Palestine – Page 6

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]

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.

UN says 2014 'devastating year' for Palestinians

March 27, 2015 by Nasheman

Annual Humanitarian Overview finds more Palestinian civilians were killed in 2014 than any year since the 1967 war.

‘Continued occupation undermines the ability of Palestinians to live normal lives,’ said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator. AFP / Abbas Momani

by Dalia Hatuqa, Al Jazeera

Occupied West Bank: The year 2014 claimed more Palestinian civilian lives than any year since the 1967 war, the United Nations has said in a report, with a senior member of the agency dubbing it a “devastating year” for the occupied territories.

The annual Humanitarian Overview, released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Thursday, said the crisis affecting Palestinians’ lives, liberties, security movement and access stemmed from the “prolonged [Israeli] occupation…, alongside a system of policies that undermine the ability of Palestinians to live normal, self-sustaining lives”.

The report, titled “Fragmented Lives” – which is based on data cross-referenced with other UN agencies, as well as government sources, international, Palestinian and Israeli NGOs – said that if these factors were removed, Palestinians would be self-sufficient and capable of developing their own institutions and economy without the need for any humanitarian assistance.

“2014 was a devastating year for Palestinians in the [occupied territories]” said James Rawley, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the territories.

“Continued occupation undermines the ability of Palestinians to live normal lives. Were these factors removed and related policies changed, international humanitarian assistance would not be necessary here.”

Fifty-eight Palestinians were killed in the West Bank last year – the highest number of Palestinian fatalities in incidents involving Israeli forces since 2007.

More than 6,000 were injured, the report said, dubbing it the highest number of Palestinian injuries since 2005, when the OCHA began collecting data.

“A record number of 1,215 Palestinians were displaced due to home demolitions by Israeli authorities,” Rawley added.

“Settlement and settler activity continued, in contravention of international law, and contributed to humanitarian vulnerability of affected Palestinian communities.”

Approximately 1,500 civilians (550 of them children) were killed in Gaza during the July-August war. Five Israeli civilians were killed during that time, including a child.

One hundred thousand people in the Gaza Strip are still internally displaced, living in collectives centres, with host families or in makeshift shelters. Some have chosen to stay in their heavily damaged homes.

According to the report’s findings: “In 2014, Gaza witnessed the highest rate of internal displacement since 1967… Almost 500,000 people, 28 percent of the population, were internally displaced.”

Since the summer, reconstruction in Gaza has been slowed, hampered by the Israeli blockade and dwindling funds, the report explained, but highlighted that the temporary Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism put into place after last summer’s war has enabled the import of some construction material.

In the West Bank, the number of people displaced in 2014 due to demolitions is the highest recorded in a single year since the OCHA began tracking this indicator in 2008, the report said.

While the number of structures demolished in Area C – the 60 percent of the West Bank under exclusive Israeli control – declined last year, there was a 20 percent increase in people displaced, because more residential structures were targeted.

The report called on all parties to exercise constraint and for Israel to take responsibility as an occupying power.

“All parties to the conflict … must fulfil their legal obligations to conduct hostilities in accordance with international law to ensure the protection of all civilians and to ensure accountability for acts committed,” it said.

White House says Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands 'must end'

March 25, 2015 by Nasheman

In striking choice of words, Obama’s chief of staff elevates public rhetoric against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

The White House chief of staff, Denis McDonough, told the lobby group J Street that the US would never support unilateral Israeli annexation of the West Bank. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

by Jon Queally, Common Dreams

President Obama’s chief of staff Denis McDonough on Monday made a striking announcement on behalf of the administration by telling a crowd of Jewish-American political activists that Israel’s military “occupation” of the West Bank must end as he pushed back against comments made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both before and after his recent reelection victory.

“An occupation that has lasted for almost 50 years must end,” said McDonough at the annual J Street conference in Washington, DC. “Israel cannot maintain military control of another people indefinitely.”

J Street is billed as the more liberal, pro-Israel lobby group which in recent years has tried to offset the more hawkish American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC.

