ARAB AND WORLD

Wed 24 May 2023 2:20 pm - Jerusalem Time

Washington eases its pressure on Riyadh to normalize relations with Israel

An informed source told Al-Quds.com correspondent that Washington has stopped pressuring Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel at the present time, due to the belief of US President Joe Biden's administration that the current conditions in US-Saudi relations and geopolitical changes in the region are not conducive to achieving success in the conflict. Saudi Arabia's inclusion in the Abraham Accords.


"I am not saying that the US-Saudi relationship is marred by Tension at the moment, but it is clear that Saudi Arabia is making a path in its regional policies that is not necessarily consistent with US policy in the region, or perhaps contrary to the priorities of the Biden administration, such as restoring relations with Iran, or, as we saw last week, with Saudi approval, but rather The Saudi initiative to return (Syrian President Bashar) Assad to the Arab tent, which the Biden administration opposes.


The source added, "The Biden administration is also frustrated with the policy and priorities of the Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, due to the dilemma of judicial reforms that question democratic standards; in the end, America defends Israel everywhere on the grounds that it is the only democracy in the region, not to mention On the importance of this issue for American Jews, who are a secure base for the Democratic Party.


This is in addition to the Biden administration's desire to see some kind of movement in discussing the Palestinians on many thorny issues, which have become more complicated in recent years, especially in the absence of a peace process between the two parties.


In turn, the official spokesman for the US State Department, Matthew Miller, said in response to a question regarding whether he knew about what was said about the phone conversations between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about normalization between the two countries, and about what role the Biden administration might have. His game is, "We are aware of these reports, but let me refer you to the two countries (Saudi Arabia and Israel) in this regard, or any details."


"And of course, these are two countries with whom we engage regularly on many issues, but I'm not going to talk to any private diplomatic conversations, and all I will say is, as a broader measure, that we, of course, fully support Israel's integration into the Middle East region, including the normalization of relations with the kingdom," Miller added. Saudi Arab".


And about what was said about Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu talking to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about pilgrimages from Israel directly, according to what was reported in The Times of Israel, and that the Saudis insist on allowing security officers of the Palestinian Authority to be present in the Haram al-Sharif compound, And whether the US administration supports the presence of Palestinian Authority security at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Miller responded to the "Al-Quds" dot-com reporter by saying, "Again, I think it is more appropriate for these two governments that were involved in the reported talks to talk to any details about it. I would say formally." General, the United States continues to strongly support the historic status quo at the Haram al-Sharif.”


And it was reported that the Saudi crown prince told senior US officials earlier this month that he was ready to normalize the kingdom's relations with Israel as part of a broader reset in relations between Riyadh and Washington, but according to a peace agreement that includes the establishment of a Palestinian state with occupied Jerusalem as its capital.


It is noteworthy that Israeli media had reported on Tuesday that the White House wants Israel to stop judicial reform and resume peace talks with the Palestinian Authority in order for the United States to move forward in mediating normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

PALESTINE

Wed 24 May 2023 11:33 am - Jerusalem Time

Despite his critical health condition, the decision to consider the early release of prisoner Walid Daqqa was postponed

The Early Release Committee of the Israeli Prison Service decided, on Wednesday, to postpone its response regarding the request of the prisoner’s defense lawyer, Walid Daqqa.


According to the Hebrew channel Reshet Kan, it was decided to respond to the request on the thirty-first date of this month.


The committee had considered the defense lawyer's request for the early release of Daqqa, in light of the difficult health conditions he was living in.


The Prison Service confirmed that Daqqa suffers from a critical health condition, while the family of soldier Moshe Tammam, who was killed in an operation in which the prisoner Daqqa participated, refuses to release him.


The committee may take a decision preventing his release or transferring him to conditional release, or transfer the case to a higher court.

PALESTINE

Wed 24 May 2023 11:17 am - Jerusalem Time

Gaza: 3 death sentences against those in contact with the occupation

The military courts of the Military Judiciary Authority in the Gaza Strip issued death sentences against three collaborators with the Israeli occupation in pending cases.


This comes on charges of communicating with hostile foreign entities, contrary to the provisions of Article (131) of the Palestinian Revolutionary Penal Code of 1979 AD.


The rulings included two final and enforceable death sentences by hanging issued by the Supreme Military Court, and a death sentence by firing squad issued by the Military Court of Appeal.


In another context, the "Military Appeal" and "Permanent Military" courts issued several other rulings against those in contact with the occupation and drug dealers, during their sessions on Tuesday, ranging from several months' imprisonment to life imprisonment.


Details of death sentences In the case (Appeal No. 39/2023), the Supreme Military Court issued a ruling against the convict (N, A), a civilian from the North Gaza Governorate, born in 1956 AD, and detained by the Military Prosecution on February 25, 2015, upholding the death sentence by hanging Support for the text of the indictment.


The convict was associated with the occupation in 1997 AD while he was traveling through the Beit Hanoun crossing, and he met an Israeli intelligence officer. The latter offered him work in return for granting him a permit to work inside the occupied territories, and he agreed to that. Contact and identify the points of the link, as these actions resulted in the targeting of many places and the rise of martyrs.


In the case (Appeal No. 41/2023), the Supreme Military Court issued against the convict (A, Q), a civilian from Khan Yunis, born in 1979 AD, and detained by the Military Prosecution on November 28, 2018 AD, upholding the death sentence by hanging, in support of the text of the accusation article.


The convict was associated with the occupation in the year 2000 AD during his return to Gaza from the occupied territories, and he was recruited by the occupation intelligence officers, where he provided them with information about the resistance men, the nature of their work, their places of residence, and their mobile numbers, as well as providing them with information about tunnels belonging to the resistance and places of planting ground bombs, and he also opened A car showroom at the request of the intelligence, and he imported several cars with eavesdropping devices inside, and they were sold to the resistance men.


In the case (Appeal No. 30/2022), the Supreme Military Court issued against the convict (M, M), a resident of Khan Yunis governorate, born in 1953 AD, and detained by the Military Prosecution on April 13, 2017 AD, upholding the sentence of life imprisonment with hard labor, in support of the text of the accusation article.


The convict was associated with the occupation in 2001 AD, through his interview with an intelligence officer who offered him work with him in exchange for keeping a permit to enter the occupied territories, and he agreed to that, and he provided him with security information affecting the security of the resistance, including information related to people and information on following up the movements of resistance vehicles and others, in addition to information about missile launches.


The Supreme Military Court affirmed that all the aforementioned rulings are final and enforceable, after all legal procedures have been completed, and after the convicts have been granted all judicial guarantees, in accordance with the principles of the Revolutionary Criminal Trials Law of 1979.


As for the case of Appeal No. (125/2022), the court sentenced the convict (A, I), a military resident of Khan Yunis, born in 1987, to death by firing squad on charges of communicating with hostile foreign parties.


The convict was associated with the occupation intelligence in 2011, and provided it with a lot of security and military information, especially during the Israeli aggressions on Gaza in 2012 and 2014, which led to the targeting of a number of places and the rise of martyrs, in exchange for money, intending to harm the interest, security and resistance of the Palestinian people.


The court stated that the verdict was issued in presence and unanimously and was understood publicly.

ECONOMY

Wed 24 May 2023 11:03 am - Jerusalem Time

An 18% increase in the trade balance deficit during the month of March

The results of the monitored trade survey of the Central Bureau of Statistics, published today, Wednesday, showed that the value of the deficit in the Palestinian trade balance, which represents the difference between exports and imports, amounted to $585.5 million, an increase of 18% during March 2023 compared to the previous month, while it decreased By 2% compared to March 2022.


According to the results of the survey, exports increased during March of 2023 by 9% compared to the previous month, and increased by 28% compared to March of 2022, with a value of $148.9 million.


Exports to Israel increased during March 2023 by 9% compared to the previous month, and exports to Israel constituted 87% of the total value of exports for March 2023. Exports to the rest of the world also increased by 8% compared to the previous month.


Imports increased during March of 2023 by 16% compared to the previous month, and increased by 3% compared to March of 2022, with a value of $734.4 million.


Imports from Israel increased during March 2023 by 6% compared to the previous month, and imports from Israel accounted for 54% of the total value of imports for March 2023. Imports from the rest of the world also increased by 31% compared to the previous month.

OPINIONS

Wed 24 May 2023 10:57 am - Jerusalem Time

The occupation continues its attacks and we continue our meetings

Jerusalem Hadith

Jerusalem Hadith

Opinion Writer

Israel is establishing 400 new settlement units in the town of Abu Dis, and Israeli sources indicated that there are plans to establish and expand settlements in the neighborhoods and towns adjacent to Jerusalem, and this expansion policy is a strong and unstoppable Israeli principle.


Four settlement marches took place in the heart of Hebron during this month, with the aim of imposing a reality aimed at expanding settlements and attempting to Judaize the city. Demolition notices were also issued for a number of homes in different areas of the West Bank, and settlers continued their attacks on citizens, seizing their lands, and demolishing as many houses and agricultural barracks as possible.


The occupation had stormed the Balata camp near Nablus, killing three young men and wounding six, and this attack constitutes a continuation of the total war against our people and their rights, and so the occupation continues its attacks and we continue our meetings and issuing statements of condemnation and denunciation. In this context, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation is holding a meeting in Jeddah today, and it is not expected that any serious practical positions will be issued other than repeating statements of condemnation and denunciation, and perhaps more normalization with the occupation.

Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have been invited to participate in the climate conference to be held in the United Arab Emirates, and there are sources confirming that Israeli planes are allowed to fly to Saudi Arabia, and an international conference will be held in the Negev, in southern Israel, with broad Arab participation.


In sum, statements, speeches, gossip meetings, and repetition of conversations no longer have value or influence, and the day must come when the Arab nation and the Islamic world move to stop the aggression and arrogance of the occupation. ..!!

OPINIONS

Wed 24 May 2023 10:51 am - Jerusalem Time

Is there hope for the Palestinians and Palestine? Cultural-moral rules governing as a condition and conditional

Dr. Ahmed Qatamesh

Dr. Ahmed Qatamesh

Opinion Writer

Introduction: These rules, which are derived from the reality of Palestinian life, are limited to what is necessary and salvageable, and do not go to the major opposing ideologies, and a lot can be added to them.


