• Home
  • About Us
  • Events
  • Submissions
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • NewsVoir
  • Newswire
  • Nasheman Urdu ePaper

Nasheman

India's largest selling Urdu weekly, now also in English

  • News & Politics
    • India
    • Indian Muslims
    • Muslim World
  • Culture & Society
  • Opinion
  • In Focus
  • Human Rights
  • Photo Essays
  • Multimedia
    • Infographics
    • Podcasts
You are here: Home / Archives for ICC

Lalit Modi reveals blueprint of breakaway cricket body to rival ICC

August 10, 2015 by Nasheman

Lalit Modi

London: He is living in exile and facing arrest but that has not stopped sacked IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi from preparing the blueprint for a breakaway governing body for cricket to rival the ICC — a plan which he claims is the future “world order”.

Modi, who faces allegations of financial impropriety and is currently based here, said the new body would be affiliated with the Olympic movement and oversee Test and T20 competitions, while scrapping the ODI format altogether.

“We’re talking about another cricketing system. There is a blueprint out there, it’s got my rubber stamp on it,” Modi told the ‘Australian Broadcasting Corporation’.

“I have been involved in it. I say it for the first time, I’ve been involved in putting that blue print together. We could take on the existing establishment, no problem. It requires a few billion dollars, I don’t think it would be a problem to get that … into action,” he said.

“The plan that I have put together is a very detailed plan, it’s not a plan that’s come off the cuff, it’s been taking years and years and years in the making,” he added.

Modi, a pariah in cricket after he was sacked in 2010 as commissioner of the very league he conceptualized, has an arrest warrant against him based on the Enforcement Directorate’s allegations.

Modi, on his part, has vehemently denied all charges against him. The controversial administrator said his plan would only fail if the ICC, currently headed by his nemesis and former BCCI President N Srinivasan, carries out reforms.

“I hope that print [the blueprint] doesn’t take off. But if the people can’t continue, then that print will take off and that blueprint will become the world order tomorrow. I guarantee you that, sitting here today,” he said.

Modi said his blueprint comprises a calendar of events to rival the ICC’s schedule in Tests and T20 games. “The plan conceives only of Test cricket and T20; it doesn’t take into account one-day at all. I think that is completely redundant in today’s day and age. I think it should just be T20 and Test matches that should be played,” he said.

Modi said the ICC should look to get the International Olympic Committee’s affiliation. “I have been proposing that. The ICC will never agree to that; never means never. It is a plan that one day, if I ever implement it, will re-write history in sport. “IPL has re-written history in sport in the way it’s marketed. I think this will re-write history once again.”

(PTI)

Filed Under: India Tagged With: ICC, IPL, Lalit Modi

Palestine Delivers 'Evidence' of Israeli Abuses to ICC

June 25, 2015 by Nasheman

Israel's 2014 invasion of Gaza devastated the coastal enclave and left over 2,000 people dead. | Photo: Reuters

Israel’s 2014 invasion of Gaza devastated the coastal enclave and left over 2,000 people dead. | Photo: Reuters

by teleSUR

Palestinian leaders say they have solid evidence Israel has committed widespread human rights abuses.

Palestinians will hand evidence of alleged Israeli war crimes to the International Criminal Court Thursday as part of a preliminary investigation into the 2014 invasion of Gaza.

“The files to be presented to the court refer to war crimes and crimes committed by individuals of the Israeli leadership,” the Palestinian Liberation Organization said in a statement.

Prominent peace activist Mustafa Barghouthi, head of the Palestine National Initiative, said the files include hundreds of pages of evidence against Israeli forces.

“Our aim is to establish war crimes in order that an investigation by the chief prosecutor’s office is carried out and to remove immunity from Israel and its leaders, achieve justice, apply human rights conventions, protect Palestinians and hold criminals accountable for their crimes,” he said, according to Ma’an News Agency.

The ICC case is still in its early stages, but could potentially lead to indictments against Israeli officials if the court finds evidence of human rights abuses.

The Palestinian submissions to the ICC are unlikely to speed up the court’s preliminary investigation, but could reinforce United Nations allegations of Israeli war crimes during its assault on Gaza last year. Earlier this week a damning U.N. report accused both Hamas and Israel of human rights abuses stemming from the 2014 conflict that left over 2000 people dead – almost all Palestinian civilians.

