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EU must introduce oil sanctions to cut off Russia’s financial support – Coveney

Jonathan McCambridge - Evening Standard — Mon, 11 Apr 2022 10:33:35 +0000

Ireland’s foreign minister is in Luxembourg for a meeting of the EU foreign affairs council, where further sanctions against Moscow will be discussed.

The European Union needs to cut off financing for the Russian war in Ukraine by introducing sanctions on oil exports, Ireland’s foreign minister has said.

Simon Coveney is in Luxembourg for a meeting of the EU foreign affairs council, where further sanctions against Moscow will be discussed.

Speaking as he arrived for the meeting, Mr Coveney said the EU is spending hundreds of millions of euros on Russian oil.

He said: “Ireland has maintained for quite some time that we need to take a maximalist approach to sanctions to offer the strongest deterrent to the continuation of this war and brutality.

“The European Union is spending hundreds of millions of euros importing oil from Russia. That is certainly contributing to financing this war

“We know that is very difficult for some member states and we have to keep a united position across the EU.

“We now have coal as part of the sanctions package. We know that the commission is working on a future package that we hope we can see soon that will involve oil as well.

“The European Union is spending hundreds of millions of euros importing oil from Russia. That is certainly contributing to financing this war.”

“In our view we need to cut off that financing of war even though it creates huge challenges and problems for the EU to solve together.

“We will see what the commission says. They are now working on ensuring that oil is part of the next sanctions package. We believe the sooner that can happen the better.”

EU foreign ministers are expected to take stock of EU support to Ukraine and discuss the geopolitical impact of the war on the wider region.

They will also meet the foreign ministers of Iceland and Norway on co-ordination in response to the war and will hold an informal exchange with International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan and Ukrainian prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova.

Source: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/russia-luxembourg-moscow-ukraine-international-criminal-court-b993659.html

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Russia Expands its Foothold in Africa

Ksenia Svetlova — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 17:50:19 +0000

On December 8, the Russian government officially announced its agreement with Sudan to build a modern port and establish a navy base for at least 25 years. The new port, along with Russia’s base in the Syrian city of Tartus, will strengthen its military presence in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

October 23, 2019: Vladimir Putin meets with Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan, chairman of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan, at the Russia-Africa summi in Sochi, Russia. Photo: kremlin.ru.

After three years of discussions and planning, during which the Sudanese government was overthrown, Moscow has finally reached an agreement with the new regime in Khartoum to build a state-of-the-art navy base in Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast. This agreement is a clear expression of a successful Russian policy in Africa and the Middle East—something the Biden administration will have to reckon with.

Why does Russia need a port in Sudan?

The port in Sudan will be Russia’s first military base in Africa, providing a convenient docking station for Russian battleships for refuel and repair. It will complement Russia’s base in Tartus, Syria, which Moscow plans to modernize, with investment amounting to about $500 million, and make into the Russian army’s anchor in the Mediterranean. It can be safely assumed that, in addition to battleships, including nuclear vessels, the new Russian base will house electronic intelligence systems and Russian air defense systems.

The port is slated to be built at a strategic junction of a major trade route running through the Red Sea and connecting the Arabian and the Mediterranean Seas via the Suez Canal, where Russia is currently establishing an industrial zone and a free trade zone. All this will give Russia a large degree of influence on what is happening in both Africa and the Middle East.

Moreover, Moscow is continuing its efforts to establish more bases and ports in Africa, keeping close contacts with Egypt and Eritrea, with the goal to expand geopolitical influence and pursue its interest in what it considers critical areas. As a gateway to Africa, the port, for instance, will allow Russia to operate more easily in the Central African Republic, where Russian mercenaries have reportedly been present for several years.

Finally, Russia has always dreamed of having “warm water ports,” and this dream is now coming true on two continents and at two important junctions—the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

Political background

The plan to build the port had been originally discussed and agreed upon with Omar al-Bashir, then-Sudanese president, who was ousted during the 2019 revolution and is currently wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. As Russia opened up talks with Sudan in 2017, al-Bashir came to Moscow for an official visit, which resulted in an agreement on the construction of the first Russian port and development of several mineral mines in Sudan. But these plans never materialized.

In 2018, a popular upheaval broke out in Sudan, and after months of protests, al-Bashir was removed from office by the military—the president’s former close aides and associates. Although Russia stood by al-Bashir and even helped him to suppress the revolution, it immediately recognized the new regime, perhaps because it was not very different from its predecessor. Many of the members of the Sovereignty Council established for the transition period were well acquainted with their Russian counterparts.

