PALESTINE

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

A young man from Jaba' was arrested at a military checkpoint

Jenin - "Jerusalem" dot com - Ali Samoudi - On Saturday evening, the Israeli occupation forces arrested a young man from the town of Jaba, south of Jenin, at a military checkpoint.


Montaser Sammour, director of the Prisoner Club in Jenin, stated that the occupation forces arrested the young Jihad Taher Fashafsha while he was passing through the Beit El checkpoint near Ramallah , and he is a member of the security services.

ARAB AND WORLD

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

Iraqis unanimously agree on the violation of human rights by Washington in their country

BAGHDAD - (Xinhua) - Iraqis from different fields unanimously agreed that America seriously violated human rights in their country, the region and the world, and committed the most heinous crimes under the slogan of democracy and human rights, which are far from them.


They told Xinhua that although the United States has always promoted itself as a defender of human rights around the world, it is in fact the biggest violator of human rights and the culprit behind many wars, massacres and torture in the Middle East and beyond.


America invaded Iraq in 2003 and occupied it illegally and in violation of international law and left hundreds of thousands dead, wounded and detained, destroyed the infrastructure and created cracks in the social structure of society that led to the emigration and displacement of millions of Iraqis outside their country.


According to Statista, a global statistical database, from 2003 to 2021, about 209,000 Iraqi civilians died in wars and violent conflicts, and about 9.2 million Iraqis became refugees or were forced to leave their homeland.


In this regard, Dr. Kawa Mahmoud, secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kurdistan in Iraq, told Xinhua, "The United States has carried out a lot of military interventions away from United Nations resolutions, and this is what happened in Afghanistan and Iraq," noting that America has 750 military bases. It is used in wars and internal conflicts in the countries of the world, which threatens global peace and security.


"In the name of democracy and excessive privatization and in the name of human rights, the United States is practicing its policies to put this region in its orbit and use it as markets and as primary sources," he added.


He stressed that the weapons of mass destruction adopted by Washington as a justification for invading Iraq did not exist, saying, "The Iraq issue is mainly a political issue, and the issue of weapons of mass destruction and the issue of democracy and others do not justify the invasion. We are always against the invasion and we are always against the blatant interference in the internal affairs of states."


He described what Washington did with the Guantanamo camp and the issue of prisoners in the Iraqi Abu Ghraib prison as a flagrant violation of human rights, adding, "The main problem is that America did not sign the Rome Convention on international criminal law, thus allowing its forces and military personnel to practice all disgraceful acts with impunity."


He continued, saying, "The United States, with its military movements, its military bases, and its interventions, does not take into account human rights standards and international agreements related to the treatment of prisoners, and exercises a kind of arrogance and domination, and these actions, according to all standards, are a violation of human rights."


He concluded by saying, "There should be no person, whether American or non-American, who is exempt from cases of human rights violations, but unfortunately the United States has practiced these violations through its military actions and through its invasion of many countries."


The Abu Ghraib prison scandal in 2004, in which the American occupation forces committed physical and psychological violations, sexual abuse, torture, rape and killing of Iraqi prisoners, is a good example of the invalidity of the slogan of human rights and American democracy.


In turn, Dr. Adel Al-Ghurairy, professor of international media at the University of Baghdad, described America as a rogue country trying to create crises to fuel conflicts between peoples to achieve its interests, stressing that America invaded Iraq in 2003 and looted its wealth and took control of oil sources under the lie of weapons of mass destruction.


He added that America is trying to create some arguments and pretexts to interfere in internal affairs, and what happened in Iraq is evidence that it was delusional to the world that there were weapons of mass destruction, but it destroyed Iraq and its infrastructure and the value, economic and political system in Iraq, and it turned out that these arguments and proofs are false and do not exist at all.


Al-Ghurairy stated, "The United States launches the slogan of human rights while it is far from it, and it has no connection with this concept, and what happened in Iraq in terms of massacres and killings at the hands of the occupying American soldiers and the security companies that came with it was the best evidence of that."


Al-Ghurairy held Washington responsible for the crimes it committed in Iraq, saying, "There are a million martyrs, killed, wounded and missing since 2003 and to this day. The United States and the blatant American project that came under the pretext of democracy is responsible for that, and it is not democratic at all. Rather, it is an occupation and theft of Iraqi wealth and control of the region." and impose domination over it.


He said, "America committed crimes during its occupation of Iraq and killed many citizens in cold blood as a result of passing in front of American bases or in front of American convoys," adding, "The American forces are criminal and their dealings are criminal for killing many innocent people."
He stressed that what happened in Guantanamo, the Air Base in Afghanistan and Abu Ghraib prison is the best evidence that America violated the principle of human rights and dealt very badly with it, expressing his wishes that the International Court of Justice open the files of prisons and the crimes it committed in Iraq.


He added, "We were hoping that the International Court of Justice in The Hague would open the file of these crimes and genocide because America committed genocide, especially in the battle of Fallujah and its use of internationally prohibited weapons," describing the American behavior as deviant and working to spread terrorism, violence, murder and criminality in many countries of the world.


Shaher al-Obeidi, a researcher on political affairs, shared the opinion that America violated human rights and invaded Iraq illegally, saying, "There are no human rights, and the evidence for that is that the American soldier does not have any prosecution for any work he does in the countries it occupies or has military operations in." .


And he stressed the existence of a violation of human rights in the prisons that it established in the countries that occupied it, and it is clearly visible at all times. The best evidence of that is what happened in Afghanistan and the Abu Ghraib prison, which was recognized by America itself, and the pictures were shown to international news agencies.


As for the civil activist Raad Majeed, he believes that America came as an occupier and caused great suffering to the Iraqis.


Majeed confirmed that he is a victim of the American occupation, as the American forces arrested him for two years and seven months without any guilt, indicating that he will continue to pursue America, saying, "I will continue to demand my right from the United States because it came to me in the name of democracy, but it destroyed me and destroyed the youth and destroyed most Iraqis."


For his part, Ahmed Al-Banna, a bodybuilding coach, stressed that America has violated human rights, wondering what is the fault of a person who remains in prison for five years without guilt? He added, "America did not come to Iraq to liberate it, but rather to destroy it."


As for Ibrahim Al-Quraishi (retired), he said, "The Americans came under the pretext of democracy in order to dominate the countries of the Middle East, especially Iraq," adding, "It is not democracy, it is dictatorship, it is criminality, and it is a massacre of the peoples of the Middle East."

PALESTINE

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

Prisoners' Authority: The prisoner, who has cancer, Abd al-Basit Maatan, needs medical care

Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs confirmed in a report issued Thursday afternoon that the prisoner Abdel Basset Maatan, who has been suffering from colon and gland cancer for several years, is in urgent need of periodic medical care for his condition.


The authority indicated that the occupation army had re-arrested Maatan on July 21, while he was trying to travel to Turkey to complete his treatment there, and an administrative detention order was issued against him for a period of 6 months, noting that he was released during the month of April after spending several months in administrative detention.


She added that the prisoner, Maatan, had been diagnosed with cancer in 2018, and at that time he underwent several complex surgeries during which part of his colon was removed, and he also underwent chemotherapy sessions that affected his condition and led to discs in his back.


The Commission indicated that after the arrest of the prisoner Maatan during the past year, the occupation authorities did not recognize his medical files, which prove that he had cancer, and deliberately ignored his difficult situation and procrastinated in referring him to an oncologist, knowing that his condition requires close follow-up and periodic examinations every 6 months, for fear of The possibility of the disease spreading again inside his body.


The Prisoners Authority held the administration of occupation prisons fully responsible for the life and fate of the prisoner Maatan, calling on the institutions of the international community to intervene immediately and urgently in order to release him and all sick prisoners against whom a systematic medical crime is practiced every day inside prisons, and to put an end to their suffering.


It is worth mentioning that the prisoner, Maatan (49 years), is from the village of Barqa, in the district of Ramallah. He is a retired professor and father of four children, and a former prisoner who spent 9 years in the occupation prisons.

ARAB AND WORLD

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

A leak was detected in Poland from the Druzhba oil pipeline linking Russia and Germany

Warsaw - (AFP) - One of the two Druzhba oil pipelines linking Russia with Germany has closed after a leak was discovered in Poland , the Polish operator PERN announced Wednesday.


The company said in a statement, "The causes of the accident are unknown at the present time - pumping in the damaged line stopped immediately. Line 2 is operating normally," explaining that the leak was detected on Tuesday evening.


Drogba is the main oil pipeline that carries Russian oil to Germany.


"This part of the main oil pipeline transports crude oil to two German refineries, PCK Raffinerie GmbH Schwedt and TOTAL Raffinerie Mitteldeutschland," said a spokeswoman for Bern. GmbH).


"Rescue measures are underway. All equipment is on site," Katarzyna Krasinska told AFP.


The leak occurred near the village of Zorowice, 180 km west of Warsaw.