It has been customary for the active Arab elites to entrench themselves for hundreds and hundreds of years in the front of the dispute that generates conflict, or what is called “sedition.” Those who read many references away from simplified school education discover a lot of strife. As for periods of calm, they are intermittent.


The Palestinian people do not have the luxury of squandering more time and energies and fueling more contradictions and exclusions, for the central reason that they are fighting an existential battle on the one hand and facing a camp that is incomparably larger than them on the other hand.


As for the thing on which “collusion” is taking place, it is reducing his project to the political saying, without observing the factors that draw and define politics, and (generalizing the part to the whole in what leads to error) Ibn Khaldun, as well as not linking the present to the future, if the moment is reassuring, this is the state of the coming moments, Without reading the dialectic of history, what is good today may turn into bad tomorrow.


The political statement imposed itself on the Palestinian people in connection with the Nakba and the ethnic cleansing that included two-thirds of the people in 48 and the displacement of half of the West Bank and Gaza 67. Even the most open currents that (the fighter unconsciously as if pointing his gun at his chest) the wise Dr. Habash, and linked culture to the liberation project, found themselves facing the question (Is thought a guide or a creed) and again (a theory or a half-theory) leading to the marginalization of intellectual mobilization For years, Mao Zedong's saying (If a Chinese communist came to me and spoke to me about Marxism without linking it to Chinese national characteristics, his words would be considered empty) was most evident in linking the patriot with class and nationalism and in distinguishing between national liberation with its alignments and social revolution with what it requires of alliances, characteristics, discourse and goals. And in al-Hakim's saying (strategic tactics should not be violated, nor should ideological politics be violated), although the translations were confused at some stations, affected by the internal Palestinian balance of power and the concern for the unity of M. T.F. and international alliances until they regained the slogan of liberation, return, and a radical democratic solution. Palestine is one and there is no natural barrier separating it. As for the many attempts to divide it politically and move its map, they failed two thousand years ago and what followed (Dr. Al-Khamisi, the Palestinian state). The bet has returned on the national dimension and more on the dimension The regional is linked to the unstoppable strategic shifts.


We should not underestimate the defect that many theorists touched upon (the isolation of the vanguard) from the masses, due to its impact on the political-cultural map, which changed dramatically during the Oslo period.


Based on it, the grip of the cultural-ethical values below seeks to secure a protective fence in order to enhance the cohesion of the social structure and direct the compass in the right direction. A deconstructive dynamic has gnawed at the people since the Oslo Accords, and the beginning is the next key question


1: Why have we reached what we have reached, why are our conditions in this way, whether as a people, a homeland, groups or individuals, and what is the way to strengthen the positive and overcome the negative, and are we on the right track and what are the gaps that should be repaired and bridged ... He should not sleep The mind, many questions are imposed by the reality of life and the accumulated concerns in it, and the answers are also cumulative, benefiting from the experiences of peoples. Because life is complicated, there are no simple answers, and one starts with himself.


2: Education and self-learning. Science is a sea, culture is an ocean, and the more a person’s culture expands and his knowledge expands, the more his personality becomes enriched, which helps him to face the complex difficulties and repel the hostile culture that targets his mind and identity at a time when the soft war reached unprecedented heights. And emancipatory culture protects man from despair and frustration (as it is possible to overcome a military defeat and it is possible to overcome a political defeat, but cultural defeat is something more severe) Al-Hakim d. Habash. There are many useful books, novels, films, songs, plays and artistic creations that move people from one state to another. In answer to a question by a French journalist in a long interview spanning hundreds of pages, the Vietnamese Minister of Defense replied: “The greater the responsibilities, the more time is required for self-education.” As for Guevara, he would not stop reading and writing diaries in the time of jungle and fighting, and the lights in his room would not go out except at dawn. bent on reading and more reading after the victory of the revolution) and the decisive criterion and the biggest challenge is the production of culture, not just its consumption, and taking advantage of the margin available in the social network by talented and intelligent people to promote our narrative.


And the one who scrutinizes the speeches of the brilliant leader...doesn't he notice the breadth of his knowledge, the intensity of his conclusions, and the similarity of logic in them, and that Al-Mayadeen TV does not play an enlightening and mobilizing role that exceeds the role of major countries..I don't know why a capable party does not prepare a documentary program that tracks the personality of the exceptional general, the martyr Soleimani, because of the role he plays Great transgression of nationalism, sectarianism and sectarianism. The East produced Soleimani, just as Latin America produced Che Guevara.

3: Investing time effectively, because time is life and wasting it is a waste of life, and despite the need for rest, relaxation and entertainment, the waste of time can be reduced, so many scientific researches talk about the benefits and harms of television, computers, mobile phones and social media, and the most ambitious is the one who employs his time in useful initiatives, especially in Productive initiatives and helping people.


4: Planning and improving performance, an alternative to randomness and confusion, building executive tools, non-calcification, and presenting what is superior and more innovative, (it is madness to follow the same path and expect different results) Einstein and (there is nothing more absurd than self-satisfaction) Lenin and planning calls for prioritization. Not all tasks are the same and not all preoccupations are equally important.


5: Clinging to national rights emanating from identity and history regardless of political fluctuations. The cultural goes to the absolute, but the political goes to the relative. So did the Germans abandon the unity of their country after their division in 1948? And clinging to the hope of liberating the homeland, did the Chinese abandon the liberation of their capital, which was occupied by the Mongols for a century and a half, and did the Africans give up after they were despised by the racist regime for more than three centuries?


6: Sit-in with a moral stance that rejects injustice, whatever its form, its force, and the lack of submissiveness and surrender to anyone who tries to violate human dignity, confiscate his freedom, oppress his mind, and confiscate his rights.


Didn't Nero disappear and a long convoy of emperors, tsars, and colonial invasions? Didn't colonial Britain flee America, and didn't the American ambassador flee from Saigon (currently Ho Chi Minh) after his helicopter landed on the roof of the embassy? Didn't the poor Russians overthrow the rule of the Tsars and the Iranian uprising under the rule of the Shah?


Sacrifice for the sake of major philosophical values, such as right, justice, freedom and truth. Sacrifice is a criterion of sophistication and evidence of human humanity and its liberation from fear, usurpation and humiliation (pounce on the enemy crouching in yourself) Mao Zedong, (and the harms of servility are more than the harms of confrontation) Churchill, either (hiding under a skirt Their wives) Lenin does not offer anything, in addition to respecting the heroism of the people and their heroes and learning from their exploits.


7: Respecting pluralism and not demonizing the other, as all peoples are made up of classes, strata, ideologies and choices, guaranteeing the right to political and trade union organization and various social manifestations, and giving priority to the participant in a way that secures unity of will and coexistence with differences. And it went with the thinker Garaudy to say (there is no better culture than culture, as cultures are linked to their civilized contexts) and no one has a monopoly on the truth. As for the match, it is in achievement, not in shouting.


Thus, avoiding violence in resolving internal disputes or spreading hatred that facilitates clenching the fist and pulling the trigger, and resorting to the mechanisms of dialogue, elections, the judiciary, and the right of expression. The violence of the Palestinian against himself is his description of self-destruction (the criminal who incites to fight) Al-Hakim Dr. Habash.


8: Deep conviction of citizenship. The Palestinian Basic Law is based on equality without religious or sexual discrimination. Let us look around us to see what extremist ideology and the sectarian, sectarian, ethnic, tribal and clan divisions have done.


Man is the highest value on earth, and the value of man is his work and productivity (human behavior) Hanna Mina, and his culture, knowledge and beliefs are ultimately reflected in his behavior. And the philosopher Spinoza extracted (practical moral calculation) and not in his consumerism, the luxury of his car, the influence of his family, his organization, or (what he wears on himself of titles) Lenin, even if he was a minority (so do not feel lonely on the path of truth due to the lack of those who walk in it) Ali bin Abi Talib.


9: Guevara’s initiative (the cadre takes the initiative) and not being lazy in launching more attempts and protecting the achievement and being keen on it. Without achievements, history stops, and humility and distancing from arrogance and honesty. Is there a value more important than honesty? Without honesty, relationships collapse, whatever they are, and avoid dependence (Who are you? We are The trustworthy, but you are the trustworthy) Omar bin Al-Khattab.


10: Not to stop searching for solutions to problems and overcoming difficulties, and if not through “A”, then through “B” or C. Many problems have solutions, but what is the use of running on the wrong path, like a German at the time (people should be changed, not Changing the case) Martyr Kanafani.


All of this is for the sake of people, and love for people. The first meaning of life is serving people (the essence is helping people) Mandela, and assistance is without addition and has countless forms. As for decadence, it is the exploitation of others, oppression and bullying over them, and monopolizing the benefits of the land in what (2 billion people below the poverty line) nations United States and more than half of the Palestinian people.


11: Consolidation of collectivism, whether public, sectoral, local, or institutional, as it enhances resilience and support, but exaggeration in individualism leads to atomization, weakness, and the worst diseases.


Let it be clear that the globalization of monopolies and neo-liberalism are based on individualism, striking the group, consumerism, striking productivity, erasing national identity, and giving up the state to its social role and giving free rein to monopolies and their affiliates to violate the market and people, and for this (7-8 people monopolize 70% of the international market) Chomsky And while the minimum wage in the Palestinian territories is 67, about 500 dollars, there is a class elite that owns billions without a clear commitment to its social responsibilities!


12: Acknowledgment of error, and without it rot intensifies, and admission of error reflects daring and an opportunity for correction.


Finally, if (the woman is oppressed by the oppressed), the revolutionary Bebel must remove the oppression from her, not abuse her, and release her energies to participate in building her choices. Today, women contribute to 37% of global production, approaching 20% in the Palestinian labor force, and 62% in universities. They have contributions to the struggle and the experiences of prisoners, and they are qualified (for all tasks) as Guevara.


