On Sunday evening, the Israeli occupation forces arrested a young man in the eastern town of Al-Sawahra, in occupied Jerusalem.

Those forces arrested a young man - whose identity was not known - after shooting at his vehicle in the town.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party have dominated political life in Turkey for twenty years.

Some segments of society benefited from this, while others lost out in a polarized country. Here are some examples on the eve of the presidential and legislative elections on May 14.

Religious people
Known as the Diyanet, the Department of Religious Affairs has become a powerful social force under the rule of Erdogan, a devout Muslim whose conservative Islamist party challenged the secular foundations of post-Ottoman Turkey.

This administration has its own television channel, which plays a role in political debate, and benefits from a budget similar to that of a medium-sized ministry. Its broad powers have made it a target for the president's secular opponents, who complain about the rise in mosques, Koran lessons, and the influence of religious fraternities.

The former head of Diyanet, Mehmet Gormez, found himself embroiled in a scandal because of his extravagant lifestyle.

Real estate and construction sector
Under Erdogan's leadership, real estate and major projects have developed across Turkey, spurring growth.

However, some groups and businessmen considered close to the government have been awarded controversial public contracts.

This boom reshaped the country, giving new homes to millions of people while dramatically altering the image of a city like Istanbul, which was suddenly full of skyscrapers. This development boom was accompanied by the head of state's appetite for "crazy projects" and ambitious mega-investments worth billions of dollars - bridges, highways, airports... - including the Istanbul Canal, designed to double the size of the Bosphorus but never seen the light of day.

conservative women
Erdogan has defended the rights of conservative Muslims after decades of staunch secularism. Thus, religious women were gradually allowed to wear the headscarf - previously prohibited - in universities, public offices, the police and parliament. In fact, the head of state made it a personal matter because his two daughters, who wear hijabs like their mother, were "not allowed to wear hijabs" at university.

media
The Turkish media landscape, which was considered an epitome of pluralism, has gradually contracted under Erdogan. Observers note that 90 percent of the Turkish media is now controlled by the government or its supporters. The outgoing president preferred that newspapers and television channels be owned by businessmen close to the authority who were granted public loans. In parallel, the suppression of dissenting voices began, especially those emanating from the Kurdish media, which was further strengthened after the failed coup in 2016. According to the Turkish association "B24", 64 journalists are currently in prison.

Army
The Turkish army, secular and accustomed to coups, gradually lost its influence on the political arena. This accelerated after a military faction staged a coup attempt in 2016, attributed to the preacher Fethullah Gulen, who was exiled to the United States. Erdogan responded with purges that led to the imprisonment of thousands of soldiers - hundreds for life. The high-ranking military personnel were also eliminated, which weakened the capabilities of the main force in NATO's eastern flank. The Air Force, in particular, lost many of its pilots and officers.

Kurds
After secular governments oppressed the Kurds, like the majority of minorities in Turkey, they helped elect Erdogan and supported him in his early days. The head of state tried to strengthen their cultural and linguistic rights, and initiated negotiations to put an end to the armed activity of part of them and grant them a greater degree of autonomy in the southeast. But after the failure of these talks and the outbreak of violence in 2015-2016, the Kurdish community (15 to 20 million people) found itself under increasing pressure. Dozens of Kurdish leaders have been imprisoned or removed from their elected positions.

The main pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, whose leader has been imprisoned, is also at risk of being banned, like many parties before it accused of "terrorism".

Middle class
Turkey experienced an economic boom during the first decade of Erdogan's rule, which led to the formation of a thriving new middle class. But since 2013, the economy has moved from one crisis to another. According to the World Bank, Turkey's gross domestic product—which is a measure of a country's wealth—has fallen to the level of Erdogan's first five years in power.

With the official inflation rate reaching more than 85 percent last year, the savings of millions of families have dissipated, and many families are barely able to secure their sources of spending until the end of the month.

On Sunday evening, the Israeli occupation forces arrested two civilians who tried to cross the border fence in the southern Gaza Strip.

According to the Israeli army spokesperson, no weapons were found in their possession and they were transferred for interrogation.

Today, Sunday, the Israeli authorities continued their siege of the city of Jericho in the West Bank for the ninth day in a row, according to local officials and Palestinian citizens who complained of incurring economic losses as a result of this step.

The deputy mayor of Jericho, Fathi Brahma, told Xinhua that the Israeli authorities are tightening their procedures around Jericho and erecting military checkpoints at its entrances for the ninth day, which has affected the economic and social lives of Palestinians.

Brahma added that the mood of the Israeli authorities is what is being dealt with with the lives of the residents. There is an incomprehensible stress on people leaving the city, while facilitating movement for those entering the city without any justification.

He pointed out that heavy economic losses were inflicted on the city and its economy as a result of this blockade, as thousands refrained from visiting the city, which is the first tourist destination for Palestinians in the West Bank and Palestinians from East Jerusalem and inside Israel.

Brahma reported that the prices of many agricultural products fell due to the blockade and that farmers were unable to export their crops to other cities in the West Bank, while severe damage was inflicted on the tourism sector, which is the backbone of the city's economy, and the activity and purchasing movement that follows it is almost suspended.

No official Israeli comment was issued regarding the siege of the city, but the Hebrew public radio reported that the steps imposed on Jericho, which is a destination for tourism and visitors, came due to the escalation of operations in a way that had not happened in years.

The head of the Chamber of Commerce in Ariha, Tayseer Hamidi, condemned the continuation of the policy of blockade imposed on the city, considering it a "collective punishment" aimed at hitting the city's economy.

Hamidi told Xinhua that the initial losses of the economic sectors as a result of the ongoing Israeli siege on Jericho for the ninth day in a row were estimated at tens of millions of dollars.

Hamidi explained that the affected sectors are represented by the tourism sector, buying goods from shops or renting hotels, as well as tourist villas and swimming pools that the city is famous for, as well as transportation and communications.

Hamidi warned of the reluctance of investors to invest in Jericho, especially from areas of Jerusalem, in light of the disruption of construction projects in which the city witnessed a great renaissance during the past years.

The siege around Jericho began last Saturday on the second day of Eid al-Fitr, when the city was preparing to receive more than half a million people during the holidays from the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Palestinians in Israel due to the abundance of tourist facilities and parks in it.

Palestinian activists circulated on the social networking site ((Facebook)) pictures showing the Israeli forces stopping vehicles and subjecting them to searches and verifying the identities of their passengers at the checkpoints.

In this regard, Rami Mahdawi from Ramallah wrote on his Facebook page about the difficult moments he experienced for nearly seven hours at an Israeli checkpoint while returning to his home from Jericho on the third day of Eid al-Fitr.

Mahdawi said, "After spending quality time with the family in one of Jericho's parks, a journey of torment and hardship began, after military checkpoints were erected at all entrances to Jericho and impeded the movement of citizens."

He added, "A journey of suffering represented by spending all the time inside your vehicle with two girls who have many needs, without being able to answer their many repeated questions and comments (why are they standing) and (we want to drink and eat)".

Mahdawi believed that the issue of "detaining thousands of citizens for a long time is one of the attempts made by the occupation in order to disbelieve the Palestinian in his cause and its justice, and to hit the internal tourism and its economic impact and to bring the Palestinian family down and try to show it as weak and unable to protect itself."

Jericho, which is inhabited by more than 30,000 people, including 6,000 Palestinian refugees, is an ancient Palestinian area located near the Jordan River and north of the Dead Sea, and is known as the City of the Moon.

The number of permanent and temporary Israeli barriers dividing the West Bank, according to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, is estimated at 593 military checkpoints and gates, while the Israeli army says that the deployment of military checkpoints comes for security considerations.

According to a 2021 study issued by the Applied Research Institute (ARIJ), a non-governmental organization headquartered in the city of Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, Palestinians lose about 60 million working hours annually due to checkpoints, with losses estimated at about $270 million annually.

