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Subsidised council run nurseries in Birmingham another Act in the Thatcherite Tragedy.

 

Oliver Collenette on Save Our Nurseries

 

Subsidised council run nurseries in Birmingham another Act in the Thatcherite Tragedy.
What better expression of civic duty can you find for a democratically elected council than the running of council nurseries for the 37% of Birmingham children who live in poverty? City wide money focused on those who live in the less well off areas and given to kickstart the futures of 2,3 and 4 year olds? it is so civilised it brings a tear to your eye. In the face of the deliberate attack on the Have Nots called Austerity having a council that is proud to discharge its duty as guardian of the poor and is positively arrogant about putting its money where its ethics are, as you can imagine the people of Birmingham are positively blessed.
And imagine you must.
The Labour Birmingham Council version of civic pride is to proclaim it is running a £3 billion pound business, the chief officer for childrens services is on £150,000 more or less and the councillors are the highest allowanced councillors in the UK.
Goodbye council run nurseries just another Act in the Thatcherite Tragedy.
The council plays the role of willing pawns and the children the hapless victims, as long as people are well adjusted to injustice the Act is remorselessly played out and the question is what is to be done?
It is time to straighten our backs, democracy has an ethical backbone it is not just rule by numbers, those who see everything through the eye of finance cannot make value judgements, they have to be judged wanting, to their face and expressed with the disgust they have earnt because make no mistake they and their neoliberalism a rigged economy backed by a philosophy of self are selling us all down the river.
For one particular nursery in Birmingham this means knocking on doors in the community looking to refresh the essence of democracy at the grass roots level, the community through respect for the dignity of others and solidarity as a whole has the power to pressurise their councillors they have to be made to understand what is expected of them. There are many ways to skin a cat as the expression goes but doing nothing in the face of this ethically bankrupt assault on the Have Nots in society is not an option it has to be fought, it has to be fought now, and it has to be fought by the Many.
People ask me “but what can we do and how can we stop the council from closing everything” my answer is in the right hands democracy is a beautiful thing. Make sure those hands are yours.
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UNICEF Ambassador Priyanka Chopra IS AT BALUKHALI REFUGEE CAMP, TEKNAF, COX’S BAZAR.

 

When Mansur Ali, 12 yrs old, first came to the Child Friendly Space (CFS) at the Balukhali camp, he was only drawing scenes of bloodshed and violence. Helicopters shooting at him and his friends playing soccer… or his village and home being on fire with burning bodies all around him.. Today, his drawings reflect a more hopeful story, one we would like all these children to have.

Since the #Rohingya children have arrived in Cox’s Bazar, they have been living in overcrowded …

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Ken Livingstone Resigns from LP

Statement from Ken Livingstone – please share widely ↓

“After much consideration, I have decided to resign from the Labour Party.
The ongoing issues around my suspension from the Labour Party have become a distraction from the key political issue of our time – which is to replace a Tory government overseeing falling living standards and spiralling poverty, while starving our schools and the NHS of the vital resources they need.
We live in dangerous times and there are many issues I wish to speak up on and contribute my experience from running London to, from the need for real action to tackle climate change, to opposing Trump’s war-mongering, to the need to end austerity and invest in our future here in Britain.
I do not accept the allegation that I have brought the Labour Party into disrepute – nor that I am in any way guilty of anti-Semitism. I abhor antisemitism, I have fought it all my life and will continue to do so.
I also recognise that the way I made a historical argument has caused offence and upset in the Jewish community. I am truly sorry for that.
Under Labour’s new General Secretary I am sure there will be rapid action to expel anyone who genuinely has antisemitic views.
I am loyal to the Labour party and to Jeremy Corbyn. However any further disciplinary action against me may drag on for months or even years, distracting attention from Jeremy’s policies.
I am therefore, with great sadness, leaving the Labour Party.
We desperately need an end to Tory rule, and a Corbyn-led government to transform Britain and end austerity. I will continue to work to this end, and I thank all those who share this aim and who have supported me in my own political career.”

