Category: International Politics

After officials in the Obama administration say they were ‘blindsided’ by the shipment of ammunition from the Pentagon to Israel, the administration decided to put a temporary halt on the…

Ongoing ceasefire talks are beginning to take shape, Cairo sources told Ma’an. However, several outstanding issues need to be addressed in order to establish a permanent truce.Palestinian sources close to…

Three remaining members of a Palestinian delegation attempting to negotiate a longer truce between combatants in Gaza entered Egypt through Rafah crossing, on Tuesday, according to MENA state news.Ma’an News…

In a turn-around from Thursday, US Senators Friday morning decided to move ahead with approval of an additional $225 million for Israel, even while calling for drastic cuts to social…

Both the Israeli military and Hamas resistance have reportedly agreed to a 72-hour temporary cessation of military operations within the Gaza Strip.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Secretary-General…

The United Nations continued to rhetorically condemn Israel yesterday. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called an attack on a school, which held displaced Palestinians, “outrageous.”“I condemn this attack in the strongest possible…

Hours after Israel shelled yet another UN school sheltering internally displaced families and a marketplace in Gaza, killing dozens of people, an unnamed defense department official revealed to CNN that…

The Latin American country of Bolivia has renounced a visa exemption agreement with Israel in protest over its military offensive in Gaza, declaring it a terrorist state.According to a recent…

According to John Kerry, international efforts to secure a truce between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza must lead to the disarmament of the democratically elected Hamas party.The US Secretary of…

Turkish Prime Minister and presidential candidate Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed Turkish constituents, over the weekend, acknowledging that the world’s Muslims have been observing a sad Ramadan with Israel perpetrating genocide…

His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, met with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, on Saturday, according to the Palestinian News Network (PNN). Present as well was…

Hamas and Israel have officially announced a 12-hour ceasefire to take begin at 7am, on Saturday morning, as today’s toll of human life in the Gaza Strip topped 67. As…

Following the furor created by a tweet asking if Palestinian children killed in Gaza are “halal meat,” French politician Jacques Renaud is reportedly disavowing ownership of the Twitter account bearing…

Egyptian sources have reported that US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Tel Aviv, Wednesday morning, to meet with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the Palestinian resistance’s conditions…

Following nationwide protests across South Africa against the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza (Israel has killed over 600 Palestinians including 150 children in the last 10 days) the African National…

US Secretary of State John Kerry appeared to criticize Israel, Sunday, in candid remarks caught on an open microphone between television interviews, according to Ma’an News Agency.The US politician was…

US Secretary of State John Kerry called PM Netanyahu, this morning, asking him to set specific goals and objectives for the Israeli military’s ongoing ground assault in Gaza, in order…

Following a similar resolution passed last week by the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate voted Thursday night to support Israel’s ongoing invasion of the Gaza Strip. No dissenting vote was…

As reports continue to surface regarding the proposal of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian resistance factions, new evidence has surfaced to indicate that the deal was actually hatched…

As Israeli PM Bejamin Netanyahu pledges to expand and intensify the military assault on Gaza, in the shadow of failed attempts at an Egyptian-brokered truce, a Hamas spokesman says that…

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) has welcomed the Dublin City Council’s unanimous passing of a motion calling for an end to both the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza, in which…

The director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza, Robert Turner, decalred Thursday that the people of Gaza are again suffering due to Israeli bombardment. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the…

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat urged the international community, Thursday, to uphold its role in forcing Israel to end its aggression against the Palestinian people, as agreed upon in November…

Addressing the UN Security Council, Ban Ki-moon appealed, on Thursday, for a ceasefire between Israelis and Palestinians. He additionally called on the aid of the international community in halting the…

Scottish officials have declared the country ready to receive Gaza civilians who have been injured in the current Israeli military aggression on the region, according to a press release by…

Britain’s largest trade union, ‘Unite’, has condemned Israeli crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories and stepped up to join the international campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel.…

17 European governments recently published online guidance warning their citizens and businesses about risks involved in trade and other economic links with illegal Israeli settlements. Measures are welcome but Israel’s…

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has sought the help of UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon in forming an international committee for the purpose of investigating Israeli crimes committed against Palestinians, Ma’an News…

George Galloway has recently raised the question to Arab officials regarding their silence over Palestinian suffering: ‘Will anyone, any Arab or Muslim leader stand up and lift even a finger…

The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned against domestic investments with illegal Israeli settlements, following suit with Germany, the UK, France and Italy.The Palestinian News Network (PNN) reports that…

Official Envoy of the Quartet to the Middle East, former British PM Tony Blair, has called on Israel to stop their military operations in the West Bank and the Gaza…

Hunger-striking Palestinian politictal prisoners have written a letter to President Mahmoud Abbas, demanding he seek the UN Security Council’s mediation to save their lives, as Israeli authorities prepare to pass…

Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad al-Maliki asserted, this Saturday, that Israeli actions in the ongoing West Bank arrest campaign amount to war crimes. According to the Alternative Information Center…