Though Israel’s domination of the West Bank and its continued building of settlements on captured Palestinian lands has long been considered a violation of international law and is the basis for some much of the ongoing conflict, the U.S. government—including the Obama administration—has widely supported Israel’s activities, defended it from international sanctions at the United Nations, provided the Israeli military with a constant flow of aid, and rarely, if ever, employed the term “occupation” despite its commonplace use elsewhere in the world when describing the situation.

McDonough’s stronger use of language was widely seen as a public declaration of continued frustration by the administration regarding statements made by Netanyahu ahead of Israel elections that took place last week. Not only did the Prime Minister foreswear publicly his support for the two-state solution—a commitment to the so-called “peace process” that has been the basis for international efforts to end the conflict—but he also employed racially-charged language against Israeli-Arabs during the elections as he used fear-mongering to warn Jewish voters in Israel that their Arab neighbors were “voting in droves” to destroy Israel. Though Netanyahu has made efforts to walk back both comments, McDonough expressed the White House’s reluctance to accept these new assurances.

“We cannot simply pretend that those comments were never made, or that they don’t raise questions about the prime minister’s commitment to achieving peace through direct negotiations,” McDonough told the crowd.

Reasserting the White House commitment to the two-state solution, he added, “Palestinian children deserve the same right to be free in their own land as Israeli children in their land. A two-state solution will finally bring Israelis the security and normalcy to which they are entitled, and Palestinians the sovereignty and dignity they deserve.”

In response, speaking with the Palestinian News Network, PLO central committee member, Wassel Abu Yousef, indicated McDonough’s statements may be an improvement in rhetoric but said they were “late” in terms of serving the right of the Palestinian people. According to Yousef, words from the Obama administration “should be joint to actions to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, in order to give the Palestinian people their right to self-determination.”

Ali Abunimah, author and Palestinian rights activist, was even more dismissive of McDonough’s comments, declaring on Twitter: “Don’t be impressed by Obama chief of staff’s empty words on Israeli ‘occupation,'”adding that it is an “Occupation paid for by U.S..”

As Jessica Schulberg at the Huffington Post noted:

Despite his harsher-than-usual words for the Israeli leadership, McDonough stressed that the U.S. will continue to ensure that Israel has a stronger military than any of its neighbors. He reminded his audience that the U.S. delivered immediate emergency funding of $225 million for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system during last summer’s Gaza War, in addition to nearly $1 billion in funding already in place for the system.

Next year, McDonough added, Israel will receive F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets, making it the only country in the Middle East that will be armed with the highly advanced aircraft.

US will not participate in UN human rights forum on Palestine

March 23, 2015 by Nasheman

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel sits next to President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, left, at the White House in Sept., 2010. (AFP/File)

The United States will not be be speaking at the UN’s annual human rights forum on violations in the Palestinian Territories, reports Reuters.

“The US delegation will not be speaking about Palestine today,” a US spokesman in Geneva told Reuters.

The unprecedented move could be a reflection of the US reassessing its relationship with Israel afterongoing tension with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Most recently, Obama denounced Netanyahu’s declaration that a two-state solution with Palestine would never happen so long as he is reelected. Netanyahu claims his comments were misinterpreted.

Netanyahu also recently vowed to stop the US from reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran.

Benjamin Netanyahu wins elections

March 18, 2015 by Nasheman

Prime Minister’s right-wing Likud party wins surprise victory, sweeping past rival Zionist Union in bitter campaign.

by Patrick Strickland, Al Jazeera

Haifa: With more than 99 percent of the votes tallied, Israel’s incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears poised to retain his office and form the next government.

Though the final campaign polls showed Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party trailing behind the centre-left Zionist Union, headed by Isaac Herzog, Likud gained 30 seats, six more than its main competitor, according to official results released on Wednesday.

The Joint Arab Coalition, an electoral alliance of four Palestinian-majority parties in Israel, pulled 14 seats, and Yesh Atid, the centrist party headed by former finance minister Yair Lapid, earned 11 seats. Kulanu, a right-wing breakaway party led by former Likud member Moshe Kahlon, took ten seats.