Today, Sunday evening, the Israeli Ofer Court extended the detention of Jordanian MP Imad Al-Adwan for 8 days. According to his lawyer, Jawad Boulos.

The Israeli Public Prosecution submitted a request to the court to extend the detention of Attorney Adwan for an additional 12 days pending investigation, which prompted his lawyer to refuse this, while the court did not allow them to meet their client.

Today, Sunday, the court convened, one day before the expiration of the eight-day extension of the detention period, with the ruling that tomorrow, Monday, is an official holiday in the Israeli occupation state.

On Sunday, the governor of the Bryansk region in western Russia announced that the death toll in a Ukrainian air strike that targeted the Russian border village of Suzymka at night had risen to four.

Ukrainian missiles hit the village of Suzymka, about ten kilometers from the Russian-Ukrainian border, according to local governor Aleksandr Bogomaz, who wrote on Telegram, "Four civilians were killed."

The initial toll issued by the authorities stated that two people were killed.

Bogomaz indicated that the bodies of two other victims were recovered from under the rubble of a house destroyed by the bombing.

Towns and infrastructure in the Russian regions bordering Ukraine, such as Bryansk and Belgorod, are hit by strikes that Moscow attributes to the Ukrainian army, without Kiev claiming responsibility for them.

On Saturday, five districts of Belgorod were deprived of electricity after Ukrainian artillery shelling.

Doctors Without Borders called on the Israeli government to immediately stop demolishing Palestinian homes, schools, property, and infrastructure in Masafer Yatta, and to stop issuing new demolition orders, and to comply with international and humanitarian law.

Doctors Without Borders, during a documentary report presented today, Sunday, in its office in the city of Hebron, denounced the Israeli policies, and called on the occupation authorities to immediately stop forced displacement plans, and called on the international community to take all necessary measures to protect the population and ensure respect for their human rights.

The head of the Doctors Without Borders mission in Palestine, David Cantero, called on the Israeli authorities to immediately stop the demolition, to follow international law and human rights law, and to stop the demolition of schools, homes, and night raids in Masafer Yatta.

He pointed out that the occupation authorities are imposing enormous pressure on the residents of Masafer Yatta to leave the area, which may amount to a forced transfer, which is prohibited under international and humanitarian law.

He explained that the occupation authorities have intensified their measures since May 2022, after the "Israeli Supreme" issued a ruling to remove all legal restrictions that impede the forced displacement of Palestinians in the region, which affected the mental health of the population, and their access to basic services, including medical care. .

The report included individual interviews and focused discussions with residents of the villages of Masafer Yatta (Umm Qassah, Umm al-Khair, al-Majaz, al-Markaz, Sha'ab al-Butum, and Wasfiya al-Fawqa), documenting their suffering from repressive measures and political violence from the occupation and settlers, with the aim of forced displacement.

The organization called on the international community to intervene urgently, especially the three parties (the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations), by pressuring Israel to stop violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law in Masafer Yatta, and to demand accountability for the demolition of donor-funded buildings in Masafer Yatta.

Today, Sunday, two citizens were injured when settlers attacked them in the town of Burqa, northwest of Nablus.

According to local sources, settlers from the "Homesh" settlement attacked the citizens, Khaled Salah and Mahmoud Reda Farounia, while they were in the village lands, injuring them, and they were transferred to Rafidia Governmental Hospital for treatment.

The Authority for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said that the Israeli Prisons Administration transferred the detainee, Muhammad Yusef al-Soufi, to Soroka Hospital.

The authority stated that the prisoner, "Al-Sufi", was admitted to the hospital after he lost consciousness as a result of extreme exhaustion while he was leaving to Al-Fura Square.

The authority pointed out that the prisoner underwent a catheterization operation inside the hospital, and he is now in a stable condition.

Today, Sunday, the Israeli Ofer Military Court postponed issuing a decision regarding the release of prisoner Khader Adnan, on a bail request.

The session was held in his presence via video conference, and a new session was set for him on the tenth of next May.

It is noteworthy that the prisoner, Khader Adnan, is on hunger strike for the 85th day in a row.

After a religious ceremony on May 6th, the UK will witness three days of celebrations for the coronation of Charles III. The religious ceremony is rooted in royal traditions, but the king wanted to modernize it.

This historic day will start with the "King's Procession", which will head to Westminster from Buckingham Palace, in a carriage that will travel about two kilometers.

The ceremony is scheduled to start at 11:00 (10:00 GMT) and last for about an hour under the supervision of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church.

The celebration, which will include classical music and more modern musical compositions, is supposed to reflect "the king's role today and aspiration to the future, while rooted in tradition and historical greatness," according to the palace.

Although Charles III (74 years) wanted a simpler and shorter celebration than the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, in front of an audience of guests limited to two thousand people (foreign leaders, kings, elected officials, civil society), some steps remain unchangeable.

Once in church, the King will be introduced to the audience, who will salute him, before taking the oath.

The Coronation Oath, written since 1688, has undergone changes over the centuries. For example, Elizabeth II swore to rule "according to her laws" the people of the United Kingdom and the 14 other countries of the Crown, and to defend the Anglican faith, which the king presides over.

Charles would be characterized by a more ecumenical discourse towards all religions.

Next, the King, seated in King Edward's Chair, will receive the anointing from the Archbishop, then the royal robes, the golden ball with a cross, and the scepter and crown of St. Edward will be placed on his head.

Members of the ruling family will pay homage to the king.

After that, the King and Queen Camilla, who will also be crowned during the ceremony, will leave in a carriage as part of the "coronation procession" towards Buckingham, accompanied this time by a procession of about four thousand soldiers dressed in ceremonial clothes.

The royal family will finally appear on the palace balcony to greet the crowd and watch the Royal Air Force planes take to the skies.

Some members of the royal family will play a role during the coronation ceremony, while others, such as Prince Harry, who is present without his wife Meghan, or his uncle, Prince Andrew, who has been affected by a sex scandal, will be present only as spectators.

Thus, Charles chose four companions from his relatives, including his grandson Prince George (9 years old), second in the line of succession to the throne, and the young son of Edward Tollemache, the king's baptismal son.

For her part, Queen Consort Camilla chose members of her family from her first marriage to Andrew Parker Bowles. She will be accompanied by three of her grandchildren, Gus, Louis and Freddie, in addition to Arthur, who is the son of one of her nephews.

In addition to the May 6 ceremony, the UK is preparing for three days of coronation festivities.

The people were invited to participate Sunday in a "big lunch" as part of the parties taking place in the neighborhoods, where the "coronation tart" will be on the menu, the recipe of which was revealed by the palace in mid-April.

And at night, a concert will be held at Windsor Castle in west London, which will be attended by 10,000 randomly selected Britons.

Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and tenor Andrea Bocelli lead a poster for this concert marked by the absence of British stars.
Finally, the royal family will invite Britons to do volunteer work on Monday, May 8, which will be a day off.

Tomorrow, Monday, Jordan will host a new meeting on Syria, in which the foreign ministers of Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Egypt will participate, according to a statement by the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The statement quoted the official spokesman for the ministry, Sinan al-Majali, as saying, "The meeting comes as a continuation of the consultative meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, which was hosted by Saudi Arabia" in mid-April.

He added that it also comes "to build on the contacts made by these countries with the Syrian government and in the context of its proposals, and a Jordanian initiative to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis."

The ministry did not provide further details.

In mid-April, a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries was held in Jeddah, in which Egypt, Iraq and Jordan also participated, to discuss the issue of Syria's return to the Arab League, about a month before an Arab summit in Saudi Arabia.

The Arab ministers participating in the Jeddah meeting agreed on the importance of playing an Arab leadership role in efforts to end the crisis in Syria.

A few days after the meeting, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan visited Damascus, in the first official Saudi visit to Syria since the estrangement between the two countries with the start of the conflict in Syria 12 years ago.

