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Army admits to killing two teenagers in Kashmir by ‘mistake’

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Mother of one of the slain youths consoled at her Nowgam residence by relatives and neighbours. Photo: Faisal Khan

Mother of one of the slain youths consoled at her Nowgam residence by relatives and neighbours. Photo: Faisal Khan

Srinagar: The Indian Army took responsibility and apologised for the recent firing incident in Kashmir’s Budgam district in which two teenagers were killed and two other people were injured. Army men had fired at a Maruti car on Monday.

“Army fully takes responsibility for the civilian killings at Chattergam in Budgam district,” Lieutenant General D S Hooda, Army’s Northern Command chief said at a press conference on Friday.

Army said there will be a transparent probe into the firing incident.

“I assure that there will be a transparent probe in the firing incident,” he said.

Two youth – Faisal Yousuf, Mehraj-ud-din- were killed and two – Zahid Ayoub, Shakir Rehman – critically wounded when army men fired indiscriminately at a car these youth were traveling in. While one youth – Basim Amin- escaped unscathed from the car.

“See mistake has been done. Dos and don’ts of operating procedures are being constantly taught to troops. We will get to know about the incident fully once the probe is over,” Hooda said.

“We sincerely wish the incident should not have happened. Inquiry has been ordered. We have recorded testimony from 15 civilian and service witnesses. The testimonies are being examined. The inquiry will be completed within 10 days,” Hooda said.

He said that the Army shares the sorrow and grief of the families.

Following the outrage over the incident, army replaced 53 RR unit with 35 RR in Chattergam.

Army had earlier claimed that the car refused to stop at two check posts, the claim which was rejected by a government inquiry conducted after the incident.

Clashes and restrictions continue in the native place of these youth from last four days. All the youth are residents of Nowgam locality in Srinagar.

Palestinians call for 'Day of Rage' against Israeli aggressions at al-Aqsa

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Palestinians clean up debris inside the al-Aqsa Mosque, on November 5, 2014 following clashes between Israeli Occupation Forces and Palestinians. AFP / Ahmad Gharabli

Palestinians clean up debris inside the al-Aqsa Mosque, on November 5, 2014 following clashes between Israeli Occupation Forces and Palestinians. AFP / Ahmad Gharabli

by Al-Akhbar

Palestinian groups once again called for a “Day of Rage” on Friday in solidarity with Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa mosque, as Israeli authorities announced late Thursday they would prevent Palestinian men under 35 from entering the al-Aqsa compound for Friday prayers.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad issued separate statements on Thursday calling on Palestinians to take to the streets following Friday prayers “in solidarity with the al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Palestinian resistance movement Hamas called on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank to take to the streets on Friday to “show support to occupied Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa Mosque.”

The group, in a statement, called for holding “marches of anger” after the weekly Friday prayers near the points where Israeli army troops are stationed in the West Bank.

One of the marches would head to Qalandiya military checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem, and another would head to the central Hebron neighborhood of Bab al-Zawiya, the release said. A third one would be staged in central Nablus in northern West Bank, it added.

Moreover, a Islamic Jihad leader, Mohammad al-Harrazin, said in a statement that the movement’s agenda focuses on “mobilizing and recruiting” the public in support of Jerusalem.

Al-Harrazin added that a popular revolution is necessary in order to counter the Israeli threats and violations, calling upon Palestinians to organize marches expressing rage and to defend and protect Jerusalem, al-Aqsa and all holy sites.

Late Thursday, Israeli police announced they would prevent Palestinian men under 35 from entering the al-Aqsa compound for Friday prayers, while allowing Zionist settlers into the holy site undisturbed.

Tensions have been running high in occupied East Jerusalem after months of Israeli pressure on the region, including through a massive arrest campaign and a major military offensive on Gaza that left more than 2,100 dead and provoked outrage across Palestine.

They have also been stoked by Israeli authorities’ decision to hold a vote on splitting the al-Aqsa compound despite the existence of a Jewish prayer area at the Western Wall immediately next door.