Love for children and respect for the older generation amounts to shame, oppression of children and insulting adults. Children are the future generation, and adults are the ones who paved the path of the present, and the formation of a collective culture that reaches the point of suing those who abuse children and abuse adults. Look at what China has become in this regard.


13: Practicing sports, as sport strengthens the body and refreshes the spirit, and it is the best deterrent to disease. Is it a coincidence that all the armies of the world practice different sports?


Greening as much space as possible around the house and in the streets and prairies - the green color generates positive energy according to Buddhist belief and the discoveries of science, and nature provides us with invisible food (for children my heart - Sukhomlinsky)
Encouraging domestic tourism by visiting archaeological sites, hills and thickets. The climate of our country as part of the Levant is the most moderate and many envy us.


In conclusion, if you live, live free or die standing like trees.. Samih Shuqair.

OPINIONS

Wed 24 May 2023 10:45 am - Jerusalem Time

Between the summits of Algeria and Jeddah...?

Dr.. Hani Akkad

Dr.. Hani Akkad

Opinion Writer

What has changed between the two Arab summits in Algeria, November 2022, and Jeddah, May 2023, and what developments have thrown themselves at the table of the Arab summit in Jeddah? A question that must be answered in detail, because the Arab scene is really changing, not for the worse, as some claim, but for the better. The interval between the two summits is much less than a year, but the achievements are record with regard to building on the results of the Arab summit in Algeria, which I consider opened the gate to Saudi Arabia and paved the way for achievements. It embodies these changes, which is the return of Syria to the Arab embrace again. It is clear that the Arab Summit in Algeria established the concept of Arab reunification to achieve change, renewal and progress in joint Arab action and to bring it to the level of aspirations and aspirations of the Arab peoples to embody true Arab unity and protect Arab national security in its comprehensive concept and in all its political, economic, food, energy and water dimensions.

Had it not been for the fact that the Algiers Summit succeeded in creating a positive and unprecedented atmosphere in the Arab region years ago, this rapid and tangible change would not have occurred, which enabled Saudi Arabia to employ all its Arab relations and use its balanced position in the Arab world for a new face for the Arab region, starting with resolving the crises of the Arab world, or at least minimizing These crises, the first of which is the Syrian crisis, and the return of Syria to the Arab embrace by returning it to the Arab League Council after 11 years of estrangement due to the internal war and the attempt to divide Syria, which is still suffering until now. This is why the decision of the Arab foreign ministers in Cairo came two weeks ago to return Syria to the Arab League as a prelude to the presence of the Syrian President ( Bashar al-Assad) Summit of "Change and Renewal" in Jeddah, and thus Syria will return to the system of joint Arab action, which means the return of relations with all Arab countries with it except for Qatar, which objected to Syria's return to the seat of the League of Arab States, but this may not be forever because the new course of Arab relations would That makes Qatar change its position.

The Arab Summit in Algeria recommended the need to build peaceful and balanced relations between the Arab group and the international community, including the Islamic, African and Euro-Mediterranean milieu, on the basis of respect for the rules of good neighborliness. Thus, the (Beijing Agreement) was used to restore relations between Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Iran, and Saudi Arabia provided a model demonstrating that Saudi Arabia possesses a philosophy of change. The renewal of the Arab region and its divergence from all international tensions, and the keenness not to be dependent on one international pole dominated by the United States of America. Thus, today the Arab world has become an important East Asian and international attraction, enabling the Arab Gulf and the Arab system to decompose from the dependence of the American and European economies and to build a free economy that depends on the unification of tariffs. Customs duties for all countries of the Arab world and the establishment of an Arab free trade area serving all countries in the region. The Jeddah Summit approved completing the opening of safe paths to end the Arab crises, which negatively affect the unity of the member states of the League of Arab States, their territorial integrity and sovereignty over their resources. And the Jeddah Summit considered that the Sudan crisis has negative effects on everyone, so Saudi Arabia rushed steps and intensive efforts to contain the crisis, gather the two warring parties, sign an agreement to stop the fighting, and develop a road map for the transition to civil life in Sudan. However, there are external factors that push towards the complexity and development of the crisis, perhaps a crisis Sudan is one of the most important issues that took a major part in the discussion on the sidelines of the Arab Summit, as it is an issue that threatens the unity of the Sudanese lands and threatens the unity of the member states of the Arab League, and that it would open the way for unwanted external forces to interfere in Sudan, and this will affect the Saudi role in strengthening Arab-Arab relations and change Face the Arab region in a way that guarantees Arab revival and exit from the tunnel of crises that have led the Arabs to weakness and humiliation for more than 15 years now.

The Palestinian issue in all its dimensions was and still is the central issue in the Arab world. The Algiers summit laid important foundations related to the recovery of the Palestinians and their national unity through the "Algeria Declaration" which has not been implemented so far. The Palestinian issue remained the first issue of Arab concern at the Jeddah summit as well, but the Jeddah summit did not come out. With a practical recommendation to end the Palestinian division, such as the formation of an Arab ministerial committee at the level of foreign ministers to draw up a road map for the Palestinians to restore their national unity and end the division, and to assign an Arab executive committee to work on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank in parallel to restore the Palestinian political and geographical linkage, whose basic principles the Palestinian division has violated for 16 years. the entire Arab group. Perhaps confronting the Israeli plan that seeks to liquidate the Palestinian cause, denies the rights of the Palestinians, and seeks to resolve the issue of Jerusalem was emphasized in the first item of the final statement of the Jeddah summit, which reaffirmed the unmodified Arab initiative as a basic reference for achieving comprehensive peace in pursuit of comprehensive stability. We expected that a summit would determine Jeddah is a time map for the occupation to recognize this initiative as a reference for a comprehensive peace and accept it and sit at the negotiating table with the Palestinians under joint Arab and international auspices to negotiate ways to end the conflict and grant the Palestinians the right to self-determination and establish their state on the lines of June 4, 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital.

The Jeddah Summit reaffirmed many of the principles that came out of the Algeria Summit, and this summit had to allocate road maps to end all the crises of the Arab world and complete them with a joint Arab effort that would protect the Arab system from external interference, preserve its wealth, and achieve food security and an industrial, agricultural and technological renaissance The required, and the Jeddah summit had to focus on the importance of strengthening the unified Arab position in the face of Israel's attempt to penetrate the Arab ranks under the name of "normalization agreements" without recognizing the Arab peace initiative and singling out the Palestinians and ending the Palestinian conflict in their own way in order to achieve their great Zionist project on the land of Palestine.

OPINIONS

Wed 24 May 2023 10:43 am - Jerusalem Time

Bias in favor of the case

Hamada Pharaohs

Hamada Pharaohs

Opinion Writer

A dear friend accused her of racism, because she did not differentiate between the progressive Israeli Hebrew and the racist Zionist, because Israeli society is not devoid of open, progressive, left-wing, democratic elements that are hostile to the occupation and to Zionism, and even to its colonial and expansionist Israeli project on the land of Palestine, as a whole.


The Israeli-Jewish Hebrew person who rejects Zionism and its project, and is hostile to the occupation and its expansionist program, is an important human weapon in the Arab struggle against the colony, because it shows through his siding with the Palestinian national democratic project that the cause of Palestine is just, and the struggle of its people is legitimate, and it is strengthened by Israeli biases in its favor, and this is what some do. The Israeli characters who face isolation and persecution to the point of being accused of treason because of their support and bias for the struggle of the Palestinian people.


The current member of the Knesset, Representative Ofer Kasif of the Communist Party, addressed the parliament in the first session after his election, saying: "I must remind you that this country has original owners, the Palestinian people."


Which is written by Amira Hiss, and written by Gideon Levy, and the books of the Israeli historian, professor at the University of Exeter in Britain, "Alan Pappe", are not written by any Arab, but rather by any Palestinian, due to the clarity and facts about the suffering of the Palestinians and the barbarity of the occupation in its dealings with the Palestinians.


Alain Pappe, who previously worked as a lecturer at the University of Haifa, wrote his unprecedentedly clear and factual documentary book titled "Ethnic Cleansing in Palestine", and several books of great importance, on the invention of the Jewish people and ten myths about the colony and others.


He wrote about the Nakba and the attacks on Gaza in an article published by the “Palestine Chronicle” magazine on May 15, 2023, on the anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba. Countless times on this topic, and you can imagine how many times the older generation of us cried out against this injustice that goes back to the days of the Nakba, if not before it.


In those days, the days of the Nakba in 1948, Alain Pappe wrote about them in his article saying:
The British representatives stood by and watched as the ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians escalated with the urban extermination (the systematic destruction of Palestinian towns and neighbourhoods) that broke out in April 1948, even in some cases assisting the Zionist forces in carrying out the ethnic cleansing. to expulsion and expropriation, to turning Palestinians into refugees.”


Regarding the results, Alain Pappe says:
The continued absence of any Western or international reaction (to the ethnic cleansing operations by the Jewish state against the Palestinians), Israel has erased any trace of Palestinian culture and life in the aftermath of the ethnic cleansing operations, by building Jewish settlements and establishing recreational parks on the ruins of Palestinian villages. that have been destroyed."


Who among the Arabs cares about these Jews who reject Zionism and its colonial, expansionist occupation project, who cares about calling them and listening to them while they bear the credibility of rejecting Zionism and refusing normalization with the colony?

OPINIONS

Wed 24 May 2023 10:36 am - Jerusalem Time

Where are you Walid? Waiting for the bus to Ramallah

Issa Qaraqe

Issa Qaraqe

Opinion Writer

The memoirs of the released prisoner and former member of the Knesset, Basil Ghattas, which were titled (Prison Papers, from the Knesset Corridors to the Israeli Prisons), which he wrote during the two years he spent in prisons, revealed the decay and fading of the sense of humor and humor among the prisoners with the passage of time, and the absence of smiles from their faces, with the exception of the prisoner Walid Daqqa. Who maintained, despite the passage of 37 years in prison, his cheerful spirit, and every time he went out to the clinic or to the hospital to receive treatment for cancer that afflicted him, and someone asked him: Where are you going, Walid? He replied, "Waiting for the bus to Ramallah."