Work on the Druzhba pipeline, whose name means "friendship", began in the early nineties and today extends over a 5,500-kilometer network, transporting oil from the Urals to refineries in Poland and Germany.


Another branch of the "Drogba" pipeline transports Russian oil to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

PALESTINE

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

Video || “Peace be upon the Messenger.. I delivered you as a trust to the Lord of the Worlds.” The mother of the martyr “Dirar” and the last farewell

Jenin - "Jerusalem" dot com - Ali Samoudi - a slump and a heartbreak, the thirty-year-old refugee, Yasmin Muhammad Omar Ighbariya, from the Jenin camp, embraced her son Dirar Riyad Al-Hajj Saleh (Al-Kafrini), in the mortuary room, in the Martyr Khalil Suleiman Governmental Hospital, after only an hour From his elevation as a martyr by the bullets of the occupation, and she insisted on teaching him the two testimonies while praying for him.


(Greetings be upon the Prophet, the Chosen One, may our Lord unite us in him and in you, in the gardens of eternity, and I ask God to accept you as a martyr, my beloved of my heart) And she repeats: “God is pleased with you.



The takbeers became louder, and the attempts of the family, relatives, and friends of the martyr were loud, as they tried to calm the mother, “Umm Dhirar,” and alleviate her anguish and distress, especially after she drowned in a sea of tears while addressing her martyr, “Forgive me, mother.. Peace be upon the Messenger.” But the bereaved mother, insisted on To continue hugging her son and reciting Quranic verses at his head, and asking his two sisters, Rafif (13 years old) and Nour (5 years), to hug him, kiss him, and bid him farewell, as she recalls his virtues, and repeats: “He was affectionate and kind-hearted, righteous and the closest person to me and his sisters, and today is our soul and our life.” I went with him to the grave.. Who wants to make light and Rafif happy? This is a criminal and unjust occupation. It kills our children, steals our lives, and destroys our dreams.



Dirar was born, raised and brought up in the Jenin camp, 16 years and nine months ago, and his mother says: "He never upset me, nor did he lose sight of me for a moment, and I feel that the bullet that hit him hit us all.. My son was not wanted and he was still young.. The occupation killed him with hasty blood. I feel proud because he had a patriotic spirit, and he had magnanimity, fraternity, and love for his country, and he was never late to participate in marches and events and carry martyrs, and despite that, there is no reason for his execution.”


Dirar's comrades narrate that he had a great patriotic spirit, and was always keen to participate in national activities and marches.


As usual, Dirar did not delay in performing his duty when the occupation and special units stormed the Jenin camp and surrounded the house of Sheikh Bassam al-Saadi. Like dozens of residents of the camp, he rose and participated in the confrontations and confronting the army, which met with fierce resistance. He was hit by a bullet in the face, and according to doctors, it led to an explosion in his face Severe bleeding and his martyrdom. The Jenin Brigade described him as one of the heroes of the night confusion, who rose as a martyr while carrying out his sacred jihadi duty and confronting the occupation forces.


Immediately after Dirar arrived at the Martyr Khalil Suleiman Governmental Hospital, the doctors announced his death, at a time when his mother, Yasmine, was in her home in the Jenin camp, so she suddenly felt constriction and suffocation before the news reached her. Her shock was great when she did not find his corpse, which was carried on the shoulders of his comrades, as they roamed the streets of the camp, indignant and angry, vowing to continue his path. So she sat on the hospital gate until he approached her, so she could not control her nerves, and she started screaming that did not stop even after he was brought to her house to take a last farewell look at his corpse. Immaculate, so she bid him farewell with tears and her tongue begged the Lord of the worlds to accept him with the prophets and martyrs in the gardens of bliss.


In the hospital, there were many pictures and poignant scenes. Dirar’s friends collapsed from crying, and his resistance brothers embraced him with patience and loyalty. As for his father, he could not control himself, so he cried hard and bid him farewell with tears, while the father of the martyr Amjad Al-Fayed, who rose about two months ago, stood beside him. And he was patient, and after a long silence, the father said: "Praise be to God, who honored him with martyrdom and this rank, and God willing, to the gardens of eternity." Then he hugged his son and said: "Sleep well. We will not forget you, and your spirit will remain alive and accompany us forever."

SPORT

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

World Cup 2022: Champions Record

(أ ف ب) -يشهد مونديال قطر 2022 في كرة القدم الذي ينطلق الأحد حتى 18 كانون الأول/ديسمبر منافسة 32 منتخباً على لقب أحرزته البرازيل خمس مرات (رقم قياسي) ورفعه المنتخب الفرنسي في النسخة الأخيرة عام 2018 في روسيا.

في ما يأتي سجل المباريات النهائية:
1930: فازت الأوروغواي على الارجنتين 4-2 (في الأوروغواي)
1934: فازت إيطاليا على تشيكوسلوفاكيا 2-1 بعد التمديد (في ايطاليا)
1938: فازت إيطاليا على المجر 4-2 (في فرنسا)
1950: فازت الاوروغواي البرازيل 2-1* (في البرازيل)
1954: فازت ألمانيا الغربية على المجر 3-2 (في سويسرا)
1958: فازت البرازيل على السويد 5-2 (في السويد)
1962: فازت البرازيل على تشيكوسلوفاكيا 3-1 (في تشيلي)
1966: فازت إنكلترا على ألمانيا الغربية 4-2 بعد التمديد (في انكلترا)
1970: فازت البرازيل على إيطاليا 4-1 (في المكسيك)
1974: فازت ألمانيا الغربية على هولندا 2-1 (في ألمانيا الغربية)
1978: فازت الأرجنتين على هولندا 3-1 بعد التمديد (في الارجنتين)
1982: فازت إيطاليا على ألمانيا الغربية 3-1 (في اسبانيا)
1986: فازت الأرجنتين على ألمانيا الغربية 3-2 (في المكسيك)
1990: فازت ألمانيا على الارجنتين 1-صفر (في ايطاليا)
1994: فازت البرازيل على إيطاليا بركلات الترجيح 3-2 بعد تعادل سلبي (في الولايات المتحدة)
1998: فازت فرنسا على البرازيل 3-صفر (في فرنسا)
2002: فازت البرازيل على المانيا 2-صفر (كوريا الجنوبية واليابان)
2006: فازت إيطاليا على فرنسا بركلات الترجيح 5-3 بعد تعادلهما 1-1 في الوقتين الاصلي والاضافي (في ألمانيا)
2010: فازت إسبانيا على هولندا 1-صفر بعد التمديد (في جنوب افريقيا)
2014: فازت ألمانيا على الارجنتين 1-صفر بعد التمديد (في البرازيل)
2018: فازت فرنسا على كرواتيا 4-2 (في روسيا)

* في 1950، انتهت النسخة بمجموعة من أربعة منتخبات، وفازت الأوروغواي على البرازيل 2-1 في المباراة الاخيرة التي عُدّت بمثابة نهائي.

المنتخبات المتوجة:
5 البرازيل (1958 و1962 و1970 و1994 و2002)
4 ألمانيا (1954 و1974 و1990 و2014) وإيطاليا (1934 و1938 و1982 و2006)
2 الأوروغواي (1930 و1950) والأرجنتين (1978 و1986) وفرنسا (1998 و2018)
1 إنكلترا (1966) وإسبانيا (2010)

PALESTINE

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

Smotrich incites the killing of Palestinians inside

ترجمة خاصة بـ”القدس” دوت كوم- حرض عضو الكنيست عن حزب الصهيونية الدينية بتسلئيل سموتريتش، اليوم الأربعاء، على قتل فلسطينيي الداخل الذين وصفهم بـ”الإرهابيين”.

جاء ذلك عقب جدال دار في جلسة الكنيست بعد إلقاء وزير الأمن الداخلي أمير أوحانا، اتهم الفلسطينيين بالداخل بالتسبب في الأحداث الأخيرة.

ووصفت ابتسام مراعنة من حزب العمل خطاب أوحانا وإلقاء اللوم على الفلسطينيين بمثابة تحريض ضدهم، مشيرةً إلى قتل أحد سكان مدينة اللد على يد مجموعة من اليهود.

ورد سموتريتش على ما قالته مراعنة “من المؤسف أنه لم يقتل ألف إرهابي”، قبل أن تشهد الجلسة جدلًا صاخبًا بعد التصريحات التي تحدث بها المتطرف اليميني.

PALESTINE

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

"Prisoners' Authority": the continuous suffering of sick prisoners in the occupation prisons and the deliberate absence of treatment

Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - The Commission for Detainees and Ex-Prisoners' Affairs published, in its report issued today, Sunday, details of the health status of a number of prisoners languishing in the Negev prison, after the commission's lawyer, Fadi Obeidat, visited them.


The prisoner, Ahmed Wajih Wahdan (24 years), from Qalandia camp, suffers from a difficult health condition as a result of a traffic accident before his capture, which caused an injury to the head area, which led to limited movement, and he underwent rehabilitative treatment before his arrest, but he stopped receiving any treatment. Or medical follow-up after his capture, which exacerbated his health condition, and he suffered from a constant feeling of dizziness, and remained seated all day.


