Nasheman

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

You are here: Home / Archives for Nasheman

Putin: ‘U.S wants to subdue Russia, but no one did or ever will’

by

President of Russia Vladimir Putin.(RIA Novosti / Alexey Druzhinin)

President of Russia Vladimir Putin. (RIA Novosti / Alexey Druzhinin)

by RT

The US has no plans to humiliate Russia, but instead wants to subdue it, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said, adding that no one had ever succeeded in doing so – and never will.

Speaking at a forum of the All-Russia Peoples’ Front in Moscow on Tuesday, the Russian leader said that history was not about to change, and that no one would manage to suppress the country.

“Throughout history no one has ever managed to do so toward Russia – and no one ever will,” Putin said.

Responding to a question about whether America was trying to humiliate Russia, Putin disagreed, saying that the US wanted “to solve their problems at our expense.”

He said that people in Russia really like the Americans, but it’s the US politics that are not accepted so well. “I think America and its people are more liked than disliked by people here [in Russia]. It’s the politics of the ruling class [in the US] that is likely negatively viewed by the majority of our citizens,” he said.

The Russian leader said the US had managed to subordinate its allies to its influence – with such countries “trying to protect foreign national interests on obscure conditions and perspectives.”

One of the means of changing the balance of power in the world to eventually subdue Russia was NATO’s gradual approach to its borders, which made Russia “nervous”, Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told BBC.

Russia needs a “100% guarantee that no-one would think about Ukraine joining NATO,” Peskov added.

Heads of states and international organizations pose for the “family photo” during the G20 Summit in Brisbane on November 15, 2014. (AFP Photo/Saeed Khan)

The Russian president has last met with his American counterpart last week, while attending the G20 summit in Australia. Despite the focus on the world economy, the crisis in Ukraine was one of the hottest topics at the G20. Talking about the summit’s results at a press conference, US President Barack Obama did not announce any significant changes in his country’s approach to Russia.

“We would prefer a Russia that is fully integrated with the global economy,” the US president told a news conference, adding that his country was “also very firm on the need to uphold core international principles.”

Before leaving Brisbane, Putin said that a solution to the crisis in Eastern Ukraine was possible. “Today the situation [in Ukraine] in my view has good chances for resolution, no matter how strange it may sound,” he said, as quoted by Reuters.

The Russian leader also said he was satisfied with both the results and atmosphere of the meetings.

Australian authorities created an exceptionally friendly atmosphere for discussing solutions to economic challenges at the G20 summit in Brisbane, the Russian president said, dispelling rumors there were any confrontations.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (L) shaking hands with members of his motorcycle escort at the airport in Brisbane as he leaves the G20 Summit.(AFP Photo / Steve Holland)

“Our Australian partners created an exceptionally friendly working atmosphere, very heartfelt, I should say, that was conducive to finding solutions to the challenges faced by the global economy,” Putin said at a forum of the All-Russian People’s Front, adding that it was a pleasant surprise for him to see the warm reception of the Russian delegation from Australian citizens on the streets of Brisbane.

Answering a question about Abbott’s idea to “shirtfront” Putin over the downing of the MH17 jetliner, the Russian president said no such confrontation took place at the Brisbane summit.

“We had very constructive discussions of not only the themes that had brought us together, but some very grave issues involving the Malaysian Boeing. We discussed that in every detail. I can assure you that everything was decent and rather friendly,” said the Russian leader.

Though many media outlets speculated that Putin had left the summit early, skipping a Sunday working breakfast because of an icy welcome at the G20, the Russian leader reiterated on Tuesday that practically all work had been finished by that time. “I addressed all sessions,” Putin said, adding: “Our stance was heard.”