A number of smaller, mostly right-wing parties were unable to break the single digits: Jewish Home earned eight seats, the religious Shas and United Torah parties each got seven and the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu has six seats.

The left-wing Zionist party Meretz walked away with four seats.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has called for a national unity government including both Likud and the Zionist Union, but that prospect is unpopular with most Jewish Israeli voters.

According to a poll conducted by Israel’s Channel 10, 53 percent of Jewish Israelis oppose such a coalition.

Some analysts expect Netanyahu to cobble together a coalition with right-wing and religious parties.

The Likud party announced on Wednesday morning that Netanyahu has reached out to leaders of the parties with which he hopes to form a coalition: the Jewish Home party, Kulanu, Yisrael Beitenu, Shas and the United Torah Party

Palestinian state?

Zionist Union MK Revital Swid worried that restarting negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority would be difficult under another Netanyahu-led government.

“Regarding security, we all understand that there are challenges in the north and the south of Israel,” she told Al Jazeera. “But people want to see a start of negotiations [with the Palestinians] and putting the peace process back on track.”

“Talking to our neighbours will bring a better life here,” Swid added.

Yet, Netanyahu declared on Monday his intention to block the establishment of a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

“I think that anyone who moves to establish a Palestinian state and evacuate territory gives territory away to radical Islamist attacks against Israel,” Netanyahu said. “The left has buried its head in the sand time after time and ignores this, but we are realistic and understand.”

Dimi Reider, an Israeli journalist and researcher at the European Council on Foreign Affairs, expects Netanyahu “to do much of the same, only quicker” now that he has maintained his position as prime minister.

“More of the same, though, doesn’t mean the situation is static,” Reider told Al Jazeera. “The international pressure will increase.”

“He won’t outright announce a one-state solution and annexation because the illusion of the possibility of a two-state solution is what has allowed Israel to implement his de-facto one-state solution,” he remarked.

Joint Arab List

As electoral turnout polls poured in on Tuesday afternoon, Netanyahu appealed to right-wing voters to cast their ballots, citing the high turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel.

An estimated 1.7 million Palestinians carry Israeli citizenship and live in cities, towns and villages across the country.

Nadim Nashif, director of Baladna, a Haifa-based Arab youth advocacy organisation, expects Netanyahu’s new government to continue introducing discriminatory laws that target Israel’s Palestinian minority.

“This is the true test of the international community,” he said. “Will they do something about it now? Or will they stand by like before?”

Alluding to the results, Nashif argues that a national unity coalition between Netanyahu and Herzog is unlikely. “Thus, the Zionist Union is likely lead the opposition and not the Joint Arab List,” he told Al Jazeera.

Analysts have speculated as to whether the Joint Arab List will be able to stay intact, given the sharp ideological divides between the parties, which include socialists, nationalists and Islamists.

Acknowledging the “serious differences between those parties,” Nashif said: “I think the Joint Arab List will stay intact because they have to. They have to stay together for future elections because the electoral threshold requires it.”

“In any case, the differences are good because they reflect the diversity of our community,” he said. “I don’t see it as a bad thing.”

On Eve of Election, Netanyahu Promises No Palestinian State If Re-Elected

March 17, 2015 by Nasheman

Under political pressure, Israeli prime minister admitted publicly what has long been evidenced by behavior

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to reporters at his office in Jerusalem. (Photo: Reuters)

by Jon Queally, Common Dreams

On the eve of national elections in Israel, politically-embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that if he and his Likud Party were returned to power for another term he would make sure that an independent Palestinian state would not come into being.

The comments come as a reversal of official Israeli government policy which, like the U.S. government, states that a two-state solution is the preferred outcome for the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

As the New York Times reports:

Mr. Netanyahu made the assertion on the eve of an election in which he is trailing in the polls. He has been campaigning aggressively, appealing to conservatives for support.