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Bouthaina Shaaban. Syria

 

Bouthaina Shaaban

صاحب قضية
#بنت_الأرض
في هذا الزمن المتسارع الأحداث كماً وكيفاً قد تفوتنا دراسة بعض التفاصيل الهامة، والتي إن تمّ الإنتباه إليها قد تشكّل قيمة مضافة في فهم مجريات الأمور، كبيرها وصغيرها. في هذا الزمن يتحدث الكثيرون، وبشكل عفوي عن مفترق طرق محلّي وإقليمي، ودولي ذلك لأن الكثيرين يشعرون أنهم يفقدون خصائص العالم الذي ولدوا، وترعرعوا فيه دون أن يدركوا حقيقة العالم الذي يتشكّل، أو الصورة النهائية التي سيستقر عليها هذا العالم. في مثل هذا المفصل تكثر التفسيرات، والإجتهادات دون أن يكو…

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The
#بنت_الأرض
In this accelerated and and time, we may miss the study of some important details, which, if attention is drawn, may add value in understanding things, large and small. In this time, many speak, spontaneously, of a local, regional and international crossroads, because many feel that they lose the characteristics of the world that they were born and grew up in without realizing the reality of the world that is forming, or the final image that will be She has this world. In such a joint, there is a lot of interpretations and jurisprudence that no one has to offer his hatred for his readings, and his theories are not yet proof of anything but readings, conclusions, reflections and expectations. Time, for example, holds the first hypocrite in the twenty-first century of Palestine in six months, as Palestine is slaughtered more and more, and is mired in support of terrorism, terrorists, and occupation of the land that gave birth to the true resistance to the occupation of Neither the question of Palestine nor the Palestinian people, but its aim is to attract the attention of all those in favour of Palestine, to relieve the pressure of the riparian states of the gulf against Palestine and its people, and to increase its popularity inside turkey shortly prior to the elections In this time, he also describes the last colonized, the prime minister of the usurping entity, describing the human rights council, which ordered a commission to investigate his heinous crimes against the Palestinian people, describing him as a ” hypocrite as he stands as a true embodiment of hypocrisy In today’s world. In this time, more than Palestinian civilians are being slaughtered, and thousands of children, women and isolation are wounded without the united nations or international conscience moving, and without the American delegate on the security council raising a small part of the false noise she has raised on a subject The chemo is deceiving the world with its lying, lying, lying to the people of ghouta, by Aleppo and any point that formed a victory, and a positive turn for the Syrian Arab army. In this time, the president of the most powerful country in the world stands to say that he wants to loot Iraq’s oil, the gulf as Libya’s oil, and that there are no people in these countries, but not even countries, but money, gold and oil to He considers the United States as a gaseous state with a legitimate right to such oil and money as the spoils of war. In this time, the Zionism of Ivanka Trump, which the rulers of Saudi Arabia poured into money, and gifts because they visited them with hundreds of billions of dollars, stands to open the us embassy in Jerusalem against all resolutions of international legitimacy. And The United States Congress itself. In this time, it has been mixed with bombs, and values have fallen in the eyes of many, and there have been strong and bold positions against injustice and a triumph of the right, but despite all that, and despite all that we are witnessing, a coup d ‘ Good manners to humanity, and despite all that we are witnessing in the face of the strong and the weak of the weak, you, Palestinian resistance, remain on your case like the embers of the embers, and leave your house in the morning knowing that you may not come back For Injustice, occupation and aggression, and you don’t even have a stone in that sand earth. You leave your house with your wife and children, or you want them, and you go because the case is on your conscience, and you’re too old to be lost in the protectors of all these accelerated variables, and because you’ve decided that even though you don’t have And to resist peacefully, even if your enemies do not understand peace, and do not believe in it, they will shoot you, and you will fall against your blood to witness your blood that Palestine is still alive and will not die. You fell and took your colleagues, and your loved ones are falling, and their colleagues are carrying them and running to an ambulance, hoping to save their lives, and within hours, watching the hypocrite world, the coward, ten,,,,, They fall with the monitoring of a colonial colony left, and the world of tyrants and rulers is watching and not all of this is a violation of human rights, or a horrific massacre of What you have done, you martyr, wounded, stainless in this strange time is a great thing that has proved to the world that the owners of the cases have not yet died, and that they are born every day carrying their torches on the path of sacrifice, redemption, and The individual, the collection of wealth is not the only one in today’s world, and that there are honest enough to move the conscience of the world in support of their issues and that they love the testimony of their children, and that a country that guarantees Palestine every day has Colonization of a racist brute and a criminal. I have prepared for us all, Arab resistance, to consider that we are not employees, not quitters, not meeting what we are witnessing and living, but we have not yet been able to ạjtrạḥ the working mechanisms capable of restoring the right to their rightful owners, but your blood This way, the advocates of surrender are shut down from rulers and rulers of mercenaries, who say that what trump and Sri Lanka are planning is inevitable.
Your blood is a long-standing, long-standing flame of the Arab Palestinian, which is still being led by the owners of a case, all in its own way, and all, according to its potential, and its jurisdiction, waiting for an hour
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Halikarnas and Agra. Artemisia versus Shah Jahan. What do they have in common?