Israel has disputed the U.N.’s findings and argued Palestinians shouldn’t be entitled to petition the ICC for an investigation, as Palestine isn’t universally recognized as a state. Israeli officials have argued any international investigation into alleged Israeli human rights abuses will undermine peace talks – a stance widely dismissed by both Palestinian leaders and human rights groups.

Yet allegations of Israeli abuses don’t just stem from the Gaza invasion. Many of the documents set to be handed over to the ICC reportedly include details of allegations of Israeli violations of international law in the West Bank. One document alone from the think tank Applied Research Institute includes nearly 500 pages of concerns stemming from Israel’s controversial West Bank settlements. The settlements have been labeled illegal by the U.N., while Palestinians say they are a major hurdle for peace talks.

Filed Under: Muslim World Tagged With: ICC, International Criminal Court, Israel, Palestine

Palestine to submit first file to ICC for Israel investigation

June 19, 2015 by Nasheman

“It certainly draws a grim picture of what Israel is doing and why we think that there are reasonable grounds," said Palestinian Foreign Ministry official Ammar Hijazi of the file Palestine plans to submit to the ICC. (Al Bawaba/File)

“It certainly draws a grim picture of what Israel is doing and why we think that there are reasonable grounds,” said Palestinian Foreign Ministry official Ammar Hijazi of the file Palestine plans to submit to the ICC. (Al Bawaba/File)

by Press TV

Palestinian officials are planning to submit their first file to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open criminal proceedings against the Israeli regime.

The file will be sent to the ICC chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, on June 25, and will focus on the violations of international law by Israel, Palestinian Foreign Ministry official, Ammar Hijazi, told reporters in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday.

The move is part of Palestinians’ attempt against the Tel Aviv regime and the crimes it has committed against Palestinian territories, including crimes committed during the latest Israeli war on the besieged Gaza Strip last year.

The file is “only general, it’s only statistical,” Hijazi said, adding, “But it certainly draws a grim picture of what Israel is doing and why we think that there are reasonable grounds… for the prosecutor to start (her) investigations.”

He further noted that Palestinian officials would submit the details of specific incidents if Bensouda decides to proceed with inquiries.

Bensouda’s office has already launched a preliminary examination into the crimes that took place since June 2014, when an Israeli-fueled unrest led to another war between Israel and the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Authority officially joined the ICC on April 1, becoming the 123rd member of The Hague-based court.

The Palestinian decision to join the ICC was made in January after decades of negotiations with Israel failed to put an end to Tel Aviv’s policy of expanding illegal settlements on the occupied Palestinian lands.

Israel started its latest war on the Gaza Strip in early July last year. The offensive ended on August 26, 2014 with a truce that took effect through indirect negotiations in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

Nearly 2,200 Palestinians, including more than 500 children, were killed in Israel’s 50-day onslaught. Over 11,100 people were also injured.

Filed Under: Muslim World Tagged With: ICC, International Criminal Court, Israel, Palestine

ICC rejects Israel's claims of bias in war crimes investigation

May 2, 2015 by Nasheman

ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told reporters that the court will carry out an "unbiased" inquiry into the war crimes accusations. (AFP/File)

ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told reporters that the court will carry out an “unbiased” inquiry into the war crimes accusations. (AFP/File)

by Press TV

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has rejected Israel’s claims that the court may carry out a biased investigation into the Tel Aviv regime’s war crimes during its devastating military aggression against the Gaza Strip last summer.

ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told Israel’s Haaretz newspaper on Friday that The Hague-based court will launch an “unbiased” inquiry into the case. The court will consider evidence brought by Palestinians against Israel “independently and impartially without fear or favor,” Bensouda said, adding that her “office will be guided by a policy of investigating and prosecuting those most responsible for the commission of mass crimes.”

The Israeli regime launched a 50-day deadly war on Gaza last summer that ended in August 2014 with a truce. The aggression left about 2,200 Palestinians, including 577 children, dead and over 11,100 others injured.

In April, Palestinians formally joined the ICC, a membership that enabled them to bring war crimes charges against Israeli officials.

Tel Aviv reportedly claims that institutions like the ICC are biased against Israel and thus prone to unfairly target the regime. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the regime will allow the Israeli soldiers to appear at the ICC and face potential war crime charges.