Nanavati Commission: Another hoax on people of India!

by

Photo: AFP

Photo: AFP

by Fr. Cedric Prakash

Finally, on November 18, 2014, exactly 12 years 8 months and 12 days after it was first constituted by the Gujarat Government on March 6,h 2002 to probe the burning of the Godhra train and the subsequent carnage which broke out in several parts of Gujarat, the Commission headed by GT Nanavati (a former judge of the Supreme Court of India) submitted its report to the current Chief Minister of Gujarat, Anandiben Patel.

It was originally known as the KG Shah Commission but it was later reconstituted to include Justice Nanavati, after several civil rights groups and individuals protested over the closeness that Justice Shah had with Narendra Modi. Justice Shah died in 2008; and Justice Akshay H. Mehta (who granted bail to Babu Bajrangi in the Naroda Patiya case) was appointed on April 5, 2008 to be a member of this Commission.

The content of this more than 2000-page report has not yet been made public but if one goes by the grapevine and what seems to be “leaked out” to sections of the media, then one can very easily conclude the following: that those really responsible for the law and order in the State have been given a ‘clean chit’; that the burning of S-6 Coach of the Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002, just outside the Godhra railway station was a ‘meticulously planned act of conspiracy’ (this was already said in the Commission’s interim report in 2008); and finally the only people who seemed to be ‘responsible’ for not preventing or controlling the violence are some lower rung policemen and some apparently anti-social elements.

The Commission which has claimed to have looked into 4,160 cases of violence in Gujarat between February 27th and May 31st 2002 also states that it has gone through 46,000 affidavits submitted by over 4,000 victims of the violence that paralysed Gujarat and continues to be one of the darkest and bloodiest chapters of independent India. It was given 24 extensions (of almost six months each) before it submitted its report.

Till July 2012, the Commission ran up an expenditure bill of more than Rs 5.00 crore with an additional miscellaneous expense of Rs 1.62 crore. It has been past two-and-a-half years since; so the final cost of this Commission (including the disguised expenditure) will surely run to a mind-boggling amount and all at the cost of the state exchequer (a Gujarati newspaper puts a conservative cost of Rs.9.00 crore).

Several concerned citizens like the late Mukul Sinha of Jan Sangharsh Manch, Sanjiv Bhatt and others have tried their level best to bring the Commission – any thinking citizen will know – on track and ensure that truth prevails and that the victim-survivors are given justice. The Commission has been full of inconsistencies, lapses and loopholes. Sinha, who cross-examined several witnesses, has consistently demanded that Modi, who was the Chief Minister of Gujarat at that time, had to be interrogated, too. Why the Commission took the pains to deny this request from Sinha and several others does not leave much room for doubt!

Even though the Commission has submitted its report, many for the victim-survivors (and several others who have accompanied them) are the Gujarat Carnage of 2002 is not a closed chapter. The relentless pursuit for truth and justice will continue until those who presided over this carnage are brought to book. Only then, will they truly be able to sing our motto emblazoned on our national emblem “satyameva jayate” (truth alone triumphs!)

Fr. Cedric Prakash is the Director of Prashant, the Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace.

Another racist attack in Bengaluru; Manipuri youth beaten up by three men​

by

North East Racism

Bengaluru: In yet another incident of a racist attack, a 25-year-old Manipuri youth was allegedly attacked by three people here, reports said on Thursday.

The youth from the northeast state has registered a complaint with the police. The 25-year-old, who was badly injured has been hospitalised.

The latest incident comes a month after, three students from the northeast were beaten in October in the city for not speaking Kannada.

Bengaluru is home to around 240,000 people from the northeast. In 2012, a rumour that they will be attacked had led to a mass exodus before things were brought under control by the state government.

In a similar incident, three students, including a girl, belonging to the northeast region, were allegedly beaten up by some residents of Lajpat Nagar area of Delhi in the month of October.

According to police, the three youths are residents of Assam and are pursuing a course in photography. The incident took place when they were taking photographs in the city’s Prakash Colony.

Pankaj Advani, Vidya Pillai advance in World Snooker

by

Pankaj Advani and Vidya Pillai won their respective opening league matches as the Seaways-IBSF World Snooker Championship commenced on Wednesday.

