Jerusalem On Edge After Latest Clashes Between Palestinians And Israelis

Published on Nov 5, 2014

Things are bad in Jerusalem. Not since the second Palestinian uprising have things been this tense. A Palestinian drove into a group of Israeli soldiers and the resulting clashes made their way into Al-Aqsa mosque. Increased settlement building is adding to the pressure.

Source : AJ+

Related : 

7500 New Settlers Moved Into West Bank, Jerusalem, Settlement In Six Months

http://stateofblood.blogspot.com/2014/09/7500-new-settlers-moved-into-west-bank.html 

PALESTINIAN CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS ARE AGAINST ZIONIST JUDAIZATION PLAN 

http://stateofblood.blogspot.com/2014/11/palestinian-christians-and-muslims-are.html

Map: The countries that recognize Palestine as a state

Last week, Sweden became the 135th member of the United Nations to officially recognize Palestine as an independent state. The act sparked a tetchy diplomatic incident with Israel, which WorldViews discussed here.

On the ground, a separate, viable Palestinian state is far from a reality. Israel occupies the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and it partially blockades the Gaza Strip, the territories that would comprise it. The continued expansion of Israeli settlements into the West Bank makes tackling the question of Palestinian sovereignty all the more difficult. So, too, the apparent collapse of talks between the Israeli government and its Palestinian interlocutors.

Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said her government's decision was aimed at supporting the Palestinian Authority and its beleaguered President Mahmoud Abbas, particularly given the presenttensions in Jerusalem. "It is important to support those who believe in negotiations and not violence," she told Al Jazeera. "This will give hope to young Palestinians and Israelis that there is an alternative to violence."

In the absence of progress in negotiations with Israel, Abbas has taken the Palestinians' case to the United Nations in recent years. The effort is mostly symbolic — a bid to deepen the political isolation of the right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Sweden's move reflects a wider European frustration with Netanyahu. This week, French socialist lawmakers said they were preparing a bill calling on the government to recognize Palestine. In mid-October, British lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a motion indicating "that the Government should recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel, as a contribution to securing a negotiated two state solution."

The motion is nonbinding, but serves as one more sign of Europe's growing impatience with the Mideast status quo. The United States would want to see the two-state solution come into fruition before conferring official recognition upon Palestine. But that is, at present, a naive hope: A number of prominent ministers in Netanyahu's government reject outright the possibility of the two-state solution ever being realized.

Before Sweden's decision, tiny Iceland was the only Western European country to recognize Palestine.

As you can see in the map, most of the other nations that have not officially recognized Palestine are in the E.U. or are U.S. partners who wouldn't want to ruffle Washington's feathers. These include South Pacific island nations like Kiribati and Nauru.

Even then, it's quite likely that the U.S. will find itself on this map within a steadily shrinking patch of gray in the months and years to come.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/11/07/map-the-countries-that-recognize-palestine-as-a-state/

Thank You Venezuela !

Source: Activists around the world for Palestine 

"Thank You Venezuela! 119 Palestinian students from Gaza to go to Medical School in Caracas.

President of ‪#‎Venezuela‬, receives Palestinian students of Medicine and ensures his support to the Palestinian issue."

EU Delegation: Israel has committed genocide

These members of the European Parliament are calling on the European Union to break diplomatic ties with Israel and implement sanctions against the country because of the war crimes it has committed against the people of Palestine.

The delegation of 13 MEPs has just returned to Brussels from the Middle East and played a video to journalists showing a Palestinian child dying in the back of an ambulance. The delegation describes what Israel has done to the people of Gaza as genocide. The 50-day Israeli war on Gaza left thousands dead and tens of thousands wounded. The delegation of MEPs is accusing the West of turning its back on the Palestinian people by not taking action against Israel. The politicians accuse Tel Aviv of continuing to break international laws by engaging in land grabs to build settlements in Palestine. The United Nations aid organisation, UNRWA, estimates that it will cost 800 million euro to reconstruct the buildings and infrastructure in Palestine that were recently destroyed by Israel during its 50-day bombardment of Gaza. In the meantime hundreds of thousands of people will effectively remain homeless. The agency says 90% of the water in Gaza is now undrinkable, disease is spreading and it predicts that the area will be uninhabitable by the year 2020 unless the international community gets behind the citizens of Palestine.