Joining the ICC also opens up the possibility for Palestinians to challenge Tel Aviv’s illegal settlement expansion in the occupied territories besides taking the regime to task for its war crimes during the 2014 military aggression against the Gaza Strip.

In January, the ICC opened a preliminary examination into Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister, however, denounced ICC’s decision as “absurd,” claiming that the move runs against the international law.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Fatou Bensouda, Gaza, ICC, International Criminal Court, Israel, Palestine

Palestine formally joins International Criminal Court

April 1, 2015 by Nasheman

Palestinians join The Hague-based International Criminal Court, setting scene for potential legal action against Israel.

Palestinians reject the argument the Israeli officials cannot be tried at the ICC, because Israel is not a signatory of the Rome Statute [EPA]

Palestinians reject the argument the Israeli officials cannot be tried at the ICC, because Israel is not a signatory of the Rome Statute [EPA]

by Al Jazeera

Palestine has formally attained membership of the International Criminal Court, a move that could open the door to possible war crime indictments against Israeli officials despite uncertainty over its wider ramifications.

The accession on Wednesday is another landmark in the Palestinian diplomatic and legal international campaign, which gained steam in 2014.

The Palestinians moved to join The Hague-based court on January 2, in a process that was finalised on Wednesday, setting the scene for potential legal action.

“Palestine has and will continue to use all legitimate tools within its means in order to defend itself against Israeli colonisation and other violations of international law,” said senior Palestinian official Saeb Erakat.

Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull, reporting from The Hague, said despite their membership, the Palestinians may still have to wait for the ICC to begin investigating Israelis accused of war crimes.

“This is such a heavily politicised case, that the court will have to think hard before taking action against the Israelis. It may be years before we something.”

Diana Chehade, a former ICC official, told Al Jazeera, preliminary examinations could be completed by the end of this year, but the court would not investigate cases already being looked in to by other judicial institutions.

“Based on the principle of complimentarity, the ICC would not investigate if an Israeli judicial institution is investigating a war crime to ICC standards,” Chehade said.

‘ICC train left’

The ICC has long been brandished as one of the Palestinians’ doomsday measures, along with threatening to end vital West Bank security coordination with Israel.

The notion of ICC investigations is outrageous to Israel, and Netanyahu has accused the Palestinian unity government – including Hamas which the Jewish state considers “terrorist” – of “manipulating” the court.

Israel retaliated swiftly and cut off millions of dollars in monthly tax payments it collects on behalf of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.

The notion of forming a Palestinian state by negotiations was buried during this month’s election campaign by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin  Netanyahu, who pledged one would not be established on his watch, were he to retain his post as prime minister.

Netanyahu meanwhile released the held funds, which constitute two-thirds of the PA’s income, excluding foreign aid.

Some Israeli media reported that in exchange for unfreezing the money the Palestinians agreed to refrain from filing complaints to the ICC on April 1.

“It’s a huge lie. Taxes have nothing to do with our ICC approach. The ICC train already departed,” said Xavier Abu Eid, a spokesman for Palestine Liberation Organisation.

‘Absurd’ measures

April 1, however, will be primarily ceremonial, with Palestinian foreign minister Riad Malki receiving a copy of the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty.

While some Palestinian officials announced the date as the day they would file complaints against Israelis, in reality it is more likely they will wait, as state members are only able to draw the court’s attention to specific cases.

In addition, they will be holding on to see the outcomes of a preliminary probe launched by ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on January 16.

At the same time that Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas sought ICC accession, he also sent the court documents authorising the prosecutor to investigate alleged crimes that took place in Palestinian territories since June 13, 2014.

The unrest in June escalated to the summer war between Israel and Gaza fighters, which left dead 2,200 Palestinians and 73 on the Israeli side.

So far, no ICC investigation of Israeli officials has been launched and no time framework has been set for one.

But the Palestinians are confident they will happen sooner rather than later, considering “all the attention to Palestine” at the ICC.

The Palestinians reject the argument the Israeli officials cannot be tried at the ICC, because Israel is not a signatory of the Rome Statute, maintaining the court can also investigate crimes committed on the territory of member states.

“It’s absurd for the ICC to ignore international law and agreements, under which the Palestinians don’t have a state and can only get one through direct negotiations with Israel,” Netanyahu said in January following the announcement of the preliminary probe.

Among the forms of Israeli retaliation is legal assistance for victims of Palestinian attacks.

