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Política Editorial | Webeditorial
Newswire Archivo                   Ocultado

palestine

International Solidarity Day with Palestine - by Stephen Lendman

Established by the UN in 1977, International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is observed on or around November 29.

The date commemorates November 29, 1947, the date UN Resolution 181 was adopted, despite Palestinian opposition.

Called the UN Partition Plan for Palestine, it granted 56% of historic Palestine to Jews (with one-third of the population), 42% to Palestinians.

In addition, Jerusalem was declared an international city (a corpus separatum - separate body) under a UN Trusteeship Council. It remains so today. The area included all Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Beit Sahour, to encompass Christian holy sites.

Resolution 181 also called for an Independent Arab state by October 1, 1948, asking:

Palestinian Unity: A Threat, Says Israel - by Stephen Lendman

Palestine is sovereign territory. In 1987, Law Professor Francis Boyle drafted its Declaration of Independence. On November 15, 1988, the Palestine National Council (PNC) adopted it, affirming Palestinian statehood.

Nonetheless, Israel's illegal occupation continues. Gaza's under siege. Israeli forces attack repeatedly. Deaths and injuries result. Dozens of weekly West Bank incursions harass Palestinians ruthlessly. Numerous arrests follow. Innocent civilians are imprisoned, including children young as 10.

Gaza: Good News and Bad - by Stephen Lendman
 
First the good. On November 22, the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC) said a "Freedom Spring" convoy arrived through Rafah's border terminal, connecting Gaza and Egypt.
 

Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinians with Impunity - by Stephen Lendman
 
Palestinians are doubly cursed. Israel's military attacks them regularly. During the past week alone, Israeli air strikes killed four Gazans, wounding another 14.
 

Israel Steps Up Police State Crackdowns - by Stephen Lendman

Israel never embraced democratic values. More than ever today that's true. Many Jews understand. As a result, they're voting with their feet and leaving.

Gideon Levy remarked that "(i)t's really an irony of history, because Israel was established to become a shelter to the Jewish people. Now Europe becomes a shelter for the Jews living in Israel."

So does America. New millennium exodus has a whole new meaning. Last year, Haaretz writer Bradley Burston headlined, "I envy the people who hate Israel," saying:

The Russell Tribunal on Palestine: South Africa Session - by Stephen Lendman
 
Launched on March 4, 2009, "The Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RToP) seeks to reaffirm the primacy of international law (to settle) the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (by focusing on) the enunciation of law by authoritative bodies (and) address(ing) the failure of application of law even though it has been so clearly identified."
 

Living Under Israel's Boot - by Stephen Lendman
 
Like occupied people everywhere, Palestinians understand oppression better than experts. Ask them. They'll explain.
 
In Gaza, it means living under siege and Israeli air, land and sea attacks. West Bank communities face day and night incursions.
 

Israeli Settlement Construction Jeopardizes Palestinian Statehood Plans - by Stephen Lendman

Palestinians want and deserve long denied full UN de jure membership and official statehood recognition, including all rights granted other members.

On September 23, Abbas formally petitioned the Security Council. Normally it reviews applications for a maximum 35 days. Whether or not America vetos Palestine's bid is irrelevant. It solely recommends. Only the General Assembly admits new members.

Abbas can petition it through the 1950 Uniting for Peace Resolution 377 for an up or down two-thirds member vote to override potential Security Council rejection or inaction.

Israel Arrests Palestinians While Releasing Others - by Stephen Lendman

In mid-October, Netanyahu's cabinet agreed to free 1,027 Palestinian political prisoners in two waves (including 27 women and nearly 300 children) in return for Hamas releasing Gilad Shalit after over five years in captivity.

Wave one is completed, freeing 477 Palestinians. In two months, phase two will release another 550. According to terms, 203 will be deported, 40 exiled overseas, and 163 expelled to Gaza.

Currently, Israel still holds over 5,000 detainees. As a result of torture, medical neglect, or assassinations, over 200 died martyrs in captivity. Another 302 are called "veteran detainees," serving 17 years or longer.

Ongoing Israeli Human Rights Abuses - by Stephen Lendman

Throughout its history, Israel's been a serial human rights abuser. Count the ways.

State-sponsored terror is official policy. So is collective punishment, apartheid, colonialism, premeditated war, torture, and filling prison cells illegally with Palestinians wanting to live free on their own land in their own country.

Instead they've suffered brutal indignities and persecution under 44 years of occupation. They've endured racism, land theft, dispossessions, road blocks, checkpoints, Separation Walls, mass arrests, prison hell, economic strangulation, terrorized neighborhood incursions, and isolation in cantonized communities and Gaza under siege.