Palestinian leadership initiated official requests for an emergency session of the UN Security Council, today, seeking intervention with Israel’s ongoing military campaign in the West Bank.“The oppressive Israeli aggression during…

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, has issued a statement regarding Israeli search operations in the West Bank:“The Special Coordinator is deeply concerned by reports…

On a note which resonates with absurdity, Israel has been elected as vice-chair of the ‘UN Special Commitee on Decolonization’ – which deals among other things with matters related to…

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said that her country has not changed its position on Australian legal status of the oPt and East Jerusalem. WAFA reports that AU Rep to Palestine…

As the Israeli military continues its massive crackdown on Palestinians throughout the West Bank, the US Consulate issued a statement to U.S. citizens registered with the consulate as living, working…

Government spokesperson Ihab Bseiso has stated that the Qatari government is to transfer a sum of $20 million, over a three month period, in helping to pay salaries to 40,000…

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, on Thursday, called upon the international community to exert serious and considerable pressure on Israel to release the administrative prisoners who have been on hunger…

Australia is facing the possibility of trade sanctions by Arab nations over its decision to stop referring to East Jerusalem as an occupied territory.Head of the Palestinian delegation to Canberra,…

As violence escalates in the region and shops close across the West Bank and Jerusalem in solidarity with an ever growing number of hunger striking Paletinian detainees, a ministerial committee…

The Israeli government’s refusal to allow whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu, who leaked details of the country’s nuclear arsenal to the international media in 1986, to leave the country for even three…

Robert Serry, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, met Sunday in Gaza with four ministers of the new Palestinian consensus government. “I assured them full support…

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recalled the Representative of Australia to Palestine, Thomas Wilson, on Sunday, in protest against remarks made by Attorney-General of Australia, George Brandis, in which…

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has recently expressed concern in regard to the deteriorating health conditions of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike. He has called on Israel to either charge or…

[Thursday, June 5, 2014] The European Union granted the Palestinian Authority €15.5 Million for salaries and pensions for the months of May, to be transferred to more than 70.000 government…

High Representative of the European Union Catherine Ashton has officially welcomed the formation of a Palestinian unity government. Meanwhile, Israeli officials have announced a boycott against the new government.Ashton: ‘We…

The United States stated it would deal with the new Palestinian unity government, a caretaker government before elections are held, adding that the government will be judged by its actions,…

The United States said it would deal with the new interim Palestinian unity government, and continue to provide financial support, but also intends to evaluate its policies and conducts, before…

Pope Francis, on his last day of a 3-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land, called for allowing all believers free access to holy sites in Jerusalem, according to Agence France-Presse…

In an official reception with President Mahmoud Abbas, Pope Francis I of the Roman Catholic Church voiced hopes that peace in the Middle East could soon surface, so as to…

Pope Francis embarked upon a three-day pilgrimage to the Middle East, Saturday, with a plea for peace in war-torn Syria, calling for people to uphold religious freedom ‘in a region…

EU Ambassador to Israel, Lars Boberg Andrson, says that the European Union will cooperate with the new government if it recognizes the conditions outlined by the Mideast Quartet, which include…

President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro has pledged to send oil and diesel to the Palestinian Authority, as part of agreements signed in Caracas with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.The country of…

Palestinian Prime Minister Haniyah called all Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem, Gaza and Pre-1948 Palestine, Thursday, to unify in prayer for the souls of some 230 Turkish miners who…

Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ruler of Dubai, has made a…

In a statement, yesterday, UN Women in Palestine expressed concern over the killing of ‘yet another Palestinian woman this week, raising the number of reported cases of femicide in the…

The Ministry of Social Affairs and UNICEF have signed a cooperation agreement on childhood protection in Palestine.The agreement aims to foster capacities of the ministries concerned with childhood affairs through…

Ma’an reports that actor Danny Glover and a number of others featured in a US documentary about a prominent social justice activist protested the film’s screening at a Tel Aviv…

The Israeli police have requested that a welcome poster for Pope Francis’ eminent visit be removed from a building belonging to a church near Jaffa Gate, to avoid ‘inflaming Jewish…

The head of the Roman Catholic church in the Holy Land said, today, that Israeli hate crimes against local Muslims and Christians are souring relations ahead of a papal visit,…

Richard Falk called, on Friday, for worldwide solidarity with the Palestinian struggle through boycott and divestment from companies profitng from illegal Israeli settlement construction.In a report originally published in Arabic…

A number of human rights groups from Addameer Prisoner Support to Amnesty International are urging Palestinian officials to sign up with the International Criminal Court.Seventeen local and international human rights…

[Thursday, May 8 2014] During his meeting with US National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stated that Tel Aviv must respect all signed agreements, release all detainees…

The Roman Catholic church has demanded Israeli action, after suspected Jewish vandals daubed hate graffiti on Vatican-owned offices in annexed East Jerusalem, just two weeks before a formal papal visit.Israeli…