In February, a US jury found the PA and PLO responsible for six attacks which killed dozens and ordered them to pay the victims’ families more than $650 million in damages.

Filed Under: Muslim World Tagged With: ICC, International Criminal Court, Israel, Palestine

Palestine to lodge ICC case against Israel in April

March 3, 2015 by Nasheman

A Palestinian boy climbs through the rubble of a house after it was hit in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City, Aug. 25, 2014. (Photo: Wissam Nassar / The New York Times)

A Palestinian boy climbs through the rubble of a house after it was hit in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City, Aug. 25, 2014. (Photo: Wissam Nassar / The New York Times)

by RT

Palestine’s first complaint against Israel’s alleged war crimes will be filed at the International Criminal Court in April, according to a senior Palestinian official. The issue will reportedly be related to the 2014 war in Gaza.

“One of the first important steps will be filing a complaint against Israel at the ICC on April 1 over the [2014] Gaza war and settlement activity,” Mohammed Shtayyeh, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) told AP on Monday.

The Palestinians will be able to take legal action at the court based in The Hague, Netherlands, after the nation moved to join the international authority formally in January. According to the court’s procedures, “the statute will enter into force for the State of Palestine on April 1.”

Israel’s foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon expressed his country’s refusal to react to the declaration, describing it as“speculative and hypothetical,” as quoted by AP. The Israeli administration has for decades consistently opposed Palestine’s legal power to sue Israel for war crimes.

After Palestine’s move to join the ICC was confirmed by the UN in January, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country “will not let Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers and officers be dragged” to The Hague. Following the announcement in January, Israel froze the transfer of half a billion shekels ($125 million) in tax revenue to the Palestinian Authority.

The ICC, with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, announced a preliminary examination into Israel’s 2014 actions in Gaza. Around 2,200 Palestinians were killed in that conflict,with over 60 percent of the victims being civilians. Israel’s losses included 66 soldiers and 6 civilians, according to an investigation, carried out by AP earlier this month.

After Palestine officially joins the Court in April, it also plans to sue Israel over its policy of settlement building on land occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. Under international law, all Israeli construction on land seized during the war is considered illegal.

Filed Under: Human Rights, Muslim World Tagged With: Conflict, Gaza, Human rights, ICC, International Criminal Court, Israel, Palestine, Rights

Palestinians to become ICC member from April 1, UN confirms

February 6, 2015 by Nasheman

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (Reuters / Enrique Castro-Mendivil)

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (Reuters / Enrique Castro-Mendivil)

by RT

Palestine will join the International Criminal Court on April 1, announced UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday. The Palestinians will be able to sue Israel for war crimes, a move the Israeli administration has consistently opposed for decades.

The UN treaty website says that due to the court’s procedures “the statute will enter into force for the State of Palestine on April 1, 2015.”

Along with the ICC application, the UN chief approved other sets of documents, enabling Palestine to join 16 international agreements, conventions and treaties.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed the ICC application documents on the last day of 2014, following the UN Security Council’s resolution on December 30, which rejected Palestine’s official bid for statehood, a document vetoed by the US in support of Israel.

The Palestinian delegation submitted its ICC application on January 2.

Israel’s immediate reaction was negative.

“We will not let Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers and officers be dragged to the International Criminal Court in The Hague,” Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting, AFP reported.

Israeli Prime Minister and leader of the ruling rightwing Likud party, Benjamin Netanyahu (AFP Photo / Jack Guez)

The Israeli administration immediately applied financial pressure on the Palestinian Authority, freezing the transfer of half a billion shekels (over $127 million) in monthly tax revenues it collected on behalf of the Palestinians.

The US joined the financial pressure on the Palestinian Authority on Monday, when the Obama administration announced a review of America’s annual $440 million aid package to the Palestinians. As AP pointed out, once the Palestinian Authority apply any case against Israel to the International Criminal Court, US financial help to Palestine will cease immediately under American law.

Joining the ICC will give the Palestinian Authority new and powerful leverage to make Israel more compliant regarding withdrawal from the occupied territories.

International Criminal Court’s building (ICC) in The Hague (AFP Photo / Vincent Jannink)

In anticipation of the ICC bid last week, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour announced the Palestinians will prosecute Israel for crimes committed during the war in Gaza last summer. According to Mansour, Palestinians will also sue Israel for constructing settlements on the occupied Palestinian territory.