 

Taj Mahal First Of Its Kind. Built by a Wife.

Halikarnas and Agra. Artemisia versus Shah Jahan. What do they have in common? One a Wife and the other a Husband

Love for the other half.    Halikarnas is where the word Mausoleum was created. Word mausoleum is widely used today to describe a Tomb. As this Mausoleum was being built, the body to be buried was alive and well, only to be completed by his wife after he died, strangely his wife was also his sister. Common practice of the time sisters or brothers marrying their siblings. No matter how much we loath it at times incest did not exist as we know it today.

The Taj Mahal, made from white marble is a mausoleum on the Yumuna river. Built by Shah Jahan the Mughal emperor for his wife Mumtaz Mahal.

 

 

Wife Builds A Tomb.

Artemisia built one for her husband Mausolus. World wonders, first similarity to Taj Mahal was built in Halicarnassus known as Bodrum today.

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As the history has it, the first case of aesthetics of love and reverence of a partner or the other half was a tomb construction for Mausolus a very powerful Persian Empire Governor of place today known as Bodrum, Turkey.

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Not much to say about the Tomb as it today lies in ruins. But one cannot ignore the beautiful colour roses in the garden and links to beauty that this place held in distant past

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FINAL COMMUNIQUE OF THE SEVENTH EXTRAORDINARY ISLAMIC SUMMIT CONFERENCE IN RESPONSE TO THE GRAVE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE STATE OF PALESTINE

 

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The Collective Voice of The Muslim World.   Sabt, 5 Ramadan 1439 AH

The Council of Foreign Minnisters Meeting Preparotary to The OIC Extraordinary Islamic Summit Conference …FINAL COMMUNIQUE OF THE SEVENTH EXTRAORDINARY ISLAMIC SUMMIT CONFERENCE IN RESPONSE TO THE GRAVE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE STATE OF PALESTINE
Date: 18/05/2018

We, the Kings and Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), gathering at the Seventh Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Summit Conference in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey, on 3 Ramadan 1439 AH – 18 May 2018 CE upon the invitation of the President of Turkey, H.E. Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Chair of the Thirteenth Session of the Islamic Summit, in response to the grave developments in the State of Palestine, as a result of the ongoing Israeli brutal aggression against the Palestinian people and the illegal inauguration of the U.S. embassy in Al-Quds.

