The Arab information ministers council decided on Wednesday to choose Al Quds (east Jerusalem) as “Arab Media Capital”.
The decision was taken at the end of the 47th session of the Arab information ministers council held in Cairo.
Jerusalem selection comes in recognition of its high status in the heart of the Arab and Islamic worlds.
The foreign ministry Tuesday condemned the killing of a 15-year-old Palestinian near the village of Beit Liqya, southwest of Ramallah.
The Ministry of Health said Israeli soldiers opened live fire at 15-year-old Mahmoud Rafat Badran and four others, allegedly for pelting stones at Israeli vehicles.
The injured four were transferred to hospital for medical treatment, with injuries ranging between moderate and serious.
Badran sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead, bringing up the number of Palestinians killed since early October to 220, 75 of whom since January 1, 2016.
The foreign ministry said the killing of Badran comes in a time where the Israeli far-right government is rejecting and attempting to foil all initiatives and regional and international efforts to revive a serious and real peace negotiations.
It said “The actions of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are a conclusive evidence of the intentions of this extreme government and its racist policies agains the Palestinian people.”
The ministry called on international institutions to document the heinous crime to hold the killers accountable.
Source: http://english.wafa.ps/page.aspx?id=d4yB6ya37696081071ad4yB6y
Birzeit University on Monday condemned an Israeli army raid into its campus in Ramallah overnight, during which it said Israeli forces confiscated and damaged university equipment.”Birzeit University condemns this attack and the direct violation of the sanctity of the university campus,” the university said in a statement. “This is a belligerent military attack on the university and our right to education and all the principles involved in the freedom of education.”The university said that Israeli soldiers raided the campus in more than 15 military vehicles shortly before 3 a.m., breaching the campus’ western gate and storming the university’s student council and faculty of science.”The military confiscated equipment and computers used in the activities of the students council and destroyed and damaged furniture leaving a great deal of havoc behind,” the university said.”This is a blatant attack on our student council and the sanctity of democratic values. This violation of the campus is a part of a blatant and systematic attack on the right of education and freedom of expression.”Birzeit University condemned a range of other “outrageous acts” by Israel, including the detention of some 80 students, including more than 25 taken into Israeli custody since a wave of unrest swept the occupied Palestinian territory in October.”Stealing our students’ lives and working to destroy the sanctity of our university campus and our right to education is an atrocious and obvious attempt to destroy the will of the Palestinian people,” the university said.The university added that the “constant” attacks against it would “strengthen the university’s commitment to its noble cause — education.”The Israeli army confirmed that the raid took place. An army spokesperson said that Israeli forces had “seized material, including propaganda belonging to Hamas.”
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A 13-year-old Palestinian boy was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers during clashes in Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem on Monday, Palestinian medics told Ma’an.Abed al-Rahman Shadi Obeidallah, was shot near the heart by Israeli forces during clashes in the refugee camp.He was taken in a civilian car to Beit Jala hospital where he immediately underwent surgery. However, doctors later pronounced him dead.The child was initially reported to be 12 years old, although medics later confirmed he was 13.Another teenager was reportedly shot with live fire in the leg during the same clashes and taken to hospital for treatment, locals said.An Israeli army spokeswoman said she was looking into the reports.Overnight Sunday, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian teenager during clashes in the northern West Bank village of Bala, east of Tulkarem.Red Crescent officials told Ma’an that 18-year-old Huthayfa Othman Suleiman was shot in the chest during clashes and died in the operating room.The killings follow violent confrontations over the weekend in which the Palestinian Red Crescent documented at least 96 Palestinians who were wounded by live rounds or rubber-coated steel bullets in clashes with Israeli forces and settlers.Overnight Saturday, Fadi Samir Mustafa Alloun, 19, from the East Jerusalem village of al-Issawiya, was shot dead by Israeli forces after allegedly attempting to stab a group of Israelis.The incident took place just hours after another Palestinian was shot dead when he stabbed and possibly opened fire on a family of Israelis at the Old City’s Lion’s Gate.Two Israelis were killed and two others injured, including a two-year-old infant, in the attack.
HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces detained at least 11 Palestinians in detention raids across the occupied West Bank overnight Monday, local sources and Israel’s army said.There were at least five detentions across Hebron district, locals said.A popular committee spokesperson, Muhammad Ayyad Awad, told Ma’an that Israeli soldiers raided the northern Hebron village of Beit Ummar early Tuesday and detained Muhannad Khalid Suliman al-Awwadi, 26, a former prisoner who previously spent two years in Israel’s jails.Three brothers were detained from Khursa village south of Dura in southern Hebron, identified as Udai, Qusai and Abdullah Masalma.Locals said that Israeli forces smashed a Palestinian car while they were in Khursa, where clashes also broke out.Local sources told Ma’an that Israeli forces also detained a Palestinian identified as Hani Joulani from Bab al-Zaweya neighborhood in Hebron city.Meanwhile, three Palestinians were detained in the village of Tuqu west of Bethlehem, Palestinian security sources told Ma’an.They said that Israeli forces raided the village early Tuesday and ransacked a number of houses there.The detainees were identified as Ali Diab Sabbah,17, Marwan Fuad Abed Kahlil,18, and Sabir Muhammad al-Badan.An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed that at least 11 Palestinians were detained in overnight raids.She said that two were detained in Hebron, six in southern Bethlehem, one in southern Ramallah, and two in Nablus.She said the detainee from Ramallah was a “Hamas operative,” while the others were detained for “suspected illegal activity.”She added that two rifles and a handgun were found in Huwwara village south of Nablus.The raids took place amid heightened tensions across the occupied Palestinian territory, which has seen fierce clashes in recent days and which continued overnight.
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Israeli forces shot and injured six Palestinians with live rounds and rubber-coated steel bullets during clashes in Bireh north of Ramallah overnight Monday, medics said.The clashes, which lasted up to 12 hours, also saw dozens of Palestinians suffer excessive tear gas inhalation.Palestinian protesters threw stones at Israeli forces in the illegal Israeli settlement of Beit El, and the army fired live rounds, rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters at protesters.The army later raided parts of al-Bireh, where it was reported that Palestinian gunmen opened fire on them, forcing them out of the northern Ramallah neighborhood.On Monday evening, a Red Crescent spokeswoman told Ma’an that at least 500 Palestinians had so far been injured in fierce clashes that have swept across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.At least 41 Palestinians have been shot with live rounds, while 143 have been injured by rubber-coated steel bullets.Israeli forces have also killed two Palestinians in the same time frame, including a 13-year-old boy in Aida refugee camp on Monday.The Palestinian Red Cross on Sunday declared a state of emergency across the occupied Palestinian territory, and said it was putting all its staff, teams and volunteers on standby.The PLO has also warned that attacks by both Israeli soldiers and settlers indicated “the Israeli government is deliberately creating a situation of violence and instability that threatens to spiral out of control.”
HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces on Monday raided a home in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, searching for a Palestinian boy they accused of throwing stones, only to discover the child was only three years old, the boy’s father told Ma’an.Muhammad Jamal al-Jaabri said that Israeli forces raided his home in the al-Ras neighborhood of Hebron seeking to arrest his son Yousef, who they accused of throwing stones.However, Muhammad said that his son Yousef is only three years old.He said that the soldiers ransacked his house and threatened to detain the child, at which point the father said that he told the soldiers: “Go ahead and take him if you want.”He said the soldiers left his home without any arrests.Human Rights Watch has condemned Israel over its “abusive arrests” of Palestinian children as young as 11 and of using threats to force them to sign confessions.Israeli authorities regularly failed to inform parents of their children’s arrest or whereabouts, the New York-based watchdog said in a report in July.”Forces have choked children, thrown stun grenades at them, beaten them in custody, threatened and interrogated them without the presence of parents or lawyers, and failed to let their parents know their whereabouts,” the report said.
Source: http://www.maannews.com/Default.aspx
The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday demanded that the UN form a committee to investigate the shooting of 18-year-old Hadel al-Hashlamon by Israeli forces in Hebron in the occupied West Bank earlier in the day.
The 18-year-old was shot at a checkpoint a at the entrance of Hebron’s central al-Shuhada street, after allegedly attempting to stab an Israeli soldier, according to the Israeli army’s official account.
She later died at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, where she arrived “terribly injured, and underwent surgery upon her arrival,” the hospital spokesperson told Ma’an.