The unrest mounted further after Israeli authorities sealed access to the al-Aqsa mosque and following the killing of a young Palestinian man suspected of shooting and injuring a far-right Zionist rabbi.

Several far-right Israeli members of the Knesset have also entered the mosque complex in recent days, drawing the ire of Muslim worshippers and official condemnation from Arab and Muslim countries.

Groups of Zionist settlers, too, have forced their way into the site, prompting clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces.

Since Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, an agreement with Jordan has maintained that Jewish prayer be allowed at the Western Wall plaza – built on the site of a Palestinian neighborhood of 800 that was destroyed immediately following the conquest – but not inside the al-Aqsa mosque compound itself.

Israeli forces have long restricted Palestinians’ access to the al-Aqsa compound based on age and gender, but have further prevented Muslim worshipers from entering the mosque for more than a month while facilitating the entrance for Zionist extremists.

On Friday, Israeli forces detained three young Palestinians in the occupied East Jerusalem, eyewitnesses said.

“Israeli forces raided the Issawiya village in East Jerusalem and arrested three youths,” an eyewitness told Anadolu Agency.

On Thursday, witnesses said clashes broke out near an Israeli military checkpoint at the main entrance to Shuafat refugee camp where Israeli Occupation Forces attacked Palestinian protesters with tear gas, grenades and sponge rounds.

Clashes also erupted in the al-Tur neighborhood where Israeli forces and undercover agents detained five young Palestinian men., and on the main roads near Anata and al-Ram as well as Hutta square in the Old city.

Israeli forces also closed with concrete blocks the main entrance to the town of Al-Isawiya. Concrete blocks were placed in front of tram stops in East Jerusalem.

Furthermore, seven Palestinians were struck by rubber-coated steel bullets on Thursday afternoon during clashes between Israeli soldiers and students from Birzeit University which took place near Israel’s Ofer detention center west of Ramallah.

Sources at Birzeit University told Ma’an that the Student Union suspended classes in the morning and organized a large rally in the center of campus opposing Israeli attempts to divide the al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem into Jewish and Muslim sections.

Following the rally, students left campus in buses and headed to Ofer detention center near the town of Beitunia. Shortly after the rally began, Israeli forces opened fire on the students with tear gas canisters, and the students began hurling stones at the soldiers in response.

The students then ran away and took positions on hilltops around the detention center, before Israeli soldiers started to fire live ammunition and rubber-coated bullets at them, injuring seven.

On Wednesday, as many as 60 Israeli troops stormed the compound through the Al-Magharbeh and Al-Silsila gates and began shooting randomly in the direction of Muslim worshipers, eyewitnesses said.

Israeli troops also fired stun grenades inside the compound’s Al-Qibali Mosque, even entering the house of worship with their shoes until they reached Saladin’s Minbar (Pulpit) for the first time since 1967.

Israeli forces detained over 200 Palestinians in the past two weeks only.

For Muslims, al-Aqsa represents the world’s third holiest site.

In September 2000, a visit to the al-Aqsa Mosque complex by controversial Israeli politician Ariel Sharon sparked what later became known as the “Second Intifada,” a popular uprising against the Israeli occupation in which thousands of Palestinians were killed.

Israel, Jordan and al-Aqsa

Israel on Thursday promised Jordan that it would not allow Jews to pray at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound as scores of Jewish extremists tried to march to the flashpoint shrine.

With clashes raging in several Palestinian neighborhoods in occupied east Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone with Jordan’s King Abdullah II to reassure him there would be no changes to the decades-old status quo.

“I spoke today to King Abdullah of Jordan and we agreed that we will make every effort to calm the situation,” Netanyahu said.

“I explained to him that we’re keeping the status quo on the Temple Mount and that this includes Jordan’s traditional role there,” he said, using Israel’s name for the compound.

The phone call came 24 hours after fierce clashes between Israeli Occupation Forces and Palestinians protesting the storming of al-Aqsa by Jewish extremists prompted Amman to recall its ambassador to Israel “in protest at Israel’s escalation” and move to file a UN complaint.

Under the current status quo, Jews are permitted to visit the esplanade but not to pray there for fear it would cause friction at one of the most sensitive holy sites in the Middle East.