“I think that anyone who is going to establish a Palestinian state today and evacuate lands, is giving attack grounds to the radical Islam against the state of Israel,” he said in a video interview published on the NRG website. “Anyone who ignores this is sticking his head in the sand. The left does this time and time again. We are realistic and understand.”

Asked if he meant that a Palestinian state would not be established if he were to continue as Israel’s prime minister, Mr. Netanyahu replied: “Correct.”

Netanyahu’s comments on Monday come a day after stating that his government, if it remains in power, will not be afraid to build new settlements in East Jerusalem and across the occupied territories. Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the rightful capital of a future Palestinian state.

“My friends and I in Likud will preserve the unity of Jerusalem,” he said. “We will continue to build in Jerusalem, we will add thousands of housing units, and in the face of all the (international) pressure, we will persist and continue to develop our eternal capital.”

Reaction on Twitter was quick to acknowledge that few ever thought Netanyahu had any commitment—official or otherwise—to what is called the two-state solution. As journalist Murtaza Hussein tweeted with implied sarcasm:

Can’t believe Netanyahu not committed to allowing a Palestinian state. Never got any indication of this before.

— Murtaza Hussain (@MazMHussain) March 16, 2015

The Associated Press adds:

Tuesday’s election caps an acrimonious three-month campaign that is widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu. The hard-line leader has portrayed himself as the only politician capable of confronting Israel’s numerous security challenges, while his opponents have focused on the country’s high cost of living and presented Netanyahu as imperious and out of touch with the common man. As Netanyahu’s poll numbers have dropped in recent days, he has appeared increasingly desperate, stepping up his nationalistic rhetoric in a series of interviews to local media to appeal to his core base. Netanyahu has also complained of an international conspiracy to oust him, funded by wealthy foreigners who dislike him, and on Sunday night, he addressed an outdoor rally before tens of thousands of hard-line supporters in Tel Aviv. The strategy is aimed at siphoning off voters from nationalistic rivals, but risks alienating centrist voters who are expected to determine the outcome of the race.

When it comes to establishing a viable and equitable Palestinian state, author and rights activist Ali Abunimah also took to Twitter in the wake of Netanyahu’s comments to point out that Likud’s largest political rival in this election, the newly formed Zionist Union coalition, is not itself likely to make any substantial moves toward supporting a settlement with the Palestinians or ending the occupation of the West Bank.

Neither will “Zionist Union” RT @TimesofIsrael: – @Netanyahu: if elected I will not establish a Palestinian state. http://t.co/Q0cXfjmDAD

— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) March 16, 2015

Hamas reacts to potential Egyptian attack

March 10, 2015 by Nasheman

by Adnan Abu Amer, Al-Monitor

Hamas never imagined that it would be classified as a terrorist movement by an Arab country — a classification that has dangerous political, media and perhaps military repercussions.

However, Egypt’s Court of Urgent Matters declared Hamas a terrorist organization on Feb. 28 against the backdrop of the proven movement’s implication in armed operations that claimed the lives of Egyptian officers and soldiers in Sinai Peninsula, after its members seeped through the tunnels into Egypt.

Why is this decision dangerous? Egypt is considered the only leeway for Gaza where Hamas is in control. Egypt’s classification of Hamas as a terrorist organization implies that all efforts are being made to cut off its arms supplies and funding by all means necessary. Moreover, whoever cooperates with Hamas is considered a criminal by law, according to a statement on March 4 by Egypt’s Minister of JusticeMahfouz Saber. The law stipulates seizing Hamas properties, arresting all its affiliated members and confiscating their funds and locations.

As soon as the decision was issued, Hamas condemned it and Ismail Radwan, the former minister of awqaf and religious affairs and Hamas spokesman, told Al-Monitor, “The Egyptian decision constitutes a service handed to the Israeli occupation on a silver platter. Moreover, it has exported Egypt’s internal crises abroad. But Hamas won’t get carried away with side wars, and its weapons will remain directed against the occupation.”