In late 2014, the Palestine stepped up its efforts to gain international recognition as a sovereign state. It came following the failure of the latest round of US-brokered peace talks with Israel, which was initiated after the bloody 50-day armed conflict in Gaza that left some 2,120 Palestinians and 68 Israelis dead.

Unlike before, this time around the aspirations of the Palestinians have found much wider international support, as many countries have openly spoken in favor of creating a sovereign Palestinian state.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ICC, Israel, Palestine, UN

India to host Twenty20 World Cup in March-April 2016: ICC

January 29, 2015 by Nasheman

International Cricket Council

New Delhi: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday released schedule for period 2015-19 thus confirming India as the venue for ICC World Twenty20 2016.

The ICC Board, which was meeting for the first time this year at it’s Dubai headquarters, also allotted the 11 March-3 April 2016 window to conduct the World Cup for this newest format of cricket.

India had already won the rights to host the 2016 edition and it’s expected that the next year, the tournament will follow the one used two years ago in Bangladesh.

Last April, the ICC announced that following the success of 2014 ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh, the same format will be used for the next edition too.

The tournament will have a group stage to be competed by the qualified Associate teams along with the two lowest-ranked Test sides. Each winner from the two groups will play in the tournament proper, Super 10.

Notably, it is the only ICC tournament allotted to India during this four year period.

The qualifiers for the ICC World Twenty20 2016 will be held in Ireland and Scotland from July 6-26.

Filed Under: India Tagged With: ICC, International Cricket Council, Twenty20, World Cup

Israel attempts to cut ICC funding in retaliation for Gaza inquiry

January 19, 2015 by Nasheman

Palestinians who fled their home due to the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip in July and August 2014 hold on life amid the debris of destroyed buildings in cold weather conditions in Khan Yunis on January 8,2015. Anadolu/Abed Rahim Khatib

Palestinians who fled their home due to the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip in July and August 2014 hold on life amid the debris of destroyed buildings in cold weather conditions in Khan Yunis on January 8,2015. Anadolu/Abed Rahim Khatib

by Al-Akhbar

Israel is lobbying member-states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to cut funding for the tribunal in response to its launch of a preliminary inquiry into possible war crimes in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, officials said on Sunday.

ICC prosecutors said on Friday they would examine “in full independence and impartiality” crimes that may have occurred in these Palestinian territories since June 13, 2014. This allows the court to delve into the Israeli assault on Gaza in July and August that killed more than 2,300 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 72 Israelis, most of them soldiers.

The decision came after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in the absence of peace talks and against strong opposition from Israel and the United States, requested ICC membership, which will come into effect on April 1.

Israel, which like the United States does not belong to the ICC, hopes to dent funding for the court that is drawn from the 122 member-states in accordance with the size of their economies, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday.

“We will demand of our friends in Canada, in Australia and in Germany simply to stop funding it,” he told Israel Radio.

“This body represents no one. It is a political body,” he said. “There are a quite a few countries — I’ve already taken telephone calls about this — that also think there is no justification for this body’s existence.”

He said he would raise the matter with visiting Canadian counterpart John Baird on Sunday.

Another Israeli official said that a similar request was sent to Germany, traditionally one of the court’s strongest supporters, and would also be made to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is separately visiting Jerusalem and whose nation is the largest contributor to the ICC.

Meanwhile, Hamas on Saturday welcomed the ICC inquiry and said it was prepared to provide material for complaints against the Zionist state.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said on Saturday the group appreciated the move.

“What is needed now is to quickly take practical steps in this direction and we are ready to provide (the court) with thousands of reports and documents that confirm the Zionist enemy has committed horrible crimes against Gaza and against our people,” he said in a statement.

The US State Department, echoing Israel’s stances, said on Friday that it strongly disagreed with the move. The United States has argued that Palestine is not a state and therefore not eligible to join the ICC.

“We strongly disagree with the ICC prosecutor’s action,” spokesman Jeff Rathke said in a statement. “The place to resolve the differences between the parties is through direct negotiation, not unilateral actions by either side.”

An initial ICC inquiry could lead to war crimes charges against Israel, whether relating to the recent Gaza war or its 47-year-long occupation of the West Bank. It also occupied Gaza from 1967 to 2005.