Several Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia, closed their embassies and withdrew their ambassadors from Syria, in protest of the Syrian regime's handling of a "popular uprising" in 2011, which developed into a bloody conflict, during which Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries supported the Syrian opposition factions.

The League of Arab States suspended Syria's membership in November 2011.

However, over the past two years, there have been signs of rapprochement between Damascus and several capitals, including Abu Dhabi, which restored diplomatic relations, and Riyadh, which held talks with Damascus about resuming consular services between the two countries.

Today, Sunday, settlers attacked citizens' lands and destroyed their agricultural crops in several areas in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron.

Ratib al-Jubour, the coordinator of the Popular Committees to Resist the Wall and Settlements, south of Hebron, said that settlers attacked the lands of the citizens in each of "Al-Ain Al-Bayda, Maghair Al-Abeed, Sha'ab Al-Butum, Al-Shomra, and Al-Thala" in Masafer Yatta and the Bedouin Badia, and grazing their livestock on the citizens' agricultural crops of wheat and barley. And olive trees, which caused the destruction of a large part of them, as they belong to a number of families, known as: Al-Jundi, Al-Jabarin, Al-Zuwaidin, Makhamra, and others.

He pointed out that these attacks are repeated on a daily basis and at an escalating pace, especially at this time, with the aim of hitting the pastoral season and destroying the citizens' agricultural crops, the main component of livestock, the main source of income, for the people in those areas, to put pressure on them and displace them in favor of settlement.

Eleven people have been killed after a gas leak in India, an official said Sunday, in a new industrial accident in the country.

The spill occurred in Jayaspura, an industrial area in Ludhiana, in the northern state of Punjab.

The official, who asked not to be named, stressed that the authorities need to determine the type of gas that leaked or the cause of the leak.
"11 people were killed and four are in hospital. The rescue operation is continuing," he told AFP after the accident.

Industrial gas leaks are common in India. Poor safety standards are usually to blame.

Last August, at least 112 Indian women were hospitalized after a gas leak occurred in a garment factory in the south of the country.

A similar incident occurred in June, in the same area where 200 women lost consciousness after a gas leak, according to NDTV.

In 2020, at least five people died and hundreds were hospitalized after a gas leak at a chemical plant in Visakhapatnam, an industrial port city in the same state.

In 1984, 40 tons of gas leaked from an insecticide factory in Bhopal (center), killing 3,500 people, most of them residents of shanty towns around the facility, in one of the worst industrial accidents in history.

The so-called Israeli Border Guard forces announced that they arrested 256 Palestinians who entered different areas without permits, in addition to 81 persons suspected of transporting and hiring them, during the past two weeks.

According to the Hebrew website Ynet, 112 workers were arrested in Jerusalem, and 39 suspected of being transferred and employed, while 59 were arrested in the central, southern, northern and coastal regions, and 85 in West Bank settlements.

The Central Bureau of Statistics said that the number of workers in Palestine amounted to about 1,133 million workers, with 655 thousand in the West Bank, 285 thousand in the Gaza Strip, and 193 thousand workers in the 1948 territories.

In a press release issued today, Sunday, on the occasion of International Labor Day (May 1), on the labor situation in Palestine in Palestine for the year 2022, the Census indicated that the number of unemployed decreased to 367,000 in 2022, compared to 372,000 in 2021. Unemployment among individuals participating in the labor force in Palestine in 2022 rose to about (24%) compared to about 26% in 2021, as a result of the high participation rate in the labor force in the same year, as it reached about 45% compared to about 43% for 2021.

At the regional level, the unemployment rate decreased for both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, reaching about 13% and 45%, respectively, compared to about 16% and 47% in 2021.

The statistics indicated that the total underutilization of labor decreased from about 34% in 2021 to about 31% (500,000 people) in 2022, and this number includes about 56,000 frustrated job seekers, and about 22,000 time-related underemployment.

Hebron and Jenin governorates have the highest unemployment rate in the West Bank, and Deir al-Balah in Gaza:

The governorates of Hebron and Jenin in the West Bank recorded the highest unemployment rate for the year 2022, at about 17%, followed by the Bethlehem governorate at about 15%, while the lowest unemployment rate in the West Bank was in the Jerusalem governorate at about 3%, while in the Gaza Strip, the Deir al-Balah governorate recorded The unemployment rate was highest at about 55%, followed by Khan Yunis governorate at about 49%, while the lowest unemployment rate was in the North Gaza governorate at about 38%.

More than a million workers and the most employed private sector:

The number of workers in Palestine reached about 1,133 million workers. With 655 thousand in the West Bank, 285 thousand in the Gaza Strip, and 193 thousand workers in Israel and the settlements, of whom about 862 thousand are wage employees in Palestine (449 thousand employees work in the West Bank, 228 thousand employees work in the Gaza Strip, 156 thousand employees work in Israel, and 29 thousand employees in the Israeli colonies).

The statistics showed that about 54% of the total wage employees in Palestine work in the private sector. With 327 thousand paid employees from the West Bank and 140 thousand paid employees from the Gaza Strip, compared to about 24% working in the government sector and about 22% working in Israel and the settlements.

The percentage of wage employees from the West Bank who work in Israel and the settlements is about 29% of the total number of wage employees.

A quarter of wage employees in the private sector work in primary occupations:

The percentage of wage employees who work in primary professions and in the profession of technicians and specialists in the private sector is about 24% of the total wage workers in the Palestinian private sector for each of them; 27% for males compared to 8% for females in primary professions, while the percentage of employees working in the profession of technicians and specialists was about 15% for males compared to 68% for females.

Low real wage rates in the private sector:

The real average daily wage for wage employees in the private sector in 2022 (base year = 2018) was about 93 shekels in Palestine; By 38 shekels in the Gaza Strip and 117 shekels in the West Bank (not including workers in Israel and settlements).

The building and construction activity recorded the highest rates of real daily wages in the private sector at a rate of 135 shekels in the West Bank and 38 shekels in the Gaza Strip, followed by the services activity at 128 shekels in the West Bank and 69 shekels in the Gaza Strip, while the agricultural activity recorded the lowest average real daily wage at 89 shekels. in the West Bank and 22 shekels in the Gaza Strip.

In a related context, the average weekly working hours for wage employees amounted to about 41 working hours. 39 working hours for wage employees in the public sector and 43 working hours in the private sector.

40% of paid employees earn less than the minimum monthly wage:

The number of wage employees in the private sector who earn less than the minimum wage (1,880 NIS) is about 172 thousand wage employees, of whom 56 thousand are in the West Bank (representing about 19% of the total wage employees in the private sector in the West Bank) with an average monthly wage of 1,421 NIS, compared to 116 thousand wage employees in the Gaza Strip (representing about 89% of the total wage employees in the private sector in the Gaza Strip) with an average monthly wage not exceeding 697 NIS.

Less than a third of wage employees in the private sector get their rights:

About 28% of wage employees in the private sector obtain their rights (financing retirement / end-of-service gratuity, in addition to paid annual leave and paid sick leave, and the number of wage employees in the private sector who have a permanent work contract (written for an indefinite period) About 83 thousand wage employees, and about 90 thousand workers in the private sector have a temporary work contract (written for a limited period, verbal agreement), compared to about 294 thousand workers who do not have a work contract, while 46% of women workers get a paid maternity leave .

Palestinian schools in the State of Qatar won the silver place in the "Researcher 6" competition.

The schools won the competition for a research entitled: (The effect of copper nanoparticles supported on cotton coated with curcumin and starch on the activity of microbes), under the supervision of Professor Ahmed Yousef Al-Agha and the two students: Nabil Bahaa Al-Hajj and Muhammad Fahd Al-Sibai.

The Ministry of Education praised this victory, which is a new achievement in addition to the successes achieved by Palestinian schools in Qatar, which would raise the name of Palestine abroad and emphasize the Palestinian ability to innovate, achieve and shine.