King Abdullah “recalled that Jordan firmly rejected any measure undermining the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa mosque”, a palace statement said.

Jordan’s status as custodian of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and other Muslim holy sites in annexed east Jerusalem is enshrined in the 1994 peace treaty between the two countries.

Concerns that Israel was set to legislate changes to the status quo have sparked weeks of unrest at the site.

Meanwhile, Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek denounced recent Israeli aggressions in occupied East Jerusalem, warning they could jeopardize a “two-state solution” to the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Speaking at a news conference in Ramallah with Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki, Zaoralek said that certain Israeli policies – like closing the al-Aqsa Mosque compound to worshippers and continued settlement building – contravened international law.

He also asserted his country’s support for the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, saying a two-state solution was the only way to end the decades-long conflict.

Al-Maliki, for his part, said that recent Israeli actions in Jerusalem constituted “a declaration of war.”

Meanwhile, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that Israel’s “barbaric and despicable” attack on the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem is “unforgivable.”

“With such continuing actions, Israel is preparing the ground for the failure of inter-religious and inter-ethnic dialogue around the world,” he said in a press conference before departing for an official visit to Turkmenistan.

“Israel has already been isolated in the Middle East, but if such actions continue, Israel will also become marginalized at the world level. The occupation of al-Aqsa is not only a concern of Palestinians or Arabs, but of the whole Muslim world.”

Israeli settlers storm Joseph’s tomb

On Thursday, around 150 Zionists gathered near the Old City for a march “to the gates of the Temple Mount.”

“We are proudly marching with high heads to the direction of the Temple Mount. God willing, we’ll get there,” Ariel Groner told AFP, a far-right Zionist and hardline campaigner for “Jewish prayer rights” at the compound.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Zionist settlers under heavy military escort visited Joseph’s Tomb near Balata refugee camp east of Nablus early Thursday morning.

Palestinian security sources told a Ma’an reporter that more than 30 Israeli military vehicles escorted ten settler buses to the site at dawn.

The settlers performed religious rites throughout the early morning hours.

A group of young Palestinian men gathered in the area hurling stones and empty bottles at the Israeli soldiers, who responded with tear gas canisters and stun grenades.

No casualties were reported.

Israeli settlers frequently visit Joseph’s Tomb under the protection of Israeli forces, who regularly raid local Palestinian villages and fire tear gas into the neighboring Balata refugee camp during these visits.

Though the site lies in an area under Palestinian authority deep in the West Bank, it is fully controlled by Israeli forces.

Palestinians believe that Joseph’s Tomb is the funerary monument to Sheikh Yusef Dweikat, a local religious figure. Others believe that the tomb belongs to the Biblical patriarch Joseph.

More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in contravention of international law.

The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.

(Al-Akhbar, Ma’an, Anadolu, AFP)

How many Muslim countries has the U.S bombed or occupied since 1980?

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Barack Obama, Oslo, Norway Photo: Sandy Young/Getty Images

Barack Obama, Oslo, Norway Photo: Sandy Young/Getty Images

by Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept

Barack Obama, in his post-election press conference yesterday, announced that he would seek an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) from the new Congress, one that would authorize Obama’s bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria—the one he began three months ago. If one were being generous, one could say that seeking congressional authorization for a war that commenced months ago is at least better than fighting a war even after Congress explicitly rejected its authorization, as Obama lawlessly did in the now-collapsed country of Libya.

When Obama began bombing targets inside Syria in September, I noted that it was the seventh predominantly Muslim country that had been bombed by the U.S. during his presidency (that did not count Obama’s bombing of the Muslim minority in the Philippines). I also previously noted that this new bombing campaign meant that Obama had become the fourth consecutive U.S. President to order bombs dropped on Iraq. Standing alone, those are both amazingly revealing facts. American violence is so ongoing and continuous that we barely notice it any more. Just this week, a U.S. drone launched a missile that killed 10 people in Yemen, and the dead were promptly labeled “suspected militants” (which actually just means they are “military-age males”); those killings received almost no discussion.