ICC membership also exposes the Palestinians to prosecution, possibly for rocket attacks on Israeli targets by armed groups operating out of Gaza.

The ICC, the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal, is the court of last resort for its 122 member states, aiming to hold the powerful accountable for the most heinous crimes when national authorities are unable or unwilling to act.

But the ICC has struggled over its first decade, completing just three cases and securing two convictions. Critics say it has been vulnerable to political pressure and opposition from non-members the United States, China and Russia.

(AFP, Reuters, Al-Akhbar)

Filed Under: Muslim World Tagged With: Hamas, Human rights, ICC, Israel, Palestine, War Crimes

17 Journalists Killed in Media’s Deadliest Year in Palestine by Israel

January 17, 2015 by Nasheman

media-death

by Al-Akhbar

2014 was the deadliest ever for journalists working in the Palestinian territories, a Gaza-based watchdog said on Thursday, months after a bloody war in the besieged enclave claimed the lives of more than 2,310 Gazans.

Meanwhile, a UN senior official on Thursday called on Israel to “immediately” unlock millions of dollars in taxes owed to the Palestinian Authority (PA) that were withheld after it decided to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the late December.

“2014 was a black year for freedom of the press in Palestine… and it was the worst and bloodiest,” the Gaza Center for Press Freedom said in its annual report.

The report accused Israel of committing 295 separate “violations of press freedom” across the occupied Palestinian territories.

These resulted in the deaths of 17 journalists during the deadly war in July and August, including that of an Italian photographer working for Associated Press.

The report revealed Israel arrested or detained an unspecified number of journalists, denied freedom of movement to local media workers wanting to leave the blockaded Gaza Strip, and partially or completely destroyed 19 buildings housing editorial operations during its bombardment of the territory during the conflict.

According to the Gaza Center for Press Freedom, the PA also committed 82 violations of press freedom, including arresting or summoning 28 journalists, and injuring or assaulting 26 more.

For 51 days this summer, Israel pounded the Gaza Strip — by air, land and sea — with the stated aim of ending rocket fire from the coastal enclave.

According to estimates based on preliminary information, as many as 96,000 Palestinian homes were damaged or destroyed during the days of hostilities, a higher figure than was previously thought.

Withheld tax revenues

On Thursday, UN Assistant Secretary-General Jens Anders Toyberg-Frandzen called on Israel to resume the transfer of $127 million tax revenues that were withheld after the PA decided to join the ICC.

He told the Security Council that the freeze of tax funds imposed on January 3 was in violation of the Oslo agreements between Israel and the PA.

The council’s monthly meeting on the Middle East was the first on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the failure of a Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations Security Council in December.

On Thursday’s meeting, chief Palestinian delegate Riyad Mansour called the withholding of Palestinian tax revenues a “blatant act of reprisal and theft of Palestinian funds” and condemned Israel’s “rabid settlement colonization.”

The Israeli side has also condemned Palestinian moves, with Ambassador Ron Prosor accusing Palestinians of “running away from negotiations” and obstructing the peace process.

The United States and the European Union have criticized Israel’s retaliatory move in response to the Palestinian application to join the ICC, which could investigate war crimes complaints against Israel.

Israel-Sweden encounter

Meanwhile, Israel said on Thursday that Sweden’s foreign minister was not welcome for an official visit in the country, with relations strained over Stockholm’s recognition of Palestine.

The minister, Margot Wallstroem, last week postponed a trip to Israel indefinitely, with Israeli media reports suggesting that Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman did not want to meet her.

Sweden’s decision in October to recognize the state of Palestine — the first major EU nation to do so — infuriated Israel, which temporarily recalled its ambassador to Stockholm.

“Do not wait to travel to Israel until the Swedish foreign minister comes here, because that could take a long time,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon told public broadcaster Swedish Radio.

“The Swedish foreign minister would not have been given any official meetings in Israel if she had traveled here. What Sweden did was an utterly unfriendly action,” Nahshon added.

Wallstroem considered making the trip without official meetings but would have been without a security detail during the commemoration of Swedish Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg and other events, the radio said, without giving sources.

“It is basically an insult,” Per Joensson, an editor with the Swedish Institute for International Affairs, told AFP.

“That is not a way to treat a sovereign foreign minister, unless you really want to punish her.”

Despite the furore, Sweden said Wallstroem would visit Israel after its March 17 legislative elections.