It is noteworthy that the research is supervised by the Scientific Club in the State of Qatar, as more than 100 scientific research papers were submitted to the competition.

After months of hundreds of thousands of football fans flocking to its hotels and stadiums, Qatar is seeking to recover from the post-World Cup depression by hosting more global events.

Since the end of the FIFA World Cup on December 18, when Argentina won the title, the city's merchants nostalgically recall the World Cup period, which allowed to attract 1.4 million visitors, according to authorities' figures.

Business is "quiet" at the moment, Akhtar Patil, who runs a jewelry store in Doha's Souq Waqif, said. "We really miss the fans now."

Although the Eid al-Fitr holiday moved the economic wheel in the market somewhat, Sandev Kumar, who runs a printing workshop, had to dismiss two of his four employees and send them back to India because he was no longer able to pay the salaries.
"We miss the atmosphere, but we miss the action even more," Kumar stressed.

Within four months, thousands of foreign workers have left the Gulf state while luxury hotels built specifically for the global football event have laid off hundreds of employees.

On the Doha Corniche, where the main fan areas were held during the World Cup, unemployed people were seen begging, an unusual sight in the wealthy Gulf state. This prompted the Ministry of the Interior to warn that "beggary is a reprehensible habit and is considered an uncivilized behavior," calling on residents to combat it by reporting beggars.

In a country often in need of foreign labour, more than a thousand people recently flocked to the gates of a shopping mall on the outskirts of Doha that advertised 100 job opportunities.

Qatar, which has huge gas reserves, remains one of the richest economic powers in the Middle East.

And after recording a trade surplus of nearly $100 billion in 2022, Qatar is expected to grow by 3.4% this year, according to World Bank figures.

The population of the small country has increased by about 100,000 since the World Cup final, to more than three million, according to official figures.

President of Qatar Tourism Authority and CEO of Qatar Airways Group, Akbar Al-Baker, confirmed that hotel reservations are often "low" in the months following the World Cup.

He added that Qatar has invested in tourism and is focusing more and more on hosting more large events, expecting to receive more than five million visitors this year, more than double the number of tourists recorded in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Workers aboard excavators are busy preparing to host the 2023 International Horticultural Show from October, which Qatar hopes will attract a million foreign visitors. Also, a new motor racing circuit is being built, where the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix will be held on October 8th.

On Friday, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) awarded Qatar the right to host the men's World Cup in 2027.

Qatari Minister of Culture Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Hamad bin Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani said that when Qatar launched the "Years of Culture" initiative for international cultural exchange with other countries a decade ago, it was difficult to find candidate countries.

He stressed during an event with Indonesia, this year's partner in the twelfth edition of the initiative, that countries are now flocking to be part of the "Years of Culture".

Business owners expect Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who took office in March, to announce measures soon to support diversification of the economy dependent on gas and oil and to attract highly skilled foreigners, in the face of increasing competition from neighboring Gulf states.

Bassam Haj Ahmed, head of the Qatar branch of consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, said he was "quite sure" the government would make changes.

He stressed that Qatari companies show a desire to shift towards digital and other modern fields and want "more resources and skills."
Currently, foreigners must leave the country as soon as their employment contracts expire, and only a small portion of them are entitled to purchase real estate in Qatar.

Haj Ahmed believed that reforming "work and visa" laws would make Qatar more attractive.

"Qatar has a lot of unique opportunities compared to other countries. But we have to develop a more structured approach to attracting talent," he said.

Pediatricians from several European countries have warned of a shortage of medicines for children, including antibiotics and asthma treatments.

Doctors said in a letter addressed to health ministers seen by Agence France-Presse on Saturday that "it is necessary to find a quick, reliable and lasting solution" to the problems faced by drug stocks in Europe.

"The health of our children and young people is in danger due to a shortage of medicines across Europe," they added.

The letter was addressed to the health ministers of Austria, France, Germany, the Italian region of South Tyrol and Switzerland.

Doctors noted that it is the responsibility of policy makers to ensure adequate production and supply to ensure that essential medicines are available for child care.

And they added that it is essential that antibiotics, pain relievers, fever and asthma medications, and vaccines be available.

Responding to the letter on Saturday, German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach wrote on Twitter that the concerns were "fully justified", noting that a law aimed at addressing drug delivery issues is currently before the German parliament.

During the winter, Europe witnessed a shortage of antibiotics and other medicines, as increasing diseases, especially among children, caused an increase in the demand for medicines.

Labor Minister Nasri Abu Jaish said that this week will witness in-depth discussions about the Social Security Law as a sovereign project in Palestine that achieves stability, social protection and a decent life for citizens.

Today, Sunday, Abu Jaish added that the dialogues will discuss 42 amendments to the Social Security Law with various groups and segments, noting that there is support from the leadership, led by President Mahmoud Abbas.

He emphasized that International Workers' Day, which falls tomorrow, is an important occasion to highlight workers' issues and fulfill their demands, noting that 200,000 workers work in Israel and suffer from exploitation of permit brokers and the seizure of their financial and trade union rights, in addition to the existence of obstacles facing workers in the local labor market due to the lack of wages. adequate and lack of social protection for them.

Abu Jaish said that the percentage of adherence to the minimum wage in the West Bank amounted to about 80% in the labor market, stressing the non-compliance with its application in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today, Sunday, that his government will not allow Iran to strangle "Israel" with what he described as "terrorism."

Netanyahu confirmed, in his statements at the start of the weekly session of his government, that it will work against "the aggression of Iran, its branches and agents in the region."

He touched on the issue of the "National Guard," stressing that work will be done to establish it, and a budget will be brought in to add police officers to restore personal security for the Israelis and the Arab community. According to him.

Regarding the continued demonstrations rejecting the "judicial reforms" led by his government, Netanyahu said: "We are making efforts to resolve them through negotiations. I believe in the goodwill of both parties, and I am convinced of the possibility of reaching agreements."

The Arab region in particular and the Middle East region in general are witnessing signs of advancement and a series of reconciliations and agreements aimed at developing and improving relations at all levels based on the common interests of these countries, and moving away from international axes, especially moving away from the United States of America, whose goal was and still is to maintain its control over the world through its uniqueness in the pole The one to control many countries, especially the third world countries, especially the Arab countries.

These positive developments, which will be reflected in the overall situation in the Arab region in particular and the Middle East region in general, and in particular the Palestinian issue, which all meetings and reconciliations confirmed as the first Arab and Islamic issue, which makes it return to the top of the list of Arab and Muslim priorities.

But the return of the issue to its natural position after being marginalized at the expense of other issues depends on the Palestinian side, specifically the Palestinian leadership, and here we mean the Palestinian National Authority, which is the title of the issue at all Arab and international levels, being internationally recognized.

Although the Palestinian Authority must seize the opportunity for Arab and Islamic reconciliation, and the developments taking place in the region, which indicate that the region is on the verge of becoming active at the global and local levels, and is to be reckoned with, the Palestinian side, represented by the leadership, will not yet join this ranks, which will include those who do not join. In order to form a force worthy of the Middle East region, which contains many riches, in addition to its strategic location, which makes it a prominent title on the global level and reckoned with.

And if the Palestinian leadership continues in its current situation, developments will not wait for it and it will remain alone, which will reflect negatively on the Palestinian cause, and then who will raise the banner of the cause and who will work to keep it at the top of the list of priorities as long as the Palestinian Authority is lagging behind, which will sweep the region sooner or later .?

The Palestinian Authority must read the reality and the future and catch up in order to have an effective influence on the march of developments whose signs the region is witnessing, and in which the Palestinian cause will have an important position in these developments, if the Palestinian leadership reads well and works with the progressive trend and not against it or remaining as it is. Which led to severe damage to the Palestinian cause, which for years was absent from the priorities of Arabs and Muslims.