Having reviewed the alarming situation and growing tensions in the occupied territory of the State of Palestine,

Expressing our profound appreciation to H.E. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for calling for the convening and hosting of this extraordinary Islamic Summit on an issue of such importance for Ummah

 

Commending the resolutions on the cause of Palestine and al-Quds Al-Sharıf, the capital of the State of Palestine, adopted by the 45th Session of Council of Foreign Ministers on 5-6 May 2018 in Dhaka,

Welcoming resolutions adopted on Palestine and Al-Quds al-Sharif by the 29th Arab League Summit held in Dhahran and appreciate naming it as “Al-Quds Summit” by the Custodian of the two holy mosques King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud,

Emphasizing that the central mission and raison d’être of the OIC is protecting the City of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, its historic and legal status, its spiritual place, and to take all necessary measures to put an end to the violations committed by Israel and any party that supports this regime and its colonial and racist policies,

Proceeding from the historical, moral and legal responsibility placed on the Muslim Ummah and in full solidarity with Palestine and its people,

  • Condemn in the strongest terms the criminal actions of Israeli forces against the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the Gaza Strip, where unarmed Palestinian civilians are exercising their legitimate right of peaceful protest against this inhumane and absolutely illegal occupation; and hold Israel, the occupying Power, fully accountable for the grave atrocities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly the latest episode of willful murder of at least 60 civilians, and injuring of nearly 2700 others on 14 May.
  • Declare that these acts constitute savage crimes committed by the Israeli forces with the backing of the U.S. Administration, including through shielding the Israeli occupation in the UN Security Council from accountability; also note that these crimes have been committed against the backdrop of the illegal decision by the U.S. Administration to officially move its embassy from Israel to the occupied City of Jerusalem, which has further emboldened the Israeli government in its reckless behavior towards civilian Palestinian population.
  • Call on the international community, in particular the UN Security Council, to uphold its legal obligations to defend the international law and order as they relate to Palestine; to act in line with its legal and moral obligation to ensure accountability for these unchecked crimes that Israel, the occupying power, is carrying out with impunity; and to put an end to these atrocities, and to provide international protection for the Palestinian people.
  • Call for the international protection of the Palestinian population including through dispatching of international protection force.
  • Request the OIC General Secretariat to act immediately to establish an international independent Committee of Experts to investigate the crimes and massacres committed by the Israeli forces against the peaceful and unarmed demonstrators in the Gaza Strip, to determine the culpability of the Israeli officials and communicate the findings to relevant international bodies.
  • Call upon the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the UN Secretary General, UN Human Rights Council, the special rapporteurs and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to take necessary actions to form an international investigation committee into the recent atrocities in the Gaza Strip, and enable the committee to initiate field investigation, within a precise timeframe, and ensuring enacting a clear mechanism to determine the culpability of the Israeli officials with a view to ensuring justice for the victims and put an end to the impunity of the perpetrators.
  • Call on the UN Security Council, the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council to uphold their responsibilities in this regard and invite all countries to mobilize their efforts to bring this issue to the agenda of the UN General Assembly, the UN Security Council, and the Human Rights Council urgently.
  • Appreciate the role of the state of Kuwait as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and its immediate reaction to the bloody events in Gaza and its request to the Security Council for an emergency meeting on 15 May 2018, welcoming the Kuwaiti steps by proposing a draft resolution on the protection of civilians regretting the block from the United States for the press statement in response to those unfortunate events.
  • Reaffirm the need to coordinate and work together with the international and regional organizations, including the Arab League, the European Union and the African Union on this issue.