To get a full scope of American violence in the world, it is worth asking a broader question: how many countries in the Islamic world has the U.S. bombed or occupied since 1980? That answer was provided in a recent Washington Post op-ed by the military historian and former U.S. Army Col. Andrew Bacevich:

As America’s efforts to “degrade and ultimately destroy” Islamic State militants extent into Syria, Iraq War III has seamlessly morphed into Greater Middle East Battlefield XIV. That is, Syria has become at least the 14th country in the Islamic world that U.S. forces have invaded or occupied or bombed, and in which American soldiers have killed or been killed. And that’s just since 1980.

Let’s tick them off: Iran (1980, 1987-1988), Libya (1981, 1986, 1989, 2011), Lebanon (1983), Kuwait (1991), Iraq (1991-2011, 2014-), Somalia (1992-1993, 2007-), Bosnia (1995), Saudi Arabia (1991, 1996), Afghanistan (1998, 2001-), Sudan (1998), Kosovo (1999), Yemen (2000, 2002-), Pakistan (2004-) and now Syria. Whew.

Bacevich’s count excludes the bombing and occupation of still other predominantly Muslim countries by key U.S. allies such as Israel and Saudi Arabia, carried out with crucial American support. It excludes coups against democratically elected governments, torture, and imprisonment of people with no charges. It also, of course, excludes all the other bombing and invading and occupying that the U.S. has carried out during this time period in other parts of the world, including in Central America and the Caribbean, as well as various proxy wars in Africa.

There is an awful lot to be said about the factions in the west which devote huge amounts of their time and attention to preaching against the supreme primitiveness and violence of Muslims. There are no gay bars in Gaza, the obsessively anti-Islam polemicists proclaim—as though that (rather than levels of violence and aggression unleashed against the world) is the most important metric for judging a society. Reflecting their single-minded obsession with demonizing Muslims (at exactly the same time, coincidentally, their governments wage a never-ending war on Muslim countries and their societies marginalize Muslims), they notably neglect to note thriving gay communities in places like Beirut and Istanbul, or the lack of them in Christian Uganda. Employing the defining tactic of bigotry, they love to highlight the worst behavior of individual Muslims as a means of attributing it to the group as a whole, while ignoring (often expressly) the worst behavior of individual Jews and/or their own groups (they similarly cite the most extreme precepts of Islam while ignoring similarly extreme ones from Judaism). That’s because, as Rula Jebreal told Bill Maher last week, if these oh-so-brave rationality warriors said about Jews what they say about Muslims, they’d be fired.

But of all the various points to make about this group, this is always the most astounding: those same people, who love to denounce the violence of Islam as some sort of ultimate threat, live in countries whose governments unleash far more violence, bombing, invasions, and occupations than anyone else by far. That is just a fact.

Those who sit around in the U.S. or the U.K. endlessly inveighing against the evil of Islam, depicting it as the root of violence and evil (the “mother lode of bad ideas“), while spending very little time on their own societies’ addictions to violence and aggression, or their own religious and nationalistic drives, have reached the peak of self-blinding tribalism. They really are akin to having a neighbor down the street who constantly murders, steals and pillages, and then spends his spare time flamboyantly denouncing people who live thousands of miles away for their bad acts. Such a person would be regarded as pathologically self-deluded, a term that also describes those political and intellectual factions which replicate that behavior.

The sheer casualness with which Obama yesterday called for a new AUMF is reflective of how central, how commonplace, violence and militarism are in the U.S.’s imperial management of the world. That some citizens of that same country devote themselves primarily if not exclusively to denouncing the violence and savagery of others is a testament to how powerful and self-blinding tribalism is as a human drive.

Now, city business is on Call Bengaluru

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CALL Bangalore launch photo-01

Bengaluru: The business world of Bengaluru is now in your smart phone. After Coimbatore and Kerala, Bengaluru became the third city in India to have “The only OFFLINE mobile business directory”.