The new regime ended up supporting Russia’s idea of building a naval base in Sudan, which also means that Moscow has reached an agreement not only with Khartoum but also with its sponsors in the Arab world—the Gulf principalities—and possibly with the United States as well.

The new Sudanese government’s relations with Russia developed in parallel with Khartoum’s close ties with Cairo, Riyadh, and Abu Dhabi. The latter, apparently, played a key role in shaping the new Sudan regime and its pro-Western political bias. It is hard to believe that any decision, especially as significant as granting permission to Russia to establish a military base in the country so dependent on the graces of Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, would not have been greenlighted by them first. Given the fact that the U.S. has the power to exclude Sudan from its list of countries sanctioned for being backed by terrorists, would Khartoum have dared to deal with Russia without Washington’s tacit consent?

In the past, Russia tried to negotiate the construction of a seaport with Djibouti—a small African republic on the Red Sea coast—but these efforts failed, partially because of US opposition, as Washington is determined to keep control over this strategic point overlooking the Indian Ocean. In Sudan, the talks actually bore fruit due to a variety of local and geopolitical circumstances. Just like Egypt, Sudan enjoys close ties with the US, but at the same time tries to get the most out of its relationship with other powers, such as Russia.

Russia’s advances in Africa

In recent years, Russia has become the number one arms exporter to Africa, outgunning France and the US, which have traditionally supplied arms to African countries. While Africa is viewed as a prestigious and coveted arms market, Moscow is not just interested in supplying arms to the poorest countries in the world. Last year, Vladimir Putin hosted the Russia-Africa summit, where numerous deals were signed on arms, nuclear energy, and food. Although most have yet to be implemented, Russia’s involvement in Africa continued to grow in 2020.

The port agreement with Sudan is a significant territory-marking for Russia, especially in light of the growing struggle among various powers for influence in Africa. Still, it is important to remember that the political situation in Sudan remains extremely sensitive: if the transitional government does not meet the public demand for democratization and separation from the difficult past, it might be ousted just as Omar al-Bashir was before.

* This article, originally published on the website of the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (Israel), was updated and slightly edited for clarity.

Source: https://imrussia.org/en/analysis/3213-russia-expands-its-foothold-in-africa

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EU imposes new raft of sanctions on Venezuela

Morning Star (UK) — Sat, 14 Nov 2020 00:02:11 +0000

Children look at books donated by the Venezuelan charity, “Feed the Solidarity”, at a home where children are tutored by volunteers, in the San Agustin neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela

ANEW raft of EU sanctions on Venezuela came into force today, despite President Nicolas Maduro warning that the punitive actions are harming his country’s citizens.

The measures, first implemented by the neoliberal economic bloc in 2017, have been extended for a further year and now include 36 named officials, ostensibly “because of their role in acts and decisions undermining democracy and the rule of law.”

EU officials had joined the United States and Britain in recognizing hapless former National Assembly President Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim leader.

But Mr. Guiado has since been voted out of that position after Venezuela’s opposition branded him “a dream that turned into a nightmare” following a series of embarrassing failed coup attempts.

Despite EU claims that its sanctions “are flexible and reversible and designed not to harm the Venezuelan population,” the country remains short of essential items.

The EU has followed the path of the US, which has ratcheted up pressure on Venezuela by imposing what has been described as a total embargo to try to force Mr. Maduro from office.

Former United Nations special rapporteur Alfred de Zayas warned last year that the measures are killing ordinary Venezuelans and accused Washington of “waging economic warfare.”

He said that the poorest people in the country were suffering the most, comparing the sanctions to a “modern-day medieval siege” which could amount to crimes against humanity.

Earlier this year, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza asked the International Criminal Court to investigate US officials over the sanctions.

A 60-page dossier lodged with the court, based at The Hague in the Netherlands, alleges that Washington’s punitive measures have been “a death sentence for tens of thousands of Venezuelans per year.”

Last month, Venezuela’s government scored a victory at the High Court in London court in its battle for the return of $1 billion of the country’s gold, which is stored in the Bank of England’s vaults.

Mr. Maduro has demanded the release of the gold to help fund efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

But the bank refused — reportedly under pressure from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. It then asked the High Court to determine who the British government recognizes as the legitimate leader of Venezuela, Mr. Maduro, or Mr. Guaido.

Judges ruled that the government’s position was ambiguous and the case will return to the High Court.

The new sanctions will last until November next year.