No Israeli soldiers were injured during the incident, and Israeli authorities presented no evidence of the alleged stabbing attempt.
A local activist group, Youth Against Settlements, later released photos of the incident appearing to contradict the army’s account of events.
They appear to show the girl without any knife and at some distance from the soldiers before they opened fire.
Video footage from local new agency PalMedia, meanwhile, showed the teen left bleeding on the pavement, reportedly for up to 30 minutes, before she was roughly dragged away by an Israeli soldier, with soldiers and heavily armed settlers looked on.
The PA reiterated calls for the urgent intervention of the international community to pressure Israel into halting crimes against unarmed Palestinians, as well as ending policies of killing with impunity carried out under military occupation.
Al-Hashlamon’s death came only hours after another Palestinian, 21-year-old Diyaa Abdul-Halim Talahmah, was also killed during clashes with Israeli forces Monday night, also with contradictory reports of how he died.
The Israeli army said he died when an Improvised Explosive Device he was attempting to throw at soldiers exploded prematurely, although Palestinian sources said he was shot dead.
In recent months, Israeli forces have shot a number of Palestinians, later alleging that they had attempted to carry out stabbing attacks on them, although Palestinians have questioned the allegations.
The Palestinian leadership is making efforts to bring Israeli authorities to justice in the international arena, particularly as they say there is a lack of due process in Israeli military courts and investigations.
Palestinian Foreign Ministry hailed Wednesday the treaty that would be signed with Vatican, which would include recognition of the State of Palestine as a step that is in the interest of peace and stability.
“The conclusion of the first treaty on the relation between the State of Palestine and the Holy See is a step that serves the interest of peace and stability, reinforces peaceful coexistence and builds bridges among different cultures, civilizations and religions,” stated the Foreign Ministry in a press release.
The Foreign Ministry affirmed that the conclusion of this treaty comes as the result of the development of historical relations between the State of Palestine and the Holy See and that it affirms Palestine’s status as the birthplace of the divine religions.
The Vatican announced in a press statement reported by AP that it has concluded the first treaty that formally recognizes the State of Palestine and that the text of the treaty will be signed officially ‘in the near future’.
The treaty “aims to enhance the life and activities of the Catholic Church and its recognition at the judicial level,’ Vatican’s Deputy Foreign Minister Monsignor Antoine Camilleri was quoted in AP as saying.
Palestinian Ambassador to the Holy See ‘Issa Kassissieh confirmed that the deal tackles political relations between Palestine and the Holy See and includes general principles about the Catholic Church’s status and rights in Palestine.
Member of PLO Executive Committee Hanna ‘Amira noted the Vatican’s recognition of the State of Palestine would have “great impact on the humanitarian and political levels” and affirm the expanding solidarity with the Palestinian people.
PLO Executive Committee Member Hanan Ashrawi welcomed the Vatican’s recognition of the State of Palestine as a genuine contribution to peace and justice.
“The significance of this recognition goes beyond the political and legal into the symbolic and moral domains and sends a message to all people of conscience that the Palestinian people deserve the right to self-determination, formal recognition, freedom, and statehood,” Ashrawi said.
Ashrawi added that the move gains an added significance in the context of the imminent canonization of the two 19th century Palestinian nuns, Sister Marie Alphonsine Ghattas from Jerusalem and Sister Mariam Bawardy from Ibilin village in the Galilee, by His Holiness Pope Francis on May 17.
It added that the move points to the long-standing relationship between the Vatican and the Palestinians and is an affirmation of Palestinian identity, culture and narrative in Palestine as the Holy Land.
“We are extremely encouraged and appreciative of this courageous and moral stand, and it is our hope that those countries that have not yet recognized Palestine will do so in the immediate future,” the statement concluded.
“While it will be the first time the Roman Catholic Church has signed a treaty with the State of Palestine, the Vatican has recognized the state since February 2013.”
According to NY Times, ‘Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it was “disappointed” by the Vatican’s decision and that the recognition would “not advance the peace process.”
“This move does not promote the peace process and distances the Palestinian leadership from returning to direct and bilateral negotiations,” the ministry said in a text message received by the Associated Press. “Israel will study the agreement and will consider its steps accordingly,” reported the Guardian on its website.
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