Call Bengaluru, a free mobile app providing service plus business directory of Bengaluru was launched by Sam Signator. Call Bengaluru service comes a few days after Bangalore officially became Bengaluru from November 1. “we would like to highlight this point – where-by this product is Patent Registered in 142 countries. It is a very user-friendly offline search engine for business data in Bengaluru, which works both offline and online. The eco-friendly service, which has eliminated the use of bulky business directories. This product is adaptable with all the smart phones”, said Mr.Sam Challa., Chairman & Managing Director of Sam Signator which is a part of Sam Gulf International Group WLL, a 25 years old Bahrain based Group Company.

The bulky, time-consuming, non-eco friendly and tough to carry conventional printed yellow pages are outdated. Call Bengaluru is banking on smartphone users who number 45.3 lakh users besides social media users who include Android (24 lakh), iOS (3.4 lakh), Windows phone and Windows 8 (10.8 lakh) and Blackberry (6.5 lakh). This product has over 4,00,000 listings in 5,000 categories besides search for special offers and pop-up option. Updating of the data is always on auto mode. Search can be done with keywords, categorywise, company name, phone numbers and areawise. There are separate categories for public utilities, Brandex, Entertainment, Events & Exhibitions, emergency service, classifieds, tourist places, RTO helpline, metro information and airline information.

From Call Bengaluru listed addresses a customer can make a direct call, direct sms, direct email, direct link to web page, link to location map, view banner ads, video, offers and deals. User can even share the app with his associates, send business cart and view all business activities.

For those in business each listing can bring in the company name, phone numbers, location, address, email ID, Web address, brands and keywords. In term of benefits for business the services leads to increase in business enquiry, instant response from users, enquiry through e-mails and web sites, options for listing preference, banner ads and promo offers besides multiple listing facility, fast updating of information and world wide coverage.

After 13 years imprisoned without charge, man released from Guantanamo

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Groups say human rights violations at the prison continue, Gitmo must be closed

gitmo-prisoners

by Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams

A man held at the Guantánamo Bay prison for nearly 13 years without charge has been transferred to his home country of Kuwait.

The Department of Defense made the announcement of his release Wednesday.

Thirty-seven-year-old Fawzi al Odah is the first man to be released based on the assessment of the Periodic Review Board, a body established in 2011 through an executive order and tasked with evaluating the merits of ongoing detention for Guantánamo prisoners.

Agence France-Presse reports that in 2001, Odah “was seized by tribesmen in northern Pakistan, who sold him to the Pakistani army, which in turn handed him over to the United States.”

The transfer agreement requires al Odah to spend at least a year at a rehabilitation facility, according to reporting by the Associated Press.

One hundred forty-eight men still remain at the offshore prison, 79 of whom have been cleared for release.

Rights groups welcomed the decision to release Odah, but stressed that it was just a small step forward at the notorious prison.

“The U.S. government must do far more to end human rights violations at Guantánamo,” stated Amnesty International USA’s Director of Individuals At Risk Program Zeke Johnson. “All remaining detainees should either be fairly tried in federal court or released.”

The Center for Constitutional Right issued a similar statement: “The real work now is in getting the Obama administration to do the right thing and live up to its promise to close Guantánamo: release the men who have been cleared, no matter where they are from, and give the others real trials, not indefinite detention.”

Israeli forces displayed ‘callous indifference’ in deadly attacks on family homes in Gaza

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A Palestinian child sits above the ruins of his ruined home, and looks at thousands of homes destroyed because of the war on Gaza. © 2014 Pacific Press

A Palestinian child sits above the ruins of his ruined home, and looks at thousands of homes destroyed because of the war on Gaza. © 2014 Pacific Press

by Amnesty International

Israeli forces have killed scores of Palestinian civilians in attacks targeting houses full of families which in some cases have amounted to war crimes, Amnesty International has disclosed in a new report on the latest Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip.

Families under the Rubble: Israeli attacks on inhabited homes details eight cases where residential family homes in Gaza were attacked by Israeli forces without warning during Operation Protective Edge in July and August 2014, causing the deaths of at least 104 civilians including 62 children. The report reveals a pattern of frequent Israeli attacks using large aerial bombs to level civilian homes, sometimes killing entire families.