Source: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/eu-imposes-new-raft-of-sanctions-on-venezuela

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Pope Francis: Catechism will be updated to define ecological sins

Junno Arocho Esteves - Catholic News Service — Sun, 24 Nov 2019 14:50:50 +0000

In this 2017 file photo, Pope Francis addresses participants at an encounter marking the 25th anniversary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church at the Vatican.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Following through on a proposal made at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon, Pope Francis said there are plans to include a definition of ecological sins in the church’s official teaching.

“We should be introducing — we were thinking — in the Catechism of the Catholic Church the sin against ecology, ecological sin against the common home,” he told participants at a conference on criminal justice Nov. 15.

Members of the International Association of Penal Law were in Rome Nov. 13-16 for the conference, which centered on the theme, “Criminal Justice and Corporate Business.”

Pope Francis also denounced the abuse of law and legislation to justify acts of violence and hatred.

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Today’s throwaway culture, as well as other “psycho-social phenomenon”, pose threats to the common good while insidiously promoting a “culture of hate,” he said. These threats, he added, often take the form of “symbols and actions that are typical of Nazism.”

“I must confess,” the pope said, departing from his prepared remarks, “that when I hear some speeches, some person in charge of the order or the government, I am reminded of Hitler’s speeches in 1934 and 1936.”

“They are actions typical of Nazism that, with its persecution of Jews, gypsies, and people of homosexual orientation, represent a negative model par excellence of throwaway culture and hate,” the pope said. “That is what happened in that time and today, these things are reappearing.”

Today’s “current of punitivism, which claims to solve social problems through the penal system,” has not worked, the pope said. Instead, an “elementary sense of justice” must be applied so that “certain conduct for which corporations are usually responsible, does not go unpunished.”

Chief among those crimes, he added, are acts that “can be considered as ‘ecocide’: the massive contamination of air, land and water resources, the large-scale destruction of flora and fauna, and any action capable of producing an ecological disaster or destroying an ecosystem.”

Pope Francis also called on the international community to recognize ecocide as a “fifth category of crime against peace.”

According to the Rome Statute, which was adopted by the International Criminal Court in 1998, the four core international crimes currently established are crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes and crimes of aggression.

“On this occasion, and through you,” the pope told conference participants, “I would like to appeal to all the leaders and representatives in this sector to help with efforts in order to ensure the adequate legal protection of our common home.”

In the synod’s final document, bishops defined ecological sin as a sin against God and future generations that “manifests itself in acts and habits of pollution and destruction of the harmony of the environment.”

A true model of justice, the pope said, can find “its perfect incarnation in the life of Jesus” who, after being treated violently and put to death, brought “a message of peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation.”

“These are values that are difficult to achieve but necessary for the good life of all,” the pope said. “I don’t think it’s a utopia, but it’s a big challenge. A challenge that we must all address if we are to treat the problems of our civilized coexistence in a way that is rational, peaceful and democratic.”

[Explore America’s in-depth coverage of Pope Francis.]

Source: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/11/15/pope-francis-catechism-will-be-updated-define-ecological-sins

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World Refugee Council Calls on Nations to Use Frozen Funds to Help the Displaced

Edith M. Lederer/AP — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 09:19:14 +0000

A Syrian refugee woman carries wood to be used in supporting her family’s tent from an upcoming storm in Barelias, Lebanon, on Jan. 13, 2019. Marwan Naanmani—picture alliance/Getty Image

(UNITED NATIONS) — The World Refugee Council called Thursday for up to $20 billion stolen by government leaders and now frozen in the United States, Britain and other countries to be reallocated by courts to help millions of displaced people forced to flee conflict, persecution and victimization.

The council also called for people responsible for the growing crisis of refugees and internally displaced people — including government leaders, military officers and opposition and rebel figures — to be held accountable, all the way to the International Criminal Court.

Chaired by former Canadian foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy, the 24-member council which was formed in May 2017 includes former heads of state and ministers, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Leymah Gbowee, and leading business, civil society and human rights officials.

The 218-page report it launched Thursday goes beyond what the United Nations has done, at a time when the number of people forcibly displaced from their homes is 68.5 million, the highest since World War II. Its release also comes as populist and nationalist political figures “are exploiting people’s anxieties, fears” about refugees, Axworthy said,

Tanzania’s former President Jakaya Kikwete, a council co-chair, said the current crisis is a consequence of some countries’ internal policies, authoritarianism, sectarianism, violence and conflicts, “but the other aspect is that the attitude towards refugees has changed.”

“In the past people have been welcoming, friendly,” he said. “Now people are … closing the doors for people who are … fleeing from danger. But they say, ‘no, no you can’t come’ … and refugees are being blamed as being the problem.”