Walid Daqqa kept vomiting from prison until he broke his fangs that wanted to undermine him, devour him, and turn him into oblivion. He faced prison and its horrific conditions by preserving his mind, soul, and will until he defeated this prison and became free, a symbol and a cultural value present in every home and school.


Where are you Walid? Waiting for the bus to Ramallah, I packed all my belongings, my notebooks and my scribbles, my many letters, my clothes, my medicines and my serial numbers, ready to return in the transformed language from a chain to a horizon that can make the impossible not impossible, for language in prison is hope and song, an ax that destroys the wall and the system of control. It expands the patch of freedom so that the sun that I haven't seen in a long time greets me. If we only fought with dreams, the nightmare of the night would not last once.


I prepared everything, the house, the lane and the road I will take, the trees I planted and grew up, the color of roses on the balconies of memory, I greeted my family, my neighbors, my school and my first steps, returning from prison carrying a stone from my heart and a song, these are my memories that do not need new historians to discover me alive Or dead, or petrified in a military archive or library, I do not need someone to reproduce me as a great skeleton without a voice and a tongue. Salt, absence, cancer and forgetfulness did not kill me. I am on the bus to Ramallah.
Do not be surprised, I am on the way to Ramallah. I circumvented prison, death, and doctors dressed as a jailer. My voice was jumping from cell to cell. The voice is a living being with resonance, life, and rhetoric. It makes sense in the epic of dignity and pride. My voice is freedom, and it is enough that it leaks. From the cracks of the door, the executioners hear it. My voice has a hand, a pen, a semen, a message and a book. My voice guides me to the dates of meeting my country, because the homeland is not a building of stone or an account number.


The Zionist occupation state has closed all entrances to Ramallah, erected barriers and barricades. Walid Daqqa is coming in his stories that built all the demolished and looted regions in time and space. The borders of his homeland are his true existence. He returns to imagination, smell, emotion and synonyms, and with breathless steps, he returns to his wife, Sana, and his child. The beautiful Milad, his shadow embracing the light of the accelerating time, making him the whole time present, present, and the pulses igniting in his chest. Walid returns to curse the emptiness, the howling of steel, and the cold trance that suffocates the bodies of prisoners.


Where are you Walid? Waiting for the bus to Ramallah, the prisoner's freedom is the rhythm of running through empty streets, the rhythm of people rising from the silence and dust, the rhythm of the wind as it trains you to fly over the coast and Carmel for all your wings and senses.


Walid Daqqa is late, everyone is waiting for him, this bus stops for a long time at every prison, a pile of handcuffs and batons carried by the Nahshon men responsible for transporting prisoners, distributing them to all prisons, hospitals, cemeteries and cold refrigerators, moving from the Negev to Ramla, it is the journey of hell in the closed busta Which takes more than ten hours, but you, Walid, are on the outskirts of Ramallah. Twenty checkpoints or twenty settlements are fine. A wall wraps around a wall so that your body becomes another street that cuts land, bulldozes a place, minces meat and kills a tree. That's okay, the city. It appears in front of you, even if it seems small from between the grilles. This wall was not in your old memories. It's okay. Rearrange the pictures. The smell of burnt tires at the entrance to Beit El. Children throwing stones. It's okay. Sana is waiting for you, so open the window if you can to see your dream as a star on Her shimmering bosom, look good you see her, drops the ambiguous puns and masks.


In installments, they wanted to kill you, one at a time, and you do not know which station the bus will stop at, in your village, Baqa al-Gharbiya, or in Ramallah, in a frozen refrigerator or in a cemetery? You only know what your flowing river says in your self and your depths. The body is absent a lot, but the word is not absent. This is your religion and your faith, a branch in the earth and a root in the sky. Between death and life are my two birth children. Praise be to God, for they were completely filled with love in this world and the hereafter.


I am waiting for the bus to go to Ramallah. I bring to you people the notebooks of love and resistance, the secret of the spectrum, the secret of the oil, and the secret of the sword. The triple secrets of the coming generations. I met them in the interrogation rooms and in the demonstration, in the lesson class. Our offspring, who are extended in history, culture, knowledge and identity, are returning to you, not through bridges or permits as tourists without citizenship, returning to my beloved and my country. My blood never left the earth even after you cut me into two halves: half in prison, and half at home, the first and the second jostling and not dividing. physically, consciously and imaginatively.


In the military court, they accused me of smuggling mobile devices. I immediately confessed and hit the table. I told them: I want to talk to Sana and my daughter Milad. This is my human, legal and social right guaranteed by all the charters of the world. I am not a ghost to see her from behind a glass. I want to dictate to my wife the name of our next son. And my fourth story, letter by letter, whisper by whisper, before they raided my prison room and broke my fingers and pens. It is enough for me to write about tomorrow so that I can reach tomorrow shortly, and it is enough for me to write about water to quench my thirst in this desert.


I am on the bus to Ramallah. The doctors have completed all the necessary examinations. They carried me tied to a cylinder and an oxygen tube. They removed from my lungs the seventh direction from which I breathe. They confiscated my pens and words and put a device over my mouth. They completed all their work and took me to the bus and hung over my head for an hour to die. They refused to leave my friends in the Ramla hospital clinic, Khaled Al-Shawish, Mansour Muqada, Nahed Al-Aqraa and Moatasem Raddad. They refused to take with me parts of their amputated bodies or their hot cough.


Where are you Walid? Wait for the bus to Ramallah, do not believe that the bus will go to Barzlai Hospital or Ramla Clinic, the bus is on its way to Ramallah, and there I will lay a wreath at the tomb of the martyr Yasser Arafat, and visit the family of the martyr Nasser Abu Hamid, I will visit the house of Nael Al-Barghouti and convey greetings to my family Marwan Al-Barghouti and Ahmed Saadat, I will visit the family of the blind prisoner Alaa Al-Bazian in Jerusalem, and tell him that I am not blind, but rather we are a choir of blind people. I will sit near the lions in Al-Manara Square in Ramallah, shaking hands with all friends and loved ones. The bus will take me to Nablus, the lions' den, and to Jenin and the house of Sheikh Khader Adnan. I write on the walls of the camps: The camp is a history of nostalgia from uprooting to existence. Thanks to the Jenin camp, which breaks the dull light from the lost margin into a dense presence like a clash. From sidewalk to sidewalk, I saw a human flag crossing the line between here and there.


I have arrived in Ramallah now, I have broken the parallel circular time in prison, my heart has not dried up as they thought, nor the ink, I said that the Palestinian realist defeats the Zionist superstition, and that the spiritual and mental time of the prisoners defeats the time of Zionist falsehood and their sinful crimes, the tank chasing the Jerusalemite boys in Sheikh Jarrah and Bab Al-Amoud only haunts ideas, Palestinian flags, murals, our deep history, and the sacred meaning of steadfastness and prayer.


Yes, I arrived in Ramallah, the jailer did not arrest me, and the capos did not incriminate me. I fought internally and externally until the wall of the prison broke down on myself and I became free. I got off the iron bus. I greeted the West Bank and Nazareth. I still know the distances and directions and I do not get lost in it. Geography, demography, and paved or bumpy roads. I still memorize the names of the sites in Arabic and Canaanite. I found a solution between the dialectic of the relationship between the cultural, political, nationality, and identity, when mixed with the color of the sacrificial keffiyeh.

OPINIONS

Wed 24 May 2023 10:36 am - Jerusalem Time

"The second Saudi kingdom... I will not live in my father's robes"

Dr.. Iyad Barghouti

Dr.. Iyad Barghouti

Opinion Writer

Immediately after the famous Yalta meeting, which included the victorious allies in World War II, Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill, which took place from 4 to 11 February 1945, in which it was agreed to share defeated Germany, US President Franklin Roosevelt went to Saudi Arabia to meet King Abdulaziz Al Saud, that meeting that took place on February 14 and which established the future relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia, in an agreement named after the battleship on which the meeting took place, "Quincy". The essence of the agreement boils down to the phrase "oil in exchange for protection". That is, the United States controls Saudi oil, in return for protecting the Saudi regime from any threat.


The Saudi American Aramco Oil Company was founded in 1933, one year after the establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, when the United States discovered the importance of Saudi oil, and the huge quantities of it in the Kingdom.


But oil, which constituted the most important strategic factor for the United States in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was not the only one that America invested there. Saudi Arabia has great strategic assets that it placed at the disposal of the United States without limits. The important strategic location, where America established its first military base in the region, the Dhahran base, in 1951. And the religious importance of Muslims, as it used the "Wahhabi" ideology, to carry out major missions to serve the American strategy in the region and in the world, both in the struggle against communism and the Union The Soviet Union, or against Arab nationalism and Nasserist Egypt, or against the Iranian revolution and its allies.


With what Saudi Arabia provided of oil, debt, and petrodollars, with unparalleled willingness and generosity, to the United States, the latter was able to win the Cold War, defeat its “enemies” in the Soviet Union, Afghanistan, Iraq, and others, and monopolize control of the global system, and impose more hegemony on many countries of the world. including Saudi Arabia itself.


Saudi Arabia continued to be a loyal "vassal" of the United States. It implemented with unparalleled sincerity everything that serves American policies in the region and in the world, and developed over time its loyalty, devotion and services to the American “father”, but it failed in what it wished for all the time, which is to raise its value to the Americans, from the level that began with the first agreement between Roosevelt and Abdulaziz .


The American blackmail of Saudi Arabia continued, without any regard for the extent of the "loyalty" maintained by that "ally". From time to time, the United States greatly embarrassed the Saudi regime, not only because it tarnished the reputation of the Kingdom, but also, and perhaps more importantly, because it constituted interference in Saudi internal affairs, as Saudi political thought considers that as long as the actor and the object are subject to it They are Saudis, so it is "inappropriate" for anyone to interfere in this, no matter how high he is, and with this logic was the Saudi anger at all his critics, which accompanied the Khashoggi "incident".