Pankaj Advani and Vidya Pillai won their respective opening league matches as the Seaways-IBSF World Snooker Championship commenced on Wednesday.

Bengaluru: Indian hopes Pankaj Advani and Vidya Pillai won their respective opening league matches as the Seaways-IBSF World Snooker Championship commenced here Wednesday.
Advani, holder of 12 World titles, was kept at the table for longer than expected before he pulled through 4-2 against Malaysia’s Keen Hoo Moh while national champion Pillai shrugged off a scratchy start to blank Russian challenger Anastasjia Singurindi 3-0 with a break of 49 in the third frame.

The 29-year-old Advani, champion in 2003 and runner-up in 2010, jumped to a 2-0 lead with breaks of 60 and 85, but lost focus to allow the Malaysian catch up at 2-2 before taking the next two frames to win the match.

“I started well, but I think I lost a bit of focus when leading 2-0. Keen is a tactical player and it was a tough match. I should have won 4-1, but will take the 4-2 result.

“I am happy to get the first match out of the way and yes, it was in a way good to spend more time at the table, but it was a wake-up call for me. I need to improve on my safety play which I was not happy with today,” said Advani after playing his first competitive snooker match in five months.

Pillai, twice bronze medallist in this tournament, was never really troubled by her young Russian opponent who appeared all at sea for the best part of the match, but the Indian champion took a while to settle down as she missed some sitters while looking ill at ease.

The 36-year-old Pillai, however, struck some rhythm in the third frame when she posted a break of 49 that ended when she missed a centre-pocket pink, but the run was enough to win her the frame and match.

“I was not too happy with my performance, even granting it was my first match. It will take a couple of more matches to get used to the conditions, but anyway, it’s a relief to win the first match and I hope to improve as the tournament progresses,” said Pillai.

Elsewhere, China’s 14-year-old prodigy Yan Bingtao eased past Jim Johansson of Sweden 4-1 to start his campaign in the Men’s section in fine fashion.

Though the teenager did not dish out big breaks, he gave a glimpse of his talent and potential that suggested he would go far in this tournament.

(IANS)

Yale University scholars 'warn' Congress: There has been 0.8% rise in BJP vote share following every riot

by

riots-india

by Counterview

In what may prove to a stern warning to those in the Congress party who have come to believe following the recent debacle in the Lok Sabha polls that stressing too much fighting against communal violence may erode their majority Hindu voter base, a recent Yale University research of Indian electoral data, titled “Do parties matter for ethnic violence? Evidence from India”, has reached the drastic conclusion that rise in religious violence in India is a sure sign of the country’s shift away from democracy. Authored by Gareth Nellis, Michael Weaver and Steven Rosenzweig, the scholars base their analysis of assembly election outcomes spread over several decades in 16 major Indian states.

The scholars say, the outbreak of internal religious or ethnic strife in any country is associated with a corresponding 8.5 per cent point decline in a country’s Polity IV Score – a data analysis method used in political science to assess a country’s level of democracy based on evaluation of elections, competitiveness and openness, the nature of political participation in general, and the extent of checks on executive authority. Strife also leads to five per cent point rise in the likelihood of a coup d’etat, the scholars add, indicating, this is what may be happening in India, too.

Insisting that “ethnic-group conflict is among the most serious threats facing young democracies”, the scholars, citing the instance of the Congress and other secular parties, however, say, “A politician hailing from a party relying on a large base of minority support and having a distinctive reputation for curbing ethnic conflict might devote extra effort and resources toward stemming ethnic disorder when in office.” Conversely, they add, “In settings where bureaucratic and police institutions are weak, party systems are volatile, clientelist strategies of voter mobilization predominate over programmatic appeals.”