Kikwete said “unscrupulous politicians” are using refugees to get votes “because when you tell your people they’re dangerous” they react, and the politicians become popular.

At the same time, the report said, “the humanitarian commitment of nations, once a norm, has given way to nativism. Xenophobia — fear and exclusion of the ‘outsider’ — has gathered force in America, Europe, Australia and elsewhere.”

The U.N. refugee agency, which relies on voluntary contributions, is seriously underfunded and its head, Filippo Grandi, called in his latest report on forced displacement for “a new and far more comprehensive approach” to the crisis “so that countries and communities aren’t left dealing with this alone.”

Axworthy told a news conference: “What we’ve really proposed is a way in which you have to get out of the box in which refugees are seen simply as ‘a humanitarian issue.’”

“There has to be a much stronger level of involvement,” he said, in matters of security, development, human rights, accountability and finance for the world’s 25.4 million refugees and 40 million internally displaced, along with 3.1 million asylum seekers.

Axworthy said the World Bank has estimated that there are between $15 billion and $20 billion “in purloined assets that various political leaders have stolen from their people.”

How much of that can be recovered, he said, depends on how many governments and countries are prepared to give their courts the right to reallocate the money. He pointed to Switzerland, which has done just that, as a model.

Fen Osler Hampson, the council’s executive director, said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime has complained it doesn’t have access to $3 billion in bank accounts frozen in the United States. He said there are several hundred million dollars belonging to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s family frozen in London bank accounts. And in the case of South Sudan, he said, “the generals have several hundred millions that are frozen in bank accounts in Nairobi.”

“All it takes is political will to introduce that legislation” to give courts the right to reallocate that money, Hampson said.

The World Refugee Council’s argument is that refugees and internally displaced people, the majority of them women and children, are the most vulnerable in the world and should therefore have the primary claim on those assets, he said.

Other prospects for new money, Hampson said, are to leverage the vast resources of the private sector and create “refugee bonds,” similar to “green bonds” to tackle climate change.

Another proposal is a kind of cap-and-trade system where if a country isn’t willing to resettle refugees for political reasons it can make financial contributions to developing countries saddled with huge costs for hosting millions of refugees, Hampson said.

As for accountability, Axworthy said using the International Criminal Court to prosecute Myanmar’s military leaders for alleged crimes against humanity for the crackdown that led over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh would “take away the impunity” for those responsible for massive displacement.

The council also called for the drafting of a new protocol to the 1951 Refugee Convention requiring “collective responsibility for refugees.”

Contact us at editors@time.com.

Source: http://time.com/5512860/world-refugee-council-frozen-aid/

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Palestinians launch bid for full UN membership

i24 NEWS - AFP — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 17:53:04 +0000

Speaking a day after Donald Trump said he would unveil a new Mideast peace plan within months, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said the US president could not be regarded as a neutral broker
TIMOTHY A. CLARY (AFP)

The Palestinians will launch a bid to become a full member of the United Nations even though such a move will be blocked by the United States, the Palestinian foreign minister said Tuesday.

In 2012 the UN overwhelmingly granted ‘Palestine’ non-state observer status through a vote in the General Assembly despite a fierce diplomatic campaign mounted by Israel.

The move enabled the Palestinians to join international organizations and the International Criminal Court, though they did not become a full UN member state.

Palestinian statehood is recognized by more than 130 countries alongside bodies such as Interpol, the International Criminal Court, UNESCO, and now the OPCW.

However, an upgrade to full membership would require backing from the Security Council — an unlikely outcome, given the near-certainty of a US veto. Several attempts in the past have been blocked by Washington.

“We know that we are going to face a US veto but that won’t prevent us from presenting our application” for full UN membership, Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki told journalists.

The Palestinians will begin lobbying Security Council members with a view to presenting the application for UN membership in “a few weeks,” said Maliki.

The Palestinians presented a request for UN membership in 2011, but the application never came before the Security Council for a vote.

Palestinian minister of foreign affairs Riyad al-Maliki, center, speaks to reporters while Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour, left, and Palestinian official Omar Awdallah look on following a meeting in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 2 —AP Photo/Seth Wenig

– Israel ‘hampering development’ –

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas addressed a ceremony at the United Nations marking the start of the Palestinian chair of the Group of 77 and China, raising their profile by leading the biggest UN bloc of developing countries.

Abbas charged that Israel was hampering development in the Middle East and renewed his commitment to a two-state solution.

“Israel’s continued colonization and occupation of the state of Palestine undermines our development and capacity for cooperation, coordination and obstructs the cohesive future development of all peoples of the region,” Abbas told the gathering.