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri described on Feb. 28 the Egyptian decision as shocking and dangerous. He said that it targets the Palestinian people and their resistance and turns the tables, making the occupation a friend and the Palestinian people a foe. The decision shames Egypt and tarnishes its reputation, but it will not affect Hamas’ status.

Hamas did not only make political statements condemning Egypt’s decision, but also staged several public protests and mass marches all over the Gaza Strip after Egypt took this decision.

A high-ranking security source in Gaza told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “The security apparatus in Gaza has in its possession documents condemning some officials in the Palestinian Authority [PA] who provided the Egyptian media with fabricated reports about an alleged role of Hamas in Egypt.”

However, the most important statement issued by Hamas came from its former Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on March 3, when he underlined that Hamas is making calls to rectify the historical mistake in Egypt’s decision that is in direct conflict with Egyptian-Palestinian relations. Hamas is dealing patiently and wisely with the issue to right this wrong that neither suits the Arab nation nor Palestine.

Hamas has started pulling diplomatic strings from behind the scenes with influential states in the region, such as Saudi Arabia, to pressure Egypt to take back its decision. Al-Monitor had previously quoted some of Hamas’ internal sources expressing optimism about Saudi Arabia’s new role under the reign of King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, hoping for a more balanced stance on the part of the kingdom.

Hamas is making regional calls to stop the Egyptian decision, but the problem is that its main allies in the region, notably Turkey and Qatar, have a bad and tense relationship with Egypt. Therefore, Hamas is mainly hanging its hopes on Saudi Arabia, which is the most influential player in Egypt.

Egypt’s decision against Hamas coincided with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s visit to Saudi Arabia on March 1. Hamas is well aware that Egypt is careful not to anger Saudi Arabia, its main funder. Thus, Saudi Arabia has been asked to intervene to revoke Egypt’s decision.

Hamas has warned against expected repercussions on the ground with a possible military attack on the Gaza Strip, which according to an Egyptian anchorman close to the regime’s security circles could take place on April 1.

Hamas member of parliament Yahya Moussa, the chairman of the Legislative Council’s Oversight Committee, told Al-Monitor, “I rule out the possibility of a military attack waged by Egypt, despite information confirming otherwise. I personally believe that such a crazy act will not happen since the Egyptian regime can easily do without it.”

However, Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy chairman of Hamas’ political bureau, who is currently in Egypt, said on March 1 that the Egyptian decision against Hamas is a prelude to its intention to attack Gaza.

Meanwhile, Radwan told Al-Monitor, “The Gaza Strip and Hamas will not take things lying down, although we don’t think the Egyptian army will get involved in massacres against Palestinians. Whoever is threatening Hamas should perhaps recall the bitter experience of the Israeli army in the face of [Izz ad-Din] al-Qassam Brigades.”

Hamas, despite having publicly declared the unlikelihood of an Egyptian military attack against it in Gaza, has taken precautions in case such a catastrophic scenario occurs.

Maj. Gen. Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, leader of the Palestinian security forces, said on March 5 that there has been security mobilization, while security sites stretching along the border with Egypt have been fortified so as to control the border, preventing any security incident from taking place. He also denied any direct contact with the Egyptian army during the ongoing patrols and activities on the border between the two countries.

The security measures by Hamas on the border with Egypt aim at preventing any infiltration from and into Sinai, as the movement fears to be dragged into an Egyptian internal conflict, which would have significantly negative consequences.

Wael Attiya, Egypt’s ambassador to the PA, said on March 3 that the media statements regarding the Egyptian army’s intention to target certain locations in Gaza does not express the official Egyptian stance because such plans are not on the agenda of Egypt’s political leadership.

In the past few days, Al-Monitor has learned of an internal position assessment that Hamas was circulating, but that has not been reported in the media. The assessment stated that there were several scenarios as to how Hamas would deal with a possible Egyptian attack on Gaza. Hamas could keep silent about the possible attack that would most likely be an airstrike without a ground offensive, or it could respond in a way that is in line with the magnitude and depth of the Egyptian attack. Hamas could also direct its response at Israel, so that the latter pressures Egypt to stop its attack on Gaza.