The American “ally” failed with the new Saudi leadership, in the first and clearest test of the extent to which the United States played its role in protecting the Queen, according to the first American-Saudi agreement. When the Houthis attacked Saudi Arabia and Aramco in particular, Saudi Arabia expected America to intervene directly against them, but that did not happen, and the United States did not even put them on the list of terrorism as requested by Saudi Arabia.


At the beginning of the rule of King Salman and his crown prince, the kingdom went far in the same traditional direction adopted by its rulers, in search of a role commensurate with the aspirations of its new rulers. It took a sharply hostile stance towards Iran, the intensity of which is difficult to justify, even to the most sympathetic people to the Kingdom. It got involved in an "absurd" war in Yemen, and other "sister" countries took with it. It also took a negative and sharp stance towards Qatar, and almost entered into a war with the Gulf states against it. Saudi Arabia was also a "vanguard" in supporting terrorism in Syria, and quarreled with Turkey over the "Sunni" leadership.


And most of all, it got so close to Israel that it "pushed" countries like the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan to go far on the issue of normalization. However, this also did not gain the "appreciation" of the United States, which persisted in its "arrogant" position, which considers that this is only one of the duties of the "followers".


That American position towards Saudi Arabia has not changed since Roosevelt met Abdul Aziz seventy-eight years ago, and the United States’ lack of “awareness” of the changes that have taken place in Saudi Arabia since then, especially in terms of capabilities and strategic importance, and the continued American belittlement of Saudi Arabia and its rulers and the denial of the importance of their role and influence. The psychological effect of all this, in addition to the historical opportunity provided by the Ukrainian war, the growth of Chinese power, and the emergence of new international alliances that are not in harmony with the United States and its policies, the new Saudi rule pushed the trend, perhaps not to the extent that the peoples of the region wanted, but to a degree that was not Expected months from now.


The "ambitious" Prince Mohammed bin Salman began by rearranging the traditional pillars of the Saudi regime, so he took measures against prominent figures in the ruling family, curbed the great role played by the religious establishment, and opened the doors wide to individual freedoms, which earned him decisive support, especially among young people.


In the international dimension, the young prince came out, somewhat, from the American mantle, and the enemy of the United States is no longer necessarily an enemy of Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Arabia is no longer a "volunteer" soldier on the side of the "unjust or oppressed" America, and it has emerged in one way or another and "relatively" from blind dependence. To adopt interests as a basis for their relations.


Bin Salman also took steps that took the Kingdom to the east, not a small distance, and the trade relationship with China and Russia improved greatly, despite America’s dissatisfaction, and it followed an oil policy that America was not satisfied with, and strengthened its relations outside the American space, especially with China, after the latter “sponsored The Saudi-Iranian agreement.

All this is good and in the right direction, and it is necessary in order to put Saudi Arabia and its young leadership on the path that enables it to occupy a prominent position among the leading countries in the region, and candidates for its actual leadership.


However, the contemporary history of the region clearly shows us the conditions that must be met in the state and in the leadership that seeks to be in a position that leads the nation to achieve its "project".


The credibility of the Saudi government in advancing the nation's liberation project remains not convincing enough if Saudi Arabia does not renounce normalization with Israel and lead a serious and strong campaign to rid the countries that went for normalization of what they were involved in. In no way can a nation lead and have a close or ambiguous relationship with its worst enemies.


There are apparently important national advisers to the Saudi government, and the prince himself is highly intelligent, realizing that truce with the Zionist project that targets the entire nation will not lead to assuming leadership in the region, and he will not be able to present himself to the peoples of the region and the world as a true representative. for him.


Saudi Arabia must realize, and I think it realizes, that the real indication of the seriousness of its recent steps is not the extent to which it advances from Iran, but rather the extent to which it distances itself from Israel. And it, that is, Saudi Arabia, is supposed to invest in its rapprochement with Iran to confirm their radical position on Palestine, and not to meet with it halfway, because if that happens, Iran will not remain with Palestine, and Saudi Arabia will not be with it.


The new Saudi ruler was fed up with the "robes" of his father (America), so he decided to break free (the shy so far) from him. This is certainly not a simple matter, but it is worth trying if he wanted to rule, placing himself and his country in a position that only big countries and great leaders seek. At that time, all the Arab and Islamic peoples and the free people of the world will be with that position

OPINIONS

Wed 24 May 2023 10:36 am - Jerusalem Time

Tunisian thinker Rashid Ghannouchi: Presence and early awareness of the Palestinian cause

Dr.. Ahmed Youssef

Dr.. Ahmed Youssef

Opinion Writer

Sheikh Rashid Ghannouchi is considered one of the most prominent figures of Islamic political thought in the Arab world, and one of the most prominent supporters of the Palestinian people. To end division and achieve reconciliation within the framework of political partnership and national consensus.


The beginning of my acquaintance with Sheikh Ghannouchi as a thinker and preacher was in the late seventies, when I was a university student in Cairo, through the Tunisian magazine (Al-Ma'rifah). It is a quarterly Islamic cultural magazine that represents the voice of the Islamic community, and it defends the image of Islam and its civilized authenticity in Tunisia with the pens of its writers. Face to face in the heart of the British capital, London, in the early 1990s, and the meetings were repeated after that with him in America, where he used to come to participate in the annual conferences held by our Islamic institutions there periodically or annually, and the last of those meetings with him was the one that brought us together in Turkey in 2011 Then in Tunisia in 2012.. The man, in terms of his ideas, positions, and jurisprudence, is known to every follower of Islamic affairs, and the opinions he presents or the statements he makes do not constitute any strangeness or surprises for me, because I belong to his school of thought and politics.


Sheikh Ghannouchi published many books and studies, which were praised by leaders in the Arab and Islamic worlds. In 2012, I witnessed, during my attendance at a special forum in Istanbul, in which more than 60 leading Islamic personalities participated, including Sheikh Ghannouchi, where he praised his thought and writings, Dr. Ahmet Davutoglu; He was Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, and he said to him: "Oh, Sheikh Rashid...we learned a lot from you, and your writings are credited with some of the ideas of the Justice and Development Party, and we have translated some of them into Turkish."


In fact, the book “General Freedoms in the Islamic State” by Sheikh Ghannouchi constituted a great addition to the intellectual literature of the Justice and Development Party and the principles and policies they adopted.


It is known about Sheikh Ghannouchi that he is an enlightened man and open to everyone, and he is endowed with a high human charisma. Then, after a while, it became clear to us that the people do not want us. We will leave power and give others an opportunity to run the country’s affairs. Next time, we will try to convince the street of us by presenting a better image, behavioral path, and better government programs.


The Sheikh first began his journey in seeking knowledge in Egypt, then left for Syria in the seventies, where he studied philosophy there, and during his time there he became acquainted with the thought of the Muslim Brotherhood, then he returned to his country after completing his university studies to raise the slogans of the Brotherhood and their thought, and this vision led The new conviction of Sheikh Ghannouchi led to major transformations within the Islamic arena in Tunisia.


In the third phase of the transformations that the Islamic movement underwent during the era of "Ben Ali", Sheikh Ghannouchi tried to adapt politically to the regime, and he changed the name of the movement from the Movement of the Islamic Direction to Ennahda, but he discovered after less than two years that "Ben Ali" is not a man who can He was trusted, as he turned the back of the madmen on them, and surprised them with a wide campaign of arrests, with which Sheikh Ghannouchi was forced to leave the country, and reside in Algeria for a short period, after which he traveled to Sudan, after he became sentenced to death in his country .. After that, he applied for asylum in Britain, He was granted residency there as a political refugee, until he returned to his country after the success of the Jasmine Revolution and the fall of the "Ben Ali" regime in 2011.


Sheikh Ghannouchi: Early Awareness of the Palestinian Cause
Sheikh Ghannouchi's view of the tragedy of Palestine as the central issue of the Arab and Islamic nations preceded other scholars and leaders of the nation. Because it is a sacred part of their land, and that there is no meaning or honor for Arabism and Islam as long as Palestine is under foreign occupation. In 1983 he published a study entitled "The Palestinian Question at the Crossroads - Lessons from the Palestinian Revolution", which includes all these positions and concepts.


Sheikh Ghannouchi affirmed: Every step towards freedom, justice and media openness is a step towards the liberation of Palestine, and he described the Palestinian cause as the fairest and noblest cause in the world. He added, "Tunisians differ on everything, but they do not differ on the Palestinian issue, and they pay homage to two things: the national anthem and Palestine."


Ghannouchi believed that the PLO was able to revive the Palestinian cause and win its supporters from all over the world, and that what is required today from the Palestinian and Islamic leaders is to restore the cause to its international radiance. Because it is a just human issue. He added, "We are in the Ennahda movement, when we immigrated from Tunisia, we found our Palestinian brothers in the Diaspora embraced us, for Palestine is the incubator of the entire nation, and we are all Palestinians until the last prisoner is released and until everyone returns to their homes." He pointed out that the Tunisians do not agree on anything. Such as meeting to reject the wave of Arab normalization with “Israel”, and to show solidarity with the Palestinian cause, because the Palestinian cause is a sacred cause in Tunisia. He pointed out that the rejection of normalization is not a matter of discussion in Tunisia, but rather a matter of consensus, and no one dared to disregard his individual convictions in talking about it, adding: “Tunisian public opinion, secular and Islamist, does not differ on this issue.” He said that the heroics of the Palestinian resistance will create another future. And that the Arab world and the Levant region will witness a rearrangement of matters according to which the Palestinian cause will be put on the right track. Ghannouchi stressed that major events in history do not pass without having some impact, highlighting that what is happening in the Palestinian territories is "a qualitative event and a major clash between Israeli arrogance and Palestinian right, and that this qualitative event must present major changes in history and geography." . He added that the Palestinian cause is unanimous in Tunisia, regardless of the political and partisan differences, and the Tunisian parliament had called for the referral of Israeli leaders to the International Criminal Court, calling on the competent regional and international human rights bodies to take the necessary legal steps to refer the leaders of Israel to the International Criminal Court, as a result of their crimes against the people. Palestinian.