The Palestinian leader said he was committed to a “peaceful solution that brings an end to the occupation and the realization of the independence of the state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side-by-side in peace and security with the state of Israel.”

Palestine, won the presidency of G77 in a vote in October, with 146 countries voting in favor, three opposed (the United States, Israel and Australia), and 15 abstaining.

Founded on June 15 1964 by the “Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Countries”, G77 is now a coalition of 134 developing nations whose aim is to enhance common economic interests.

“We will do all we can, under President Mahmoud Abbas’ leadership, to make our presidency over the Group of 77 and China in 2019 a success to win the world’s confidence and respect for Palestine, its officials and leadership,” Riyad Mansour told Wafa news agency on Sunday before departing for New York.

Source: https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/193260-190115-abbas-at-un-says-israel-blocks-middle-east-development

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Is the IDF ready for its next legal war?

Yonah Jeremy Bob — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 04:57:52 +0000

While protests, attempts to infiltrate Israel’s border fence, and fire kites have slowed some in recent weeks, no one has declared the crisis over and the IDF still views the situation as ongoing.

ALESTINIANS PRAY yesterday next to the bodies of Hamas terrorists killed by Israeli tank fire, during their funeral at a mosque in Gaza City.. (photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED SALEM)

With around 140 Palestinians killed by the IDF during the ongoing Gaza border crisis, and almost every incident of death being initially probed, The Jerusalem Post has learned that the volume of reviews is drawing out the process of reaching legal decisions.

How soon the IDF makes decisions about the probes is crucial as it could impact ongoing war-crimes probes of Israel by the International Criminal Court and the UN Human Rights Council.

Although the IDF has two teams performing initial probes of incidents in which Palestinians were killed and some controversial incidents where Palestinians were injured – one led by Brig.-Gen. Moti Baruch and another led by Brig.-Gen. (res.) Nitzan Nuriel – the sheer number of incidents has delayed its ability to reach decisions.

In addition, the Post has learned that the IDF’s probes need to alter their paradigm for investigating and the methods they use to review incidents in light of the unique mixture of civilians and Hamas operatives. For example, the IDF has experience with balancing military goals and potential civilians casualties regarding aerial attacks, but has not found any country facing a similar paradigm of a long border of conflict that mixes combatants and civilians.

The crisis started with mostly civilian-run protests on March 30 – with Hamas operatives mixed in – but over time became more dominated by Hamas and other terrorist groups using increasingly violent methods, sometimes including gunfire or plastic explosives.

While protests, attempts to infiltrate Israel’s border fence, and fire kites have slowed some in recent weeks, no one has declared the crisis over and the IDF still views the situation as ongoing – a third factor in the delay in deciding whether to criminally investigate incidents.

Late Thursday afternoon, Haaretz reported that the two teams probing the incidents are close to turning over a large number of recommendations to military advocate-general Maj.-Gen. Sharon Afek, who has the final word on whether to criminally investigate an incident.

Haaretz reported that the two teams will recommend to Afek not to criminally investigate any of the incidents as the Palestinians killed had either been shot by accident, had died due to other operational errors, or had been shot justifiably.

Even if the two teams send recommendations soon to Afek, the Post has learned that the IDF legal division will likely need to request the gathering of additional evidence, which will draw out the probes further and only Afek makes final decisions.

Moreover, the Post has learned that in many cases, the IDF has been in touch with Palestinians’ lawyers to get information and is waiting for responses or has received initial responses and is in an extended process of dialogue.

The IDF’s open-fire rules during the crisis have been highly controversial and on Wednesday the UN Human Rights Council appointed an official commission, headed by Syracuse professor and war crimes expert David Michael Crane, to probe alleged war-crimes allegations against Israel.

In April, the International Criminal Court issued a warning to both Israel and Hamas that its ongoing war-crimes probe of both sides dating back to the 2014 Gaza war could also include any new crimes committed during the current border conflict.

Even if the IDF puts forth the above reasons justifying its needing more time to make final decisions about criminal investigations and – down the road – whether to indict soldiers or not, there are concerns that the longer the probes run the more global legal problems may build up.

Despite these concerns, the Post has learned the IDF will likely not push to speed up the process.

Regarding the 2014 Gaza war, though the IDF made several announcements about criminal probes in the weeks and months after the war ended, there are still, to this day, no final decisions regarding whether to criminally probe the three largest incidents of Palestinian deaths.

The Post has learned that final decisions regarding those incidents are due in the coming months or by the end of 2018.