As for the prisoner, Raed Youssef Rayan (29 years), from Beit Duqu - the outskirts of Jerusalem, he suffers from the presence of bacteria that come out of the stomach and infect the tongue, in addition to a problem with the nerves, which causes him a state of imbalance and forgetfulness.


The prisoner was infected with this type of bacteria, after he went on strike on 11/03/2021, for a period of 113 days, to protest his administrative detention, as there was a previous agreement with the Public Prosecution to release him on 11/01/2022, but they did not abide by the terms of The agreement was extended for the third time.


Note that prisoner Rayan receives medication for nerves, and the prison clinic informed him that the problem of bacteria is permanent and has no cure.


The prisoner, Obaidan Abd al-Rahman Samara (37 years), from Salfit, suffers from a hearing problem in the left ear, a disk, and high blood pressure that causes him to faint, while the prison clinic only gave him pressure pills and ear drops, while refusing to conduct the necessary examinations for him.


Note that the prisoner was arrested on 04/26/2022, and no charges were brought against him, under the pretext of having a secret file, and his administrative detention was extended three times, each time 4 + 4 + 4 months, as the last extension ends on 04/23/2023

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

Pele's family confirms that his health condition does not pose a "danger"

Sao Paulo - (AFP) - Two daughters of Brazilian soccer legend Pele , who has been hospitalized since Tuesday, announced Sunday that his health condition does not represent any "danger", expressing optimism about his return home.


His daughter, Kelly Nascimento, said in an interview with Brazilian broadcaster Globo that Pele "is sick, he is old, but he is currently in hospital with a lung infection, and when he gets better, he will go home."


Pele suffers from pneumonia as a result of his infection with Covid-19 three weeks ago.


For her part, her sister Flavia Arantes said that Pele "is not in the intensive care unit, he is in a regular room. He is not in danger, he is undergoing treatment."


Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pele, was admitted to the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo on Tuesday for a re-evaluation of his treatment for colon cancer. Doctors said his respiratory infection was "treated with antibiotics".


The hospital said on Saturday that his condition was "stable" and that he was responding well to treatment for a respiratory infection. This was confirmed again by the hospital's media office to AFP on Sunday.


Pele, 82, said on Saturday that he felt "strong and hopeful". On Sunday, his two daughters also denied rumors of his deteriorating health.


"We are tired of receiving condolences," his daughter Flavia told Globo.

PALESTINE

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

Civil disobedience decision.. New confrontations in Shuafat camp

Jerusalem - "Jerusalem" dot com - Clashes erupted, on Tuesday evening, as a result of the Israeli occupation forces' suppression of a march organized by the residents of the Shuafat refugee camp, north of occupied Jerusalem.


According to local sources, the occupation forces threw tear gas canisters and sound bombs at the citizens after they went out in a march to announce civil disobedience.


The camp residents decided, as part of the open civil disobedience steps, to shut down the camp’s schools, and to call on Jerusalem schools to strike and close down, and to ask the parents’ committees in the city of Jerusalem to stop a protest after the Shuafat camp checkpoint at 10:00 am tomorrow, Wednesday.


It was decided to prevent the use of cars after ten in the evening, except for emergency cases, and to close shops on Wednesday.


It was also decided that workers will not go out to work, starting tomorrow, Wednesday.


Shuafat camp has been suffering since Sunday from a siege imposed by the occupation forces under the pretext of searching for the perpetrator of the shooting attack on Saturday evening, at the camp checkpoint, which led to the killing of a female soldier.

PALESTINE

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

"Doctors and specialists": a third of the population of the Gaza Strip needs psychological and social support

Gaza - "Jerusalem" dot com - Doctors and mental health specialists working for international organizations confirmed that a third of the population of the Gaza Strip needs psychological and social support as a result of the deteriorating living and economic conditions and the harsh conditions that families suffer from as a result of the Israeli clampdown on the Strip.

Dr. Akihiro Seita, Director of the Health Department at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said, "One-third of Gaza's population has some psychological problems."

"This is evidenced by the fact that 40% of first-grade students suffer from health and psychological problems," Sita said in an interview with Al-Ghad TV on the sidelines of a conference held yesterday in Gaza.

Sita expressed his concern about the steady increase in the number of cases in need of psychosocial support in Gaza.

He said, "We at UNRWA are very concerned about the steady increase in numbers, not only in the current period, but also in the coming period. Therefore, this is a problem that needs solutions."

He explained that they have two basic plans, first, modernizing the health system so that mental health is integrated into the integrated health system for UNRWA numbers, and second, working with partners to provide more services in terms of psychological support.

"The number is increasing, and we need more support regarding mental health in Gaza," he added.

In turn, Dr. Youssef Shaheen, Head of the Disease Prevention and Control Program at UNRWA, said, "The mental health and psychological support program provided by UNRWA is one of the most important programs for following up and treating more than 87,000 cases in the Gaza Strip."

And about the symptoms that appear on the cases, Shaheen explained, they appear on patients with depression and epilepsy, and there are other cases related to chronic diseases and physical diseases that we do not find an explanation for and have a psychological origin.

He added, "We are working with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the governmental and non-governmental sectors in order to enhance the mental health of the residents of the Gaza Strip."

Shaheen stressed that there is difficulty in some patients responding to treatment, but there are positive indications, and we are working with our colleagues with maximum energy to provide services for cases in Gaza.

He said, "There is a great burden on the colleagues, but we work as one team to overcome the difficulties."

For her part, Dr. Ghada Al-Jedba, Head of the UNRWA Health Program, said that people in Gaza live in a state of frustration and psychological deterioration as a result of the deteriorating economic and socio-political conditions.

Al-Jadiyya said in an interview that the psychological situation of the population before the Corona pandemic was deteriorating, and the war came in May 2021 and led to psychological trauma, in addition to the living conditions such as electricity and water cuts, high rates of poverty and unemployment, all factors that led to the deterioration of the health and psychological condition of the residents of Gaza.

Al-Jadabah explained that there are many symptoms and psychological problems that may translate from some patients to physical problems such as persistent headaches, stomach and joint pain, fatigue, anxiety, feeling depressed, lack of sleep, nightmares, inability to dialogue, desire for isolation, and the least that may happen. The person explodes and leads to domestic violence, and it may reach the point of suicidal ideation, which has increased.”

For her part, Michaela Lapisini, Director of the Child Protection Department at UNICEF in Palestine, indicated that the organization provided assistance to more than 42,000 children in the Gaza Strip last year to access mental health services through family centers or partners in Gaza.

Lapisini confirmed that funding is one of the obstacles that we face in reaching a larger number of children, and that is why we work with our main and local partners in Gaza to ensure that we reach the largest number of children within the available capabilities.

For his part, Dr. Sami Oweida of the Gaza Mental Health Program said that the numbers that need psychological and social support may be higher than those mentioned, based on professional impressions and research statistics.

Awaida confirmed the existence of a close relationship between the psychological state in Gaza or psychological disorders and its causes, one of the most important of which is the existence of the Israeli occupation, the blockade and its consequences.

Awaida pointed out that more than 65% of the population of Gaza live below the poverty line, and more than 60% are unemployed, in addition to the existence of tragic cases that cannot work or provide the most basic household needs.

He said: "Suicide is sometimes an inevitable result of difficult situations when the head of the family does not find anything to support his family with, so he will feel frustrated and that he has no value. Therefore, with the development of the bad psychological state and the lack of possible interventions, he believes that death is more comfortable than survival, and this explains the existing cases of suicide." ".

He added: "There is a positive case as long as the occupation remains, there are few job opportunities, and the bad economic situation does not expect the psychological state to improve."

He added, "There is a great need for psychotherapeutic interventions, and the sources in Qalqilya and the staff that work cannot cover all cases."

"He talked about a large prison that houses 2,200,000 people and hundreds of thousands who need psychological support," he said.

PALESTINE

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

5 deaths and 209 cases of corona

رام الله – “القدس” دوت كوم – قالت وزارة الصحة السبت، إنها سجلت 5 حالات وفاة جديدة جراء فايروس كورونا، و209 إصابات جديدة في آخر 24 ساعة، بعد فحص 1507 عينات.

وجاء في تقرير الوزارة اليومي أن 26 إصابة سُجلت في الضفة و183 في قطاع غزة، وأنه تم تسجيل 70 حالة تعاف في الضفة، و56 في غزة.

وجرى تسجيل حالة وفاة واحدة بالفايروس في مدينة جنين، و 4 وفيات في قطاع غزة.

وبينت الوزارة أن المرضى في العناية المكثفة بالضفة 21، 2 منهم على أجهزة التنفس الاصطناعي، من بين 46 يعالجون داخل المستشفيات ومراكز كورونا.