“Israeli forces have brazenly flouted the laws of war by carrying out a series of attacks on civilian homes, displaying callous indifference to the carnage caused,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.

“The report exposes a pattern of attacks on civilian homes by Israeli forces which have shown a shocking disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians, who were given no warning and had no chance to flee.”

The report contains numerous accounts from survivors who describe the horror of frantically digging through the rubble and dust of their destroyed homes in search of the bodies of children and loved ones.

In several of the cases documented in the report, possible military targets were identified by Amnesty International. However the devastation to civilian lives and property caused in all cases was clearly disproportionate to the military advantages gained by launching the attacks.

“Even if a fighter had been present in one of these residential homes, it would not absolve Israel of its obligation to take every feasible precaution to protect the lives of civilians caught up in the fighting. The repeated, disproportionate attacks on homes indicate that Israel’s current military tactics are deeply flawed and fundamentally at odds with the principles of international humanitarian law,” said Philip Luther.

In the single deadliest attack documented in the report, 36 members of four families including 18 children were killed when the three-storey al-Dali building, was struck.  Israel has not announced why the building was targeted, but Amnesty International has identified possible military targets within the building.

The second deadliest attack appears to have targeted a member of the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, who was outside the Abu Jame’ family home. The house was completely levelled killing 25 civilians including 19 children. Regardless of the intended targets, both of these attacks constitute grossly disproportionate attacks and under international law, they should have been cancelled or postponed as soon as it was evident that so many civilians were present in the house.

Israeli officials have failed to give any justification for carrying out these attacks. In some of the cases in this report Amnesty International has not been able to identify any possible military target. In those cases it appears that the attacks directly and deliberately targeted civilians or civilian objects, which would constitute war crimes.

In all of the cases researched by Amnesty International no prior warning was given to residents of the homes which were attacked. If it had been given, excessive loss of civilian lives could clearly have been avoided.

“It is tragic to think that these civilian deaths could have been prevented. The onus is on Israeli officials to explain why they chose to deliberately flatten entire homes full of civilians, when they had a clear legal obligation to minimize harm to civilians and the means of doing so,” said Philip Luther.

The report highlights the catastrophic consequences of Israel’s attacks on homes, which have shattered the lives of entire families. Some of the homes attacked were overflowing with relatives who had fled other areas of Gaza in search of safety.

Survivors of an attack on the al-Hallaq family home described horrifying scenes of strewn body parts amid the dust and chaos after three missiles struck the house.

Khalil Abed Hassan Ammar, a doctor with the Palestinian Medical Council and a resident in the building said: “It was terrifying we couldn’t save anyone…. All of the kids were burnt, I couldn’t tell which were mine and which were the neighbours’…We carried whoever we were able to the ambulance… I only recognized Ibrahim my eldest child, when I saw the shoes he was wearing…I had bought them for him two days before.”

Ayman Haniyeh, one of the neighbours, described the trauma of trying to search for survivors:

“All I can remember are the bits and pieces I saw of bodies, teeth, head, arms, insides, everything scattered and spread,” he said. One survivor of the same attack described hugging a bag full of the “shreds” of her son’s body.

Israel has so far failed to even acknowledge any of the attacks detailed in the report and has not responded to Amnesty International’s requests for explanations of why each of these attacks took place.

At least 18,000 homes were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable during the conflict. More than 1,500 Palestinian civilians including 519 children were killed in Israeli attacks carried out during the latest Gaza conflict. Palestinian armed groups also committed war crimes, firing thousands of indiscriminate rockets into Israel killing six civilians including one child.

“What is crucial now is that there is accountability for any violations of international humanitarian law that have been committed. The Israeli authorities must provide answers. The international community must take urgent steps to end the perpetual cycle of serious violations and complete impunity,” said Philip Luther.

Given the failure of Israeli and Palestinian authorities to independently and impartially investigate allegations of war crimes, it is imperative that the international community support the involvement of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Amnesty International is renewing its calls on Israel and the Palestinian authorities to accede to the Rome Statute and grant the ICC the authority to investigate crimes committed in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). The organization is also calling for the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Israel and the OPT to the ICC so that the prosecutor can investigate allegations of crimes under international law by all parties.