  • Reaffirm the centrality of the Palestinian cause and the status of Al-Quds Al-Sharif to the Muslim Ummah; renew our principled support for the Palestinian people in their pursuit to attain their inalienable national rights, including their right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent and sovereign Palestinian State on the borders of 4 June 1967, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital; and invite all countries to officially recognize the State of Palestine.
  • Reiterate our rejection of the illegal decision of the President of the United States to recognize Al-Quds as the so-called capital of Israel, the occupying power; reject it as legally null and void and violation of international legitimacy resolutions; consider it an assault on the historical, legal, natural and national rights of the Palestinian people and a deliberate attempt to undermine all peace prospects, threatening international peace and security.Condemn the inauguration of the U.S. embassy in Al-Quds and consider it an act of provocation and hostility against the Muslim Ummah, Palestinian national rights and flagrant violations of international law as well as an assault on the international order, including the UN, that further emboldens Israel, the occupying power, to step up its illegal and criminal actions against the Palestinian people.
  • Reaffirm our position that Al-Quds shall remain the eternal capital of Palestine and that the inauguration of the U.S. embassy in Al Quds neither alters the legal status of the occupied City, nor legitimizes its illegal annexation by Israel, the occupying power.
  • Affirm support for the historical Hashemite Custodianship assumed by His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussain on Muslim and Christian holy sites in Al-Quds, which was reaffirmed by the agreement signed between His Majesty King Abdullah II and His Excellency Mahmud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine on 31 March 2013; and for the role of the Jordanian Department of Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa Mosque Islamic Waqf in preserving and defending Al-Haram Al-Quds Al-Sharif.
  • Praise the continuous efforts exerted by his Majesty King Mohammad VI King of Morocco, Chair of al-Quds Committee, in defending the holy city and supporting the resilience of the Palestinian people, and applaud efforts made by Bayt Mal al-Quds Agency of al-Quds Committee.
  • Consider that any state that follows, accepts or acquiesces in the U.S. Administration’s move or any similar step adopted by other countries is complicit in undermining international law and order; express our determination to respond to these shameful actions with appropriate measures; and decide to take all necessary steps to prevent other countries from following the illegal U.S. example by transferring their embassies to Al-Quds; and in this regards condemns the relocation by Guatemala of its embassy to Al-Quds, and declare our determination to take the appropriate political, economic and other measures against countries which recognize Al-Quds as the capital of Israel or relocate their embassies thereto.Mandate the General Secretariat to prepare recommendations on appropriate measures that can be implemented in this regard.
  • Call upon all Member States to openly condemn such action and to pursue all available legal and diplomatic avenues to defend Palestinian national rights from all hostile and illegal actions from the United States or any other party, and to support decisions adopted recently by the Palestinian leadership to advance the Palestinian rights.
  • Affirm that countries running for international posts seeking the OIC’s support for their candidature will be assessed based on their positions regarding the Palestine question, in particular on Jerusalem.
  • Insist on the OIC Member States to be responsive to OIC resolutions on the Palestinian cause and to commit to voting for our common cause, and to taking actions that would contribute to defending this just cause, and call for necessary action to be taken against those failing to comply.
  • Request Member States, the OIC General Secretariat and the OIC subsidiary organs and specialized and affiliated institutions to take the necessary measures to apply the economic restriction to countries, officials, parliaments, companies or individuals who recognize the annexation of Al-Quds by Israel, the occupying Power, and follow the decision of the US Administration to move its embassy to Al-Quds al-Sharif, or deal with any measures related to the consecration of Israeli colonization of the occupied Palestinian.
  • Call on Member States and the wider international community to ban the products of the illegal Israeli settlements from entering their markets, take measures against individuals and entities involved in or beneficiaries of the perpetuation of occupation and settlement regime,