وفيما يخص المواطنين الذين تلقوا الطعومات المضادة لفيروس كورونا، فقد بلغ عددهم الإجمالي في الضفة الغربية وقطاع غزة 373,478 بينهم 234,354 تلقوا الجرعتين من اللقاح.

ووصلت نسبة التعافي من الفيروس في فلسطين 97.5%، فيما بلغت نسبة الإصابات النشطة 1.4%، ونسبة الوفيات 1.1% من مجمل الإصابات.

وأشارت الوزارة إلى أن الإصابات الجديدة سجلت على النحو التالي: جنين 10، بيت لحم 4، قلقيلية 2، طوباس 1، رام الله والبيرة 4، نابلس 4، طولكرم 1، قطاع غزة 183.

SPORT

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

The death of the 1994 World Cup final referee at the age of 65


بودابست”القدس”دوت كوم – (أ ف ب) -توفي حكم نهائي مونديال الولايات المتحدة 1994 المجري ساندور بول عن 65 عاماً، بحسب ما أعلن الاتحاد الوطني لكرة القدم الخميس، من دون تحديد أسباب الوفاة.


وقاد بول أيضاً نهائي مسابقة دوري الأبطال في عام 1997 واختير أفضل حكم في العالم أربع مرات توالياً بين 1994 و1997 من قبل الاتحاد الدولي لتاريخ وإحصاءات كرة القدم.


بدأ بول الذي وصفه الاتحاد المجري للعبة بأنه “موهوب جداً” مسيرته مع الصافرة في عام 1984.
وحكّم المجري نهائي مونديال الولايات المتحدة عام 1994 بين البرازيل وإيطاليا في لوس أنجليس، وانتهى بفوز منتخب “راقصي السامبا” على “سكوادرا أتسورا” بركلات الترجيح 3-2 بعد التعادل السلبي في الوقتين الاصلي والاضافي.


كما قاد نهائي دوري الأبطال عام 1997 بين بوروسيا دورتموند الالماني ويوفنتوس الإيطالي، انتهى بفوز فريق “الاصفر والأسود” بنتيجة 3-1 واحراز لقبه الاول في المسابقة القارية.


وبحسب بيان الاتحاد، شغل بول مؤخراً منصب نائب رئيس لجنة التحكيم.
وكان بول صرّح في عام 2014 خلال مقابلة مع قناة “نمزيتي سبورت” عبر الإنترنت أن مهمة الحكم هي “الترفيه عن المتفرج قدر الإمكان”.


ونُقل عنه قوله “بالنسبة لحكم، ما يبعث الارتياح هو عندما يشعر انه قادر على جعل المباراة أفضل بفضل قراراته”، مضيفاً أن فقط من يتخلى عن غروره بامكانهم أن يصبحوا حكاماً.

PALESTINE

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

Expansion of operations in Jenin is expected. Haaretz: Gaza lives in an unusual state of silence

Translation by "Jerusalem" dot com - The Hebrew newspaper "Haaretz" said, on Tuesday, that Gaza is living in a state of extraordinary silence, despite the tense security situation in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and in view of the dimensions of what is happening there.


According to Amos Harel, the reporter and military analyst in the newspaper, Amos Harel, in his analytical report, the extent of Hamas's influence on what is happening in the West Bank is still weak, despite the movement's great efforts to ignite the situation there. .


According to Harel, most of the recent detainees who participated in shooting operations, whether inside Palestinian cities during incursions or through attacks, said in their investigations with the "Shin Bet" that they did not sympathize with any organization, and did not act on instructions from anyone.


And he considered that what is happening in Jenin and Nablus and the daily friction, and the fall of Palestinian victims, seems to have affected the scope of events in other areas of the West Bank and Jerusalem, which explains the operation that took place at the Shuafat checkpoint in an attack that is the first of its kind in Jerusalem in recent weeks.


And he indicated that the Israeli army still distinguishes between 3 different areas, the first is Jenin, in which the Palestinian Authority has completely lost control, which is what prompted the army to operate daily there, and the second in Nablus, the shooting operations increased, but the authority is trying to some extent to control its anger at the armed cells, especially The Lions' Den, while the third is in areas south of Nablus, which the authority still controls, and the number of attacks and frictions there is not high.


He pointed out that the General Staff of the Israeli army believes that the tensions in the West Bank do not require an operation along the lines of "Defensive Wall 2" and that there will be a need in the future for a large-scale activity that will focus on the Jenin area and possibly Nablus.

PALESTINE

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

"Rescue robot" .. an invention of students from Gaza that helps reach the injured under the rubble

GAZA , Al-Quds.com - (Xinhua) Three Palestinian students from the Gaza Strip succeeded in inventing the first smart robot that helps rescue teams reach the injured under the rubble more quickly to reduce the chances of risking their lives.


Over the course of many months, the brothers Rama, Ahmed Ibrahim, and Youssef Akl, all of whom were in high school, worked on making a robot that relies on artificial intelligence using simple electronic tools available in their environment.


The three young men gave their invention the name " Rescue Robot ", which was in the form of a small box that walked on wheels and carried an electronic board that helped control it remotely via "Bluetooth" through an application installed on a mobile phone.


And as soon as the robot, equipped with a camera and an alarm siren, reaches the injured person stuck under the rubble, it emits continuous beeps, while notifications are sent to the mobile phone used by the rescuers during the mission, according to the three inventors.



Rama Ibrahim told Xinhua that the team got the idea to invent the robot after the last wave of tension over the Gaza Strip ended in May last year, when dozens of civilians "lost their lives while they were stuck under the rubble."


Rama adds, while she was observing the operation of the robot on her computer screen, that the rescue team and civil defense crews "had great difficulty in reaching the injured and victims in record time due to the bombing and the constant power outages."


In May of last year, the Israeli army launched a fierce aggression against the Strip that lasted for 11 days, after the armed Palestinian factions launched a barrage of rockets at Israeli towns and cities, in response to the settlers' provocations against the Palestinians in Al-Aqsa Mosque and East Jerusalem.


The Israeli warplanes targeted a large percentage of the infrastructure in the Strip under the pretext of targeting the "subway" of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which caused the collapse of dozens of civilian homes over the heads of their residents, most of whom were killed under the rubble.


More than 260 Palestinians were killed during the aggression on the Strip, most of them civilians, and thousands were injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, compared to 14 Israelis who were killed as a result of Palestinian rockets hitting Israeli towns and cities.


Rama says that these unexpected circumstances contributed greatly to the high number of victims, whether they were civilians or even workers in the rescue teams who were endangering their lives while entering under the rubble to extract the injured.


Therefore, the trio team has a great desire to take advantage of artificial intelligence and manufacture a robot that helps find solutions that enable rescue teams to reach the injured as quickly as possible.


"My colleagues and I studied the idea of making a robot and set a time plan for that, as we relied on using electronic tools available to us, most of which are leftovers of damaged electronic games or electrical tools that are not used," she explains.


For his part, Youssef Akl told Xinhua, "Unfortunately, we live in a conflict zone that is constantly witnessing wars, which means that we should prepare for such harsh conditions in the future."



Akl added, while he was driving the robot using a remote control, "There is not a small percentage of the victims who died because of suffocation under the rubble, not because of the bombing," noting that there were no suitable openings to get them out.


He explained that what distinguishes the robot is that it is able to reach the victims through narrow openings that a person cannot enter from, considering that such an invention contributes greatly to protecting the rescue teams from exposure to danger.


The three students faced difficulties during the manufacture of the robot in light of the lack of all the necessary materials for its manufacture, including a small and accurate quad captur camera, in addition to the high price of other materials, but this did not stand in the way of continuing their work.


Ahmed says, "Despite the obstacles, we had insistence on making the initial shape of the robot," noting that the team is currently working on developing the shape of the robot to become a "snake that can reach the most narrow areas."■


Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

"Avatar 2" premieres in London, ahead of its international premiere

London - (AFP) - The eyes of movie lovers and those concerned with the seventh art will turn to London on Tuesday evening, where the upcoming movie "Avatar 2", which is hoped to generate revenues of billions of dollars and restore life to the halls, will be forgotten by the pandemic phase.


The cinema sector is counting on “ Avatar : The Way of Water”, directed by James Cameron, which is the sequel to his previous movie “Avatar”, to confirm the continuation of the big screens alive, after their decline in front of the streaming platforms.


The ambition is not limited to that, but also includes the bet that this sequel, which begins showings in the United States on December 16 and in other parts of the world, will be able to surpass the first part, which is considered the highest-grossing film in the world, and open The road to the birth of a series of films that reap great success similar to that known by the "Star Wars" or "Star Wars" phenomenon.


Thirteen years after the first "Avatar", whose global revenues approached three billion dollars, the events of the new part revolve around the star Pandora, located at a very far distance from Earth, within a science fiction story of an environmental nature.


The film, like its predecessor, was filmed to be shown in 3D, includes a large amount of digital images, and runs for three hours and 12 minutes.


