All posts tagged: Palestinian Territories

‘An eye for an eye’: Israel’s death penalty law is retaliatory and electorally motivated

‘An eye for an eye’: Israel’s death penalty law is retaliatory and electorally motivated

Published by Sam Flores

“This is historic! With God’s help, soon we will execute them one by one!” These were the words spoken by Israel’s far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir on Monday, March 31, just after a 62–48 vote in the Israeli Knesset that passed a law to apply the death penalty to convicted ‘terrorists’.   Ben-Gvir celebrated the Death Penalty for Terrorists Bill by popping open bottles of champagne and embracing fellow supporters at the Knesset. In the run-up to the vote, he had worn a lapel pin in the shape of a noose, symbolising his support for the legislation. Limor Son Har Melech, a member of Itamar Ben-Gvir’s nationalist party, Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), was in tears as she read out the results. Melech had introduced the law along with Nissim Vaturi, Knesset deputy speaker and member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party. To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch …

Gaza hit by strongest sandstorm in over five years

Gaza hit by strongest sandstorm in over five years

Published by Sam Flores

A cloud of orange-tinted, thick dust spread across the Gaza Strip on Saturday as first responders told Palestinians to stay home, especially those with respiratory illness. People were also urged to secure their tents to prevent them from being blown away. Israel’s war with Hamas has left most of Gaza’s 2 million residents displaced, living in tents and damaged buildings with little protection from the elements such as rain, wind and sand. Story by Catherine Viette. Keywords for this article Source link

Has the British Museum really removed references to ‘Palestine’ from exhibits?

Has the British Museum really removed references to ‘Palestine’ from exhibits?

Published by Sam Flores

The latest scandal brewing about the British Museum centres on its choice to remove references to “Palestine” from the information panels on several displays, as first reported by several media outlets in mid-February.  The story quickly sparked headlines around the world.  “The name ‘Palestine’ was removed from all the exhibits in the British Museum,” reads a February 16 Facebook post shared by the French-language edition of AJ+, a publication of Qatari media outlet Al Jazeera. For its part, Agence Média Palestine reported that the British Museum removed references to Palestine “from its exhibits under pressure from a pro-Israel group”. The social media accounts of several English and French language outlets were also quick to share the news. Pure TV+ – whose misleading posts we’ve reported on in the past – declared to its 200,000 Facebook followers that the British Museum decided “under pressure from a pro-Israeli group” to “delete all references to ‘Palestine’ from its exhibits”. Turns out, the British Museum is still using the term ‘Palestine’ In reality, the British Museum still uses the term “Palestine” …

Former Palestinian delegate to France Leïla Shahid dies age 76

Former Palestinian delegate to France Leïla Shahid dies age 76

Published by Sam Flores

Leila Shahid, the first woman diplomat representing Palestine abroad, died in southern France aged 76, her family said Wednesday. Born in Lebanon in 1949, Shahid was the first woman to represent the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) abroad, beginning her career in Ireland before also becoming representative in the Netherlands. She served as envoy in France and later as the representative at the European Union. She was one of the first Palestinians to establish contacts with Israelis who were in favour of peace efforts. “Leila Shahid, the iconic ambassador of Palestine, has left us. This is a huge loss for Palestine and for the world that believes in justice,” Hala Abou-Hassira, the Palestinian representative in France, said on X. Shahid’s body was found on Wednesday in the southern village of La Leque, where she lived, a source close to the investigation said.  According to initial findings, the former diplomat, who had reportedly been ill for several years, apparently died by suicide, the source said. An investigation to determine the cause of death has been launched. Karim …

More than 80 UN member states condemn Israel’s plans to expand in West Bank

More than 80 UN member states condemn Israel’s plans to expand in West Bank

Published by Sam Flores

The UN missions for 85 member states issued a joint statement Tuesday condemning Israel’s encroaching control of the West Bank, which critics say amounts to de facto annexation of the Palestinian territory. “We strongly condemn unilateral Israeli decisions and measures aimed at expanding Israel’s unlawful presence in the West Bank,” the statement reads. “Such decisions are contrary to Israel’s obligations under international law and must be immediately reversed.” “We underline in this regard our strong opposition to any form of annexation.” Last week, Israel’s security cabinet approved a series of measures backed by far-right ministers to tighten control over areas of the West Bank administered by the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo accords, in place since the 1990s. On Sunday, Israel’s government also approved a process to register land in the West Bank as “state property” in a move that drew further international condemnation. Read moreIsrael approves West Bank land registration, Palestinians slam ‘de-facto annexation’ “We reiterate our rejection of all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem,” the statement continued. “Such measures violate …