“All the previous scenarios have advantages and disadvantages, but Hamas will be careful to take the road that does not lead to a clash with the Egyptian army, as this option would be very costly,” the internal assessment stated.

Finally, Hamas knows very well that Egypt’s recent decision against it will likely kill any chance of communication between both parties and dismiss a possible Egyptian role in the Palestinian reconciliation, truce with Israel and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. This decision increases the possibility of an armed clash between al-Qassam Brigades and the Egyptian army, which is something that Hamas does not want.

Hamas is consistently practicing restraint vis-a-vis the official Egyptian enmity against it, either by toning down and controlling its reactions and steering clear of anger, or by increasing its calls with Arab states to pressure Egypt. At the same time, it is seeking to take any step that would keep the confrontation with Egypt at bay.

'YouKnow' app: Palestine's voice of the voiceless

March 6, 2015 by Nasheman

A new app advocates for Palestine’s need for progressive access-to-information legislation.

‘The government needs to know how the people feel. They need to know what concerns them, what angers them’ [Getty]

by Creede Newton, Al Jazeera

Ramallah: An online platform that aims to open up access to information for citizens and increase accountability for politicians, was launched in the occupied West Bank on March 1.

The YouKnow Initiative is designed to bring activists, journalists, bloggers and citizens together with decision-makers, including the Palestinian Authority (PA), healthcare providers, telecommunications, and businesses.

The platform “resembles Facebook, Twitter; any number of social media sites,” said Saed Karzoun, the founder of YouKnow. Once they register, Palestinians “can post anything they want, without limits”, Karzoun told Al Jazeera. Currently, the application is available only via web browsers, but Karzoun hopes to build a smartphone application in the future.

Complaints, documented through videos and photos, about unpaved roads or unfinished infrastructure, for example, can be posted along with 300 characters of text. The user selects the official to whom the report will be sent from a list of officials and ministries. It then becomes available for all users to read.

After the complaint is posted, a “change” button allows for the official to respond. They can show that the issue has been addressed, or explain that it’s not within their domain.

“We hope to address people’s anger and frustration against decision-makers,” Karzoun explained. “The more information [officials] provide, the more understanding there will be between Palestinians and their leaders.”

Currently, there is no legislation guaranteeing freedom of access to information for Palestinians. The issue, however, has been hotly debated for years.

In 2005, a freedom of information bill was introduced for the first time, but since the suspension of the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2007, and due to Israel’s systematic targeting and detention of elected representatives as well as the internal Palestinian split, the motion has made no headway.

In December 2012, a committee of four legal experts, established by the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA), revised and amended the 2005 draft law on the right to access information.

A public campaign was also organised to bring together civil society activists, parliamentarians, access-to-information experts, journalists and Palestinian government officials to improve the draft law and advocate for its approval.

The campaign titled “Information is Power” advocated for Palestine’s need for progressive access-to-information legislation.

The result, according to analysts, has been a much-improved draft law and a decision by then-Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to ensure that the law is scheduled in the 2014 legislative calendar of the Palestinian government.

The amended draft law has been given positive assessment by independent international organisations like article 19 which pointed out that the draft law “contains many positive features such as; all public and private bodies receiving state funding or performing public work are obliged to provide information and setting up [an] information commissioner that will monitor the implementation of the law and examines complaints against denials of requests of information”.

In February 2014, the then new prime minister, Rami Hamdallah, showed support for the access-to-information initiative by publishing the draft, as amended by MADA, on his official website.

“We support the freedom of access to information,” Nida Younis, head of the Ministry of Information’s public relations told Al Jazeera. Younis added that “the draft law is currently awaiting approval”.

Younis also said the ministry supports YouKnow, and looks forward to collaborating with Karzoun. In Younis’ view, the platform will allow for all Palestinians to “have their say”, and pave the way for increased accountability.

“High-ranking personnel will no longer be able to say, ‘I didn’t know about this problem, I didn’t hear about it,'” she said.