Palestinian public sector workers received their salaries, on Tuesday, signaling the backing down of Israel from a threat to impose sanctions as peace talks began to collapse, last month.Written by…

The Arab League Council will be holding a meeting between permanent delegates, next Wednesday, upon the demand of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), to…

Student representatives at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, voted on Sunday to support divestment from companies profiting from Israeli military occupation in Palestine.Submitted by Ali Abunimah to The Electronic Intifada…

Member of PLO Executive Committee Dr. Hanan ‘Ashrawi expressed, Monday, that the Israeli government and its extreme right-wing coalition reveal the true face of an Israeli apartheid regime based on…

On Friday, May 2, 2014, Palestine formally became a party to five global treaties banning torture and racial discrimination, in addition to protecting the rights of women, children and the…

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi of the PLO Executive Committee called on the international community and, in particular, the European Union to continue in upgrading its relations with Palestine, and its recognition…

US officials in Washington called for a ‘holding period’ in the peace process, following a recently expired deadline for coming to an agreement.US Secretary of State John Kerry is apparently…

According to US media, US Secretary of State John Kerry said to a number of senior international officials that Israel risks becoming an apartheid state if it does not make…

The Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported, on Wednesday, that the French government has halted the transfer of donations worth €3,000 to an Israeli association operating in the Gilo settlement, in…

[Wednesday, April 23, 2014] In one of its first comments on the signed reconciliation agreement between Fateh and Hamas movements, and the decision to form a unity government, the United…

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed dissent with the state of Israel for announcing what she deemed a ‘counter-productive’ and ‘provocative’ expansion of illegal settlements in the midst…

Secretary-General of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi said, Tuesday, the UN Security Council adopts double standards when handling resolutions involving Israel.Al-Arabi referred to the US’ veto on resolutions obliging Israel…

The US warned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority, and described it as an ‘extreme step’ which could fundamentally alter relations between Washington and Ramallah.US…

The US Supreme Court, today, decided to hear the case of an American born in Jerusalem, once again taking up the sensitive issue of the status of the contested city.(AFP/Ma’an)…

Lisbon’s water company EPAL has announced that it has terminated a technology exchange deal with Israeli state water company, Mekorot, following protests over Mekorot’s role in Israel’s ‘water apartheid’ over…

Spokesman for the Hamas movement Fawzi Barhoum, on Wednesday, called on all Arab and Muslim leaders to expel Israeli ambassadors in their countries in order to pressure Israel to end…

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) welcomes the State of Palestine’s accessions to 12 international conventions related to the international humanitarian law and human rights, but calls upon the…

In the wake of the American Studies Association’s December 2013 endorsement of the Palestinian civil society call for an academic boycott of Israel – and as two efforts to legislate…

The human rights situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory has continued to be a source of serious concern, a human rights and democracy report on the Palestinian territories…

Israel has demolished several European Union-funded humanitarian housing shelters in a highly sensitive strip of West Bank land near Jerusalem, an EU official said Friday.(AFP/Al Ray) ‘On April 9, three…

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague launched, Thursday, the Human Rights and Democracy Report 2013 at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, said a press release issued by the Foreign…

The Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, has made a call to the international community to boycott products from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.During a meeting…

Palestine and Jordan submitted a resolution to the Executive Board of the United Nations Security Council, to send a fact-finding commission to investigate the situation of heritage sites in Jerusalem…

The Palestinian Authority has signed up formally to the Geneva Conventions, which set down the rules of warfare and humanitarian operations in conflict zones, the treaties’ guardian Switzerland confirmed Friday.GENEVA…

In this video, members of the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Rabbinical Council call for divestment from occupation profiteer Hewlett-Packard. The video plays on the phrase “Next year in Jerusalem”…

Palestine’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, sent identical letters to the UN Secretary General, President of the UN Security Council and President of the UN General Assembly…

Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa released a statement, Wednesday, expressing concern about legislation pending in the state of Maryland to punish and blacklist supporters of the academic boycott against…

[Tuesday, April 1, 2014] Unites States Secretary of State, John Kerry, left the Middle East following his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, but did not meet President Mahmoud…

A member of the PLO’s Executive committee said in a statement, Saturday, that ‘stagnant’ negotiations with Israel have been ‘too costly for the Palestinian people,’ pointing at a long list…

Egyptian authorities opened, on Saturday morning, the Rafah crossing both ways after 50 days of closure.An Al Ray correspondent said that the Egyptian side opened the crossing gate at 10:10;…

In a letter sent to EU Foreign Policy Chief, Catherine Ashton, 29 members of the European Parliament have called upon the European External Action Service (EEAS) to take action to…

The students’ union of King’s College, in London, voted to endorse the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign at its Student General Meeting, this past Tuesday evening.The motion adopted by…

PLO Executive Committee member, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, called the U.S. to stand up for international law, and to have the political will to curb Israeli violations of international and humanitarian…

A U.N. human rights investigator accused Israel on Friday of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in pushing Palestinians out of East Jerusalem and cast doubt that the Israeli government could accept a Palestinian…