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
Jeddah : The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) welcomed the United Nations General Assembly’s vote in favor of a resolution granting the State of Palestine additional powers to be able to assume the chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China in 2019.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the OIC considered the resolution as reflecting a sound international position toward consolidating the status of the State of Palestine and its right to enjoy full UN membership.
OIC Secretary General of the Organization Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen commended the positions of all the countries that voted for Palestine. He said the resolution is a political, moral and humanitarian message from the international community toward supporting the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Meanwhile, the OIC chief called for taking advantage of this historic achievement in mobilizing international efforts for sponsoring a political process leading to the realization of the vision of a two-state solution, based on the international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.
—AB/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Mahmoud Abbas
Ramallah : Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday that he will address the upcoming UN General Assembly on issues causing suffering to Palestinians.
Abbas made the remarks during a meeting he chaired for Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Xinhua reported.
“We will go to the United Nations to confront the world with the issues that our people are suffering,” said Abbas, who is scheduled to deliver a speech at the UN headquarters in New York on September 27.
The addressed issues include the Israeli decision to demolish Al-Khan Al-Ahmar Bedouin village east of Jerusalem, and the status of Al-Aqsa Mosque in the holy city, he added.
“We are consulting with our brothers in Jordan to form a unified position to go to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice on what is going on at the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Abbas noted.
The Palestinian President said the final decision will be made by the PLO central council after he returned from the UN assembly.
The United States and the Palestinians have almost severed ties since US President Donald Trump declared Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on December 6, 2017.
—IANS
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
The Spanish Foreign Ministry, Madrid.
Madrid : Following the US decision to end financing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Spain urged the European Union and its member states for “supplementary” efforts to bridge the ensuing void.
In a press statement issued here on Sunday, the Spanish Foreign Ministry asked Washington to reconsider the decision, taking into account that it had slashed its aid from $365 million in 2017 to $60 million at the start of 2018.
The “critical financial situation of the UNRWA caused by the decision taken by the (US President Donald) Trump administration seriously threatens the continuity of special programs in health, education and food, which directly benefit Palestinian refugees in the Middle East,” it said.
“The suppression of basic services to 3 million Palestinian refugees could have serious consequences for the stability of the region, especially in the Gaza Strip.”
The ministry said Madrid is “fully committed” to “finding joint solutions,” which will allow UNRWA to continue its work in a sustainable manner.
“Spain considers that the EU and its member states should make a supplementary effort to compensate the possible consequences of the serious decision taken by the U.S,” the statement added.
—AB/UNA-OIC