Emphasising that “Hindu-Muslim violence tends to polarize the electorate along religious lines, bolstering support for majoritarian Hindu candidates and diminishing support for Congress ones”, the scholars seek to prove this on the basis of analysis of electoral outcomes of Congress candidates who won or lost by less than one per cent votes against a non-Congress candidate. They underline, “A full increase in Congress seat share (from zero to 100 per cent) in a district produces an 87 per cent reduction in the number of riots occurring in that election cycle and a 40 percentage point decrease in the probability of that district experiencing any riot at all.”

The scholars say, the impact of Congress incumbency on riots is “strikingly large”, adding, by way of example, “Between 1962 and 2000, the 315 districts witnessed a total of 998 riots. Our estimates suggest that had Congress won every close election that occurred in this sample, India would have seen 106 (10 percent) fewer riots.” Conversely, had Congress lost all close elections, “we predict that India would have seen 120, or 10 percent, more riots. This exercise illustrates the substantial role that Congress MLAs have played in stemming local Hindu-Muslim conflict in India.”

In fact, the scholars say, while “incumbency by Congress MLAs reduced Hindu-Muslim riots in Indian districts”, Muslims, who have been historically core Congress supporters, suffered “disproportionately from communal violence.” They add, “For a Congress MLA, disappointing local Muslim voters by failing to be proactive on this issue could therefore hinder her chances of re-election.” Hence, “having a greater concentration of Muslims in a district encouraged Congress MLAs to do more to inhibit rioting…” In fact, “Congress’ strong links to Muslim voters led the party’s MLAs to expend extra effort in reducing riots when in office.”

Comparing this with the Bharatiya Janata Party and its predecessor Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJP/BJS), the scholars say, “The BJS/BJP saw a 0.8 per cent point increase in their vote share following a riot in the year prior to an election. This suggests that the electoral costs to Congress may indeed be due to polarization. Meanwhile, if Congress is held more accountable for riots because it owns the issue of preserving communal harmony, we should expect to see Congress punished more for riots that break out when its MLAs hold office in a district.”

The scholars conclude, “According to our most conservative estimates, the election of a single Congress MLA in a district brought about a 32 percent reduction in the probability of a riot breaking out prior to the next election. Simulations reveal that had Congress candidates lost all close elections in our dataset, India would have witnessed 10 percent more riots and thousands more riot casualties. The pacifying effect of Congress incumbency appears to be driven by local electoral considerations, in particular the party’s exceptionally strong linkages to Muslim voters”.

The states analyzed are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

The research use secondary historical sources to compile a list of all parties that formed state governments in India between 1961 and 2008. This list included the party of the Chief Minister as well as any other parties in coalition governments. It uses the Wilkinson-Varshney database of Hindu- Muslim riots (1950-95), updated by in 2014 by Anirban Mitra and Debraj Ray.

India opts out of admonishing Israel

by

Union home minister Rajnath Singh (left) during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right). Photo: PTI

Union home minister Rajnath Singh (left) during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right). Photo: PTI

by Ninan Koshy

While every other ally of Israel has distanced itself from Israel’s policies after its offensive in Gaza this summer – especially on settlements – India has pledged to strengthen its relations with the country.

A visit by India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Israel this month became an chance for India to proclaim its steadfast support for the country. During the trip, Singh said India sought closer ties with the country adding, “Israel plays a major role in world politics”. India has invited Israel to become a partner in a “Made in India” initiative in the defense sector and Israel has expressed a desire to share cutting edge weapon technologies with New Delhi.

Even before the ink on the indefinite ceasefire agreement in the Gaza conflict had dried in August, Israel announced a decision to grab nearly 1,000 acres (404 hectares) of Palestinian land to build Jewish settlements. This expansionist act was condemned by the US, the UK, the European Union and the United Nations. British Prime Minister David Cameron called it “utterly deplorable”.

Israel had two objectives in the war against Hamas. One was to delegitimize Hamas as a political movement and degrade it to a sheer terrorist organization and if possible to destroy it. The other was to scuttle the process of Palestinian unity which had strengthened with the formation of a unity government.