The story was kept very secret, but information indicates that a new tribe appears in the film, consisting of local aliens living in a marine environment, and that the film includes the survivors of the first part, namely Jake Sally (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and their children. Kate Winslet joins the cast a quarter of a century after the movie "Titanic", which made her famous.


The film constitutes a great challenge for James Cameron, who is considered the undisputed king of the global box office, as he achieved one record after another, starting with the movie "Titanic", and then with the first part of "Avatar", which is still to this day the highest income in the world. The film also represents a very important station for Disney, as the scenes for the third part were filmed, and there is a trend for a new part of “Avatar” every two years, at least until the fifth in 2028.

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

Macron meets Musk and stresses "Twitter transparency"

New Orleans - (AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he had a "clear and frank conversation", Friday in New Orleans, with the new head of Twitter , Elon Musk , and stressed the need for this social platform to make "efforts" in terms of transparency and Enhanced Content Control.


In a series of tweets, the French president also said that he had discussed with the founder of Tesla "future green industrial projects, such as the production of electric cars and batteries," without going into further details.


"This afternoon I met Elon Musk and we had a clear and frank discussion," Macron wrote.


For his part, Musk said he was "excited" about "exciting projects in France," without elaborating.


This meeting, which lasted an hour, was not previously announced by the Elysee, and it took place away from the media.


Macron posted a picture of himself with Musk at the New Orleans Museum of Art, which is where the French president then gave a speech on Francophonie at the end of a three-day state visit to the United States.

SPORT

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

World Cup 2022: Moroccan test for Croatia and Canadian for Belgium

(AFP) - Croatia, the runner-up in the last edition, and Belgium, the third, will start their campaign with a difficult test against Morocco and Canada, respectively, on Wednesday in the first round of Group Six competitions in the World Cup in Qatar .
The Croatian and Belgian teams blew up a heavy-caliber surprise in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, so they were just around the corner from the first title in its history, as the first lost the final match against France, which eliminated Belgium in the semi-finals.
Their participation in the Qatar World Cup will be with the ambition of repeating the achievement of 2018 at least, given their star-studded formations, for example, but not limited to the Spanish Real Madrid playmakers, the veteran Croatian Luka Modric (37 years), the English Manchester City and Belgium Kevin De Bruyne.
On paper, they appear to be strong candidates for grabbing the Sixth Group cards, and they will seek to confirm this starting from the two matches tomorrow, as well as the second round, when they exchange confrontations with Morocco and Canada, before they meet in the last third.
But the two European teams are well aware that the task will not be easy for two stubborn opponents who hope to pass the first round and confirm that their access to the finals was not a coincidence.
It will be the first official confrontation between Morocco and Croatia, and the second in the history of their confrontation after the first in the Hassan II International Tournament in 1998, in preparation for the French World Cup, which the European Brazilians finished in third place.
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic warned his players not to underestimate the competitors, stressing that "there is no easy opponent, an easy group, this is the world championship (...) I trust my team (...) our goal is to qualify for the group."
"We must forget the past, and not fall into the trap of thinking about what happened four years ago," he added.
Croatia is counting on its leader, Modric, the best player in the world in 2018, who will compete in the last world wedding in his professional career, along with other veterans, Inter Milan midfielder Marcelo Brozovic and Tottenham winger Ivan Perisic, and the latter two will face their former colleague in the Italian club, Ashraf Hakimi.
The Paris Saint-Germain defender, currently in France, interacted with the results of the draw by publishing a tweet attached to a picture of him with Perisic and the Belgian Romelu Lukaku, commenting, "See you soon."

Moroccan national team coach Walid Rekragui stressed the need to focus on Wednesday's match, "because it is the most important. It is our first in the World Cup, and we must be at the top of our focus in order to achieve a good result that enhances our chances of passing the first round."
He added, "We will play in a complex and difficult group. We have a good team, morale is high, our players are good, and we hope to achieve something."
Morocco is playing the match with full ranks, except for the absence of Zakaria Abu Khallal (Toulouse) and Elias Shaer (Queens Park Rangers, England) due to injury.
The team doctor, Abdul Razzaq Hefti, confirmed that Abu Khallal will be ready to play the second match, while a decision will be taken regarding Shaer later, and Salim Amlah (Belgian Standard Liege) recovered from a minor injury.

Belgium begins its campaign with a test that is not without difficulty against Canada, especially since its striker and Inter Milan, Romelu Lukaku, will be absent from its ranks, at least in its first two matches, due to injury.
And the Spanish coach of Belgium, Roberto Martinez, decided to call the best scorer in the history of the national team (68 goals in 102 games), to the final squad, despite the injury he suffers from in the posterior muscle of his left thigh.
Belgium ended its preparations for the Qatar World Cup with an alarming loss to Egypt 1-2 on Friday at Jaber Al-Ahmad Stadium in Kuwait in an international friendly match.
The Belgian national team players expressed their annoyance at the media's criticism in their country, especially Borussia Dortmund's German defender Thomas Meunier, who said, "I do not understand why we do not show more enthusiasm in Belgium" towards the Red Devils.
"You journalists are the main link between the national team and the public. So when you criticize and keep repeating that the World Cup will be difficult, it affects people," he said in a press conference on Monday.
Meunier showed his disappointment with the "negativity" of the Belgian press.
He continued, "When I sometimes read in the Dutch media that their country is going to go far in the competition, when, sorry, I think they have a great team and from here they are going to go far in this tournament..., I don't understand that we don't show more enthusiasm in Belgium." ".
And his colleague, Atletico Madrid midfielder Axel Witsel, spoke in a similar speech about the lack of enthusiasm among his compatriots on Sunday, and said: "All this negativity, this is a shame. People have the right to express their opinions, but I find that a shame in spite of everything."
He added, "In 2018, we made an exceptional journey (we reached the semi-finals), and we were all at the top individually and collectively. We want to do the same in Qatar. The future will tell us."

On the other hand, English coach John Herdman hopes to lead Canada to achieve a surprise and qualify for the playoffs, before hosting the 2026 finals with the participation of the United States and Mexico.
Herdman (47 years) succeeded in leading Canada, the leaders of the CONCACAF qualifiers, to the World Cup for the first time since 1986 by spreading the spirit of brotherhood among the players, combining talent and experience and restoring hope to an entire country.

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

Twitter is re-launching the new paid subscription service Monday

New York (AFP) - Twitter plans to re-launch a new paid subscription service on Monday, which will be more expensive for users of "Apple" devices and include a system to verify accounts on the platform.


And the official Twitter page tweeted on Saturday, "We will re-launch + Twitter Blue +, which includes a monthly subscription to the site for $ 8, or $ 11 for iOS + systems, and allows users to take advantage of the features designated for subscribers, most notably the blue authentication mark."


The group indicated that the blue tick is obtained by the user after a verification process.
The color of the mark will change to golden for corporate accounts, while later during the week it will become gray for accounts of government institutions.


Subscribers will also have the ability to correct their tweets after they have been posted or to upload better quality videos.


The official Twitter page tweeted, "Thank you for your patience while we strive to make improvements to the +Blu+ service."


Since his acquisition of Twitter at the end of October, Elon Musk has announced his desire to launch a paid formula to diversify the platform's revenues, whose financial position relies heavily on revenue from advertising.


The first version was launched ten days after the multi-activity businessman took over the platform, i.e. the beginning of November, but it caused chaos in the social network with the emergence of a large number of accounts claiming to represent specific personalities or companies.


The service was suspended immediately.


Musk had promised that the service would return to work at the end of November, before announcing a few days later that the project would be postponed indefinitely, until a system was reached to prevent impersonation.


Before Musk's acquisition of Twitter, the platform provided the "blue tick" feature to verify the accounts of organizations and known people for free, and it offered a paid subscription that included additional options.

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

Storm Julia claimed five lives in Central America

San Salvador - (AFP) - Hurricane Julia, which became a tropical storm after hitting Guatemala on Monday, claimed the lives of five people in El Salvador and Honduras, causing a lot of damage in other Central American countries.


The National Hurricane Center, based in the United States, said that "the eye of Storm Julia penetrated the territory" of Guatemala and "is expected to dissipate by evening as it continues its path to southern Guatemala."


The center stated that Julia, which was a category one hurricane, hit the coast of Nicaragua on the Caribbean Sea at dawn on Sunday and still poses a "risk" of the possibility of floods and landslides that "may cause victims" in Central America and southern Mexico.


On Monday, El Salvadoran police wrote in a tweet that "at least two people were killed" when a wall collapsed in a house in Guataquiaogua, about 150 km east of San Salvador.


A third person died in El Salvador when a tree fell on his home in the city of Caluco in the southwestern state of Sonsonate, according to rescue teams.


Two people drowned in Honduras after their boat sank, while a third is still missing, according to Filmer Wood, mayor of Bruce Laguna in eastern Honduras.


In Guatemala, the Coordinating Committee for Disaster Prevention reported the disappearance of two men in the flooding Cajabun River in the north of the country.
From Guatemala to Panama, the authorities recorded heavy rains, accompanied by strong winds, which damaged roads and destroyed homes and bridges.