  • Decide to take all available measures and to pursue all possible political, legal and diplomatic avenues to defend the legitimate rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people from Israel’s entrenched regime of colonization and aggression as well as states that defend and sponsor this regime of oppression;
  • Demand that the United States to adhere to the international legitimacy resolutions of the city of al Quds which represents an integral part of the Palestinian Territory occupied in 1967, and invite it to urge Israel, the occupying power, to stop its colonial plans and serious violations that constitute a threat to peace and security in the region and the entire world.
  • Urge the U.S to stand against the Israeli colonial occupation and to be impartial in achieving the comprehensive peace based on relevant UN resolutions, the international law, the peace process terms of reference, the Arab Peace Initiative and the principle of two-state solution, at all times as part of collective multilateral efforts.
  • Reaffirm our adherence to all resolutions adopted by the regular and extraordinary sessions of the Islamic Summit on the Cause of Palestine and the City of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, in particular the Fifth Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Summit Conference held in Jakarta on 6 March 2016 and the
  • Extraordinary Islamic Summit Conference on Al-Quds Al-Sharif held in Istanbul on 13 December 2017, and call on the Member States to ensure respect to these resolutions in their daily discourses and foreign policy agenda, especially in their dealing with counterparts in other parts of the world and at the international organizations.
  • Reiterate that we will continue to act in line with international law and cooperate with states that share our values to defend the international law and international system, and reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the two-state solution, which is the only acceptable international solution in the context of self-determination, and international law and existing UN resolutions-in accordance with the international terms of reference and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative endorsed by the Islamic Extraordinary Summit in 2005 in Makkah; support in this regard the Palestinian political initiative as presented by H.E. Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine, before the Security Council on the 20 February 2018.
  • Stress our determination to allocate all necessary resources to resist any attempt to change the Islamic and Christian identity – or falsify the history of –the city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, including by working together with UNESCO which has designated The Old City of Jerusalem and Its Walls as a World Heritage, and condemn in this regard the continuing Israeli occupation aimed at changing the historical status quo of Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound as well as other religious and holy sites in the city of Al-Quds, including, through the continuing raids by Israeli occupation forces and permitting Israeli terrorist settler groups to desecrate the holy Mosque Compound on daily basis.
  • Call for the implementation of previous OIC resolutions regarding financing the multi-sectoral strategic plan on Al-Quds, as a framework for determining the priorities of Islamic financing for the City of Al-Quds Al-Sharif; call also on Member States to support the needs of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, its institutions and people in line with the revised strategic plan 2018-2022 and to support the projects included therein, including in particular supporting the educational sector, and mandate the General Secretariat to follow up on the implementation of this plan in coordination with the State of Palestine.
  • Underline the special importance of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which provides vital services to more than 5.3 million Palestinian refugees, and urge the Member States to increase their support to UNRWA’s initiatives to maintain its sustainable budget.
  • Welcome the establishment of a Developmental Waqf Fund, as concluded in the preliminary study submitted by the Islamic Development Bank, as a means of further supporting the Palestinian refugees and host countries, enhancing the collective support of the Member States and ensuring the consistent and sustainable funding of the UNRWA operations in the field of humanitarian relief, development and social protection and urge the Member States to expedite the operationalization of the Developmental Waqf Fund.
  • Reiterate our support for the inalienable right of the Palestine refugees to return to their homes, in line with UN General Assembly resolution 194; reaffirm also the need to recognise the crimes of ethnic cleansing and murder against the Palestinian people during the NAKBA, which took place seventy years ago, as a necessary first step to achieving justice and peace.
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OIC summit on Palestine reject US decision on Jerusalem 

