to reach a Middle East peace deal without a reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas militants, Erdogan warned Friday.

AFP - It will be impossible to reach a Middle East peace deal without a reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas militants, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Friday.

“The process of unity between Fatah and Hamas, this has to be achieved. If this reconciliation is not achieved, then I don’t believe that a solution or result will come out of the Israeli-Palestinian discussions,” Erdogan told a Washington think-tank during a visit to the United States.

He was speaking after confirming following talks Thursday with US President Barack Obama that he planned to visit the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip as well as the West Bank some time next month despite US opposition.

The dual stops mean Erdogan would meet with the Hamas rulers of Gaza as well as with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, likely in Ramallah.

“I place a lot of significance on this visit in terms of peace in the Middle East. I’m hoping that that visit will contribute to unity in Palestine,” the Turkish leader said Thursday at a joint press conference with Obama.

Washington had urged Erdogan to postpone any visit to the impoverished Gaza Strip, saying it would be a “distraction” from its efforts to revive the moribund Middle East peace process.

“As we’ve said consistently, we oppose engagement with Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization which remains a destabilizing force in Gaza and the region,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters later.

“We urge all parties who share our interest in the creation of a Palestinian state to take steps that promote the resumption of peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel.”

Erdogan’s announcement that he would also visit the West Bank appeared aimed at soothing US anger that he would meet with militant Hamas leaders in Gaza.

There has been a renewed effort by Washington since Secretary of State John Kerry took office in February to galvanize international efforts to kick-start the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks stalled since late 2010.

Kerry is returning to the Middle East region next week and is expected to make his fourth visit to Israel in three months.

(Source / 17.05.2013)

Abbas leaves Egypt after 3-day trip

CAIRO (Ma’an) — President Mahmoud Abbas left Egypt on Friday, after a 3-day trip.

During the visit, Abbas met his Egyptian counterpart Muhammad Mursi and discussed recent Israeli actions at the al-Aqsa compound, and progress in Palestinian reconciliation.

The president also met with Mohamed Raafat Shehata, the chief of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate, and discussed implementation of reconciliation agreements.

Abbas held a news conference before finalizing his visit with a meeting with the leader of the Egyptian Popular Current coalition, Hamdeen Sabahi.

(Source / 17.05.2013)

UNESCO to send fact-finding commission to Jerusalem

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) – UNESCO will send a fact-finding commission on May 20 to investigate ongoing Israeli measures in Jerusalem, the Palestinian minister of foreign affairs said Thursday.

Riyad al-Malki told a news conference in Ramallah that the commission would spend five days in Jerusalem before returning to the UNESCO headquarters in Paris to submit a detailed report.

The last time an international commission investigated Israeli procedures in Jerusalem was in 2004.

Al-Malki highlighted that Israeli assaults against holy places in Jerusalem were part of a systematic policy crystallized recently. There have been clear attempts to take control of the al-Aqsa Mosque and its squares and gates, he said.

President Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, has asked the ministry of foreign affairs to call an emergency meeting of the Arab League. The council convened Sunday, added al-Malki, and came up with several decisions related to Jerusalem.

Messages have also been sent to foreign ministers all over the world urging them to help protect Muslim and Christian holy places in Jerusalem and to exert pressure on Israel.

Asked about Palestine joining the International Criminal Court, al-Malki said that move wouldn’t be easy as it couldn’t be achieved immediately. The Palestinian leadership, he said, has given directives to complete all preparations to join the ICC, but that necessitates that Palestine signs the Rome Convention.

Palestinian legal experts should first study the Rome Convention and learn about the consequences of such a step before signing the convention, according to al-Malki.

(Source / 16.05.2013)