Israeli airstrikes kill 11 Palestinians

Israeli airstrikes kill 11 Palestinians

Published by Sam Flores

Gaza’s civil defence says Israeli airstrikes killed at least 11 people on Sunday, including strikes on a tent camp for displaced families in the north and another in Khan Younis in the south. Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of violating a US-brokered ceasefire reached in October. France24 correspondent Noga Tarnopolsky reports from Jerusalem. Keywords for this article Source link

Writing for survival: Gaza author dares to hope against the odds

Writing for survival: Gaza author dares to hope against the odds

Published by Sam Flores

It started out small, very small, in a vacant lot next to her house in Al-Zawayda, a once sleepy, agricultural town not far from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. That’s where Palestinian author Safaa Al-Nabaheen decided to hold a workshop for children to help them build stories, dream, and let their imaginations soar above the death and destruction around them. In early 2024, just months after Israel launched its latest war following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, Gaza’s population was already on the move. The Israeli army had started issuing evacuation orders, sparking a process that would displace 1.9 million out of Gaza’s 2.2 million population by the end of the year. Towns and cities in central and southern Gaza were starting to flood with refugees from the north, the death toll was rising and as despair spiralled with every bombardment, Nabaheen came up with an idea. “As a writer and novelist, I could offer training workshops for children and adolescents on the art of short-story writing, teaching them how to channel their inner …

Israel expanding ‘de facto permanent apartheid’ to carry out total Palestinian ‘takeover’

Israel expanding ‘de facto permanent apartheid’ to carry out total Palestinian ‘takeover’

Published by Sam Flores

Eve Irvine is pleased to welcomes Dr Yair Wallach, Senior Lecturer and Department Head of Israeli Studies at SOAS. As a historian of modern Palestine and Israel, he’s witnessed decades of diplomatic frameworks collapse into something far more ominous. What we are witnessing now is an accelerated unraveling of what was once called the two-state solution. The Oslo Accords have faded into the distance amid the institutional hollowing of Palestinian authority, the rise of settler violence, and the de facto annexation of the West Bank. Is Israeli intent a complete takeover of the Palestinian territories? Keywords for this article Source link

Israeli occupation ‘no longer temporary, it is a permanent occupation’

Israeli occupation ‘no longer temporary, it is a permanent occupation’

Published by Sam Flores

Nadia Massih is pleased to welcome former hostage negotiator and Middle East Director of the International Communities Organisation Dr. Gershon Baskin. As someone who has spent decades working toward a just resolution between Israelis and Palestinians, including negotiating with Hamas for the release of hostages, he’s watched with growing alarm the shift in Israel’s governance of the occupied territories. From his perspective, what we are witnessing is not the continuation of a temporary occupation, but the deepening of a permanent one. Keywords for this article Source link

Israel to halt MSF work in Gaza, NGO slams ‘pretext to obstruct’ aid

Israel to halt MSF work in Gaza, NGO slams ‘pretext to obstruct’ aid

Published by Sam Flores

Israel announced Sunday it was terminating Doctors Without Borders’ humanitarian operations in Gaza after the charity failed to provide a list of Palestinian staff, a move MSF said was a “pretext” to obstruct aid to the war-devastated territory. In December, Israel announced it would prevent 37 aid organisations, including MSF, from working in Gaza from March 1 for failing to submit detailed information about their Palestinian employees, drawing widespread condemnation from NGOs and the United Nations. “The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism is moving to terminate the activities of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the Gaza Strip,” the ministry said on Sunday. The decision follows “MSF’s failure to submit lists of local employees, a requirement applicable to all humanitarian organisations operating in the region”, it added. The ministry had earlier alleged that two MSF employees had links with Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which the charity has vehemently denied. On Sunday, the ministry said MSF had committed in early January to sharing the staff list, but ultimately refrained. “Subsequently, MSF announced …