OIC summit on Palestine reject US decision on Jerusalem

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

OIC summit on Palestine reject US decision on Jerusalem

 

The extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) drew to a close late on May 18 following strong condemnations of Israeli killings of Palestinian protesters.

A news conference was held and a final declaration was issued after a session chaired by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Speaking at a joint press conference with OIC Secretary General Yousef al-Othaimeen and Palestinian Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah, Erdoğan said they held a very meaningful summit in terms of showing solidarity with the Palestinian people as well as conveying the necessary messages to Israel.

Criticizing Washington, Erdoğan said responsibility for the consequences of “this provocative decision to sabotage the peace process entirely belongs to the U.S.”

“We won’t accept the unlawful decision of the U.S. to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem despite all warnings,” Erdoğan said. “We will never end our solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

Erdoğan also urged the international community, especially the United Nations Security Council, to fulfill their legal obligations with regards to Palestine.

Stressing that sending an international peace force to help Palestinians is “imperative”, he said: “We once again reject the U.S. decision on Jerusalem.”

He also said an aid campaign will be carried out during Ramadan across all OIC states for Palestinians.

Yousef al-Othaimeen, the OIC‘s secretary general, said in his closing speech that “We reiterated the need to provide international protection for the Palestinian people.”

Regarding the practical measures the OIC would take in this regard, he said: “We decided to assign the OIC‘s secretariat general to form an international commission of experts to investigate the Israeli crimes in the Palestinian territories.”

“We also confirmed that the U.S. move to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem has nothing to do with changing the realities on the ground.”

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, for his part, echoed the call for an international and transparent probe into the Israeli crimes in the Palestinian occupied territories.

“We confirm also the necessity for international protection for the Palestinian people,” he said, adding “the U.S.’ opening of its embassy in Jerusalem is a provocative act that undermines peace prospects in the region and threatens international peace and security.”

“Such a move emboldens Israel to continue its illegal actions against the Palestinian people,” Hamdallah said.

The session was also attended by Turkish Premier Binali Yıldırım and Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu as well as the heads of states of Afghanistan, Guinea, Iran, Qatar, Kuwait, Mauritania, Sudan, Jordan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

The Istanbul summit was convened by Erdoğan earlier this week to denounce the Israeli violence that killed at least 62 Palestinians during mass rallies on May 14 in the eastern part of the besieged Gaza Strip.

Turkey also carries out the term presidency of the OIC.

The prime ministers of Palestine, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan took their place at the meeting, while Uzbekistan, Algeria and Sudan were represented at the parliamentary and senate level.

In addition, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Lebanon, Iraq, Tunisia, Oman, Libya, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Chad, Kazakhstan, Comoros, Maldives and Tajikistan were represented at the foreign ministerial level.

Over 340 national and international accredited press members covered the meeting.

Mass rally at Yenikapı fairgrounds  

Hours before the international summit, Istanbul also hosted a mass rally under the theme “Condemning Oppression, Supporting al-Quds [Jerusalem]” at the Yenikapı fairgrounds in the European quarter of the city.

Thousands of people attended the mass rally to show support for Palestinians.

Aside from Erdoğan, Turkey‘s Parliament Speaker İsmail Kahraman, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahçeli, Grand Unity Party (BBP) Chairman Mustafa Destici, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Jordanian King Abdullah II were also present at the rally.

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Force used against protestors in Gaza ‘wholly disproportionate’ says UN human rights chief

Force used against protestors in Gaza ‘wholly disproportionate’ says UN human rights chief

UN Photo/Elma Okic
Human Rights Council special session on “the deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem” on 18 May 2018, United Nations Office in Geneva.

18 May 2018
Human Rights

A special session of the UN Human Rights Council has ended with a resolution by Member States to investigate weeks of violence on the Israeli border with Gaza, which has claimed the lives of more than 100 people in the enclave and left thousands wounded.

The draft text called for the Council to “investigate all alleged violations and abuses of international humanitarian law and international human rights law” in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and particularly the occupied Gaza Strip, since 30 March; the date when demonstrations along the border with Israel began, dubbed the Great March of Return.

The resolution was adopted by 29 votes in favour, with two against and 14 abstentions.

They are, in essence, caged in a toxic slum from birth to death; deprived of dignity – High Commissioner Zeid 

The development follows a request on Tuesday by Palestine and the Arab Group of States.

A day earlier, 60 demonstrators in Gaza were killed by Israeli forces, marking the highest one-day death toll in the territory since the 2014 hostilities. According to UN human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, who addressed the council, 87 Palestinians have been killed during the protests, including 12 children, and more than 12,000 injured; 3,500 of them by live ammunition fire.

“Palestinians have exactly the same human rights as Israelis do. They have the same rights to live safely in their homes, in freedom, with adequate and essential services and opportunities” said the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“And of this essential core of entitlements due to every human being, they are systematically deprived”, he continued, adding: “They are, in essence, caged in a toxic slum from birth to death; deprived of dignity; de-humanised by the Israeli authorities to such a point it appears officials do not even consider that these men and women have a right, as well as every reason, to protest.”

Mr. Zeid said that some demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails and used sling-shots to throw stones at Israeli soldiers.