Today, in an incomprehensible surrealism, Sheikh Rashid Al-Ghannouchi languishes; The former Tunisian Parliament Speaker, in prison after being sentenced to a year on charges of incitement in what was known as the “tyrants” file!! It is nothing but a pretext to silence his voice opposing tyranny and individual rule, but as we have learned from the evidence of ancient and contemporary history, every tyrant has an end.

ARAB AND WORLD

Wed 24 May 2023 10:22 am - Jerusalem Time

Trump's trial begins in March 2024

A judge in New York has set the date of March 25, 2024, as the date for the start of Donald Trump's trial in the criminal charges against him, which angered the former president because it coincides with his quest for the Republican nomination to run for the presidency next year.


Trump appeared before the judge in New York via video call from Florida, and was also notified by the judge of an order to restrict what he could publish through the media and social media about the case.


In April, Trump became the first former or sitting US president to be charged with a criminal offense related to falsifying documents related to a payment to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels in exchange for covering up an alleged relationship between them.
The former president denies the 34 charges.


Judge Juan Marchand told Trump that court proceedings will begin on March 25, 2024.


Trump seemed increasingly tense and resentful when Murshan reminded those involved not to commit to any other engagements that might interfere with the course of the judicial proceeding.


The date of the trial comes in the midst of the Republican primaries, which Trump hopes to win and run in the presidential elections scheduled for November 2024, in the face of the current Democratic President, Joe Biden, who removed him from the White House in 2020.


Marshan also told Trump to prevent him from publishing material that prosecutors will hand over to his lawyers so they can prepare their defence.
In response to the judge's question whether he had received a copy of the order, Trump replied, sitting in front of two American flags, "Yes."


Marchan signed the injunction earlier in May after prosecutors requested restrictions on Trump's handling of evidence, citing Trump's record of attacking witnesses and prosecutor Alvin Bragg on social media.


Trump's defense team objected to this judicial order, considering that it constitutes a precedent in "sleeping" the mouth of a candidate for the presidential elections.
Attorney Todd Blanche, who sat next to Trump, told the judge that his client was "very concerned" about the violation of his right to free speech guaranteed by the US constitution.


However, the judge stressed that the order issued does not prevent Trump from speaking about the case or his campaign for the presidential elections in 2024.


Trump, 76, has the right to release any previously published information and the majority of evidence collected by his lawyers. But he is prohibited from publishing the names of some of the staff on Manhattan Public Defender Alvin Bragg's team, or the names of witnesses who have been spoken to, until the trials begin.


The case under which Trump is brought before the judiciary relates to the payment of $ 130,000 to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election to buy her silence about a sexual relationship that she confirms he had with her.


The case is one of a series of prosecutions facing Trump that may affect his running in the 2024 elections, including putting pressure on officials of the electoral process in the state of Georgia in 2020, and an investigation into his dealings with the White House archives.

PALESTINE

Wed 24 May 2023 9:58 am - Jerusalem Time

The "minors" child detainees in Damon Prison suffer and programmed targeting

The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said in a report issued on Wednesday morning that child prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers suffer from harsh and inhuman conditions of detention, which lack the minimum international standards for the rights of children and the rights of prisoners.


The authority added, in a press statement, that the suffering is in all aspects, such as lack of food and its poorness, lack of hygiene, the spread of insects, detention in rooms that do not have adequate ventilation and lighting, medical negligence and lack of health care, lack of clothing, cut off from the outside world, and denial of visits. Parents, detention with Israeli criminal children, verbal abuse, beatings, and isolation, in addition to collective punishments and terrorizing them when storming the departments in a frightening way.


The Commission noted that the number of minor prisoners in the occupation prisons reached 170 minors, 43 of whom are in the Cubs section of Damon Prison, the youngest of whom is the 14-year-old prisoner Hamza Salim Hijab, who was subjected to the most severe forms of beating and abuse at the moment of his arrest and during interrogation with him, according to what was reported by a female lawyer. Commission Heba Masalha, where the occupation forces arrested him at six in the morning after they stormed his house and searched his contents and turned them upside down, after that they took him to the police station in the occupied city of Haifa and interrogated him for continuous hours without the presence of any of his parents or a lawyer as stipulated by the law, and from Then they transferred him to the detention center in Al-Jalama, where he stayed for 17 days in harsh interrogation conditions, after which they took him to Al-Damoon Prison, section “4”, where he is still detained.


As for the case of the prisoner Wassim Rushdi Bishkar, who was arrested by the occupation forces from his home at dawn, after they searched him and broke his contents, to be transferred to Al-Jalameh isolation for a period of 25 days, where he was interrogated while he was handcuffed and feet, which caused him harm and damage, to be transferred after that to Al-Damoon prison Cubs section.


The commission emphasized that these attacks come to confirm the brutality of this racist entity, which continues to escalate against prisoners of all ages, in the absence of human rights institutions and its renunciation of all humanitarian treaties and covenants.

SPORT

Wed 24 May 2023 9:56 am - Jerusalem Time

Spain Championship: Real Sociedad is close to returning to the Champions League after 10 years, and a new loss to Barcelona, the champion

Real Sociedad is close to returning to the Champions League next season for the first time after 10 years, after its victory on Tuesday over its guest, Almeria, 1-0, in the thirty-sixth stage of the Spanish Football League.


The Japanese Takefusa Kubo scored the match's only goal in a beautiful way, after he penetrated from the right side into the area, dodging the defenders, and hit a beautiful ball with his left in the top right corner (45 + 4).


The goal came after Almeria completed the match with ten players since the 36th minute, following a direct expulsion of Colombian striker Luis Javier Soares.


The Basque team raised its score to 68 points, consolidating its fourth position, and will guarantee qualification to the main continental competition in the event of a tie or fall for Villarreal V (60 points) at home against Cadiz on Wednesday.


And after Barcelona, the champions, and the poles of the capital, Real Madrid, and Atletico secured the first three places, Sociedad hopes to return to the Champions League for the first time since the 2013-2014 season.


On the other hand, since being crowned champion two stages ago, Barcelona suffered its second successive loss by falling to its host Valladolid 1-3.
Real Sociedad spoiled the Catalan team's celebrations of the title by defeating it 2-1 in its own home three days ago.


Valladolid, who temporarily got out of the relegation circle after less than two minutes had passed, advanced with friendly fire when Barcelona's Danish defender Andreas Christiansen followed a showy header into his own net after a cross pass.


Then Silah Larrin added the second goal from a penalty kick after a mistake inside the area committed by Eric Garcia on Goncalo Plata (22), before Plata finally decided the result in favor of his team by adding the third goal (73).


Barcelona responded with an honorary goal for its Polish scorer, Robert Lewandowski, six minutes before the end.


The Pole strengthened his lead in the top scorer rankings, after raising his score to 22 goals this season, after moving from Bayern Munich.


As for Almeria Fifteenth, it suffered a setback in its endeavor to remain among the adults, as it moved away by four points from the first safe positions.


In another match, Girona VII tied with its host Celta Vigo XIV 1-1.


All teams raised banners before the start of their matches reading "Racists outside football" after racist accusations were made against Real Madrid's Brazilian striker Vinicius Junior during his team's match against Valencia on Sunday.


The phrase "Together against racism" appeared on all television networks that broadcast Tuesday's matches.

SPORT

Wed 24 May 2023 9:53 am - Jerusalem Time

Egyptian Championship: Al-Ahly achieves its fifth successive victory

Al-Ahly achieved its fifth victory in a row, with a deserved victory over its guest, Enppi, 2-0, on Tuesday, at Cairo International Stadium, in the competitions of the twenty-ninth stage of the Egyptian Football League.


He scored the goals of Al-Ahly, Mohamed Sharif (29) and Ahmed Abdel-Qader (35), raising his score to 56 points in the lead, and he has 6 postponed matches, while Enppi’s balance frozen at 36 points in ninth place.


Al-Ahly entered the match after it reached the CAF Champions League final last week, by renewing its second leg victory over Tunisian Esperance in the semi-final, 1-0, after beating it 3-0 in the first leg in Tunisia.


And he set a date in the final with Moroccan Wydad Casablanca on the fourth of next June, first-leg in Cairo, and back on the eleventh of it in Casablanca.


Al-Ahly dominated offensively, and its players resorted to shooting from outside the penalty area through Tunisian Ali Maaloul and Marawan Attia, due to the difficulty of penetrating the defensive bloc of Enppi players.


The 18th minute witnessed the first offensive appearance of Anppi, after Ahmed Amin “Ufa” penetrated into Al-Ahly’s defense and passed by Yasser Ibrahim and hit a ball that goalkeeper Ali Lotfi pushed away with his foot, and Hamdi Fathi responded with a powerful shot from inside the penalty area, on Reda Al-Sayed’s crossbar (22).


The red pressure resulted in the first goal from Maaloul's cross. Enppi defender Ahmed Sobeiha failed to clear it, and it reached Sherif, who fired it into the net to the right of Al-Sayed (29).


And from a wrong pass in the middle of the field, the ball reached Abdul Qadir Toughel and hit it hard. Reda Al-Sayed failed to push it away, so it settled in the upper left corner (35).


Hamdi Fathi almost added the third goal at the beginning of the second half, after he penetrated into the depth of Enppi's defense and hit, collided with defender Mohamed Hamed, and went out to a corner (46).


Fathi returned with another shot from the border of the penalty area (50), which Reda Al-Sayed pushed into a corner with difficulty, before saving his goal from a third goal by blocking a shot by Algerian substitute Ahmed Al-Kandoussi, who was alone in the goal (68).


And the National Bank snatched a thrilling victory at the expense of its host, Aswan, 2-1.


Mohamed Hamdi Zaki (51) advanced to Aswan, to be the league’s top scorer with 11 goals, behind Al-Ittihad Alexandrian-Angolan striker Jobe Mabululu (14), and equalized the score for Al-Ahly Bank Karim Bamboo (66), then Mohamed Hilal scored the winning goal for the guests (77 from a penalty kick).


The National Bank raised its balance to 31 points and advanced to the thirteenth place, while Aswan's balance froze at 31 points in the fourteenth place.