Julia is the second hurricane of the current season to hit Central America after Bonnie in July along the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica.


At the end of the year 2020, Hurricanes Eta and Utah killed at least 200 people and caused millions of dollars in damage.

OPINIONS

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

Singing to..

Written by: Mohamed Salama


Yair Lapid, the candidate of the coalition camp (Change), retired from scripts for dramas and singing in 2012 AD, to found his party “Yesh Atid”, which means in Arabic there is a future, moving to politics after he was an accomplished singer and a TV star, in addition to his profession in boxing and martial arts, and he achieved the highest viewership among Israelis.
Singer Lapid, before the scheduled elections, the day after tomorrow, Tuesday, said: “I smell victory, based on the latest poll conducted by Channel 13, which showed that his party will get about (27) seats in the Knesset, and that his coalition may displace Netanyahu’s right-wing camp from forming the next government.” Although the Likud may get (29) seats, while the Zionist movement of the United Torah Judaism and Shas parties, and the presence of Gvir Ben Itamar and Smotrich, constitute the explosion bomb in Netanyahu’s face after they described him as a liar, the son of a liar, and then apologized to him, and it was reported that he (i.e. Netanyahu) does not like appearing in the media. and television programs so that he does not commit a mistake..and strips him of his popularity in favor of his opponent, the singer Lapid, who has been touring these days in the Israeli media and satellite channels, bragging about the demarcation of the maritime borders with Lebanon, his war against the Islamic Jihad in Gaza for three days, his storming of Nablus and the dismantling of the Balata camp battalion cell And the arrest of leaders from the Lions' Den and the liquidation of others.
The right-wing camp led by Netanyahu, according to the latest opinion poll, will get (59--60) seats, while the change camp led by singer Lapid will get (56--57), and that the Arab Gathering will be the helmsman, and that all polls go until the moment until The opportunity is ripe for the singer Lapid to re-form a new government, and if this happens, Netanyahu will receive the final blow and may leave the political arena, as reported by some of his close associates.
Singer Lapid and General Gantz fill the screens of Israeli satellite channels these days, without the appearance of their stubborn opponent, Netanyahu, who chose calm, and it was reported that there are deep and sharp differences in his camp, and that if he wins the elections, his formation of the government will not last long, and that the religious parties allied with him have conditions that he cannot meet in his camp. Singer Lapid, despite the existence of contradictions between his broad coalition from the right to the far left, is his chance still the strongest in forming a stable government in Israel that enjoys American approval and a liberal image in front of the West, especially since he showed excessive sympathy for his colleague (former actor) Zelensky, the President of Ukraine.
Singer Lapid was born in Tel Aviv in 1963 AD, and his father is a journalist, and his name is Joseph Lapid. He was a journalist for Yedioth Ahronoth, then Haaretz, then took over the Ministry of Justice in the Netanyahu government, and his mother Shulamit Lapid is a well-known novelist and writer of stories, and in 2021 AD, he formed an alliance with Naftali Bennett, who was director of Netanyahu's office He shared with him the presidency of the Israeli government.
Singer Lapid's party took place in 2013. He won the second place in the Knesset elections, and this was the beginning of his star’s brightness in the political arena, and his alliance with General Gantz “white-blue” helped him grab the attention of the Israelis because he is from outside the military establishment, and today he is a star on Israeli satellite screens, and he speaks publicly that he is going to Winning and that he will form the new government in Israel.

About the "Jordanian Constitution"

ECONOMY

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

The US trade embargo is undermining the Cuban economy

(Xinhua) - Cuban Minister of Trade and Foreign Investment Rodrigo Malmerca said Monday that the US blockade against Cuba remains the main obstacle to the country's development.


"Despite the US blockade on the island and the Covid-19 pandemic, the world still has confidence in the Cuban market," he said in a press conference about the 38th edition of the Havana International Trade Fair, to be held from November 14 to 18.


Malmerca reported that companies from more than 60 countries are expected to participate in the event, which has been suspended for the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


According to the Cuban government, the US trade embargo caused losses of 3.806 billion US dollars to the Cuban economy between August 2021 and February 2022.

ECONOMY

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

Qatar's budget surplus amounts to about $13 billion, supported by oil sector revenues

DOHA - (Xinhua) - Official data showed today (Thursday) that Qatar's budget recorded a surplus of 47.3 billion riyals (about 12.99 billion dollars) at the end of the first half of this year, compared to 4 billion riyals (1.1 billion dollars) for the same period last year. Supported by oil and gas revenues.


The data issued today by the Qatari Ministry of Finance indicated that this surplus was distributed to 33.7 billion riyals (one US dollar equals approximately 3.64 riyals) during the second quarter of the year 2022, or the three months ending on June 30, and 13.6 billion riyals in the first quarter of the year. The same ending on March 31st.


According to ministry figures published by official media, public revenues grew by 58.3 percent at the end of the first half of this year to 150.7 billion riyals, distributed among 85.7 billion riyals in the second quarter and 65 billion riyals in the first quarter.


This growth was supported by an increase in oil and gas revenues by 67 percent, to record 117.6 billion riyals, compared to 70.4 billion riyals for the first half of last year, while non-oil revenues amounted to 33.1 billion riyals, distributed among 27.5 billion riyals during the second quarter of this year and 5.6 billion riyals in the quarter. the first.


On the other hand, total expenditures amounted to 103.4 billion riyals during the first half of this year, an increase of 13.6 percent on an annual basis, and were distributed among 52 billion riyals in the second quarter and 51.4 billion riyals in the first quarter.


The International Monetary Fund had expected that the surplus of the general budget of the State of Qatar next year would reach 70.3 billion riyals (19.3 billion US dollars), compared to 44.6 billion riyals (12.3 billion dollars) for the current year, an increase of 57.6 percent.


The fund estimated that Qatar would record almost stability in its expenditures during the year 2023, to reach 235.4 billion riyals, compared to expenditures worth 236 billion riyals in the current year, and that it would achieve an increase in its revenues next year by about 9.4 percent, to reach about 306.3 billion riyals, compared to 280 billion riyals this year. general.


He attributed this to the increase in revenues from investment revenues of public companies by 121.4 billion riyals next year, compared to 82.3 billion riyals in 2022, while it is expected that revenues from oil will reach about 54 billion riyals, and revenues from liquefied natural gas will reach about 73.3 billion riyals.

OPINIONS

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

Israel's tactical victories and strategic failure

Written by: Dr. Mustafa Barghouti
The reactions of Israeli officials to what is happening in the West Bank range from panic at the extent of their surprise at the escalation of resistance to the occupation, to exaggeration in claiming imaginary victories achieved by the occupation army and its security apparatus in suppressing the Palestinian people. Both responses, despite their contradictory nature, essentially express a chronic inability to understand the Palestinian people and their motives, including an inability to anticipate their actions, especially when it comes to the younger generations. They also express poor judgment and failure to assess the results of the conflict raging on the ground. The behavior of Israeli settler colonialism here is not different from many examples of colonial regimes that repeatedly failed to understand the peoples they rule and oppress, and practiced stupid arrogance that always ended in the collapse of the colonial system that established them.

The racist ideology of the Zionist movement, and the thought based on the negation of the other, in addition to the need to deny the great crime committed during the Nakba in 1948 against the Palestinian people, deepen the inability to see the Palestinians as a people who have rights and human characteristics like other peoples, and who, therefore, has the ability to develop an ability to resist injustice to which he is exposed. The intellectual positions of the Israeli system appear to be governed by a chronic fear that any partial recognition of the Palestinians' humanity will lead to the catastrophe of recognizing the scale of the historical crime committed by the Zionist movement, and what this means in terms of a complete collapse of the structure of the Israeli narrative, which has been presented to the world and the Israelis themselves for eight decades. That is why the Israeli establishment also dwells on describing every Palestinian act of resistance, no matter how noble, as terrorism, and at the same time exaggerates it in exaggerating the claim that Israel is the victim, even though it is the one who practices the occupation and perpetuates the apartheid regime.

The rulers of Israel compete in shedding Palestinian blood as fuel for their electoral campaigns, and do not hesitate to use lethal weapons against a civilian population in the first place, and unleash the hand of settler colonialists to attack the Palestinians and their homes, properties, and trees, with full protection from the occupation army. In every round of confrontation, whether in Jerusalem, the rest of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, or the Palestinian interior, the Israeli establishment uses the most lethal weapons, a highly developed and complex intelligence system, uses collective punishment, and oppresses civilians and children, then announces its tactical victories, by destroying and killing Martyrs, the liquidation of groups, and the arrest of thousands.

On the surface, it seems every time that the occupation has achieved victories that it sells to its extremist fans and is proud of. These results cannot be considered victories, as the discrepancy in losses is understandable in light of the huge difference between the military and human capabilities of the occupation army and that of the Palestinian resistance. However, the occupation hides, and perhaps does not realize, that its tactical successes are nothing but deceptive manifestations of a major strategic failure, because things are measured, in the end, by their results.