But this did not justify the use of lethal force and may be a breach of international law, he added.

Israel responded to the special session at the Human Rights Council saying that convening the meeting was evidence of its politically-motivated “anti-Israeli obsession”.

Ambassador Aviva Raz Shechter, Permanent Representative of Israel to the UN, said that the militant group Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, had incited people to violence, by placing “as many civilians as possible – including women, children and journalists – in the line of fire”.

Under the rules of the Human Rights Council, an extraordinary session can only be called by the body’s 47 Member States; it must also have the support of at least one-third of the membership. Friday marked the 28th time that there has been a special session of the Council.

 

 

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King urges world to shoulder responsibility in protecting Palestinians at OIC

King urges world to shoulder responsibility in protecting Palestinians

His Majesty tells OIC summit no peace without just solution to Mideast conflict

By JT – May 19,2018 – Last updated at May 19,2018

His Majesty King Abdullah joins Muslim world’s leaders at an Istanbul-hosted extraordinary summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Friday (Photo courtesy of Royal Court)

AMMAN – His Majesty King Abdullah on Friday urged the international community to uphold its responsibilities in protecting the Palestinian people and enabling them to gain their rights and end occupation, injustice, and despair.

In his speech at the extraordinary summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul, Turkey, the King said that the sole path to peace is through ending the occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state on the 4 June 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the two-state solution.

He stressed that the region will never enjoy comprehensive peace unless the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is resolved according to international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, and the Arab Peace Initiative.

 

Following is the full text of the speech:

In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate,

Prayers and peace be upon the Arab Hashemite Prophet Mohammad,

Your Majesties, Highnesses, Excellencies,

Peace, God’s mercy and blessings be upon you.

First, may the souls of our martyrs in Palestine rest in peace.

Jerusalem is our First Qibla. Jerusalem is Amman’s twin. Jerusalem is the key to peace and harmony. And the sole path to peace is through ending the occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state on the 4 June 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the two-state solution.

Let me stress, once again, that our region will never enjoy comprehensive peace unless the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is resolved according to international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, and the Arab Peace Initiative.

My brothers,

Nearly five months ago, we met to counter the dangerous implications of the United States’ decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. And here we are today, witnessing the very implications we had warned against—the undermining of the foundations of peace and stability, the dominance of unilateralism, and a deepening state of despair that breeds violence.

Throughout that period, Jordan worked in coordination with brothers and friends to limit the ramifications of this decision. Our steadfast position continues to affirm that East Jerusalem is occupied territory and that it is a final status issue whose future is decided through direct negotiations, in accordance with international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.

Here, we must also emphasise the need for immediate measures by brotherly Arab and Muslim countries to support the perseverance of Palestinians and empower them economically, while countering attempts to Judaise Jerusalem and alter its Arab, Islamic, and Christian identity.

My brothers,

The violence, aggression, and violations perpetrated by Israel against the brotherly Palestinian people in Gaza and elsewhere in the Palestinian Territories must stop. The international community must uphold its responsibilities before history; peoples of the world and all people of conscience must uphold their responsibilities in protecting the Palestinian people and enabling them to gain their rights and end occupation, injustice, and despair.

As I have affirmed at the latest Arab Summit, the Hashemite Custodianship of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem is a historical duty and responsibility that we are proud to carry. We will persevere in upholding this responsibility, in coordination with our brothers at the Palestinian National Authority and with your support. And we will continue to strengthen the resolve of Jerusalemites and counter any attempts to impose new facts on the ground or change the historical and legal status quo.

We genuinely seek peace, and everyone is called upon to end the prevalent anguish and frustration by advancing and achieving a peace that fulfils the legitimate rights of the brotherly Palestinian people—a peace where the holy city of Jerusalem stands as a symbol of harmony among the followers of the monotheistic faiths, not a cause for conflict.

In closing, I thank my brother and friend, His Excellency President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, for his efforts and for convening this Summit.

Peace, God’s mercy and blessings be upon you.