Pharco achieved a fatal victory over its guest, Smouha, with a clean goal, at the El-Geish Stadium in Borg El-Arab.


Pharco Mahmoud Hamada scored the winning goal (90 + 2), raising his team’s balance to 40 points in seventh place, while the balance of 35 points was frozen in tenth place.

SPORT

Wed 24 May 2023 9:50 am - Jerusalem Time

Saudi Championship: Al-Ittihad is a victory away from being crowned

Al-Ittihad became one victory away from being crowned champion of the Saudi football league, after its difficult victory over Al-Batin, who finished in last place, 1-0 on Tuesday, while Al-Nasr and its Portuguese star, Cristiano Ronaldo, fell behind in front of its guest Al-Shabab, 0-2, to win 3-2 in the eighth stage. twenty.


Al-Ittihad raised its score to 66 points, compared to 63 for Al-Nassr, two rounds before the end of the season.


In its last two matches, Al-Ittihad will face Al-Fayhaa and Al-Tai, while Al-Nasr will meet Al-Ettifaq and Al-Fateh.


The federation, led by Portuguese coach Nuno Espirito Santo, is looking forward to winning its ninth title and its first since 2009.


In the first match, the crowd attended 54,771 fans, crowded the stands of King Abdullah City Stadium in Jeddah.
Brazilian Romarinho scored the only goal of the match (9), and the referee canceled a goal for him by his Moroccan striker Abdel Razzaq Hamdallah, after resorting to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technique in stoppage time in the first half.


Al-Ittihad's control continued during the course of the second half in search of a safety goal, and it got many chances, but the absence of the final touch prevented them from reaching the sub-goal.


Amid shy attempts by Al-Batin players, Abdel-Razzaq Hamdallah almost snatched the second goal at the 80th minute, but his ball went over the post, so that the confrontation continued without any real opportunity, so that the match ended with Al-Ameed’s superiority with a clean goal.
The loss of Al-Batin led to his fall to the second degree.


In the second match, Al-Nasr kept its chances of winning the league title, after it came from behind against its neighbor Al-Shabab, with two goals, to win 3-2, in the derby match that took place at Al Awal Park Stadium in Riyadh.


Al-Shabab advanced with two goals from the Argentine Christian Guanca (25 from a penalty kick and 40), and the victory was won by three Brazilian Anderson Talisca (44), Abdul Rahman Gharib (51) and Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo (59). In a third match, Al-Adalah defeated Al-Hilal with two clean goals scored by the Swedish Marcus Antonson (23 from a penalty kick) and the Portuguese Pedro Eugenio (84).

PALESTINE

Wed 24 May 2023 9:39 am - Jerusalem Time

The Shin Bet claims to have arrested a young man recruited by Hamas to carry out an attack

The Israeli General Security Service, the Shin Bet, revealed on Wednesday that a Palestinian youth from Umm al-Fahm, inside occupied Palestine, had been arrested, a few weeks ago, for planning to carry out an attack.


According to the Hebrew website Ynet, the detainee is Muhammad Nader Mahajna (20 years old), from Umm al-Fahm, who was recruited by Hamas to carry out a bombing attack on a bus line in the Hadera area.


The Shin Bet claimed that it had found means used to communicate with the "Hamas" movement in Gaza, and it was revealed from the interrogation with him that he had planned an attack using an explosive device that was to be planted on Street 921, and had collected information on the location of the attack, with a focus on security areas.


Today, the Israeli Public Prosecution filed an indictment against Mahajna, under the pretext of serious "security violations".




Wed 24 May 2023 9:38 am - Jerusalem Time

The state of Carolina adopts a text that restricts the right to abortion

South Carolina voted Tuesday to ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, greatly limiting it, despite a political battle against the provision by five women senators in the state, three of whom are Republicans.


The Republicans tried several times to pass this law in the Senate in this state in the southeast of the United States, which is composed mainly of men.


They ran into stiff opposition from the five women senators. The three Republicans did not hesitate to defy their party's instructions.


During the debates, Republican Representative Sandy Sen accused her male colleagues of "a symbolic blow to women by repeatedly raising the issue of abortion."


But senators opposed to abortion finally gathered enough votes to pass the measure. It will have important consequences for obtaining an abortion because many women in their sixth week of pregnancy do not know they are pregnant.
Before it becomes law, it is supposed to be signed by Republican Governor Henry McMaster.


But McMaster made no secret of his intentions. "I am eagerly awaiting the signing of this text to make it law as soon as possible," he said in a tweet on Twitter, considering that his mandate would kill "more innocent lives."


The US Supreme Court overturned the constitutional protection of the right to abortion last June, leaving states free to legislate in this regard. Since then, about 15 states have banned it.


South Carolina, which is surrounded by several states that have banned abortion, has become a haven for women seeking abortions, to the extent that its Republican members of Parliament made this an argument to defend its ban.


Senator Shane Massey lamented that the state had become "the abortion capital of the Southeast."


Organizations advocating for the right to abortion condemned the decision. "This is a devastating decision for the people of South Carolinians and for an entire region where access to abortions is steadily diminishing," said Alexis McGill Johnson, president of the influential Planned Parenthood.


But she stressed that politicians "will not have the last word" and promised to launch legal prosecutions.

ARAB AND WORLD

Wed 24 May 2023 9:22 am - Jerusalem Time

China's new ambassador arrives in the US amid "extreme challenges"

China's new ambassador to the United States has arrived in the country, vowing to shoulder the "great responsibility" of a relationship between two superpowers that "faces severe challenges."


Xie Feng, a diplomat with extensive experience in Washington, arrived in New York on Tuesday, according to a statement from the Beijing embassy in the United States.


He replaces Chen Gang, who left office earlier this year to take over the foreign minister portfolio.


"Currently, China-US relations are facing serious difficulties and severe challenges," Xie told reporters at the airport, according to a statement on the embassy's website.


"I feel a mixture of a great sense of mission value and a great responsibility. I will face difficulties with my colleagues, we will shoulder our responsibilities and live up to our mission," he added.


For his part, the US ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, said on Wednesday that he held a "farewell dinner" with Xie "at a time when we are dealing with the US-China relationship, which is witnessing endless challenges."


"I look forward to working with him in his new role," he added on Twitter.


According to his official biography, Xie, 59, is from the wealthy Jiangsu Province in eastern China and holds a master's degree in engineering.


He has worked in the State Department since at least 1986 and spent most of the 1990s rising through the Bureau of North American Affairs.


He served twice at the Chinese mission in Washington over the next decade before becoming ambassador to Indonesia.


Most recently, Xie served as a commissioner of the Beijing Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong and assistant minister of foreign affairs.


Relations between China and the United States have been strained in recent years over issues including trade, technology, human rights and more.


The issue of electronic chips was the latest point of contention between the two parties, as Beijing announced on Sunday that the US semiconductor giant “Micron” had not passed a review related to national security and therefore would not be allowed to sell its products to parties related to “important information infrastructure.”


The announcement came after Washington and its allies took measures in recent months that China deemed designed to limit its ability to buy or manufacture advanced electronic chips and reduce its role as a rising power.


This month, Beijing also issued a court ruling imprisoning 78-year-old American Jun Sheng-Wan Leong for life on espionage charges, without providing many details about the case.

PALESTINE

Wed 24 May 2023 8:28 am - Jerusalem Time

Video || New details about Operation "Freedom Tunnel"

New scenes from the security cameras in Gilboa prison, published for the first time yesterday evening, Tuesday, documented the prison warden on the night the prisoners escaped from it in September 2021 in an operation known as the "Tunnel of Freedom". It is fine and there is no exception, while the first prisoner has already escaped.


And in the new video clip published by the Hebrew channel Reshet Kan, the prison warden appears walking next to the cells while she was holding a searchlight in her hands and directed it towards the ground, and she also passed the fifth cell from which the prisoners escaped without stopping next to it, in a procedure contrary to the procedure that stipulates opening The top of the cell doors and making sure everything goes well inside.


And on the night of the escape, on September 6, 2021, between 12:30 and 1:00 am, the first prisoner entered the tunnel on his way to escape, and at 1:21, as the new video documents, he was already outside the prison after he escaped through the tunnel dug from bathroom floor.


Investigations conducted by a special committee reveal that the warden wrote that night that she had conducted an inspection of all the cells, focusing on the prisoners who constitute a danger in cells 4, 5, and 14, and that observation was recorded at 1:32, but the sixth prisoner, Mahmoud Al-Ardah, who came out last One of the tunnels at 1:37, confirmed during his interrogation that he heard a guard passing through the corridor without checking whether they were inside the cell or not.


According to the report, additional inspections were conducted every hour on a superficial basis, and only two hours later, at 3:17 am, it became clear that the cell was empty, and it was found that the prisoner, Ayham Kammaji, was supposed to be in the same cell as the six prisoners, although he was supposed to He wouldn't be in it because it wasn't where his cell was.



PALESTINE

Wed 24 May 2023 8:04 am - Jerusalem Time

Birzeit University elections start today

On Wednesday, Birzeit University students go to the polls to choose their representatives, in elections in which several student blocs compete.


Four student blocs are running in the elections for this year: the United Left Bloc, the Islamic Wafaa Bloc, the Martyr Yasser Arafat Bloc, and the Progressive Democratic Student Pole.


Student blocs at Birzeit University are competing for 51 seats in the Student Council Conference in its current session 2023-2024.


12163 male and female students are entitled to vote in the elections.

PALESTINE

Wed 24 May 2023 7:52 am - Jerusalem Time

The occupation launched a campaign of arrests in the West Bank

The Israeli occupation forces launched, at dawn and Wednesday morning, a campaign of arrests among citizens in separate areas of the West Bank.


The occupation forces stormed the eastern neighborhood in Jenin, and arrested Mohammed Abu Aziz and his wounded son, Ahmed, after raiding and searching their homes.


In Jaba, south of Jenin, the young man, Karam the Hoopoe, and his brother Hakim, were arrested after their homes were raided, amid clashes with the resistance fighters in the area.