Israel has continued to deny access to Gaza for international human rights organizations including Amnesty International and the organization has been forced to conduct its research for this report remotely, supported by two fieldworkers based in Gaza. Israel has also announced that it will not co-operate with the Commission of Inquiry established by the UN Human Rights Council.

“Failing to allow independent human rights monitors into Gaza smacks of a deliberately orchestrated attempt to cover up violations or hide from international scrutiny. Israel must cooperate fully with the UN Commission of Inquiry and grant international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International immediate access to Gaza to prove its commitment to human rights,” said Philip Luther.

Israel ex-officers urge PM to make peace with Palestinians

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) has been asked to actively pursue peace with the Palestinians in a letter from former high-ranking Israeli army members, police officers and spy chiefs (POOL/AFP Ronen Zvulun)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) has been asked to
actively pursue peace with the Palestinians in a letter from former
high-ranking Israeli army members, police officers and spy chiefs
(POOL/AFP Ronen Zvulun)

Jerusalem: Over 100 former high-ranking Israeli army members, police officers and spy chiefs have called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pursue peace with the Palestinians, media reported Monday.

“We, the undersigned, reserve IDF (army) commanders and retired police officers, who have fought in Israel’s military campaigns, know first-hand of the heavy and painful price exacted by wars,” 105 signatories said in a joint letter addressed to Netanyahu.

Excerpts of the letter were published by Ynet news website.

It called on Netanyahu to embark on a “courageous initiative” and make peace with Palestine and other Arab states.

“We fought bravely for the country in the hope that our children would live here in peace, but we got a sharp reality check, and here we are again sending our children out onto the battlefield,” it said.

“This is not a question of left or right. What we have here is an alternative option for resolving the conflict that is not based solely on bilateral negotiations with the Palestinians, which have failed time and again.

“We expect a show of courageous initiative and leadership from you. Lead — and we will stand behind you,” said the letter.

The website said the letter was the brainchild of major general Amnon Reshef, a former armored corps commander.

Ynet said that Reshef was “sick and tired of a reality of rounds of fighting every few years instead of a genuine effort to adopt the Saudi initiative.”

It was referring to the Arab Peace Initiative drawn up in 2002 by oil kingpin Saudi Arabia, which called on Israel to withdraw from occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, in exchange for a normalization of ties with Arab countries.

Former president Shimon Peres made a similar appeal last week, saying: “It’s a shame that the only peace initiative was an Arab initiative. Where is the Israeli peace initiative?”

US-brokered peace talks between Israel and Palestine have been frozen since April.

(AFP)

Praniti Shinde must apologise for her ban MIM statement, says Asaduddin Owaisi

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asaduddin-owaisi

Mumbai: All India Majlis-e-Itteh-adul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi has strongly condemned the remarks made by Praniti Shinde, the Congress MLA from Solapur Central, over banning his party. He threatened to file a defamation case against the daughter of former Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, if she did not apologise for dubbing the MIM a “treasonous political party.”

Mr. Owaisi said in Hyderabad that the MIM’s success in the recent Maharashtra Assembly election had led to her outburst.

“Why is she [Praniti Shinde] calling for a ban on us now? Nobody spoke of a ban when we supported the Congress from 2004 to 2012. It was we who bailed out the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh in 2011 when the main opposition party, the Telugu Desam Party, tabled a no-confidence motion,” said Mr. Owaisi adding that Ms. Shinde’s controversial statement smacked of Congress hypocrisy.

On Wednesday, Ms Praniti had demanded a ban on the MIM saying that the party was working against the country’s interest.

“The MIM is inimical to the country’s interests. They have never tried to project their ideas on a democratic platform. I am firmly for the proscription of this party,” she said, speaking in Solapur district.

Ms. Shinde, the MLA for Solapur City Central, further said that the speeches of MIM leaders ought to be carefully studied and police action initiated against them.

“The MIM has fundamentally been against India rather than any section of the population and harboured plans for subversion,” she remarked.