Source: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/09/10/378256/eu-delegation-israel-has-committed-genocide/

Indiscriminate Attacks and Deliberate Killing: Israel Takes Revenge on Gaza by Killing Civilians

Author: Euromid Observer

Geneva - Between 8 July and 26 August, 2014, Israeli forces conducted an estimated 60,664 raids (launched from land, air and sea) into the Gaza Strip. This report documents that in many cases, these attacks were indiscriminate. Not only did Israeli forces fail to take sufficient measures to protect noncombatants, including children and the disabled, but in a number of instances they deliberately targeted locations with concentrations of civilians. Reports from physicians on the ground strongly suggest that Israel deployed “unconventional weapons” (nail bombs and DIME munitions), which are designed to cause maximum damage and thus are not considered permissible in densely populated areas -- either legally or morally.

According to international law, attacks are considered indiscriminate when they are not directed at specific military targets, measures are not taken to limit the effects and no attempt is made to differentiate between combatants and civilians. Under this definition, the Euro-Mid investigation documented here demonstrates that Israel committed numerous indiscriminate attacks in Gaza during the July and August aggression.

Likewise, this investigation shows that the so-called “warnings” issued by the government of Israel, typically in the form of telephone calls or “roof knocks,” were insufficient to offer protection. The actual strikes typically occurred less than two minutes after the warnings and in a few cases, less than one minute. There was no time to flee – particularly for those with disabilities – even if there was somewhere safe for them to turn. At the same time, Israeli armed forces obstructed emergency responders from reaching the wounded for long periods of time.

Based on these testimonies, Euro-Mid concludes that Israeli armed forces deliberately and knowingly targeted massive numbers of noncombatants, even though they already knew (or should have known) that their actions would result in a large number of civilian casualties.

Therefore, our recommendations include a thorough investigation by the United Nations, with backing from the Security Council – or, if vetoed due to a longstanding practice of protecting the Israeli government from censure, the General Assembly. Likewise, we call on all state parties to the Geneva Convention to insist on conformance with its provisions in their respective national courts.

The reconstruction of Gaza is needed for Palestinians to be able to live. However, without accountability for crimes and protection of human rights, it will be a life without dignity or hope.
                               
The Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights is a nonprofit, nongovernmental human rights organization dedicated to exposing human rights violations and defending human rights. The Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights headquarter is based in Geneva, Switzerland, with regional offices in the Middle-East.

Source : http://euromid.org/en/article/625

To download full report: Here

VIDEO: 14-year-old violently arrested in Hebron

6th November 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

On October 30th, a 14-year-old boy was violently arrested by Israeli forces in al-Khalil (Hebron).

Due to a teachers strike in solidarity with underpaid public workers, school in Hebron finished at 10:00 in the morning. Several young boys threw stones towards the military, armed at Salaymeh checkpoint, and the soldiers then fired three canisters of tear gas.

The children threw more stones, and the soldiers fired approximately ten more tear gas grenades in several rounds. This continued until 11:00 when an army vehicle drove up from a side street at a high speed. Three soldiers jumped outside one of the school buildings, before running into a school yard and arrested the 14-year-old boy.

Source: http://palsolidarity.org/2014/11/video-14-year-old-violently-arrested-in-hebron/

Gaza youths have their talks to Ban Ki-Moon

For the Desk of:

His Excellency, Mr Bankimon

The head of the Security Council

USA

From the Desk of:

Mr. Pen

A Gazan Victim

A Palestinian citizen carries the hoarse voice of the people of Gaza to let the world hear it.

Dear Sir,

Thank you for letting me take just ten minutes from your precious time. Thank you for allowing me to have the rights to write this letter for you, your Excellency.