The first step that the Palestinian leadership, represented by the Palestinian Authority, must take is to work by all means to end the devastating division, so that the struggling Palestinian people have one leadership and one geography, and to develop unified plans and programs of action that are compatible with the data of the new reality in the region, and instead of exchanging accusations between the two parties. Division, the right thing is to stop these insults and attacks that only benefit the enemies of the nation and the Palestinian cause, and to prioritize the national interest over personal and factional interests, and to rely on oneself instead of continuing to bet on others.

Without that, the wheel of developments and history will not wait for anyone, and therefore either catch up or stay on the sidelines of history.

The Israeli proposal to mediate between the Sudanese generals of war, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo (Hamedti), seemed closer to a smug joke, strange and illogical, and it contains much more propaganda than serious elements that enable the occupying state and apartheid to mediate between those who destroyed their countries before and during the war. In continuation of this logic of Samaja, a spokesman for one of the two parties compared the attack on his forces to what Israel is being exposed to at the hands of Palestinian "terrorism"!!

But the serious question arises: What does Israel possess more than countries closely related to Sudan, such as Egypt and Ethiopia? In addition to international and regional organizations such as the United Nations, the Arab League, and the African Union, all of which have experience, knowledge, and communication with the parties to Sudanese society, which enables them to intervene in the interest of the Sudanese people first.

The strangest thing is that the US administration is the one that encouraged Israel to mediate between the two parties, as if it believes that the normalization relations into which Sudan was introduced against the will of its people are more important and influential than the historical, cultural, national and religious ties that bind Sudan to its regional surroundings.

When talking about Sudan, it must be recalled that the sons and soldiers of this brotherly country participated in the struggle for Palestine, and many of them fell martyrs. A joint British-Egyptian administration is in fact a purely British administration that is biased towards Israel. The memories of this participation are still present through naming the site "Al-Sudaniyya" in the northern Gaza Strip after those forces. Sudan also officially participated in the 1967 war on the Egyptian front and in the October 1973 war, and it was one of the countries that hosted a section of the Palestinian revolutionary forces after they left Beirut in 1982.

The recent and distant history testifies that Israel has always conspired against Sudan. The lands of this country were subjected to several attacks by the Israeli air force under the pretext of using it by the Palestinian resistance movements. Its land and sovereignty were also violated through suspicious deals with Jaafar al-Numeiri behind the back of the people to smuggle the Jews of Ethiopia. In recent years, Israel has supported the generals of war at the expense of the rest of the civilian components of the Sudanese people, including parties, unions and civil institutions.

Sudan, for a long time before the secession of its south, was the largest Arab country in terms of area, and the most promising country due to its natural resources, which made it the object of ambition of the colonial countries. Since its inception, Israel has adopted the policy of the "periphery alliance", a doctrine adopted by Ben-Gurion and based on rapprochement with the non-Arab countries surrounding the Arab world, building security and military alliances and good relations with them against the Arab countries. It also supported separatist movements in a number of Arab countries, and this policy continued in various forms against the unity of Sudan by supporting separatist movements not only in the south, but also in Darfur and eastern Sudan as well. The conspiracy against Sudan, its territorial integrity and strategic interests also included Israel's support for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project, and the encouragement of Addis Ababa to proceed with this project without any consideration for the interests of Egypt and Sudan and without understanding with them.

Of course, these positions were not out of love for South Sudan and its people, but rather a desire to divide and fragment Sudan. In this context, the southerners alone cannot be held responsible for secession. Rather, the leaders of Sudan, especially its corrupt generals, bear responsibility for the policies of marginalization, neglect, racial discrimination, and ignoring the cultural peculiarities that prompted southerners to favor separation.

The Israeli fingers of absurdity did not stop at this point. Israel sought to dominate South Sudan and use it as a platform to continue infiltrating Africa, and it played a suspicious role in fueling internal disputes that reached the point where Israeli arms companies supported the two warring parties in South Sudan, which are forces President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar's forces.

Israel, which is now building a complex system of occupation and apartheid against the Palestinians, has never been friendly or tolerant with other Arabs and Africans. It had distinguished relations with the defunct apartheid regime in South Africa and Rhodesia, even to the point of joint nuclear tests. In the sixties of the last century.

This racism is not just fleeting momentary attitudes of some politicians and their parties, but rather it is a component part of the Zionist ideology that believes that the Jews are fundamentally distinct from other peoples of the earth, and therefore this racist attitude was reflected in dealing with the Jews of Ethiopia (Flashmora) and on some Africans who were led by their bad luck To Israel, most of them came from Sudan and South Sudan by land via Egypt, so that in 2019 Benjamin Netanyahu raised the slogan of liberating south Tel Aviv, and he intended by that to get rid of African migrants by forcibly returning them to their country, or to a third country that agrees to receive them in exchange for a financial reward ( At the time, the names of Rwanda and Burundi were proposed, so that Israel would give them five thousand dollars for each refugee.

Israel would not have persisted in its conspiracy and ambitions in Sudan had it not been for two factors: the disintegration of the Arab official system and the failure of its institutions, especially the Arab League, as well as the selfish and selfish ambitions of the warlords and generals who have been controlling Sudan’s capabilities for decades, leading their country from failure to failure, and from disaster To another, and perhaps the greatest evidence that the interests of their people are the last thing that matters to them is that the two poles of the current war are yesterday's partners in the coup against the civilian components of the Sovereignty Council, and they are the two blatant symbols of the humiliating normalization of Sudan's history, identity and historical affiliation.

Today, Sunday, two buses set off from Khartoum on their way to the Arqin land crossing between Sudan and the Republic of Egypt, carrying 118 citizens, including 30 students.

The Political Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Ambassador Ahmed Al-Deek, said, "The Embassy of the State of Palestine in Cairo, along with the competent staff from the embassy, drove 3 buses this morning, which set off towards the crossing to receive citizens and students and secure their transfer to the Rafah crossing, with full cooperation and coordination and with distinguished facilities provided by the brotherly Arab Republic of Egypt and its authorities." and its various devices.

Palestine will participate in the General Assembly’s commemoration of the Nakba for the first time in mid-May, and it is worth mentioning that the General Assembly places the Palestinian cause in the court of the International Court of Justice next July. The court will deal with the legitimacy of the long-term Israeli occupation on 7-25-2023, and this would It exposes the settlement's purpose of prolonging the occupation, which is a clear violation of international law.

Palestinian participation is an important opportunity, in which we hope that the Palestinian diplomatic work will focus on:

- Not being satisfied with an opinion about the nature of the occupation and directing the international system to the practical steps that follow to end the occupation.

- Directing the Court to focus on the importance of implementing the right to self-determination, as it is an obligation towards all members of the international community, and it is a commitment in which all countries have a mutual interest in achieving international peace, and here the international system has the right to take legal measures towards immediate effect without procrastination or yielding to repeated Israeli pressures under the framework of Coercive diplomacy from which the Palestinians have long suffered, especially under the current government.

The need to get rid of the commitment to the negotiation tool. Contrary to what was stated in the advisory opinion twenty years ago on the wall, the International Court of Justice cannot consider bilateral negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis as a single and sufficient tool to secure a politically independent Palestinian state, as the official negotiations have been frozen since 2014! It is necessary to direct the court to consider taking peaceful measures and peaceful means of resolving the conflict other than negotiations. It may resort to mediation, conciliation or arbitration from the methods that the court may deem appropriate, in order to avoid further delay in achieving Palestinian self-determination.

- Pressure towards draft resolutions related to settlement activities in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and the seriousness of settler violence and terrorism. And to put forward a draft resolution to release the administrative detainees in the occupation prisons and a decision to release the bodies of the martyrs as purely humanitarian demands.

