by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Jerusalem : Israel is planning to build thousands of new homes in Jerusalem, including some 6,000 apartments in East Jerusalem, following Thursday’s announcement by US President Donald Trump that he recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, according to a report from Israeli Hadashot news.
The report said that the plan is being pushed by Housing and Construction Minister Yoav Galant and includes 14,000 new homes in four different neighbourhoods in Israel in total, Xinhua reported.
The report said that all apartments are reported to be entirely new building projects and not a further authorization of previously approved plans.
Trump announced on Wednesday the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his intention of moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Washington : US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital triggered global flak, including from some of America’s closest allies, amid fears it could strengthen extremists and destroy the region’s faltering peace process.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Trump’s decision on Wednesday had made for a “historic day” and was “an important step towards peace”. But furious Palestinians condemned it and warned that had diminished Washington’s role as a peace mediator.
Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas called the decision “deplorable” and said it will not change Jerusalem’s status as the “eternal capital of the State of Palestine”.
Palestinians took to the streets in Gaza and the West Bank.
The hardline Hamas called for a “day of rage” on Friday and said the decision would “open the doors of hell” on US interests in the region.
In a landmark speech in Washington, Trump reversed decades of US policy in defiance of warnings that recognizing Jerusalem as the capital will derail the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and create further unrest in the Middle East.
Trump, fulfilling his campaign promise, said he had “judged this course of action to be in the best interests of the US and the pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians”.
He said he would tell the State Department to begin preparations to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump said the US still supported a two-state solution to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, if approved by both sides.
Several past US Presidents insisted that the status of Jerusalem — home to sites holy to the Jewish, Muslim and Christian religions — must be decided in negotiations between the two sides.
The UN Security Council will discuss the issue on Friday after eight of the 15 nations called for an emergency session. The Arab League will meet on Saturday.
The Arab and the wider Muslim world, including a number of US allies, condemned Trump’s announcement.
The Saudi Royal Court warned of serious consequences of such an “irresponsible and unwarranted step”. The United Arab Emirates expressed “deep concern” about the repercussions of the decision, WAM news agency reported.
Lebanon’s pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper declared “Death to America” on its front page on Thursday.
President Hassan Rouhani said Iran “will not tolerate a violation of Islamic sanctities. Muslims must stand united against this major plot”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the US decision was not only a violation of international law but also a severe blow to the conscience of humanity. Demonstrations erupted outside the US consulate in Istanbul.
Kuwait and Qatar, besides China and Pakistan, also came out against the US move.
India declined to comment, saying its position on Palestine “is independent and consistent”.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said it was “a moment of great anxiety”. He said “there is no alternative to the two-state solution”.
Pope Francis called for the city’s “status quo” to be respected, saying new tensions in the Middle East would further inflame world conflicts.
British leader Theresa May disagreed with the US decision, which was “unhelpful in terms of prospects for peace in the region”.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron both said their countries did not support the move. Canada said its embassy won’t move to Jerusalem.
EU chief diplomat Federica Mogherini voiced “serious concern”.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak called on Muslims worldwide to “make it clear that we strongly oppose” the US move. Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo too slammed the US decision.
The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, and according to the 1993 Israel-Palestinian peace accords, its final status is meant to be discussed in the latter stages of peace talks.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Buzz, World
Tel Aviv : An Israeli court has ordered global ride-hailing app Uber to stop two of its services here in the absence of proper travel insurance.
The court banned UberDay and UberNight, the company’s private-car services, while UberTaxi that takes requests via licensed taxi drivers has not been affected, Jerusalem Post reported late on Monday.
“If they won’t get insurance, I won’t let them drive a meter,” Tel Aviv District Court Chief Justice Eitan Orenstein was quoted as saying.
The ruling came after the Ministry of Transportation issued an indictment against Uber in May, alleging it was operating without a government license.
“It remains illegal for unregistered private drivers to ferry passengers in return for payment, as many of the private Uber drivers operate without studying safety regulations and undergoing any form of testing,” the report added.
“We are committed to continuing to cooperate with the authorities, to examine how our technology can provide reliable, cost-effective and safe transportation options,” Uber Israel said in a statement.
In September, Uber was banned from operating in London for flouting safety regulations.
The company is under scrutiny after it revealed in November that two hackers “inappropriately accessed” names, email addresses and phone numbers of 57 million customers and drivers and the license numbers of around 600,000 drivers.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that the company in late 2016 became aware that two individuals outside the company had inappropriately accessed user data stored on a third-party cloud-based service that it uses.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Tehran : US President Donald Trump’s recent anti-Iran speech was under the influence of lobbyists from Israel and Saudi Arabia, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said.
It was clear that the Zionist regime of Israel and some countries like Saudi Arabia have played a major role in writing Trump’s speech and guiding him, Larijani was quoted as saying on Sunday by Press TV, Xinhua reported.
Trump’s aggressive rhetoric was aimed to cause commotion and prevent international economic cooperation with Iran, he added.
On Friday, the US President refused to certify Iran’s international nuclear deal and accused Tehran of sponsoring terrorism, saying that he would deny Iran’s “all paths to a nuclear weapon”.
Accordingly, Saudi Arabia and Israel welcomed the new strategy towards Iran announced by Trump.
Iran has insisted that its nuclear energy programme is aimed at civilian purposes.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Jerusalem : Israel on Wednesday fumed over a vote by the Interpol that approved the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) as a member in the international police body.
Earlier in the day, Palestinian membership to the Interpol was approved by 74 to 24 votes, exceeding the two-thirds requirement of the yes-to-no ratio.
The decision was made despite Israel’s diplomatic campaign to thwart the vote, Xinhua reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the approval. In a meeting in Jerusalem with the US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Jason Greenblatt, and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Netanyahu charged that the resolution “violates signed agreements with Israel.”
Netanyahu said the actions of the Palestinian leadership in recent days severely impairs the chances of achieving peace and added that the Palestinian diplomatic warfare would not go unanswered.
Israel’s Minister of Environmental Protection, Zeev Elkin, who is also a close ally of Netanyahu, said Israel should “cancel gestures granted to the Palestinians,” including work permits in Israel, and special travel permits for Palestinian leaders.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak condemned it as “yet another failure” for Netanyahu.
The PNA applauded the approval. “This victory was realised because the majority of the Interpol members defended the raisons d’etre of the organisation and basic principles,” said Palestinian Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister Riad Malki.
He added that the approval reflects the trust of the international community in Palestine’s capabilities.
“Palestine will commit to obligations and contribute to combating crime and law enforcement on the international level,” Malki noted.
The move was part of the Palestinian campaign to gain international diplomatic recognition as a state.
Established in 1923, Interpol is the world’s largest police organization aimed to struggle crime and terrorism. Currently, it has 192 members after the admission of Solomon Islands and Palestine on Wednesday.
—IANS