It appears that the IDF and top Israeli legal officials have not reached a final decision about whether to put out large public reports about their probes, as they did for the 2014 Gaza war, preferring to wait until the current border crisis has ended and they can view its full scale.

Moreover, many of the government officials and soldiers that the legal officials need information from are still serving on the border as long as the crisis continues – causing a delay in how quickly they can provide documentation.

The 2014 Gaza war led to over 30 criminal investigations out of around 500 initial probes. If none of the current crisis incidents lead to criminal probes, the IDF would likely come under even greater scrutiny by the ICC and the UNHRC.

On the other hand, the IDF is hopeful that a High Court of Justice ruling declaring its open fires rules legal may shield it from outside legal scrutiny.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Is-the-IDF-ready-for-its-next-legal-war-563568

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Israel Struggles to Explain Why Snipers Used to Quell Palestinian Protest

Jonathan Ferziger and Saud Abu Ramadan — Wed, 16 May 2018 07:49:58 +0000

Putrid water, tear gas has limited effectiveness, Israel says
Palestinians appeal for UN help to save them from ‘massacre’

Israeli soldiers and snipers at the border east of Gaza City on May 15. Photographer: Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images

Skunk water, sticky foam, sponge grenades and tear gas-spraying drones are among the non-lethal methods Israel has pioneered to quell Palestinian protests.

Given this extensive toolkit, Israel is struggling to explain why its snipers fired enough bullets into Gaza Monday to kill 60 Palestinians and wound about 1,200. As with previous conflicts there, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government may face investigations and censure from international legal bodies.

“It’s simply unacceptable and outrageous to use live fire, not as the last resort but as the basic modus operandi for dealing with these demonstrations,” said Amir Gilutz, spokesman for Israeli human rights group B’tselem.

Some 40,000 of Gaza’s 2 million residents converged on Israel’s border on May 14 to protest against the transfer of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move they say sets back peace efforts and undermines their bid for statehood. Juxtaposed with the festive mood at the opening of the U.S. embassy, footage from Gaza, showing scores of Palestinians shot by Israeli soldiers, alarmed viewers around the world.

Some youths hurled rocks and petrol bombs at Israeli troops. Others used wire-cutters to try to breach the border fence. Though witnesses say most protesters were unarmed, army footage aired on Israel’s Hadashot News showed a group with with guns, bombs, grenades and wire-cutters trying to cross the fence; all eight were shot dead.

Ambulances and hospitals were overwhelmed, said Ayman Sahabani, chief of surgery at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. “We’re at 25 times our capacity and our drug inventory is exhausted,” he said.

Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus said troops tried using non-lethal weapons like tear gas and rubber bullets when possible and had tried dousing burning tires with water cannons, but those methods had not proved sufficiently effective.

An injured protester is carried to an ambulance in Gaza City on May 15.

Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

“We are defending ourselves against terrorists and rioters,” he said. “We shoot in order to stop them so that they cannot harm the security infrastructure and infiltrate into Israel.”

Investigate Incidents

Ranked as the world’s seventh-largest arms exporter, Israel has developed expertise in making non-lethal weapons to subdue protests in Gaza and the West Bank. Among them are putrid-smelling fluids and immobilizing foam. In preparation for this week’s demonstrations, it equipped drones to drop tear gas.

Given the availability of those methods, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process Nickolay Mladenov told the Security Council Tuesday there was no justification for the killings.

“Israel has a responsibility to calibrate its use of force, to not use lethal force, except as a last resort, under imminent threat of death or serious injury,” he said. “It must protect its borders, but it must do so proportionally and investigate every incident that has led to a loss of human life.”

An Israeli drone drops tear gas canisters during clashes with Palestinian protesters on May 15.

Photographer: Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images

Israel faced criticism from countries including Saudi Arabia, France, Belgium and the U.K. Turkey expelled Israel’s ambassador and recalled its own from Israel and the U.S. The Palestinian Authority appealed to the Arab League and UN for international protection and urged the International Criminal Court to investigate Israeli officials.

Israel is “conducting a massacre against our people,” said Mahmoud al-Aloul, deputy chairman of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah party.

In the 2008 Gaza conflict that left about 1,400 Palestinians and five Israelis dead, a UN fact-finding commission found both Israel and Hamas, the group which rules Gaza, committed war crimes. The panel’s chief, Richard Goldstone, later said the report erroneously accused Israel of intentionally killing civilians.

Hamas said 50 of the dead were members of the armed Islamist group, which is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union.

Trump’s ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, blamed Hamas and said Israel acted with restraint.