Israel failed in both objectives. The world witnessed the increasing acceptance of Hamas as a legitimate political movement of Palestine and Palestine as a state. The Swedish government officially recognized the state of Palestine on October 30. Before that came a non-binding resolution in the British parliament, with similar votes in the pipeline in France, Spain and Ireland.

New European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini last week appealed for the establishment of a Palestinian state, saying the world cannot afford another war in Gaza. “We need a Palestinian state. That is the ultimate goal and this is the position of all the European Union”, Mogherini said during a trip to Gaza. “We cannot just sit and wait. If we sit and wait it will go on for another 40 years. We have to have act now”

Israel’s other objective of scuttling the process of Palestinian unity also failed – Fatah-Hamas relations have strengthened since the ceasefire.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in September, the first such meeting between the prime ministers of the countries in more than a decade, was significant for a number of reasons. During the meeting, Netanyahu said that “the sky is the limit” in terms of prospects for cooperation.

It was also made clear that Modi would seek the views of the Israeli prime minister on the Islamic State. “The two leaders discussed the situation in West Asia. Given that Israel is well-placed in that region PM [Modi] requested and was given a briefing of their understanding of the situation”, the amiable spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs helpfully explained. The Indian Prime Minister did not need any briefing on the situation from any other West Asian leader.

The conversation came just before Modi’s dinner with President Barack Obama in Washington and the prime minister’s address to the Council on Foreign Relations, to outline his government’s foreign policy objectives. Netanyahu’s views were sought by Modi in his preparations for these two events.

In fact there was no need to seek Netanyahu’s views on the Islamic State in Modi’s conversation, since the Israel prime minister had clearly stated his views in the UN General Assembly, “Hamas and the Islamic state group are branches of the same poisonous trees, both bent on world domination through terror just as the Nazis were.”

India’s relationship with Israel was sparked by L K Advani, a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), following a visit to Israel in 1995. He returned with rhetoric on civilizational bonds, but also on terrorism. Five years later, Advani returned to Israel, this time as India’s Home Minister.

During the visit in June 2005, Advani said at the Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv, “In recent years we have been facing a growing international security problem. We are concerned with cross-border terrorism launched by proxies of Pakistan. We share with Israel a common perception of terrorism as a menace, even more so when coupled with religious fundamentalism. Our mutual determination to combat terrorism is the basis of discussions with Israel whose reputation in dealing with such problems is quite successful.”

Rajnath Singh had a helicopter tour of the Jordan valley and Israel’s northern and southern regions with National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen “to get a sense of the security situation there”. The security situation there is simply the military preparedness of Israel, mainly against the Palestinians.

Of course, Rajnath Singh was following in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessor Advani who in 2000 had “visited northern border areas to study border management that Israel has displayed so successfully”.

The talk about cross-border terrorism and border areas seems unlikely considering Israel has refused to define its borders and is grabbing more and more Palestinian territory borders on legitimizing occupation. During the Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres’ visit to New Delhi in January 2002, the Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson had said, “India finds it increasingly beneficial to learn from Israel’s experience in dealing with terrorism since Israel has long suffered from cross-border terrorism”.

What are the borders of Israel crossed by terrorists, the spokesperson was speaking about? As Robert Fisk asked, “Which particular Israel? The Israel of 1948? The Israel of the post-1967 borders? The Israel which builds and goes on building vast settlements for Jews and Jews only on Arab lands, gobbling up even more of the 22% Palestinian land still left to negotiate?”

India-Israel cooperation in counter-terrorism is based on equating the Palestinian struggle with cross-border terrorism. It is this flawed and skewed stance that is reflected in India’s attitude to Israel’s periodic wars against Palestinians.

Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing. Articles submitted for this section allow our readers to express their opinions and do not necessarily meet the same editorial standards of Asia Times Online’s regular contributors.