A few months ago, Karzoun was informed by government officials that the same 2012 draft law on access to information was being considered, but it soon died out. “This is the problem, they (officials) begin discussing something, and then they stop.”

“The government needs to know how the people feel. They need to know what concerns them, what angers them. Hopefully it will motivate the government to introduce the law,” Karzoun concluded.

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)

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.

Gaza rebuild effort could take 100 years: Oxfam

February 28, 2015 by Nasheman

‘Only an end to the blockade of Gaza will ensure that people can rebuild their lives.’ — Catherine Essoyan, Oxfam

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 Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams

Despair and destruction continue to envelop the blockaded Gaza strip, where the rebuilding of vital structures could take up to a century, Oxfam International has warned.

The organization’s statement comes six months after a ceasefire agreementended Israel’s 50-day assault on Gaza, which left over 2,100 Palestinians dead, decimated thousands of structures, and weakened already damaged infrastructure systems.

Oxfam is one of 30 international aid agencies that operate in Gaza, including the Norwegian Refugee Council and United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), to issue a joint statement Thursday expressing alarm at the slow pace of reconstruction and worsening living conditions for Gaza’s residents.

Among the families hit by the destruction this summer was that of Abdel Momen Abu Hujair, who farms in Johr El-Diek. His wife, Um Mohammed, told the Norwegian Refugee Council:

Is this what our lives have come into? Living in a shack after we invested all what we had to build a house? I am very depressed and feel unable to take care of my children. I used to help them with their studies; their performance at school is now deteriorating. I feel no hope for the future or reconstruction. I am afraid we will spend the rest of our lives in this shack, in suffering and despair.

In their joint statement, the organizations lay out some of the ongoing problems:

since July, the situation has deteriorated dramatically. Approximately 100,000 Palestinians remain displaced this winter, living in dire conditions in schools and makeshift shelters not designed for long-term stay. Scheduled power cuts persist for up to 18 hours a day. The continued non-payment of the salaries of public sector employees and the lack of progress in the national unity government further increases tensions. With severe restrictions on movement, most of the 1.8 million residents are trapped in the coastal enclave, with no hope for the future.

Bearing the brunt of this suffering are the most vulnerable, including the elderly, persons with disabilities, women and nearly one million children, who have experienced unimaginable suffering in three major conflicts in six short years. Children lack access to quality education, with over 400,000 of them in need of immediate psychosocial support.

The statement adds that “Israel, as the occupying power, is the main duty bearer and must comply with its obligations under international law,” and concludes: “We must not fail in Gaza.”

In an update earlier this month, UNRWA said a funding shortfall had forced it “to suspend its cash assistance program supporting repairs and providing rental subsidies to Palestine refugee families in Gaza,” and Oxfam pointed to the responsibility of the international community as well.

“Only an end to the blockade of Gaza will ensure that people can rebuild their lives,” Catherine Essoyan, Oxfam’s Regional Director, said in a media statement.

“Families have been living in homes without roofs, walls or windows for the past six months. Many have just six hours of electricity a day and are without running water. Every day that people are unable to build is putting more lives at risk. It is utterly deplorable that the international community is once again failing the people of Gaza when they need it most,” Essoyan stated.

But Electronic Intifada co-founder Ali Abunimah writes that little change to the dire situation will come if aid agencies continue to make appeals to the vague “international community” and avoid putting blame on “the home governments of many of the international civil society organizations have been complicit in Israel’s military attacks and siege on Gaza.”

He continues: “Aid agencies should not have waited six long months to speak out. Now that they have done so, they should have called for specific punitive measures against the party they correctly call the ‘occupying power’ to force it to end its siege.”

“Israel, moreover, could not carry on the way it does without the complicity of ‘Western’ governments: the aid agencies should hold their governments accountable and pressure them to end their complicity,” Abunimah writes.

Human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have issued reports finding that some of Israel’s actions during the summer assault amounted to war crimes, but the head of a UN war crimes inquiry into the operation announced his resignation this month, stating: “This work in defense of human rights appears to have made me a huge target for malicious attacks.”

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