- Serious preparation is required at a high national legal level. Palestine has submitted a request for a legal advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the nature of the Israeli colonial occupation, and the Fourth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, which is the Special Committee on Political Issues, approved this decision by requesting an advisory opinion from the highest international judicial body on the matter. What is the existence of the Israeli colonial occupation in the land of the State of Palestine, including Jerusalem, as (98) countries voted in favor of the resolution, (52) countries abstained, and (17) countries voted against. The countries that voted against the resolution are: Canada, Australia, Austria, Estonia, Italy, Germany, Liberia, Micronesia, the United States, Palau, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, the Czech Republic, Guatemala, Hungary and Israel. Hence, this requires serious preparation on the part of the Palestinians before it is too late, as the interests of states are the main driving force in their voting.

There are more than 800 General Assembly resolutions and more than 100 Security Council resolutions in favor of Palestinian rights, but they are not enforceable! The United Nations issued clear resolutions on the Palestinians' right to self-determination, on settlements, on refugees, on Jerusalem and on executions and repeated crimes, but it still obstructs the implementation of these resolutions under the justification of the need for both sides to agree on many issues. It is necessary to remind the international system of its responsibility and moral and legal obligations to implement its decisions according to the Charter of the General Assembly, and to consider the seventh item regarding the implementation of these decisions to establish peace. The decision of the International Court of Justice, if it is issued, enables the Palestinians to evade the justification for negotiations, because the issue of occupation becomes, by an international decision, a legal issue and not an issue for negotiation. There are Palestinian achievements in the international diplomatic arena whose importance we cannot ignore. On the contrary, official and public diplomatic efforts must be intensified, and this does not mean that they are the only tool. We must work in parallel and employ all available means, including legitimate self-defense, according to Resolution 51 of the Charter of the United Nations. It is necessary to employ diplomatic participation in the Assembly this month, not only to commemorate the Nakba, but to build on it.

- Dalal Erekat: Professor of Diplomacy and Strategic Planning, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Arab American University.

The Palestinian people were shocked by the statements of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in which she congratulated the Israelis and their President Herzog on the so-called "Israel's Independence Day". Ursula, who belongs to the ruling Christian Democratic Party, and is the first woman to occupy the positions of Minister of Labor and Social Security and then Defense in Germany, congratulated the Israelis on their state’s independence in English and Hebrew, and stressed the cultural, civilizational and human ties between Europe and Israel, and spoke highly of her admiration for this well-established and innovative democracy. And the leader in the Middle East, referring to Israel as described! Ursula also emphasized the strong alliance and friendship between Europe and Israel. These provocative statements were condemned by the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and by all Palestinian national action factions. It was seen as a clear bias by Europe towards Israel in its continued aggression against the Palestinian people.

Indeed, Ursula's statement contained many inaccuracies; The most important of them:

What kind of democratic tragedy is Ursula talking about? Israel is not a democratic state, it is a racist state, and it is based on excluding its Arab citizens and depriving them of their basic rights.

- Which country of peace is Ursula talking about? Israel is the country that waged more battles and military aggressions in the world over the past decade against its neighbors and the Palestinian people, and this country allocates more than 15% of its budget to the army.

- Which Jewish people is Ursula talking about? Since there is no Jewish people in the first place, the Israelis belong to several races and the only bond that unites them is religion.

- About what historical tragedy Ursula is talking about, which the Jews went through until they were able to establish their state in the land of the feast! She acknowledges the Zionist narrative about the historical and religious ties of the Jews in Palestine, while the majority of historians and archaeologists, including the Israelis themselves, deny these ties.

- Which desert has been turned into paradise, is Ursula talking about? Palestine is not a desert, and Israel did not turn the Negev into a paradise. Rather, it confiscated the lands of the Palestinians there, expelled them from their lands, and established a few settlement farms that did not exceed the city of Beersheba!

In the result, Ursula, she repeated the Balfour Declaration in a passionate, ironic style. Instead of talking about the catastrophe of the Palestinian people, the displacement of a million Palestinian refugees, and the destruction of 530 Palestinian villages in the 1948 war, it glorified the establishment of this rogue state that did not implement all the resolutions of international legitimacy, including Resolution 181 and Resolution 194, which were two conditions for the international recognition of this state.

Ursula, while praising the common bonds woven by hundreds of thousands of Europeans who hold Israeli citizenship, should have indicated the responsibility of European countries for the crimes against humanity committed by these dual nationals. Ursula, while singing the anthem of friendship and alliance with Israel, should have been ashamed of herself while singing about a racist fascist state that kills Palestinian civilians every day. It should have recognized the plight of the Palestinians, as the General Assembly of the United Nations recently recognized it, and recognized the State of Palestine in response to the international recognition of the plight of the Palestinian people and the resolutions of international legitimacy. In fact, if Europe is Israel's ally, as Ursula herself declared, then it bears the international moral, legal and political responsibility for the plight of the Palestinian people and the crimes of persecution, abuse and racial discrimination practiced by Israel on a daily basis. In conclusion, and with all these fallacies, the European Union countries should exclude Ursula from the presidency of the European Commission in order to preserve the bonds of friendship with the Palestinian people and respect for the rules of international law and democracy that the EU countries themselves praise!

There are tentative indications that the massive public outcry against the Israeli government's plans to emasculate Israeli democracy is affecting Prime Minister Netanyahu's decision. He appears to be starting to backtrack on some planned legislation, and recent statements clearly indicate Netanyahu's fears of a possible loss of power. He is beginning to look more and more like Caesar, Caesar, or as his supporters call him, the King of Israel in his last days. This is certainly a positive development because, following in the footsteps of some of its heroes and role models such as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orban and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the proposed legislation and the mock alliance agreements he signed, the full power and strength is in his hands. Israel will cease to be a democracy.

The success of the popular uprising against the so-called judicial reforms cannot be considered complete if Israel simply returns to the status quo ante before the last elections. Israel was not a true democracy before the formation of this government and it began to dismantle the basic lines of democracy - the independence of the judiciary, the separation of powers, checks and balances on government powers, the ability of the legislature to oversee the government, freedom of the press, protection of minority rights, freedom of expression, freedom of association, and most importantly - Equality for all citizens. Prior to the formation of our current government, Israel had only two independent branches of government - the executive branch and the judicial branch. The legislative branch of Israel's government has long ceased to be independent, and unlike the US Congress, the Israeli Knesset has no real ability to oversee the work of the executive branch. When Israeli ministers are summoned to appear before a Knesset committee, the Knesset has no legal power to compel the minister to appear. Often, the minister will send a low-level employee of the ministry's staff. There is no legal obligation to take an oath to tell the truth at a Knesset committee hearing. The chances of a member of the Israeli opposition passing legislation are close to zero without government support due to near-total discipline in the coalition/party.

But more important than all of the above, the Israel of the so-called democratic Jewish state was in fact, as Knesset Member Ahmed Tibi well defined it: Israel is democratic for the Jews and Jewish for the Arabs. There was no true equality between the Jewish and Arab citizens of the State of Israel and no law guaranteeing equality for all Israelis. The struggle for Israel's democracy should not end with a freeze or repeal of all proposed legislation. Moreover, Israel will never be a true democracy as long as it continues to rule millions of Palestinians who are denied their most basic human and civil rights.

Israel's declaration of "independence", which many people in the protest movements refer to, can certainly be seen as a declaration of intentions and values by the country's founders. That document clearly stated that they believed the Jewish people deserved to have a Jewish nation-state. But they also made very clear statements about the democratic nature of the state. The statement stated: "The State of Israel will focus on developing the state for the benefit of all its inhabitants. It will be founded on the foundations of freedom, justice and peace in light of the vision of the prophets of Israel. Maintaining full equality in social and political rights for all its citizens without discrimination in religion, race and gender; ensuring freedom of religion, conscience and language." Education and culture Protecting the holy places of all religions Being faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations The State of Israel will be ready to cooperate with the institutions and representatives of the United Nations in implementing the General Assembly resolution of November 29, 1947 and will work to consolidate the economic unity of the entire Land of Israel ". Much of this lofty statement remains only on paper. The reality of Israel over the past 75 years is very different.