Ninan Koshy is a political commentator based in Trivandrum, Kerala, India, and formerly Visiting Fellow, Harvard Law School, is the author of War on Terror: Reordering the World and Under the Empire: India’s New Foreign Policy.

(Copyright 2014 Ninan Koshy)

Sant Rampal arrested, 5 women and a child die in violent stand-off

by

Sant Rampal being taken to Panchkula General hospital after arrested from Hisar Ashram on Wednesday. (Source: Express photo by Jaipal Singh)

Sant Rampal being taken to Panchkula General hospital after arrested from Hisar Ashram on Wednesday. (Source: Express photo by Jaipal Singh)

Chandigarh: After weeks of standoff and loss of six lives, self-styled ‘godman’ Sant Rampal was finally arrested in his fortress-like ashram in the Hisar district of Haryana after the police raided the premises on Wednesday.

In a well-orchestrated strategy, the police stormed the 12-acre ashram around 9 pm on Wednesday after evacuating a majority of the followers who had been camping inside. Rampal was taken into custody in less than 20 minutes after launching the raid.

Rampal will be produced before a local court in Rohtak on Thursday and the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday.

Jubilant scenes were witnessed outside the ashram as several people danced and praised the police for arresting the ‘godman’. The arrest is said to have been an outcome of negotiations to ensure that the standoff ended at the earliest. Many of his followers who were stranded inside chose to leave the premises.

Earlier, silence descended on the ashram premises as close to 11,000 followers, some who were forced to camp inside to defend Rampal, walked away from the mayhem.

Police suspected that around 5,000 followers were camped inside the ashram, with several of them refusing to vacate premises, thereby delaying Rampal’s arrest.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar finally broke his silence on Wednesday saying that the High Court order would be upheld and the operation would end with Rampal’s arrest.

At 8:30 am, ashram volunteers handed over bodies of five women and an infant to the district administration. There were no injury marks on the women’s bodies and the cause of death remains to be ascertained through post-mortem, said Director-General of Police S N Vashist. Among them, was a 20-year-old woman, suffering from a heart ailment, who died at hospital in Hisar in the early hours of Wednesday. The infant who died was suffering from congenital jaundice.

Meanwhile, the police on Wednesday booked Rampal on fresh charges of sedition. Besides charges of murder and contempt of court, he now faces charges for waging war against the state, conspiring to commit offences against the state and collecting arms with the intention of waging war against the state.

The police did not enter the ashram on Wednesday maintaining that its first priority was to evacuate those inside. Rampal’s brother, Purshottam Dass, who challenged the police to arrest the ‘godman’, was nabbed while trying to escape. At least 270 people from the ashram have been detained and 70 booked, sources said.

Jaffer Sharief and associates to infuse Rs. 125cr into Amanath Bank

by

Amanath-Bank

Bengaluru: Former railway minister C K Jaffer Sharief who has challenged the merger of Amanath Bank with Canara Bank, would deposit a sum of Rs. 124 crore within a week.

Sharief also asked for the appointment of an ad hoc committee to overlook the process. His counsel furnished a list of names, which included Jaffer Sharief, Iqbal Huttur, Congress leader C M Ibrahim and JD(S) MLA B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, who would be the members of the committee. The court however, refused to appoint the committee with the members suggested by Sharief.

It said that the committee cannot be constituted as per the wish of the petitioners and said the Court will decide who will be in the ad-hoc committee.

Hearing the petition, Justice Ram Mohan Reddy issued directions to deposit the money in the Amanath Cooperative Bank within a week after calculating the shortfall of money. During the earlier hearing, the Court had directed the petitioners to deposit over Rs 200 crore, which has been now reduced to Rs. 124 crore.

Meanwhile, the court has asked all the petitioners to appear before it on November 27 with proper identity proofs.