The first of these results confirms the failure of the Israeli-Zionist institution, despite the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing, and the aggressions of 1956 and 1967. The largest part of the Palestinian people succeeded in remaining steadfast in their homeland, so that their number today is greater than the number of Israeli Jews on the land of historic Palestine.

The second of these results is that all operations of repression, killing, and arrest have not succeeded in imposing submission and acquiescence on the Palestinian human existence, which has become a resistance existence, using all forms of resistance, from the simplest to the most complex.

The third consequence lies in the failure of the Oslo project, which set a trap for the Palestinians, with the aim of buying time for the Zionist movement to spread settlements and to force the Palestinians to submit to permanent occupation under the cover of self-rule governed by Israeli control. The Palestinian people overcame that project and returned to cohesion around the option of a strategy of resistance and struggle to change the balance of power, instead of yielding to its imbalance in favor of Israel.

The fourth result was the return of the cohesion of the components of the Palestinian people and their arenas around a vision for a common national project, in the arenas of common struggle, of which we saw a shining example in the Battle of Jerusalem in 2021.

Perhaps the fifth strategic outcome will be the development of collective Palestinian awareness towards the realization that the collective Palestinian goal is no longer only an end to the occupation, but rather includes the overthrow of the entire system of apartheid and racial discrimination in all of historical Palestine.

After 74 years of the Nakba, the destruction of 500 Palestinian villages and towns and the displacement of 70% of the Palestinian people, and after 55 years of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Palestinian people unite around the option of resistance and struggle, and the chances of isolating Israel are increasing at the international level. It seems clear that a qualitative shift has occurred in the consciousness of an entire people, and the realization deepens that Israeli settler colonialism will face the same fate that colonialism faced in many other countries, and this is accompanied by a comprehensive Palestinian awareness of the need for self-reliance, self-organization, and the challenge of the entire Israeli system of occupation and apartheid.

As for Israel's choice to destroy the so-called "two-state solution" and to establish the reality of "one state with an apartheid regime," it has no permanence, and the end of its path, if it continues, can only be its demise, and the imposition of full equality in national and civil rights, foremost among which is the absolute right of the Palestinian people to freely decide his fate.

In the end, despite the oppression and Israeli denial of the facts, the Palestinian people rise up once again in resistance, confirming the words of the Palestinian poet and activist Tawfiq Ziyad: "We are not better than any people in the world, but there is no better people in this world than us."

PALESTINE

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

The Rafah crossing will be closed tomorrow, Monday

Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - The Ministry of Interior in the Gaza Strip announced today, Sunday, that the Rafah land crossing will be closed on Monday.


The ministry explained in a brief statement that the reason for the closure of the Rafah crossing on Monday (April 25) is due to a leave of absence on the Egyptian side.

ARAB AND WORLD

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

Western Ukraine's Tanks... Political Symbolism and Military Use

Paris - (AFP) - By finally agreeing to hand over German and American-made heavy tanks to Kiev despite Russian warnings, the Western camp is crossing a new symbolic threshold in its support for Ukraine , which is likely to benefit from the tanks in penetrating the lines of the Russian forces.


After weeks of Kiev's insistence on granting it "Leopard 2" tanks, which are reputed to be among the best in the world, Germany agreed on Wednesday, pledging to send 14 of them to Ukraine, paving the way for similar deliveries from many European countries that own these tanks.


"From the donation of 5,000 heavy helmets to sending the Leopard to Ukraine: in less than a year Germany has abandoned seven decades of pacifism. Maybe with some reluctance, but that makes a point," Bruno Leit, a researcher at the German Marshall Fund of the United States of the United States, commented on Twitter. A major transformation in itself."


Also Wednesday, a senior US official announced that the United States would send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine.


Before that, London promised to give Kiev dozens of Challenger 2 tanks, while Paris and Washington announced the delivery of armored vehicles for reconnaissance and infantry forces.


This unified front behind Kiev appears to be a new challenge for the Russians, who have bet since the beginning of the conflict on the decline of Western support for Ukraine.


With these new shipments to Kiev, Westerners once again risk being accused by Moscow of "participating in the conflict". But in fact, many taboos have already fallen since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.


Ukrainian military analyst Mykola Belikov confirms that "howitzers and rocket launchers that were provided in 2022 were dangerous equipment, if not more dangerous than combat tanks, because artillery is more powerful."


Likewise, Washington recently ended up agreeing to deliver a medium-range Patriot surface-to-air missile system to Kiev after much hesitation for fear of escalation, and it is considered among the best in the West.


On Wednesday, the Russian ambassador to Germany, Sergey Nechaev, denounced Berlin's "very dangerous decision that would take the conflict to a new level of confrontation."


But a European government source said, "Our assessment is that (tanks) today are not tools of escalation, given their likely use by the Ukrainians" only on their territory, not abroad.


In the midst of its response, Moscow may deploy the next generation of its T14 combat tanks on the battlefield for the first time, but the problem is that "only about 20 of them have been manufactured" so far, according to Andras Rach, a researcher at the German Council for International Relations.


Thus, "in the absence of a commensurate military response, we can expect an increased media offensive from Russia, which could also launch a second military mobilization campaign," according to Rach.


However, the expert believes that "the Russians know very well that a few dozen Western tanks will not change the face of the war, and therefore I do not expect an immediate escalation from Moscow."


Since December, Kiev has called for sending about 300 Western-made tanks to launch counterattacks, in light of the relatively stable battle lines for months, and the imminent arrival of spring raises fears of launching a large-scale Russian operation in the Donbass region (east).


Tanks and armor could allow Ukrainian forces to gain an advantage in movement, hoping to penetrate Russian defense lines with artillery support and break the trench warfare taking place in the east of the country.


"Battle tanks have been an integral part of the arms race since World War II. No defensive or offensive operation can be carried out without an arsenal of offensive tanks," says Ukrainian expert Mykola Beliskov.


However, tanks alone will not guarantee an advantage on the battlefield.


The expert stresses that "only when used in coordination with mechanized infantry, artillery, air defense and missile divisions can tanks achieve results."

ECONOMY

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:43 pm - Jerusalem Time

The Tunisian Prime Minister confirms that her country's economy is on its way to recovery

TUNIS (Xinhua) -- Tunisian Prime Minister Naglaa Boudin affirmed (Monday) that her country's economy is on the way to recovery, calling for the need to invent a new development model that takes into account major economic and social transformations.


This evening, local radio stations quoted Boudin as saying during a seminar on "rethinking the restructuring of the world of work in Tunisia in order to achieve a successful recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic," that "Tunisia's economy is on its way to recovery, and the state is capable of confronting the current situation and overcoming various challenges." Challenges and restoring financial balances.


And she believed that "the development model adopted in Tunisia for decades has become unable to face economic and social challenges, and has proven very clearly that it does not respond to major reforms and to the requirements of sustainable, comprehensive and integrated development that we aspire to."


And she added that this development model "has produced many structural problems that have exacerbated indicators of regional and social inequality and feelings of exclusion and marginalization among important segments of society."


And she called for "the need to create a new development model that takes into account the current major economic and social transformations, and respects the principles of transparency, rational disposal of wealth and good corporate governance in a way that contributes to achieving equality and social justice."


In this regard, she emphasized that her government had embarked on a set of reforms "according to an approach based on participatory and dialogue," she said.


The Tunisian Prime Minister had met earlier today with President Kais Saied.


The Tunisian presidency said in a statement posted on its official Facebook page that the meeting "dealt with government work in general and the financial, economic and social conditions in particular."


She pointed out that during this meeting, they discussed "the effects of the changes the world is witnessing today on Tunisia, and the need to take measures to limit their consequences at the level of the state's financial balances."


In a statement in mid-October, the International Monetary Fund announced that it had reached a preliminary agreement at the expert level with Tunisia to grant it a $1.9 billion loan to support its economic policies.


The final agreement regarding this loan remains subject to the approval of the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund, which is scheduled to discuss Tunisia's request in December, according to the statement.

OPINIONS

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:43 pm - Jerusalem Time

The Israeli propaganda in Shirin's murder...an old strategy and absent justice...