This is why over the past six months several hundred people have worked for the creation of a new political party in Israel called All Its Citizens - cut out of the Declaration of Independence. The party states in its founding document: "A political response is required to the deep tensions between Israeli Jews and Arabs. This must be a substantive partnership with a civil, constitutional and egalitarian basis - a political party 'all its citizens'."

We believe that only such a foundation can put an end to the reality of inequality and the resulting Jewish national superiority... Together we will make Israel a democratic state that belongs to all its citizens and all its communities, a healthy and prosperous society that respects every individual and every community... Commitment By enacting a civil and democratic constitution that preserves the rights of every citizen and the rights of every society, regardless of religion, race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or any other difference.

We are committed to an uncompromising fight against violence and against all those who seek to deny or eliminate the rights and freedoms of the other.

The new party has not yet decided on which solution it deems best for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but has said: "An uncompromising commitment to an end to the occupation, a lasting peace, and a just political settlement that both national parties can agree upon. Peace arrangements will be based on human rights, on full equality." For every person and every community between the Jordan and the sea..."

As one of the founding members of the party, I can say that we seek to unite the forces of true democracy in Israel and make sure that when we next go to the polls, whenever that be, those who support the above principles will have one list which will be formed as a union or coalition of Like-minded political parties. The list will be equal in its constitution between Palestinian citizens of Israel and Jewish citizens of Israel as well as gender balance in a way that reflects our true values. We do not seek division. We seek unification. Those who support these ideas and principles must work hard to ensure that the current mass protest movement for democracy never ceases to guarantee genuine democracy.

This slogan is raised by the leaders of the Palestinian Arab community in the Carmel, Galilee, Triangle, Negev and mixed coastal cities, from the first occupation zones in 1948, in Palestine.

They celebrate the birth of their colony project, and their independence on the land of Palestine.

They came from the corners of the world, united by the idea of the Zionist movement supported by the old colonial countries Britain and France before it was fully adopted by US imperialism.

They came with different motives: 1- Colonizers, 2- Fleeing from the persecution of Tsarism and fascism, fleeing the effects of the Nazi Holocaust, 3- Wealthy investors, 4- Leaving irrevocably the countries of the socialist camp before, during and after the defeat of communism, socialism and the Soviet Union in 1990.

Celebrate their independence, and build an expansion project, which is still developing and expanding, its interim goal now: 1- Making unified Jerusalem the capital of the colony, 2- Transforming the Palestinian West Bank from an area with a Palestinian Arab majority, to a non-Palestinian, non-Arab, not occupied area, but rather Judea and Samaria That is, part of the settlement map, and an essential extension of it from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River, with a foreign presence and a Jewish Israeli majority.

They celebrate their independence, at the expense of the people of Palestine, their catastrophe, their displacement, their loss of the homeland and the unity of society, and the absence of a leadership that directs and leads them, after the geography of their spatial and population sovereignty and their national identity were torn apart.

A catastrophe in all meanings, indications, indicators, and reality. His catastrophe was completed with the occupation of what remained of the shattered homeland: Jerusalem, the Palestinian West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.

The first Nakba in 1948, they occupied two-thirds of the homeland and land of the Palestinians and confiscated their property, and in completing the first Nakba, the remainder was occupied through the second Nakba in 1967.

The summary of the story of the Nakba and its extensions, effects and consequences, is that half of the Palestinian Arab people are under occupation, steadfast and empowered on the entire map of their homeland Palestine, which has no homeland but it, and the other half of it is homeless, exiled, aspiring to achieve the right of return.

A contradictory, reverse picture, celebrating independence with the success of the birth of their expansionist colonial project, and the Palestinian stops before 75 years of pain and suffering, as a result of occupation, discrimination, persecution, killing, confiscation of land, deprivation of the right to a normal life like all human beings, and the prevention of the other half of the Palestinians the right to return to their property, lands and homes In: Lod, Ramleh, Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, Safed, Bisan, and Beersheba.

The European hypocrisy that made the colony on the land of Palestine continues its hypocrisy through the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who congratulated the leaders of the colony on their celebrations, and ignored the suffering of the Palestinian people for 75 years, and the colony’s crimes and actions hostile to human rights, and its occupation of the lands of three Arab countries: Palestine, Syria and Lebanon .

Only the friend of the Palestinian people, the Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, wrote in Haaretz on 4/27/2023 an article with the title: “During the celebration of Independence Day, we are obligated to talk about the Nakba,” in which he said:

"Israel celebrates its establishment and independence, knowing that it does so by the power of evil, and that its life, property and freedom were built at the expense of the dignity of another people."

Many colonial countries won and toasted their victory, and returned and failed defeated, due to their domination and the absence of human justice in their behavior and dealings, as the colony is doing now in its dealings with the Palestinian people.

The video, which included a statement made by Ursula Gertrude von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, on the occasion of Israel's celebration of the 75th anniversary of its establishment, and published on the website of the European Union office in Tel Aviv, sparked angry reactions and statements of condemnation and denunciation by the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and various leaders and factions. And Palestinian circles and frameworks for his blatant bias towards Israel, his denial of the Nakba, his hostility to the Palestinian people and their national rights, and his inclusion and adoption of the fallacies and lies promoted by Zionist propaganda.

Before examining the reasons for the decline in international support for the Palestinian cause, especially in Europe, against which Ursula’s statement came, which is supposed to represent an official European position because of the official status she represents, let us stop a little at what was stated in it and discuss it objectively.
Ursula says:

“Dear President Herzog, dear friends. 75 years ago, after the greatest tragedy in human history, the dream of Israel’s independence came true. The Jewish people were finally able to build their home in the Promised Land. Today we celebrate 75 years of vibrant democracy in the heart of the Middle East. With 75 years of dynamism, creativity and pioneering innovation.

“You made the desert bloom in the literal sense of the word, as I saw for myself during my visit to the Negev last year. Today we also celebrate 75 years of friendship between Israel and Europe. We have more in common than geography, our common culture, our values, and hundreds of thousands of people would suggest. "Dual Israeli-European citizens who have built a deep bond between us. Europe and Israel must be friends and allies. Your freedom is our freedom. Merry Christmas to all the people of Israel."
(She concluded her speech by saying in Hebrew: "Yom Holidt Sameh," meaning "Happy Birthday."

In order to give the matter its due importance, it must be noted that Ursula von der Leyen is an ancient German political figure from the Christian Democratic Party, and she was the first woman to hold the position of Minister of Defense in Germany, in addition to holding several successive senior positions during the period from 2005-2019 under the government Angela Merkel, she was elected by European heads of state to preside over the European Commission in 2019 and the European Parliament approved this after listening and approving her program for the next five years that ends in 2024, and she is also the first woman to hold this position. She is a seasoned politician and her political future is still ahead of her, and every word she says must be taken care of because it expresses a position and a policy that must be taken very seriously.

Historical fabrications and fallacies and denial of the Nakba
The statement she made included, in addition to warm sympathy for Israel and the Jews, which are expected of any German who bears the burden of the Holocaust, it also included historical inaccuracies and denial of the Nakba / catastrophe that befell the Palestinian people who found themselves paying the price of the Holocaust made by Nazi criminals Ursula's predecessors You must admit that we have paid and are still paying the price for the crimes of its German predecessors, and that Israel was established on the remains of the Palestinian people after the displacement of 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland Palestine in 1948, the demolition of 521 Palestinian villages and towns, and the perpetration of dozens of pogroms against innocent, defenseless Palestinian civilians by Jewish gangs. and the seizure of material and moral property of the Palestinian people.