In Nablus, two young men, Bahaa Tayan and Khalil Abu Ghadeeb, were arrested after breaking into their homes and tampering with their contents.


In occupied Jerusalem, Ayham al-Salama was arrested after a raid on his family's home.

PALESTINE

Wed 24 May 2023 7:52 am - Jerusalem Time

The Israeli Knesset approves the budget of Netanyahu's coalition

The Israeli Knesset General Assembly approved, at dawn on Wednesday, the budget law for the year 2023-2024, and the settlement law for the same two years.


According to the Hebrew website Ynet, the size of the budget amounts to 998 billion shekels, at 484 for the year 2023, and 514 for the year 2024, indicating that this is the largest budget in "Israel's history", and the Ministry of Defense will receive 64 billion shekels from it.


The budget and the settlement laws attached to it were voted by 64 members against 55.


The Knesset session, which began yesterday evening, witnessed a state of controversy between the government coalition and the opposition over the budget.


Following the end of the session this morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted: "We won the elections, we passed the budget, we are continuing for four years that will be good."



PALESTINE

Wed 24 May 2023 4:25 am - Jerusalem Time

Hamas: The occupation's threats to the countries of the region are a threat factor that constitutes a danger

Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for the "Hamas" movement, said on Tuesday evening that the occupation leaders' threats of aggression against the countries of the region confirm once again that the occupation entity is a threat to the entire region, and that it poses a real danger to the nation.


Qassem added, in a brief press statement, "As far as these successive threats in all directions constitute terrorist behavior, they express the state of fear and anxiety experienced by the entity due to the development of the capabilities of the resistance forces in the region."


The Prime Minister of the occupation government, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Chief of Staff of his forces, Herzi Halevi, had threatened to strike Iran in light of the development of enriched uranium.

PALESTINE

Tue 23 May 2023 8:41 pm - Jerusalem Time

Shtayyeh: The Israeli measures aim to reoccupy the West Bank

Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said that Israel aims with its measures to reoccupy the West Bank, through more land seizures in favor of settlement expansion, the forced displacement of our people from areas called "C", and the decision of the occupation authorities to start implementing the law to cancel the disengagement from settlements in the northern West Bank occupied, and allowing the settlers to return to the evacuated "Homesh" outpost and legalizing it.


This came during his meeting, today, Tuesday, with the German Minister of State, Tobias Lindner, in his office in Ramallah, in the presence of the German representative to Palestine, Oliver Ovcha.


The Prime Minister called on Germany and the international community to put pressure on Israel to stop all its unilateral measures, on top of which are settlement expansion and incursions into Palestinian areas, killing and arresting our people, stopping all deductions from our funds and releasing the seized funds.


Shtayyeh also renewed his demand to put pressure on Israel to abide by the agreements signed with it, including holding elections in all Palestinian territories, especially Jerusalem, and to ensure the participation of our people in it as candidates and elections, and for the occupation authorities to release the detained bodies of martyrs and the martyrs of the number cemeteries, and to stop the demolition of facilities, homes, and schools in the so-called areas. C, part of which is funded by donor countries.


The Prime Minister appreciated the firm and continuous German support for Palestine, stressing the importance of strengthening aspects of bilateral and joint cooperation between the two countries at all levels.

PALESTINE

Tue 23 May 2023 7:15 pm - Jerusalem Time

Sick prisoners in "Ramle" decide to go on hunger strike

The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs reported, on Tuesday evening, that the sick prisoners in the “Ramla” prison clinic decided to go on an open hunger strike in protest of their health conditions in light of the deliberate medical negligence and the policies of the Prisons Administration against them in all aspects.

The Commission indicated that the prisoners gave the occupation prison administration several times to provide them with health care in the "Ramla Prison" clinic, but it still flouted their humanitarian health demands, indicating that they had begun to implement an upward struggle program.

The commission continued that the prison administration does not conduct a medical examination for prisoners in prisons throughout their time in detention, and that the prison administration does not provide the necessary treatment for sick prisoners and does not allow the entry of medical staff to treat them, and refuses to hand over their medical files to be presented to doctors outside the prisons, which poses a real threat to their lives. .

ARAB AND WORLD

Tue 23 May 2023 7:11 pm - Jerusalem Time

Israeli planes drop leaflets in southern Lebanon warning of breaching the border line

Today (Tuesday), Israeli planes dropped leaflets on the border areas of southern Lebanon with Israel, warning of violating the border line, according to sources in the Lebanese army, security forces and eyewitnesses to Xinhua.


The sources added that hundreds of leaflets were found in the border areas in eastern south Lebanon, especially in the area extending from the Kfar Shuba Hills in the west to the Shebaa Heights in the east.


The leaflets carried a phrase written in red and black, "Think before you act. Your breach of the borders and your activity endangers the situation and may lead to your injury. Follow the legal rule that warding off evil takes precedence over bringing good." .


The same sources told Xinhua that Israeli helicopters, in addition to marches, flew today in successive sorties over the border line of the Shebaa Farms and the Kfar Shuba and Ghajar hills in eastern southern Lebanon, dropping leaflets from a medium height.
It indicated that the Lebanese side handed copies of the publications to the United Nations forces operating in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL).


The Lebanese Hezbollah conducted a maneuver last Sunday under the title (We will pass) in one of its camps in southern Lebanon outside the area of UNIFIL forces' operations, during which it simulated the process of storming a cement wall similar to a concrete border wall that was built by Israel at some border points with Lebanon, followed by the attack on a military center in the area Similar to an Israeli settlement.

PALESTINE

Tue 23 May 2023 6:16 pm - Jerusalem Time

Al-Nakhala reveals the reason for the martyrdom of the leaders of the Al-Quds Brigades

Ziyad al-Nakhala, Secretary General of Islamic Jihad, said on Tuesday that he was certain that the negligence in the use of communications by the brigade leaders was the main reason for the Israeli occupation to reach them and assassinate them, and that there was no security breach in the ranks of his movement.


And between the bran, in a press interview from Beirut with the "Hayat Washington" website, that there is negligence in the use of communication devices, and that the instructions required to do so are not adhered to, calling on the resistance fighters to avoid using communication tools.


He added: "I am sad to say that all those who were martyred were in possession of cellular communication devices," considering that a fatal weakness.


Regarding the assassination of some of them inside their homes, al-Nakhala said that they used to visit them and did not stop there, and the operation took place at a time of calm, but they did not take more security measures and precautions, especially with regard to the use of phones.


He pointed out that the deputies of the assassinated commanders received their replacements within a clear and sequential structure, and each person who is martyred has a replacement, indicating that the martyrdom of the commanders does not cause confusion in the military structure.


Regarding the occupation's threats to carry out similar assassinations abroad, the Secretary General of Islamic Jihad said that his movement is capable of responding to any assassination and bombing of the occupation capital and everywhere, indicating that his movement still maintains its strength with the capabilities available to it.


He considered that the facilities that Israel allows to enter the Strip are merely a "bribery" with the aim of trying to silence Gaza.

PALESTINE

Tue 23 May 2023 4:51 pm - Jerusalem Time

The German government pledges 125 million euros to Palestine

The German government pledged €125 million for the next two years to support a group of vital projects in Palestine in the sectors of water and sanitation, local government, employment, vocational and technical education and training, support for small and medium enterprises, and other vital projects in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.


This came during the signing of the cooperation protocol between the Palestinian delegation and its German counterpart, following the conclusion of the annual consultations between the two parties, which aim to review and discuss development programs and projects for the years 2023-2024, today, Tuesday, in the German capital, Berlin.


It is noteworthy that Germany is the third largest donor to the Palestinian people after the United States and the European Union, as it provides, in addition to development support, more than 180 million euros annually to UNRWA, in addition to support for civil society institutions, the private sector, and emergency needs.


The Palestinian delegation was headed by the Prime Minister's Advisor for Planning and Aid Coordination, Estefan Salameh, and on the German side, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, Niels Annen, and the Director of the Middle East Department at the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, Mario Torcules.


Salameh opened the consultations by conveying the greetings of Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh, and affirming his keenness to enhance joint cooperation with the German government at all levels.


On behalf of the Palestinian side, in person or through the Zoom mechanism, the Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Germany, Laith Arafa, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Local Government, Tawfiq Al-Budairi, the Head of the National Commission for Vocational and Technical Education and Training, Ziyad Goelis, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, Nafeh Assaf, and the Director of the Western Europe Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs participated. And expatriates Ihab Khalil, Director General of Projects and International Cooperation at the Ministry of Finance Laila Sobeih, Director General of International Relations at the Ministry of Economy Suha Awadallah, Director General of the Project Management Unit at the Water Authority Ziad Daraghmeh, Head of the Palestinian Employment Fund Rami Mahdawi, and Second Secretary Rami Erekat from the embassy The State of Palestine to Germany, and the coordinator of the German file in the Prime Minister's office, Nida Elias.


On the German side, a large number of cadres of the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, officials from the German Development Bank KFW, the German Technical Cooperation GIZ and a representative of the German Foreign Ministry participated.

PALESTINE

Tue 23 May 2023 4:09 pm - Jerusalem Time

Netanyahu and Halevy threaten Iran and talk about a battle on several fronts

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, made threats against Iran, amid talk of a battle on several fronts.


Netanyahu visited one of the headquarters of the Israeli intelligence division, accompanied by the head of the division, Aharon Haliwa, and the head of the National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi, and received a security briefing on the preparations in various arenas to confront the "Iranian threat," as described in a statement from his office.


Netanyahu said, "I just finished a visit to one of our intelligence bases, and I saw how Israel is one step ahead of every enemy, and it does so with more human and artificial intelligence. What I saw here is really the future."


For his part, Halevy said at the Reichmann conference that Iran is using Syria as a potential war zone with Israel, pointing out that his forces have the ability to strike Iran and there are negative developments regarding its nuclear file that could lead to military action.


He believed that any war on the northern front, if it occurred, would be much more difficult for Lebanon and Hezbollah.


He added: "The war in the north, if it occurs, will be difficult on our home front, but we know how to deal with it."