by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
By Qais Abu Samra,
Ramallah: The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Sunday condemned an Israeli plan to build 20,000 new settlement homes in a major settlement east of Jerusalem.
“The settlement project aims at separating East Jerusalem from its surroundings,” the ministry said in a statement.
It said the settlement building “shuts the door to any plan to achieve peace on the basis of the two-state solution and thwarts any efforts to launch a real peace process”.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli daily Yisrael Hayom (Israel Today) reported that the Ministry of Construction and Housing and the municipality of Ma’aleh Adumim signed an agreement to build some 20,000 housing units in the settlement.
The project will be implemented once it is approved by the Israeli government, the newspaper said.
Settlement construction has been a major obstacle to the already stalled peace process between Palestinians and Israelis.
According to Palestinian figures, more than 700,000 Jewish settlers now live on 196 settlements (built with Israeli government approval) and more than 200 settler outposts (built without its approval) across the occupied West Bank.
International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as “occupied territories” and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity on the land to be illegal.
—AA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Jerusalem : Italy approved on Monday an additional funding of €3.5 million for UNRWA programs to be carried out in Lebanon and in the Gaza Strip, according to a press release by the Italian Consulate in Jerusalem.
“In accordance with the well-established Italian support to UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and given the serious financial difficulties that UNRWA is facing, Italy has approved an additional funding of €3.5 million for programs to be carried out in Lebanon and in the Gaza Strip,” said the statement.
“The contribution comes on top of the financial effort already set up by Italy for the benefit of the Agency. This effort, considered as a whole $14 million in 2017, allows our country to be the 14th most important donor of the agency.”
The statement said “UNRWA keeps playing an essential part by providing basic services to more than 5 million Palestinian refugees. Its activities contribute in a concrete manner to the stability of the region.”
The Italian contribution came after the United States, the largest donor with $360 million in annual aid to UNRWA, decided to stop all funding to the humanitarian agency, a step seen to punish and pressure the Palestinians to accept its terms for a settlement with Israel.
—AG/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Jerusalem : An over 2,000-year-old golden earring adorned by the image of a horned animal was discovered in Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced on Wednesday.
The earring was discovered in the City of David National Park encircling the old city walls. The discovery was made during archaeological digs carried out by the IAA and Tel Aviv University located in the centre of Israel, Xinhua news agency reported.
The jewellery was found inside a building that was unearthed during the excavation, dating to the early Hellenistic period, about which very little is known when it comes to Jerusalem.
Similar earrings have been found across the Mediterranean basin, especially in Greece, but are extremely rare in Israel.
The earring bears the head of a horned animal, possibly an antelope or deer, with large eyes, a mouth and other facial features.
Nearby, excavators also found a gold bead with intricate embroidered ornamentation resembling a thin rope pattern, dividing the bead into two parts with six spirals on each side.
According to the archaeologists, it is unclear whether the earring was worn by a man or a woman but surely belonged to an upper class person.
This can be determined by the proximity to the Temple Mount and the Temple, which was functional at the time, as well as the quality of the ring.
The jewellery was crafted using a technique called filigree, in which threads and tiny metal beads are used to create delicate and complex patterns.
The earring will be displayed for the public at the City of David’s annual archaeological conference on September 4.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Istanbul : The 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has vowed to take “all necessary steps” to prevent other countries from following the US example of moving their Israel embassies to Jerusalem.
The move on Friday came after the group held an extraordinary summit in Istanbul upon the call of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in response to the US inauguration of its embassy in Jerusalem and the killings of more than 60 Palestinian protestors by Israeli forces on Monday, Xinhua reported.
Citing Guatemala which has followed suit, the final communique adopted at the conclusion of the meeting voiced “determination to take the appropriate political, economic and other measures against countries which recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel or relocate their embassies thereto.”
“Countries running for international posts seeking the OIC’s support for their candidature will be assessed based on their positions regarding the Palestine question, in particular on Jerusalem,” said the final communique.
In the document, the group is calling for “necessary action” against member states failing to comply with OIC resolutions on the Palestinian cause.
Declaring the Israeli use of deadly force against unarmed Palestinians as “savage crimes,” the group called for an international protection of the Palestinians, urging member states as well as the international community to ban the import of products made in Israeli settlements built on the occupied land.
Reaffirming its rejection of US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the OIC called the embassy relocation move an act of “provocation and hostility” against the Muslim community.
“Sending international peace force to Palestinians who sacrifice young children every day to Israeli terror is imperative,” Turkish President Erdogan said at a press conference.
“Responsibility for consequences of this provocative decision to sabotage the peace process entirely belongs to the US,” he added.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Events, Muslim World, Social Round-up
Turkey’s presidential spokesman Dr. Ibrahim Kalin
Istanbul : The Islamic Summit, to be held in Istanbul on Friday, will discuss the positions and steps of Muslim countries to defend the cause of Palestine and Jerusalem through cooperation and solidarity with the Palestinian state and its people.
This came in a statement circulated Thursday by Turkey’s presidential spokesman Dr. Ibrahim Kalin on the Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at the level of heads of state and government of the member states, under the auspices of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Kalin noted that the summit will discuss the US administration’s violation of international law following the relocation of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as well as the serious developments that emerged after the killing of innocent Palestinians participating in peaceful demonstrations in Gaza. He underscored that the issue of Palestine and Israeli occupation does not only concern Islamic countries, but is a common issue for all those who believe in law and justice.
“The Islamic summit will discuss steps to mobilize international public opinion towards ending grievances in Palestine,” the presidential spokesman said.
—AB/UNA-OIC