(AFP, Reuters, Al-Akhbar)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Freedom of Press, ICC, Israel, Media, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Sweden

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

KNOW US

  • About Us
  • Corporate News
  • FAQs
  • NewsVoir
  • Newswire
  • Realtor arrested for NRI businessman’s murder in Andhra Pradesh

GET INVOLVED

  • Corporate News
  • Letters to Editor
  • NewsVoir
  • Newswire
  • Realtor arrested for NRI businessman’s murder in Andhra Pradesh
  • Submissions

PROMOTE

  • Advertise
  • Corporate News
  • Events
  • NewsVoir
  • Newswire
  • Realtor arrested for NRI businessman’s murder in Andhra Pradesh

Archives

  • May 2025 (9)
  • April 2025 (50)
  • March 2025 (35)
  • February 2025 (34)
  • January 2025 (43)
  • December 2024 (83)
  • November 2024 (82)
  • October 2024 (156)
  • September 2024 (202)
  • August 2024 (165)
  • July 2024 (169)
  • June 2024 (161)
  • May 2024 (107)
  • April 2024 (104)
  • March 2024 (222)
  • February 2024 (229)
  • January 2024 (102)
  • December 2023 (142)
  • November 2023 (69)
  • October 2023 (74)
  • September 2023 (93)
  • August 2023 (118)
  • July 2023 (139)
  • June 2023 (52)
  • May 2023 (38)
  • April 2023 (48)
  • March 2023 (166)
  • February 2023 (207)
  • January 2023 (183)
  • December 2022 (165)
  • November 2022 (229)
  • October 2022 (224)
  • September 2022 (177)
  • August 2022 (155)
  • July 2022 (123)
  • June 2022 (190)
  • May 2022 (204)
  • April 2022 (310)
  • March 2022 (273)
  • February 2022 (311)
  • January 2022 (329)
  • December 2021 (296)
  • November 2021 (277)
  • October 2021 (237)
  • September 2021 (234)
  • August 2021 (221)
  • July 2021 (237)
  • June 2021 (364)
  • May 2021 (282)
  • April 2021 (278)
  • March 2021 (293)
  • February 2021 (192)
  • January 2021 (222)
  • December 2020 (170)
  • November 2020 (172)
  • October 2020 (187)
  • September 2020 (194)
  • August 2020 (61)
  • July 2020 (58)
  • June 2020 (56)
  • May 2020 (36)
  • March 2020 (48)
  • February 2020 (109)
  • January 2020 (162)
  • December 2019 (174)
  • November 2019 (120)
  • October 2019 (104)
  • September 2019 (88)
  • August 2019 (159)
  • July 2019 (122)
  • June 2019 (66)
  • May 2019 (276)
  • April 2019 (393)
  • March 2019 (477)
  • February 2019 (448)
  • January 2019 (693)
  • December 2018 (736)
  • November 2018 (572)
  • October 2018 (611)
  • September 2018 (692)
  • August 2018 (667)
  • July 2018 (469)
  • June 2018 (440)
  • May 2018 (616)
  • April 2018 (774)
  • March 2018 (338)
  • February 2018 (159)
  • January 2018 (189)
  • December 2017 (142)
  • November 2017 (122)
  • October 2017 (146)
  • September 2017 (178)
  • August 2017 (201)
  • July 2017 (222)
  • June 2017 (155)
  • May 2017 (205)
  • April 2017 (156)
  • March 2017 (178)
  • February 2017 (195)
  • January 2017 (149)
  • December 2016 (143)
  • November 2016 (169)
  • October 2016 (167)
  • September 2016 (137)
  • August 2016 (115)
  • July 2016 (117)
  • June 2016 (125)
  • May 2016 (171)
  • April 2016 (152)
  • March 2016 (201)
  • February 2016 (202)
  • January 2016 (217)
  • December 2015 (210)
  • November 2015 (177)
  • October 2015 (284)
  • September 2015 (243)
  • August 2015 (250)
  • July 2015 (188)
  • June 2015 (216)
  • May 2015 (281)
  • April 2015 (306)
  • March 2015 (297)
  • February 2015 (280)
  • January 2015 (245)
  • December 2014 (287)
  • November 2014 (254)
  • October 2014 (185)
  • September 2014 (98)
  • August 2014 (8)

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in