It must also admit that Palestine was not a desert as it claimed, but rather it was full of life and civil, social, political and cultural prosperity and was a destination for artists, writers, businessmen and visitors from neighboring countries, and it had an airport, railways, theaters, cinemas and colleges of higher education, including a college of law An advanced civilized model in the region.

And it must remember that Israel, which it describes as democracy, is a fake democracy that discriminates among its citizens on ethnic grounds and is gradually slipping towards racist extremism and Presbyterianism. Since 1967, it has occupied another people of nearly five million Palestinians, depriving them of their most basic rights of expression, movement and ownership. It has plundered and continues to plunder their lands and properties, establish settlement colonies on them, steal their natural resources, and establish an apartheid system by all standards.

What Ursula made of statements reveals the blind bias towards Israel and the double standards and double standards practiced by her and her fellow Westerners towards the Palestinian people. In it all European colonies outside the European continent ended, and only Israel remained from those colonies, which began to drown in the sea of racism and extremism, and which will not be more fortunate than its predecessors in South Africa, Algeria and other countries that suffered from European colonialism but struggled against it and finally liberated from it. his clutches.

It is certain that if Ursula had respected the slightest measure of the feelings of the Palestinian person or feared his reaction or the reaction of those who represent him, or had respected the principles of right, justice and self-determination of peoples, she would not have uttered these statements that constitute a distortion and falsification of history, and she would not have denied the catastrophe of the Nakba that was committed against the Palestinian people, and when she made these statements, which constitute cheap hypocrisy and flattery of the Israelis. Just as denying the Holocaust is a crime, we believe that denying the Nakba is also a crime.

The deterioration of the Palestinian internal situation is behind the decline in the European position

The question that arises is what caused the decline of the European position towards the Palestinian people and their just cause since the Venice statement in June 1980, which recognized the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people and demanded an end to the occupation and the inadmissibility of annexing the lands of others by force in accordance with Resolution 242, and called for recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to rule He himself, and the right of the PLO to be a partner in any political initiative, and demanded the demarcation of the borders of the countries of the region, and between what we see today of European denial and disregard for the rights of the Palestinian people and the equality of the executioner with the victim.

This question is suitable to be the subject of a master's thesis or even a PhD by a student in political science, but I will answer it briefly by saying that the retreat from supporting the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people leading to the denial and disregard of these rights and their owners by some is an inevitable result of the decline in Palestinian performance On all fronts. When there was a Palestinian revolution and resistance before the exodus from Beirut, there were those who feared the Palestinians or who sympathized with them, but since we accepted the description of legitimate resistance as violence and terrorism and declared our “renunciation of violence and terrorism”, we entered the corridors of vague political paths and began to wrestle internally over spoils that do not exist. On the ground, corruption and financial and administrative imbalances began to eat away at the Palestinian body, and the world began to abandon us and retreat from its recognition of our rights and deal with us as a non-political social condition and give us crumbs so that we remain as we are, because we have transformed from a national struggle project into an economic and financial begging project and this is what They want it for us.

Today's Palestinian situation "does not please a friend and does not enrage the enemy." Since 2002, we have been moving in the opposite direction to the one we started when we entered the political track. Over the past twenty years or so, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has been emptied, marginalized, and mummified, becoming mere names and structures that meet only on occasions (and this is a subject that has its complexities and ramifications that need to be delved into into research and studies that cannot be summarized in lines), and the luster of many Palestinian factions has dimmed. Its roots were extinguished, and it no longer had any role in the struggle on the ground, and it now subsisted on ruminating on the glories of the past and singing about it, and its representatives turned into rubber stamps to pass what was dictated to them without opposition, because any opposition might affect the budgets paid to these factions or the personal privileges granted to their leaders. The structure of the Palestinian National Authority, which began to be built as a basis for a state on the way, was dismantled and then relapsed and suffered from contraction and muscular atrophy represented by the merger of the three authorities and calcification represented by the desertification of people and performance, hostility to the foundations of good governance, and the abandonment of opportunities for young energies.

The world around us is neither blind nor stupid. They know that we have abandoned the march of liberation and become a social condition. All you need is "improving the financial situation of the authority through the so-called confidence-building measures", which is translated into "improving the security situation of the occupation" to perpetuate the current situation and empower Israel from continuing to implement its expansionist settlement programs under the pretext of managing the conflict and not resolving it. As long as we remain in this situation, we beg the countries of the world to provide us with material support so that we can pay the costs of the service tasks entrusted to us that are originally from the tasks of the occupation, so we will continue to be subject to blackmail and insults like those that Ursula said.

Unfortunately, ending the occupation is no longer on anyone's agenda, but on some lips as a lip service that neither fattens nor nourishes from hunger, and the world does not respect the weak and does not care about beggars. This situation calls for a bold pause with oneself and an answer to the question: What has brought us to this humiliation? And the answer is known to everyone who keeps wondering: Who will ring the bell?
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It is not a surprise or an exceptional case of emergency, what is happening in Sudan in terms of fighting between two parties, each of which wants to erase the other and monopolize power. Management, sluggishness and poverty that lead to political setbacks, incidents of rebellion and institutional collapse. Sudan alone experienced 15 political coups from 1950 to 2022, of which only five succeeded.

This is what happens when the country and its resources and capabilities are dealt with as a private institution for the ruling class, everything becomes permissible with money, influence and weapons, where adults prevail while young people are bribed and the citizen is crushed, and there is no law above the law of personal interest and force.

The flaccid belly is a center of weakness that cannot be stable, as it is a playground available for external intrusions and accommodates players with many contradictory interests that feed the chances of internal fighting, just as it cannot remain separate from the rest of the neighboring entities, but rather affects / like dominoes / negatively on its neighbors and their national security and stability as a result of crises. Which are exported by virtue of geographical proximity, such as refugees, terrorism and trade shocks. Many countries in the Arab world are soft stomachs - albeit to varying degrees - such as Sudan, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Lebanon. They have been subjected to external penetration and internal tampering, and their internal crisis had spillover effects on its neighbors and beyond.

Over the past years, due to this legacy of coups and political and economic instability, Sudan, a country rich in its vast resources and strategic location, was a strong candidate for multiple regional and international players. For example: Iran was coveting a strategic leap in Sudan to increase its influence in West and Central Africa and control gas reserves. oil, and uranium. Likewise, China, which was able to bridge the gap of American disinterest in the brown continent, transcend the limits of political caveats emanating from the nature of the ruling establishment, create significant influence in the country, and maintain friendly relations with Khartoum and great economic interests through investments in the oil and mineral sectors there. Russia also looked closely at the Sudanese strategic depth, thanks to its location bordering the Red Sea, adjacent to seven African countries, and its huge gold reserves, which take a direct route to Russia through Russian mining companies, Wagner mercenaries, and a possible Russian military base on the shores of the Red Sea in Sudan. Israel has never been far from trying to penetrate Sudan for various security, intelligence and economic reasons, until it was ordered to hasten a rapid normalization or barter in the more correct sense in 2020. By the way, Israel has good relations with both sides of the existing conflict. Relations with the regular army led by Al-Burhan follow the official Israeli institution, and relations with Hamidti (the Rapid Support Forces) is handled by the Mossad!

The scenes of the international evacuation of employees, communities and diplomats suggest that the world will not intervene soon and that the war is long, and the spectacle is free until both sides exhaust their forces, or the strongest emerges, or the upcoming plans become clear. The United States is still not interested, Russia is currently busy, and the influential Arab countries in Sudan have inconsistent interests. Some of them support the regular army, and some of them support the so-called Rapid Support militia. It is true that the current conflict in Sudan is between those who were comrades-in-arms against the rebel groups in Darfur. They became rivals fighting over influence, but the larger scene suggests that it is logical for it to develop into an international conflict by proxy.

I was amazed at 22 Arab countries observing the situation in Sudan and Israel offering an initiative to agree and receive the two warring generals.!

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