Following investigations in the aftermath of three Gaza wars, the army has assigned lawyers, senior officers and video photographers to its regional commands to document military actions and try to ensure no war crimes are committed. The army says soldiers adhere to open-fire regulations and officers were prepared to defend their actions.

“Every bullet that’s fired is ordered by a commander and every bullet has a target,” said Conricus. Still, he said, smoke, sand, wind and tear gas created a chaotic environment in Gaza, and “unfortunately we do not always hit where we are trying to hit.”

The death toll appeared to deter a second day of protests that had been expected Tuesday to mark 70 years since Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes with Israel’s establishment. Instead, Gazans were burying their dead.

Israeli gunfire “will never make us lose hope to get back our land,” said Mohamed Abu el-Majd, 23, whose left leg was fractured. “They can shoot me in the right leg now and I swear to God I’ll come crawling back.”

— With assistance by Fadwa Hodali

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-17/in-gaza-israel-counts-on-army-snipers-over-non-lethal-arsenal
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Saudi king pledges $150m for Jerusalem, $50m for UNRWA

I24 News — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 00:08:20 +0000

US President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (R) upon arrival at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on May 20, 2017

BANDAR AL-JALOUD (Saudi Royal Palace/AFP)

“East Jerusalem is an integral part of the Palestinian territories,” the king added

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Sunday criticized US President Donald Trump’s decision to transfer the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and pledged $150 million for the city’s Islamic holy sites.

Opening the 29th Arab League summit, the king also slammed Iran’s “blatant interference” in regional affairs as Arab leaders met in the kingdom for an annual gathering.

Seventeen leaders from across the Arab world — minus Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — gathered in the eastern Saudi city of Dhahran for the summit, which this year comes as world powers face off over Syria and tensions rise between Riyadh and Tehran.

The meeting opened only 24 hours after a barrage of strikes launched by the United States, Britain and France hit targets they said were linked to chemical weapons development in Syria, which was suspended from the league seven years ago.

But King Salman avoided any mention of Syria in his address, as a seat marked “Syrian Arab Republic” sat empty in the hall.

Instead the king focused on rivalries with long-time foe Iran — only 160 kilometers (100 miles) across the Gulf from Dharan.

Israeli border police officers are seen next to the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, Thursday, July 27, 2017

AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean

“We renew our strong condemnation of Iran’s terrorist acts in the Arab region and reject its blatant interference in the affairs of Arab countries,” the king said.

And despite being a stalwart ally of the United States, the ruler also criticized US President Donald Trump controversial decision to transfer America’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

“We reiterate our rejection of the US decision on Jerusalem,” Salman said. “East Jerusalem is an integral part of the Palestinian territories.”

In addition to the $150 million for Jerusalem’s Islamic holy sites, the king also coughed up $50 million for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), according to an official Saudi Press Agency statement.

The international body is tasked with providing for the descendants of Palestinians who moved or were forced to flee during the creation of Israel in 1948 and the Six Day War in 1967.

In mid-March, UNRWA said it did not have the necessary funds to continue running until the summer after the US announced it was cutting its funding of the body.

Last month Salman intervened publicly after his son — and the kingdom’s de facto ruler — said he believes that “the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Netanyahu praised President Donald Trump’s highly contentious decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, during a meeting at the White House

Mandel NGAN (AFP)

Arab ministers at a preliminary meeting in Riyadh on Thursday focused heavily on blocking Trump’s embassy move, unanimously condemning Trump’s decision.

King Salman on Sunday announced a $150 million donation for the maintenance of Islamic heritage in East Jerusalem.

“Saudi Arabia announces a $150-million grant to support the administration of Jerusalem’s Islamic property,” the monarch said at the opening of the Arab League summit in the kingdom’s eastern city of Dhahran.

“I name this summit in Dhahran the Jerusalem Summit so that the entire world knows Palestine and its people remain at the heart of Arab concerns,” he said.

Iran rivalry

Saudi Arabia is also pushing for a tough, unified stance against its regional arch-rival Iran at the annual gathering of the 22-member Arab League.

The two regional titans back opposing sides in a range of hotspots across the Middle East, including Lebanon and Syria and in Saudi Arabia’s southern neighbor Yemen.

Iran is backing Shiite Huthi rebels that Riyadh opposes in Yemen and on Sunday Salman praised “the UN Security Council’s statement denouncing the Iranian-made ballistic missile fire on Saudi cities.”

Last month the Security Council issued a statement condemning Huthi missile attacks on Saudi, but did not name Iran.