Written by: Dr. Crimean Amani
Israel has a consistent strategy in dealing with the media's systematic assassinations, especially those that provoke angry global reactions. The promotion of this strategy takes place through a huge propaganda machine, the most important and prominent of which is the mobilization of the official Israeli voice with the popular with the media, with most of its writers and journalists of various spectrums, united to form a propaganda wall for Israel and its defender. In the assassination of the witness and martyr Shireen Abu Aqleh, the Israeli propaganda strategy was recalled, which depends / in general / on three elements:
The first: denial through the theory of inevitability condemning the occupation. The prelude to the theory comes by depicting the place as a battlefield and a battle between two parties: the Palestinians are the evil part of it as "terrorists", and the occupation army is the fighter against terrorism. Therefore, it is only natural that everyone who is present in the battle, including journalists, will be injured and killed. This is what we saw in the initial Israeli reactions to the assassination. For example, the statement of Naftali Bennett, the Prime Minister of the entity, carried accusations that armed Palestinians fired indiscriminately, which led to the death of the journalist, with an assertion that the Israeli government will continue to launch its raids against "terrorism," according to him. Also, most of the Israeli newspapers and the media showed pictures showing clashes between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
Second: Attempting to comprehend the event: The event here, in the view of the occupation, is not the killing of Sherine in itself, but the overwhelming power enjoyed by the Al-Jazeera channel network and its harnessing of its various tools to expose the assassination and provoke a huge wave of popular and official global reactions to the crime. It has rightly proven that it is one of the first in the world in the ability to influence, stimulate interaction, focus on the event and multiply its momentum. Israel announced that it had requested a joint investigation with the Palestinian Authority, which in turn refused. This is what Israel is well aware of, and I do not know when there was even a joint investigation in such cases. However, the goal was not to investigate or whitewash the face of the occupation in front of the PA and the Palestinians, but to accommodate and control the angry global reaction to show that it is a democratic country that is likely to make mistakes during its battle against terrorism and that it is ready to correct the mistake.
And the third: shifting the compass of the novel from the center to the branches: after the torrent of independent investigations and scientific analyzes carried out by human rights groups and press institutions on the assassination of Sherine, which confirms the eyewitness account supported by videos with audio and video, that it is impossible that the assassination of Sherine was carried out with a Palestinian bullet, according to the analysis Line of sight, distance estimation, and bullet pointing. And it is proved that Shirin was killed by an intended Israeli bullet, and her colleague, Ali Al-Samoudi, was also wounded by a targeted bullet. The Israeli media began to move towards other forms of response that deviate from the main problem and spread negative propaganda to cast doubt on the true story through:
1. Turning the opponent into a demon, prompting the Israeli pens to attack Al-Jazeera and consider it a mouthpiece for extremists.
2. To shed light on the alleged ongoing threat that Israel faces, and to publish videos of pictures of dead Israeli civilians.
3. Attacking the Palestinian Authority and its leadership for being the reason for the incitement and fueling the situation. In the case of the assassination of Sherine, the Authority was accused of supporting what Israel called the "Jenin terrorists". Accordingly, the moral responsibility for the occurrence of losses is something that Israel does not bear alone, but rather the Palestinian National Authority.
4. Repetition, the repetition of the same narrative with its lies in the Israeli propaganda machine and its global extensions and by various officials, writers, journalists, and influencers on social networking sites based on “Lie… lie, then lie so that people believe you.”
By the time the truth can come out, the world will have forgotten the event and no longer care.
By the way, when Israel bombed the tower with missiles, in the May 2021 Gaza war, the tower, which houses dozens of offices of international press organizations, justified its attack by claiming that Hamas was using it. Until now, Israel did not provide any evidence for its claim, but it was not noticed that the global coverage of the war decreased significantly after the bombing.
Thanks to the modern means of communication that documented the killing of Sherine, and she was faster than Israel in sound and image in conveying the truth to the world and conveying the message of the eyewitnesses who were with her.


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ARAB AND WORLD

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:43 pm - Jerusalem Time

Zelensky arrives in Washington on a historic visit

Washington (AFP) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has not left his country since the Russian invasion on February 24, arrived in Washington on Wednesday, which announced that it would provide his country with the most advanced Patriot air defense system.


President Joe Biden will receive his Ukrainian counterpart at the White House before the latter addresses the US Congress as part of this historic visit.


On this occasion, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced, "Today's assistance package includes, for the first time, the Patriot air defense system, which is capable of shooting down intercontinental missiles, short-range ballistic missiles, and aircraft flying at altitudes that clearly exceed the capabilities of the defense systems that have been delivered so far."


For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Wednesday to continue developing the capabilities of his army and its nuclear power, disavowing any responsibility for the "common tragedy" in Ukraine.


In an intervention he delivered during an expanded meeting with senior officers, Putin announced that new intercontinental Zircon hypersonic missiles would enter service "beginning of January," stressing his intention to increase the number of the Russian army to 1.5 million soldiers.


Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said one of the "priorities" would be "to continue to carry out the special operation (in Ukraine) until all its goals are fulfilled."


Shoigu considered that in Ukraine, "the Russian military is confronting the combined forces of the West," adding that "the growing presence of the West at our borders and the borders of Belarus, and the West's intention to extend military operations in Ukraine to the maximum extent with the aim of weakening our country, are of particular concern."


US presidential spokeswoman Karen Jean-Pierre said in a statement that Zelensky's visit confirms that the United States will support Ukraine "as long as necessary."


The Kremlin said on Wednesday that new US arms shipments to Ukraine would only "exacerbate" the conflict with Russia. "All this certainly exacerbates the conflict and does not bode well for Ukraine," said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, referring to new arms shipments to Kiev.


And the Ukrainian president confirmed in a tweet on Wednesday morning that he was "on his way to the United States to strengthen the resilience and defense capabilities" of Ukraine.


On September 1, 2021, President Joe Biden received Zelensky in the Oval Office and promised him his support in confronting Russia.


On Wednesday, the two men will meet in the same place, but in a meeting that takes a different historical dimension, as it is the first physical meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine, which made Zelensky the war leader known all over the world, and Joe Biden, the supreme leader of the Western response to Russia.


During this visit, which is surrounded by very tight security measures and will only take "short hours", the Ukrainian president will first hold a meeting with the US president and his apparatus at the White House, before holding a press conference, as a senior US official explained during a meeting with reporters.


US parliamentarians are preparing to vote on a new package of aid to Ukraine worth about $45 billion.
They will hear Zelensky's speech as Congress partially shifts to the side of the Republican opposition in January, which raises some questions about the future policy of the United States on Ukraine.


During a visit to the front on Tuesday, in the city of Bakhmut (east), the Ukrainian president gave a sign upon receiving the flag from the fighters, saying, "We will give it to the US Congress, to the US president. We are grateful for their support, but this is not enough."


The United States is the largest donor to Kiev by a large margin, and according to expert estimates, it provided about 50 billion dollars in aid to Ukraine, including 20 billion dollars in arms and military assistance.


On the ground, the fighting continued on Wednesday, as the Ukrainian General Staff reported Russian attacks and shelling in the east and northeast.


At least three people were killed and 14 injured in strikes on the Donetsk and Kherson regions, according to local authorities.


The Russian military said it had captured "new heights and base lines" near Donetsk, a stronghold of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.


After a series of Russian military setbacks in northeastern and southern Ukraine, the bulk of the fighting is currently concentrated in the east. Russia has been carrying out massive bombing of Ukrainian infrastructure since October, causing power and water outages.


The delivery of the Patriot systems is intended to respond to these attacks.

Wed 15 Mar 2023 8:43 pm - Jerusalem Time

Demonstrations against strict measures to combat COVID-19 in Shanghai, China

Shanghai - (AFP) - Demonstrations have been taking place in the Chinese city of Shanghai since dawn Sunday, according to eyewitnesses, in protest against the strict closure measures applied by the authorities within the framework of the "zero Covid" policy in the country for nearly three years.


In a video recording widely circulated on the Internet, demonstrators appear in a place identified by AFP as geographically located on Wulumukhi Street in central Shanghai, chanting slogans calling for President Xi Jinping to "resign" and attacking the Chinese Communist Party, in a rare expression of hostility to the president and the regime in China. The economic capital of the country.


In another video clip transmitted by an eyewitness to France Press, people appear as they gather in central Shanghai to honor ten people who were killed in a fire in Urumqi in Xinjiang (western China).


Internet pioneers are circulating posts on social networks in China confirming that anti-Covid measures have exacerbated the tragedy because they have slowed down the arrival of help.


Other posts on social media reported that vigils were held to commemorate the Urumqi victims at a number of universities across the country.


A person who participated in one of the protest rallies in Shanghai told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that he had arrived at the gathering at about two o'clock in the morning.


This witness said that "a group of sad people put flowers on the pavement while another group was chanting."


He added that "some limited clashes occurred, but in general the police acted civilly," explaining that "the police took two people for unknown reasons."


The police did not hesitate to impose restrictions on online discussions about the demonstration. It blocked the "Urumqi Road" hashtag on Weibo, China's Twitter-like platform, shortly after photos of the gatherings were posted.


The strict policy to combat the COVID-19 epidemic is causing increasing dissatisfaction in China. Sporadic demonstrations, some of them violent, have taken place in a number of cities in recent days, including at the world's largest iPhone factory located in downtown Zhengzhou and owned by Taiwanese giant Foxconn.


Despite the many vaccines available, and unlike other countries in the world, China still imposes isolation measures as soon as infections appear, including quarantine for those who prove infected with the disease in centers, and almost daily “BCR” tests to enter public places.