Dear Sir, I don`t know where to begin and even how to begin writing you this piece of words. I don`t really have enough power to let my pen write the suitable words for you, your Excellency. Dear sir, I`m a simple citizen from Gaza, Palestine like anyone lives in this stricken city, if it`s a city. We have the same pain and the same suffering. We have the same status and we all are one belongs to our widow mother Palestine.

Dear Sir, I know and everyone knows that we have the rights to speak up and to seek our stolen freedom. We have the rights to live like anyone in this world and to find our imprisoned joy. We also have the rights to breathe clear oxygen and to eat the least food. We have also the rights to travel and to study like any simple citizen. And those rights, of course, are called human rights and everyone must have them. So where are those rights? Sorry sir if I made you angry at me, but that`s because I`m forced to say that. Forgive me please.

Dear Sir, what shall we do to get our rights? What shall we do to live like others? Why are we prevented from life? Are we from another planet called a planet of strangers? Are we slaves? Why is it inevitable to live under control? All Gazans and I have many whys to ask, but my pen would be exhausted from mentioning them.

Dear Sir, I used to live, like all the families in Gaza, with my family in safe and sound under a simple home. Everything was alright and we were happy enough. But from the beginning of the current brutality on Gaza, I would never call it a war, I left my home. I left my books and my pens. I left everything that I used to live with. I left what made me happy . Why does that happen? Are we terrorists? Are we murderers? I don`t think. Dear sir, I`m sorry if my words annoyed you, your Excellency, but please let me tell you what happened with me as a Gazan like what happened with most of the families here.

Dear Sir, before leaving my home, I have seen what no one would see or even dream of. I have seen what made me sick for more than a week.  Shall I tell you what I have seen and witnessed? Sorry if you don`t want to hear, but my pen forces me to mention it.

Dear Sir, I was sleeping in my bed dreaming of my prospective future, like anyone in Gaza, that I would build. I was dreaming of getting the master from any great country like USA, UK, Turkey or Malaysia. I was dreaming of how I will feed my family when I get a suitable job outside Gaza after lacking the jobs here. That beautiful dream was interrupted by my mother when she cried out a warning at me in a morning during this aggression” Wake up dear son and hurry up”. I woke up directly without a though and rushed towards my window. I slapped my forehead when I saw the massacres in front of my eyes in our street. The skies were as dark as the moonless night in spite of it was a day. The atmosphere was full of gunpowder, so that forced me to close my nose. The black burnt bodies of women and children were spread everywhere in that desolate street. Women where running without their babies not knowing whether they would die or live. Elders were creeping like children not finding anyone to help them. The men with their black faces were looking for their lost children under rubble. The homes all round my home were destroyed. My attention got rapt after what I have seen. Suddenly, my dad came quickly and picked me up and then we rushed towards the stream of the refugees. We began our tiring journey as others to an unknown safe shelter to stay in.

Sorry dear sir for making you sad, but I just want to know why that happens to us. Are we animals? If we are animals, I think there must be institutions for the animals` rights. If we are not animals, so who we are? Why does that happen? Sometimes I think of making suicide or hurting myself. I feel that I`m hopeless in this life here in Gaza. I feel that I have no goals from living this life. Shall I live or die? What shall I do, your Excellency? Shall I make a suicide or shall I wait? If I want to choose the second choice, until when shall I wait? What can I do? Please I need your advice, your Excellency. It`s not just me saying that, but all the families in Gaza are in the same position of suffering and even more than I suffer.

Dear Sir, I want to know when the innocent Gazans and will achieve our dreams. Will I get the master in one of the big countries? will I get a good job? Please advise me and let me know what to do.

Dear Sir, sorry if I stayed too long writing my words. Sorry for annoying you again, your Excellency. But please let me ask you the last question that all Gazans wish to hear its answer from you, your Excellency. Dear Sir, until when will we stay under aggression? When will we get our least rights? When will we get our human rights? When will we get our stolen freedom? When will our children get their imprisoned childhood? When will they smile and live like others?

Finally, I would appreciate you, your Excellency, for paying your precious attention to my simple letter.

Thank you very much

A bunch of greets from Gaza, Palestine and its people.

Mohammad Arafat Member PYA  (Mr. Pen)