“Our decision to contest the Maharashtra election and our success in Solapur has thoroughly shaken Ms. Shinde. Solapur is not the private property of the Shindes. Any party can contest elections in India anywhere,” Mr. Owaisi said.

NHRC notice to defence ministry over Army killing of two teenage boys in Kashmir

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Hundreds join the funeral prayers of two youths killed in Army firing in Chattergam area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district late Monday evening. Photo: Faisal Khan

Hundreds join the funeral prayers of two youths killed in Army firing in Chattergam area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district late Monday evening. Photo: Faisal Khan

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission Wednesday issued notice to the defence ministry and the Jammu and Kashmir police over the killing of two youths in firing by the Army, said a statement.

Taking suo motu cognisance of the incident, the commission issued notice to the secretary, ministry of defence, and the superintendent of police of Budgam district, calling for a response within two weeks.

Two teenage boys – Faisal Yousuf and Mehrajuddin Dar – were killed when army men opened fire on their Maruti car on Nov 3. The slain youth hail from Nowgam area and were friends. Although an army statement said, “The youths were travelling in a car and as claimed by the Army, they did not pay heed to signals to stop at the barriers set up by the security forces,” a government inquiry into the killings has contradicted the claims made by them that the car in which the youths were travelling tried to “sped away” when asked to stop in Chattergam.

As per the inquiry report, five persons were travelling in the car and they were all residents of Nowgam. An eyewitness account recorded by the committee states that the Maruti 800 car was stopped by the Army naka party and it “skidded off the road and hit a pole on the road side”.

“In the meantime one of the detachment of the naka party fired upon the vehicle, resulting into death of Burhan alias Faisal and Mehraj-ud-Din,” the report says.

Two more youths were injured in the firing incident who have been identified as Shakir and Zahid.

Ishfaq Ahmad, quoting his brother, Zahid, told KNS news agency that their car skidded as a speeding load carrier was about to run over them.

“The driver tried to save us and in the process our car ran into an electric pole. All of a sudden, Army started firing,” he said.

The fifth, Basim, emerged unscathed in the attack and ran away from the spot.

Chief minister Omar Abdullah Monday said the victims have “no connection” with the insurgency in the region and his party has demanded revocation of AFSPA, a draconian legislation which provides immunity to government forces from prosecution in civil courts.

Janata Parivar meets to form an anti-BJP front

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Janata Parivar leaders (from left) Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, JD (S) leader Deve Gowda, JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, RJD leader Lalu Prasad and former Bihar CM Nitish Kumar during a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday. Photo: V. Sudershan, The Hindu

Janata Parivar leaders (from left) Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, JD (S) leader Deve Gowda, JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, RJD leader Lalu Prasad and former Bihar CM Nitish Kumar during a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday. Photo: V. Sudershan, The Hindu

New Delhi: The merger of parties belonging to the erstwhile Janata Parivar is likely to occur following a meeting between them at the residence of SP chief Mulayam Singh’s residence here on Thursday.

With an aim of forming an effective counterweight to the Narendra Modi-led BJP, leaders of the Janata Parivar such as Sharad Yadav, Lalu Prasad Yadav, H. D. Deve Gowda and Nitish Kumar met at a luncheon.

JD(U) boss Nitish Kumar told reporters that the splinter groups of the 1970s have now decided on unity. “This meeting decided on our unity. In future, we can move from unity to merger into one party,” he told reporters.

The parties have decided on a common stance and agenda to take on the government in Parliament, identifying BJP’s alleged U-turn on black money, employment for youths and farm prices as matters of concern.

While the meeting did not take up the issue of allying with the Congress, Kumar said there was discussion about approaching regional parties such as Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee.

Besides the key leaders, Dushyant Chautala (INLD), Ramgopal Yadav, Shiv Gopal Yadav(SP), KC Tyagi (JDU), Kamal Morarka (SJP) and Preemchand Gupta(RJD ) were also present at Thursday’s meeting.

The Left, meanwhile, has welcomed the decision by the social parties to unite. “They witnessed more divisions…we will work on key issues,” CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said.

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