A general view of the Ithra center during the 28th summit of the Arab League in Dhahran in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia on April 15, 2018

STR (AFP)

In February, Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution that would have expressed concern over Iran’s failure to block supplies of missiles to Yemen’s Huthi rebels.

The summit also comes with Saudi Arabia and Qatar locked in a months-long diplomatic standoff, with Riyadh accusing Doha of supporting Islamist extremists and being too close to Iran.

Tensions have eased slightly in recent months but Qatar still only sent its representative to the Arab League to the Dhahran summit.

Among the leaders in attendance was Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir, who walked the red carpet and was greeted by King Salman. Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for five counts of crimes against humanity, three counts of genocide and two counts of war crimes.

Summits of the Arab League, established in 1945, rarely result in action. The last time the bloc made a concrete move was in 2011, when it suspended Syria’s membership over the Assad regime’s role in the war.

Syria’s war, the most complex of the region’s conflicts, is the main point of contention pitting Riyadh and its allies, who mainly back Sunni rebels, against regime backer Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Gulf Arab states have made massive donations to Syria but have not officially offered asylum to Syrians.

Source: https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/172362-180415-saudi-king-rejects-us-plan-to-transfer-embassy-to-jerusalem

[Disclaimer]

The post Saudi king pledges $150m for Jerusalem, $50m for UNRWA first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Israel launches plan to expel thousands of African migrants

News 24 — Thu, 04 Jan 2018 20:19:42 +0000

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Abir Sultan, pool via AP, File)

Jerusalem – Israel on Wednesday began implementing a plan to force tens of thousands of African migrants out of the country by April, threatening to arrest those who stay.

“This plan will get under way today,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting.

Under the programme, some 38 000 migrants who entered Israel illegally, mainly Eritreans and Sudanese, will have until the end of March to leave.

Each will receive a plane ticket and $3 500 to do so. After the deadline, this amount will decrease and those who continue to refuse to go will face arrest.

Holot, an open facility in Israel’s desert south that can host 1 200 migrants who are allowed to leave to work during the day, is also set to be closed.

It currently holds 970 people, an interior ministry statement said earlier this week.

The plan was originally approved by the cabinet in November, drawing a statement of concern from the United Nations refugee agency.

Wednesday’s cabinet session marked the programme’s transition from the planning stage to action, migrant aid worker Adi Drori-Avraham told AFP.

“We see here the implementation of the decision,” said Drori-Avraham of the Tel Aviv-based Aid Organisation for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel (ASSAF).

The Africans currently hold short-term residence visas which must be renewed every two months.

“From today when a person goes to request an extension to their visa, if he does not have a pending asylum application… his visa will not be renewed and he will be given a deportation order,” she added.

She said that under the new regulations there is also an option for the authorities “not even to threaten them with a choice of voluntary departure or jail, simply to seize them and take them to a plane”.

“At the moment there are exceptions for women, children, parents of children and victims of human trafficking, but the procedural rules make it clear that those exemptions are only temporary,” she added.

Boosted border protection

In his comments to the cabinet and media on Wednesday, Netanyahu defended the plan.

“Every country must maintain its borders, and protecting the borders from illegal infiltration is both a right and a basic duty of a sovereign state,” he said.

Israel tacitly recognises that the Sudanese and Eritreans cannot be returned to their dangerous homelands, so it has signed deals with Rwanda and Uganda, which agree to accept departing migrants on condition they consent to the arrangement, activists say.

A 2016 UN commission of inquiry into Eritrea’s harsh regime found “widespread and systematic” crimes against humanity and said an estimated 5 000 people flee the country each month.

The International Criminal Court has indicted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide related to his regime’s counter-insurgency tactics in the 14-year-old conflict in Darfur.

Migrants started coming in large numbers across the porous border between Israel and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in 2007, when nearly 5 000 entered, interior ministry figures show.

The government has since completed fencing the border and deploying electronic sensors. In the first six months of last year, no one made it across.

Over the years, those caught at the Egyptian frontier were detained at prisons in the Negev desert in southern Israel.

On release they were given bus tickets to Tel Aviv, arriving at the central bus station on the south side of the city, where many have since remained.

Israeli residents of southern Tel Aviv have long complained of their presence and right-wing politicians have pledged to heed calls to force them out, often with harsh rhetoric.

During a visit there in August, Netanyahu pledged to “return south Tel Aviv to the citizens of Israel”, adding that the Africans were “not refugees but illegal infiltrators”.

Source: https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/israel-launches-plan-to-expel-thousands-of-african-migrants-20180103

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The post Israel launches plan to expel thousands of African migrants first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.