Archaeologists Unearth Three Ancient Greek Mosaics in the Ongoing Excavation in Zeugma, Turkey

by

Workers clear a mosaic depicting the nine Muses

The Zeugma excavation project conducted by Oxford Archaeology and supported byPackhard Humanities Institute and the Ministry of Culture of Turkey has recently unearthed three ancient Greek mosaics in the Turkish city of Zeugma. Zeugma had received some press and support in 2000 after flooding caused by construction began to bury and damage artifacts in the region.

The mosaics, created in the 2nd century BC, are constructed of boldly colored glass and are being covered for protection until excavation is complete. The head of the project, Professor Kutalmis Görkay, recently gave the Hurriyet Daily News more details about the plan for the future of the excavation.

From now on, we will work on restoration and conservation. We plan to establish a temporary roof for long-term protection. We estimate that the ancient city has 2,000-3,000 houses. Twenty-five of them remain under water. Excavations will be finished in the Muzalar House next year.

The muse Thalia

The muse Thalia

Ocean and Tithys

The Centro di Conservazione Archeologica created this video about the flooding and excavation projects at Zeugma.

photos via Greek Reporter

via Greek Reporter

Spain to cast symbolic vote in recognition of Palestinian state

by

spain-palestine

by Al-Akhbar

Spanish lawmakers were set to vote on Tuesday in favor of recognizing Palestine as a state, parliamentary sources said, in a symbolic move intended to promote a “two-state solution.”

The non-binding vote was brought forward by the opposition Socialist party but has the support of the ruling People’s Party (PP) and other groups in the lower house of parliament, sources from the two parties said.

“It (the vote) is not binding, it does not set a timeline for the recognition, it gives the government the margin to proceed with the recognition when it feels it will be opportune,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo told reporters in Brussels on Monday.

“If we want to be effective this recognition must be done in coordination with the European Union,” he added.

The motion calls on the Spanish government to “recognize Palestine as a state,” according to a draft text presented by the Socialists, and urges Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy “to promote in coordination with the European Union the recognition of the Palestinian state as sovereign, contiguous, democratic and independent which lives in peace and security with the state of Israel.”

It echoes similar moves in other European countries intended to increase pressure for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Britain and Ireland approved similar non-binding motions last month that call on their governments to recognize Palestine. Neither government has heeded that call.

France is also eyeing a similar non-binding resolution for November 28 after Sweden’s center-left government took the lead by officially recognizing the state of Palestine within days of taking office last month.

The EU’s new foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said the bloc’s 28 foreign ministers discussed at a meeting in Brussels on Monday how they could start “a positive process with the Israelis and Palestinians to re-launch a peace process.”

The moves reflect mounting frustration in the European Union at Israel’s illegal settlement plans on land the Palestinians who support a two-state solution want for a state following the collapse of US-sponsored peace talks.

The roots of the Israel-Palestine conflict date back to 1917, when the British government, in the now-famous Balfour Declaration, called for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”

Israel then occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Zionist state – a move never recognized by the international community.

In November 1988, Palestinian leaders led by Arafat declared the existence of a State of Palestine inside the 1967 borders and the state’s belief “in the settlement of international and regional disputes by peaceful means in accordance with the charter and resolutions of the United Nations.”

Heralded as a “historic compromise,” the move implied that Palestinians would agree to accept only 22 percent of historic Palestine, in exchange for peace with Israel. It is now believed that only 17 percent of historic Palestine is under Palestinian control following the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements.

The Palestinian Authority this year set November 2016 as the deadline for ending the Israeli withdrawal from the territories occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967 and establishing a two-state solution.

It is worth noting that numerous pro-Palestine activists support a one-state solution, arguing that the creation of a Palestinian state beside Israel would not be sustainable.

They also believe that the two-state solution, which is the only option considered by international actors, won’t solve existing discrimination, nor erase economic and military tensions.

The Palestinian Authority estimates that 134 countries have now recognized Palestine as a state, although the number is disputed and several recognitions by what are now European Union member states date back to the Soviet era.

An AFP count puts the number of states that recognize Palestine at 112.

(AFP, Reuters, Al-Akhbar)

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives