#Israel-#Palestine: A new generation says 'enough is enough'

BY Azzam Tamimi

Anger and frustration have been deepened by a decade that saw Arab governments in the region relegate the Palestinian cause to the margins of their politics.

This is not the first war between Gaza and the Zionist regime occupying Palestine. It is the fourth major confrontation in less than 13 years - but this one is different. 

Firstly, it was Hamas that initiated the battle in retaliation for Israel’s desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque and the attempt to forcibly remove Palestinian families from their homes in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, to be replaced by Jewish settlers. 

Secondly, the confrontation coincided with an unprecedented show of unity and solidarity across the occupied West Bank, ’48 Palestine and the diaspora. All were brought together by flagrant Israeli provocations over what Muslims around the world consider to be their third-holiest place of worship on earth. 

This generation was born into a completely different reality. Very little territory was left for any meaningful Palestinian state

Thirdly, an entirely new generation of young men and women is at the forefront, challenging an increasingly fanatical Jewish society and extreme right-wing Israeli government. This generation is under no illusions about the occupation. Most of its members were born well after the Oslo Accords, which were supposed to lead to a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

Instead, this generation was born into a completely different reality. Very little territory was left for any meaningful Palestinian state. Since 1967, and more actively since 1993, Israel has confiscated more land, built more settlements, expanded existing ones, and demolished more Palestinian houses. The new generation did not have a state waiting for them, but rather a Palestinian Authority, the main outcome of Oslo, which colludes with Israel in oppressing Palestinians.

Normalisation with Israel

The disappointment, bitterness, anger and frustration felt by this new generation have been deepened by a decade that saw Arab governments in the region relegate the Palestinian cause to the margins of their politics. This culminated with the decision by several Arab states to normalise relations with Israel, despite the latter’s push to annex more land and declare Israel a Jewish supremacist state. 

The standoff at al-Aqsa Mosque and Sheikh Jarrah was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has been shifting to the extreme right of the political spectrum, giving increasing power to the Religious Zionist camp, which believes that Palestine was promised to them by God and they are thus entitled to dispossess Palestinians. They are particularly focused on al-Aqsa Mosque, which they believe will ultimately become the site of a third temple.

Israeli security forces position themselves in Hebron on 25 April 2021 (AFP)

To prepare the landscape for such an eventuality, they have claimed ownership of Palestinian homes near the mosque, including in Sheikh Jarrah, and used Israel’s apartheid court system to legalise evictions. Acting with impunity and protected by Israeli security forces, the Jewish extremists organise provocative marches within Jerusalem, and at times storm al-Aqsa Mosque complex.

The latest flareup came as settlers organised a big rally to celebrate the anniversary of the occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967. During the holy month of Ramadan, Israeli police and settlers intimidated and harassed Muslim worshippers, including through the implementation of measures to restrict access to the mosque by Palestinians from the occupied West Bank. 

As provocations and tensions escalated, worshippers, most of whom happened to be members of the new generation of Palestinians, stood up to police, ultimately leading to the removal of barriers from the Damascus Gate plaza.

Profound grievances

As tensions simmered, Hamas warned Israel against continuing its attacks against worshippers and the desecration of the mosque. It gave Israel until 6pm on 10 May to stand down, promising it would otherwise come to the aid of Palestinians in Jerusalem - and the rockets began firing right on schedule. 

As the battle rages on, more than 200 Palestinians have now been killed, including more than 60 children. Substantial destruction has been inflicted upon Gaza, with Israel destroying residential homes on top of their inhabitants, apparently aiming to turn the population of Gaza against Hamas and other resistance factions. Instead, Palestinians in Gaza have grown increasingly emboldened, despite the enormous pain and loss. Meanwhile, southern and central Israeli towns have been paralysed by the constant barrage of missiles from Gaza. 

As in previous wars, regional and international players have been trying to broker a ceasefire. But what complicates matters for Israel is the broad participation in this popular uprising of Palestinians from across the country, including ’48 communities. Palestinians citizens of Israel, treated as second-class citizens in a vicious apartheid regime, have their own profound grievances. The facade of Arab-Jewish harmony in “mixed” towns and cities, such as Lod, Jaffa and Haifa, has been shattered beyond repair. 

By allying itself with Jewish fanatics who want all Palestinians expelled from their “promised land”, the current Israeli political class has succeeded like never before in turning the political conflict between Palestinians and Israelis into a religious war. But do Zionists really believe they can win, when they are up against more than 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide?

https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-palestine-new-generation-says-enough

Commentary: Political solution only practicable path to Palestine-Israel peace

 Concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation and mounting hostilities in the Palestine-Israel conflict, the European Union (EU) has urged "the immediate cessation of all violence and implementation of a ceasefire."

"Security for Israel and Palestine requires a true political solution," said the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell at a Tuesday meeting.

Representing 26 member states, the EU has made such a clear-cut statement, which highlighted outsiders' concern and lent a new urgency to political dialogues over the Palestine issue.

The worst conflict between Palestine and Israel since 2014 has lasted for over 10 days. More violence within the occupied territory made the Jews feel more threatened while several Arab hospitals, including a main COVID-19 testing center in Gaza, were damaged.

The suffering of both sides sheds light on the appalling years-long political stalemate on the Palestine issue.

In recent years, conflicts of different scales between the two sides have never vanished since the Palestine-Israel peace talks reached a deadlock due to the contentious expansion of Jewish settlements.

It is globally recognized that both Palestinians and Israelis are eligible to live in the region around the holy city of Jerusalem, a status quo brought by complex historic and religious factors dated back thousands of years.

Though the two peoples are both keen for a lasting peace, they have felt their respective frustrations -- failed nationalist aspirations for Palestinians and shattered absolute security for Israelis, making their common eagerness a long shot.

In history, the closest moment to such a peace was when the "two-state solution" was presented and accepted by both sides in the 1990s, with concrete support from the international community, including key Arab countries and the Middle East Quartet.

At the moment, it is imperative that the international community once again show resolution and solidarity to strengthen efforts to mediate between the two sides so as to de-escalate the conflict.

An immediate ceasefire is the top priority. And then adequate humanitarian assistance should be delivered to the enclave Gaza Strip, thronged with thousands of the injured and tens of thousands of refugees in want of water and food.

Only the hostilities decrease to a certain level can it be possible to relaunch peace talks. The Middle East Quartet, as well as the United Nations, need to play a bigger and positive role in not only brokering a temporary truce but pushing for a long-term political process.

Unfortunately, the United States, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, repeatedly blocked the UN's efforts to make a unanimous voice on the Palestine-Israel conflict.

Given the great disparity in national strength between Palestine and Israel, it is hardly possible for the two sides to negotiate a fair and equitable deal all by their own.

Therefore international community needs to lend sufficient support for members of the Middle East Quartet, key Arab and international partners to make every endeavor to bring the Israeli and Palestinian leadership back to meaningful negotiations, making the two-state solution viable.

Realizing lasting peace in the Middle East is probably one of the hardest nut to crack for the international community. Only by accommodating the interests of all parties on the basis of a fair and just standpoint can a solution be accepted by all the parties involved.

Political process will be time-consuming and arduous, but it is the only practicable path to a final resolution to the long-lasting problem.

May 20, 2021 http://en.people.cn/n3/2021/0520/c90000-9852036.html

#Gaza’s children have learned to hate Jews – but it didn’t have to be that way

 

By Revd Frank Gelli, an Anglican priest, activist, and cultural critic. He has read philosophy and theology at London and Oxford Universities, served in parishes in London and also as a chaplain to the Church of St Nicholas, British Embassy, Ankara, Turkey. He has published several books on spiritual subjects available on Amazon, and lectured on religious/interfaith dialogue at many academic conferences in the UK, the United States, Switzerland, Qatar, Iran, and Italy.

For some Palestinian children Al-Yahud, or ‘The Jew,’ has become the bogeyman adults use to scare them into obedience. But sadly, the missiles and bombs dropped on those children by the Jewish State, are no fairytale.

“Frank, pray for our poor Palestine.” A sorrowful message from Gaza. Friend Ahmad tells me of the hardships, no, the horrors of his family’s life under a constant hail of Israeli bombs and missiles. Ali, his youngest child, shakes with a mixture of fear and fury. “Al-Yahud will get you!” an uncle teases him when he is naughty. A sensitive and impressionable child, Ali runs to tell his dad: “Why should they want to kill me? I am only a little boy…”

I befriended Ahmad several years ago in Cairo. He was training as a dentist. An impecunious student, I treated him to meals at al-Fishawi restaurant, near the main bazaar, while trying to practice my rudimentary Arabic. We chatted about the Middle East and the world’s problems. Naturally, he disliked the Israelis but also admired their cleverness: “Al-Yahud are so very smart,” he’d repeat, “Look at the way they got America to feed off their hand!” But I never heard Ahmad utter words of real hatred for his people’s oppressors. Not in his nature, I guess. He later returned to Gaza to start his practice. Until I got his recent texts I thought he had forgotten me.

Little Ali has seen his neighbours’ homes ruined or flattened by deathly fire from the sky and his schoolmates made homeless – many killed or wounded. “He now hates all al-Yahud,” says his father. “And so do all the kids here.” They now hate the Israelis with infinite hatred. Ahmad, though a good Muslim and a proud Palestinian, doesn’t feel that is a good thing: “It is terrible when a child grows up with that kind of venom in his heart. What can we do?” Albert Camus believed that every person can access a zone of influence, good or bad. It is a matter of activating the good part, to stop the bloodshed, but that wouldn’t be realistic in Gaza under the ferocious IDF onslaught. Fighting back is the only option.

The father of Hannibal, the famous Carthaginian general and statesman, had brought him up from infancy to hate the Roman race. Hannibal won epic battles against his enemies and got as far as the gates of Rome, but fate was not on his side. He let victory slip through his fingers and eventually Scipio crushed him at Zama, in what is now Tunisia. He spent the rest of his life as a desperate, wandering exile. To avoid capture by the vengeful Romans, he committed suicide. For Hannibal, the unfortunate hero, hatred did not pay off.

A sage wrote that the suffering of innocent children is an argument against God. That is possible but not in this case. It isn’t the Divinity who is unleashing drones and missiles on the Gaza kids. It is a power that is human, all too human – the Israeli Army. It is not God who is morally or spiritually responsible. It is human beings. The Israeli military have a choice not to do this evil but choose to do it. Let us be fair to the Creator and not impute to him a wickedness which is essentially human.

This is not a Manichean point. To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, “a child is a child is a child is a child.” Ordinary Israelis are human, let’s never forget that. Their kids are vulnerable and can suffer too. However, to date in this latest conflict, 61 Palestinian children have been killed by IDF strikes, and many more wounded. I have also read of two Israeli children being killed by Hamas rockets. One single dead child is too many, of course. Still, the balance appears chillingly disproportionate.

Gaza’s children have been targeted before, in subtler, perhaps more cruel ways than bombs. Back in 2010, IDF commandos took over boats of a flotilla meant to deliver humanitarian aid to the blockaded city. Israel demanded that the ships be taken to port and searched for banned goods. The flotilla's cargo included kids' toys, jam, chocolate and dried fruits. Were the Israelis afraid they could be turned into Kassam rockets? It was collective punishment and one of the meanest sorts. Because it was aimed at innocent children. To stop them from enjoying themselves like children anywhere do. What could be nastier than that? I remember dreaming at the time that Israeli kids would feel compassion and send gifts of toys to their Palestinian counterparts. It would have been wonderful! Vain hope, alas.

The Greek philosopher Empedocles conceived of reality as governed by two fundamental forces, Love and Strife. The elements of the cosmos are combined or united by Love and separated or fragmented by Strife, also called Hatred. The two principles war against each other. Love sometimes reigns supreme, until Hatred proves stronger. In the Golden Age, Love is completely triumphant, then Hatred hits back and conquers. The battle is everlasting.

Looking at the Holy Land, it seems that the forces of darkest hatred are in the ascendant. Love doesn’t give up so easily, though. My dear little Ali, you and the suffering children of Palestine, don’t despair. I promise you, in the end Love shall overcome!

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/524468-gaza-children-learned-hate-jews/

#NYT EDITORIAL: A Cease-Fire, and New Ideas in Israel and the Palestinian Territories

The cease-fire between Hamas militants in Gaza and Israel didn’t come a second too soon.

Israelis should not have to live in fear of rockets raining down, which killed a dozen people living in Israel since fighting broke out 11 days ago. Nor should people in Gaza live in fear that they might become collateral damage from Israeli bombs. Israeli airstrikes and artillery killed at least 230 Palestinians, including militants and many civilians.

Israel has a right — even a responsibility — to put a stop to the rocket attacks at their source. More than 4,000 were fired at Israel from Gaza in 10 days, though most were intercepted by the Iron Dome antimissile system. But the fighting took an unbearable toll on civilians, the vast majority of them Palestinian. More than 60 children in Gaza were killed, tens of thousands of people were displaced, and hundreds of buildings were destroyed or severely damaged.

The most intractable problems facing Israel and the Palestinians cannot be bombed away. When the dust settles, the misery and resentment will remain, starting in motion the next round of fighting. It is not in the interests of Israel, the United States or the rest of the world to make life unlivable in Gaza or to see another generation of children grow into adulthood knowing no government but Hamas, no economy but blockade and no certainty about the future except periodic bombardment.

As this round of fighting ends, two million people remain penned into 141 square miles of Gaza, with no escape from the devastation and economic blockade. There is now civil unrest and sectarian violence in communities in Israel that no Iron Dome or separation wall can parry. Across the region, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians mounted a general strike, the largest peaceful demonstration of unity in many years.

Political solutions are the only bloodless solutions. But politics is broken. Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been prime minister longer than any other Israeli, has been unable through several elections to gather a stable majority in Parliament. Mahmoud Abbas, the octogenarian and increasingly unpopular president of the Palestinian Authority, recently called off its first elections in 15 years, dashing hopes that a new generation of leaders might emerge.

The Biden administration could be forgiven for coming into office without any grand plans for solving one of the world’s most intractable geopolitical problems. Every year the “peace process” has yielded nothing but the aggressive expansion of settlements and shrinking areas of land for a future Palestinian state. The expansion has brought no lasting security for Israel.There is a dire need for fresh thinking from the Biden administration both to meet the moment and to address growing calls from his party to reassess the U.S.-Israeli relationship. That pressure comes not only from young lawmakers to the left of the president but also from older, more hawkish Democrats. Senator Robert Menendez, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, put out a statement last weekend calling for an end to hostilities. “I am deeply troubled by reports of Israeli military actions that resulted in the death of innocent civilians in Gaza as well as Israeli targeting of buildings housing international media outlets,” it read in part.President Biden should not delay in appointing an ambassador to Israel and reiterate that American support doesn’t include support for settlements or endless occupation. There is also an urgent need for his administration to rebuild ties with the Palestinian people, which atrophied under President Donald Trump. In 2018 the Trump administration closed the office of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Washington, D.C., and also closed the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem that had served as a quasi embassy for Palestinians. The consulate’s operations were folded into the U.S. Embassy, which had just relocated to Jerusalem. Palestinians boycotted the new office. As a result, American officials have had no meaningful and sustained political contact with Palestinian officials for two years.

The Biden administration should appoint an envoy to the Palestinian people, tasked with restoring relations with Palestinian officials and building ties with civil society groups and the new generation of leaders who have been shut out of power with the lack of elections. The portfolio should include Palestinian people, broadly speaking, including their vital ties to brethren in Israel and throughout the diaspora.

The Biden administration should also consider new ideas. One approach would be for American diplomats to take tangible steps to “improve the freedom, prosperity and security of all people living between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River” while trying to preserve the possibility of a Palestinian state — a proposal outlined in a report by the Center for a New American Security.

Adopting this model would require American diplomats to speak out against restrictions on trade and freedom of movement for Palestinians and to advocate reducing the disparities in treatment of Israeli and Palestinian civilians. The secretary of state, Antony Blinken, appears to be leaning in this direction, writing on Twitter that “Israelis and Palestinians deserve equal measures of freedom, dignity, security and prosperity,” echoing language in that report.

Many Palestinians, as well as progressives in the United States and Israel, favor a second model, which would shift American policy in the region away from a nearly exclusive focus on obtaining Palestinian statehood and on Israel’s security to the protection of human rights. A number of analysts have floated this idea over the years, most recently in a report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the US/Middle East Project.

In an ideal scenario, the rights-based approach, as it is often referred to, would lead to the preservation of rights of Jewish Israelis — to life, to security, to their religious traditions and to the idea of a Jewish homeland — and address the rights of Palestinians to life, security, political representation, freedom of movement, freedom to work and to citizenship in a country that values them.

Many young Palestinians say their parents’ dream of an independent state has morphed into a struggle for civil rights within the borders of land that Israel has controlled since 1967. But there are some who believe in the two-state solution that this editorial board has long advocated and argue that the rights-based approach is a strategy to get Israel’s government to grapple with what a one-state reality would really mean, which might motivate them to get back to the bargaining table to establish a Palestinian state.

A cease-fire should be celebrated. But when the guns fall silent, the hard work of forging a more lasting peace needs to begin. If it does not, it’s only a matter of time before more innocent lives are lost again.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/21/opinion/ceasefire-israel-palestinian-territories.html

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#Pakistan - 24 more patients died of Coronavirus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

 As many as 24 more persons have died of Coronavirus during last 24 hours taking total toll of deaths from the pandemic to 3924 in the province, official sources in Health Department confirmed on Saturday.

The official said that during the period 918 persons recovered from the virus taking the number of recovered persons 119,241 in the province.

A total of 7,754 corona tests were conducted in the period out of which the virus was confirmed in 400 persons, raising the total number of Corona patients to 129,413. Active cases in the province were 6248.

During last 24 hours, the highest 125 Corona cases have been reported from the provincial metropolis Peshawar, 36 in Abbottabad, 35 in Mardan, 28 in Mansehra and 26 cases in D.I. Khan respectively.

https://www.brecorder.com/news/40094449/24-more-patients-died-of-coronavirus-in-kp

#Pakistan - Failing our children

Maria Taimur

EACH day brings us heavy news of a child being sexually assaulted somewhere in the country. The issue needs to be seared into the public’s consciousness so that it results in the same wake-up call that we saw in Zainab Ansari’s assault and murder case in 2018. Public debates on the issue and policy interventions are the need of the hour. Although we have seen several gruesome cases of paedophilia and child abuse — such as the murder of over 100 young boys by the serial killer Javed Iqbal in 2001 — silence surrounds the topic which is considered taboo.

There are different factors which increases a child’s vulnerability to abuse. The current rise in child abuse cases and a statistical analysis show that there is a greater threat tilted towards male minors (under 10 years) who become victims of sexual abuse. Unless remedial measures are taken, this problem is likely to continue because there is a perception among parents and guardians of minor children that male minors are less likely to be the target of abuse. There are serious hazards attached to such misplaced perceptions, and a shift in this view and far greater caution by the parents is required.

Male minors are culturally perceived to be largely immune from abuse. The belief is that they can take care of themselves very well and even chaperone adult female relatives to ward off unwanted social pressure and harassment. This unnatural, culturally constructed masculine image puts male minors at a great disadvantage. As the data shows, male minors fall victim to strangers as well acquaintances and are assaulted in both open and closed spaces.

The disparity in the number of cases of child abuse among the provinces is the result of a difference in reporting mechanisms, cultural understanding of the issue and poor awareness of the laws. Nevertheless, a statistical scrutiny of reported cases reveals that among the children in the age brackets six to 10 and 11 to 15 years, boys are more vulnerable to sexual exploitation as compared to girls. But in the 0 to 5 and 16 to 18 years age brackets, it is females who are more susceptible to being abused. Overall, the reported cases of assault on male minors is almost twice that of female minors. Urban areas top the list mainly because of greater awareness of such cases and media and police access. But the situation may not be that much different in the rural areas.

Male minors are wrongly perceived to be immune from abuse.

The reluctance to report stems mainly from two reasons. One is the culture of silence which forces the parents to stay quiet and not approach the police. Analyses show that the absence of knowledge of child protection laws further paralyses the parents who hide facts. There have been instances where the child’s mother knew about the repeated assault he was being subjected to at school but since her son complained of physical pain only, she did not share this information with her husband for fear that she would be blamed for being a negligent mother. She was also afraid that her child’s education would be discontinued.The second reason is the family pressure on parents not to disclose the identity of the perpetrator who is often a close relation or someone they know very well. Research on the proximity of the perpetrator to the child throws up some uncomfortable facts. The perpetrator can be a family member and the communication gap between the parents and the children and the blind trust of the parents in this family member who is actually a threat to their child is also responsible for such issues going unnoticed for long periods of time.

There are many challenges to grapple with when it comes to child abuse, and it is not easy to find solutions to this crime. Information and knowledge related to self-protection, also focusing on male minors and their vulnerability, must be made part of school studies and media campaigns. Children, both boys and girls, must learn that no place is safe from abuse and that they should immediately report any instance of being molested to their parents.

Similarly, parents and extended communities can be approached by the police to make them aware of their role as protectors of children and how they can come up with an effective child protection system, based on distinctive environments and social settings. Police come across many cases of attempted assault where parents and teachers are not sensitive to the need of the rehabilitation of the survivor through consultations with a psychiatrist or another similar professional support system.

A top-to-bottom approach to child abuse is needed, whereby the government devises practicable and efficient legal frameworks as well as child-centred policies and programmes with specific budgetary allocations. The reticence and sensitivity dominating this issue has unfortunately pushed society towards a dead end. A multi-stakeholder approach is the only effective solution to this long-standing problem. https://www.dawn.com/news/1624825/failing-our-children

Since PTI formed their government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, poverty levels have gone up by 9% to a whopping 27% today – says Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

 The Chairman Pakistan People’s Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, has said that the PTI-led federal government has a unique talent in being absolutely shameless when it boldly and brazenly misleads the people. The Federal Government has, since its first day in office, been fudging numbers and stacking statistics in their favour. “Fudging economic figures may feed the large egos in the government, but it doesn’t feed the people. These alleged facts and figures are tantamount to gaslighting the lived experience of the people who are being crushed under the economic failures of Imran Khan.”

The Chairman PPP went on to say that since the PTI formed government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa nearly a decade ago, poverty levels have increased exponentially, with figures showing that poverty has gone up by 8.9% to a whopping 27% today.

In contrast, under the PPP the province of Sindh has managed to slash the poverty rate by 7.6 percent. The PPP government in Sindh has also overseen Sindhs rise in per capita income, with the province now leading in both rural and urban figures, he pointed out.

“Despite soul crushing inflation and rapidly increasing poverty levels, the PTI-led federal government is preparing to levy taxes on the pensions of the retired employees.”

The Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto said that the PPP was determined to protect the rights of pensioners and that it rejects any scheme that would seek to tax them. The proposed ten percent tax on pensions in next budget would only push people further to the brink.

The powers that foisted an incredibly inept government and Prime Minister on the country have done a great disservice to the country and its future, he added.

https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/24861/

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Pakistan's top diplomat makes anti-Semitic remark during CNN interview about Gaza conflict

By Bianna Golodryga and Emmet Lyons

In a CNN interview that was supposed to focus on the United Nations finding a solution to the violence between Israel and Hamas, Pakistan's top diplomat Shah Mahmood Qureshi instead made an anti-Semitic remark.

"The pressure of public opinion is mounting, and ceasefire is inevitable. Israel is losing out. They're losing the media war despite their connections, they are losing the media war," the Pakistani foreign minister said Thursday.

"What are their connections?" asked CNN's Bianna Golodryga.

"Deep pockets."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, they are very influential people. I mean, they control media," Qureshi responded. "I would call that an anti-Semitic remark," Golodryga replied.

During the "Amanpour" program on Thursday, Golodryga repeatedly called out comments made on-air by the Pakistani foreign minister as anti-Semitic.The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) defines a working definition of anti-Semitism as "the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions."

Speaking from CNN's UN office in New York, Qureshi said of Israel:

"The point is they have a lot of influence, and they get a lot of coverage. Now what has balanced that is the citizen journalist who has -- who has been reporting, sharing video clip(s) and that has jolted people and that has woken up people, and people who were sitting on the fence are today speaking up." "Do you see how in different capitals of the world, in London and Madrid, in Michigan, Chicago, every place from Sydney to the European capitals, people have come out and (are) saying put an end to this insanity. They're calling for an immediate ceasefire. The Security Council has failed in... coming out with a joint statement and forging a consensus."

While there have been peaceful protests across the world regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there have also been reports of a rise in anti-Semitic acts in countries such as Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom in recent days. When pressed by Golodryga as to whether he could support calls for peace without anti-Semitic rhetoric, the Pakistani foreign minister said that he would not condone rocket attacks and "the aerial bombardment that is taking place."

"You do not engage, there are no negotiations, when there's occupation, when there's genocide, when there's war crime... ethnic cleansing, then an extremist element takes advantage of that situation. Avoid it. How do you avoid it? You avoid it by pursuing a two-state solution, by adhering to the Security Council resolutions and respecting them, implementing them, fulfilling the promises that have been made, and have been often broken."

The foreign minister denied that he had used an anti-Semitic trope.

"What I am saying is the perception. Look at the perception the world has. You cannot ignore that ... negate it. Negate it. By giving a balanced coverage, negate it."Golodryga asked whether the foreign minister was able to be an honest diplomatic broker in the conflict and whether he would agree that Israeli and Palestinian lives are equally important. "I am objective and I would want to be objective. Loss of life, I will not condone. Every life, every human life is important to me," he replied.Golodryga asked Qureshi "personally to please avoid using anti-Semitic tropes." Qureshi responded by saying he has "never been anti-Semitic and I never will be."

پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری کی جنگ بندی کے اعلان کے بعد مسجد اقصی پر اسرائیلی جارحیت کی شدید مذمت

 

 پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے جنگ بندی کے اعلان کے بعد مسجد اقصی پر اسرائیلی جارحیت کی شدید مذمت کرتے ہوئے کہا ہے کہ اسرائیل جنگ بندی کے اعلانات کے باوجود مسجد اقصی پر دستی بموں سے حملے کرکے اپنی بدنیتی واضح کرچکا ہے اور نماز جمعہ کی ادائیگی کے بعد مسجد اقصی کے تقدس کو پامال کرکے اسرائیل نے دنیا بھر کے مسلمانوں کے جذبات کو مجروح کیا ہے، میڈیا سیل بلاول ہاؤس سے جاری اپنے ایک بیان میں چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا کہ اسرائیل نے جنگ بندی کا جشن منانے والے نہتے فلسطینیوں پر حملہ کرکے مہذب دنیا کے منہ پر طمانچہ مارا ہے

، جنگ بندی کے اعلان کے بعد اسرائیل کی سیکیورٹی فورسز نے پیش قدمی کرکے عالمی قوانین کی دھجیاں اڑادیں ہیں، انہوں نے مطالبہ کیا کہ اقوام عالم نیتن یاہو سے جواب طلب کریں کہ اسرائیلی جارحیت میں اب تک شہید ہونے والے 66 بچوں اور 39 عورتوں کا کیا قصور تھا، انہوں نے کہا کہ حالیہ اسرائیلی بربریت کے نتیجے میں اب تک 243 فلسطینیوں کی شہادت اور دوہزار افراد کا زخمی ہونا انسانی المیہ ہے جبکہ مشرقی یروشلم پر اسرائیل کا قبضہ اقوام متحدہ کے لئے ایک ٹیسٹ کیس ہے،

 انہوں نے یہ بھی کہا کہ شہید ذوالفقار علی بھٹو نے پوری دنیا میں فلسطین کا مقدمہ لڑا جبکہ مظلوم فلسطینیوں کی آواز بن کر شہید بے نظیر بھٹو نے جرات مندانہ کردار ادا کیا، چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے اپنے عزم کا اعادہ کرتے ہوئے بتایا کہ پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی ہمیشہ کی طرح فلسطین کے مظلوم انسانوں کے ساتھ کھڑے ہوکر اپنے عہد کو نبھارہی ہے-

https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/24850/A

PPP initiated CPEC and played a crucial role in making China Pakistan’s closest ally

 Former President of Pakistan and President Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians Asif Ali Zardari has felicitated both nations, Pakistan and China, on completing 70 years of friendship.

The foundation of this friendship was laid by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as the foreign minister of Pakistan. The longevity of this bond is testament of the well wishing nature and mutual respect between both countries. This friendship is regarded as deeper than the oceans and taller than the Himalayas, which has stood the test of time for several decades.

PPP is proud to have initiated the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is a practical manifestation of the friendship between both countries.

The relations between the two countries and their people are so strong that China is commonly perceived as Pakistan’s closest ally.

President Zardari said that during his tenure as the president, he visited China several times because his policy was to strengthen the relations. It is hoped that the bond between the two countries will continue to grow.

https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/24847/

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نیب نے عثمان بزدار کے خلاف وعدہ معاف گواہ تیا ر کر لیے؟ شیخ رشید باس بننے کے شوق میں بےعزتی کروا بیٹھے، جہانگیر ترین کی ڈوریاں کس کے ہاتھ ؟ چودھری نثار پھر منظر سے غائب ہوجائیں گے

Pakistan parliamentarians want to ‘nuke’ Israel, declare jihad. Right, like that will help

NAILA INAYAT

If you want to show support to Palestine, quoting Hitler isn’t the way to go. Some in Pakistan don’t understand that.

Pakistan’s National Assembly earlier this week passed a resolution condemning Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people. Several fiery speeches were made by the parliamentarians, with many questioning the usefulness of passing such a resolution and asking the government to do more. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced countrywide protests against Israel come Friday. What more?

Pakistan declaring jihad against Israel and subsequently dropping nukes, using its artillery of missiles, war jets, or even the army, was the recurring “more” offered by parliamentarians. As Jamaat-e-Islami’s Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali asked of the army chief of Pakistan, what good was a seven lakh-strong army if it can’t liberate Palestine and Kashmir? Was the nuclear bomb just an artefact to be displayed in the museum? Similarly, Jamaat Ulema Islam’s Mufti Abdul Shakoor was convinced that Pakistan could wipe out Israel from the face of the earth within minutes. After all, Pakistan was “atomi quwat”. Citing how the Taliban forced out the United States from Afghanistan, Shakoor said “Israel was just a small fry”.

Another Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) parliamentarian Asma Qadeer pleaded with the speaker to let her enrol for jihad, because it was the only option for Pakistan. She also called US Vice-President Kamala Harris a blot on the name of womanhood and humanity for siding with Israel. “She has spoken the language of India and not America.” Qadeer is the same parliamentarian who suggested ties with Israel in a national assembly speech in 2018.y Policy

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 Atom bomb or long game?

It seems that Hitler is available these days to give out quotes to Pakistani politicians — almost as if he leaves random voice notes on their WhatsApp. Kanwal Shauzab, national assembly member from the ruling PTI, claimed Hitler said: “I could’ve killed all the Jews but I left some to let the world know why I was killing them.” She was rewarded with desk thumping at the revelation of an incorrect quote attributed to the mass killer.

Shauzab then went onto talk about how Pakistan’s atom bomb would only be burst on Shab-e-Barat. Missing the irony of the destruction linked with the atom bomb.

State minister for parliamentary affairs Ali Muhammad Khan, however, didn’t want to nuke Israel, he preferred Muslims preparing/planning like Jews did for the next 1,000 years. Khan referred to ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’, a fake antisemitic hoax about a grand Jewish plan for global domination. A crash course on Palestine for parliamentarians outside WhatsApp University looks like the need of hour.

Outside parliament, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) pledged Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan half-a-million workers who could join him to ensure Palestine’s freedom. “Pakistani Muslims will sacrifice their youth and lives, but they will not accept the filthy feet of Jews in Jerusalem,” TLP leader Ashraf Asif Jalali said in solidarity with Erdoğan.

Jingoism won’t work Emotions are running so high in Pakistan that the passionate arguments put forward by politicians translate into sheer stupidity because they want to keep using the nuclear weapon. Imagine, the idea of these parliamentarians is to liberate Palestinians by dropping nukes in their neighbourhood. All in the name of saving them. And on other occasions, it is pure antisemitism, again in the name of supporting the Palestinian cause.

Pakistani actress Veena Malik tweeted the same popular Hitler saying, “I would have killed all the Jews of the world…but I kept some to show the world why I killed them.” After backlash, the tweet was removed by Twitter. In another instance, CNN dropped Adeel Raja, a Pakistan-based contributor, who had tweeted: “The world needs a Hitler.” Several other antisemitic tweets by Raja surfaced that hailed Hitler, and offered support to Germany in a World Cup final because “Hitler was a German and he did good with those Jews!”What do you think supporting Hitler means in 2021? Do you think that a Hitler now would go on a killing rampage of the “other” and not kill you because of your faith? How much trust would you have in Hitler to believe this? These questions never cross the minds that can’t think beyond the prism of faith.For decades, Pakistani school textbooks and national discourse has ingrained the idea that countries are essentially faith-based. So, the common reference to an Indian wouldn’t be “Indian” but “Hindu”, an American would be “Christian”, and an Israeli, a “Jew”. Which also alienates the religious minorities in Pakistan, especially when in a conflict.

From Hindus are “cow urine-drinking people” to a poster that says “Hindu baat se nahin laat se manta hai (Hindu won’t understand with words but with kicks)”, to “Modi and Hindus do not have humanity, they are beasts”, jingoism gets applause at home, but exposes you when you use the same bigoted jargon to stand for a cause like Palestine.

https://theprint.in/opinion/letter-from-pakistan/pakistan-parliamentarians-want-to-nuke-israel-declare-jihad/661755/

Never before has our country been so dependent on donations and aid – says Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

The Chairman Pakistan People’s Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, has said that the puppet Prime Minister Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi has spent his time in office touring the world, begging bowl in hand to get alms for Pakistan. The myopic and short sighted policies of the PM had brought Pakistan on the verge of devestation, he added.

“Pakistan has been reduced to a country surviving on the kindness of friendly nations. Never before has our country been so dependent on aid and loans. It is a travesty that we have gone from a country that demanded ‘trade not aid’ under President Asif Ali Zardari, to a country that is constantly begging from Peter to pay Paul under this incompetent regime.”
Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari added that the selected PM and his aides would soon follow in the footsteps of Pervez Musharraf and flee from the country, settling abroad with their ill-gotten gains.
“There is a very clear and present danger that the country will go bankrupt if the selected PM completes his five-year term. The damage being done to the country is so severe that it may take years for the following governments to undo it.”
The selected PM had misguided the youth with his fraudulent and deceptive slogans of change. The only thing he had succeeded in however was to insult and denigrate the aspirations and dreams of the youth, he added. “Even today, the puppet Prime Minister is lying to the people when he says he inherited the economic crisis. The fact is that his incompetence has driven the country’s economy to the brink of devastation.” The people though have realised that he is an imposter, imposed on the country through a rigged election. The Prime Minister may pretend he can hide behind the COVID-19 pandemic, but even that can’t explain away why Pakistan’s economy is faring much worse than its neighbours, he added.
“Imran Khan will go down as the most untrustworthy Prime Minister in the eyes of the masses. He may have hoodwinked the youth, but they too see through his hollow slogans of change.”
The Chairman PPP went on to say that the thugs and mafias in the PTI-led federal government couldn’t enter their electoral constituencies fearing the wrath of their constituents.
“Crippling inflation, unemployment, and poverty have left the people of Pakistan vulnerable. The very foundation of Pakistan is buckling under the weight of the sheer incompetence that personifies PTI and not a single department has been spared the administrative, financial, and political fallout from the inept handling of the multitude of crises brought on by the PTI government”.

https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/24839/

عمران اور حواری لوٹ مار کے بعد لندن بھاگ جائیں گے، بلاول

 پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے پیشگوئی کرتے ہوئے  کہا کہ عمران خان اور حواری لوٹ مار کے بعد لندن بھاگ جائیں گے۔

اپنے ایک بیان میں بلاول بھٹو نے کہا کہ عمران خان نے مدت پوری کی تو ملک کے دیوالیہ ہونے کا خدشہ ہے، کورونا سے پہلے ہی عمران خان معیشت کا جنازہ نکال چکے تھے۔

بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا کہ آنے والی نسلیں عمران خان کی تبدیلی کی قیمت ادا کریں گی۔

سوشل میڈيا پر عمران خان کی حمایت میں چلنے والے ٹرینڈ پر بھی بلاول بھٹو نے جواب دے دیا۔

انہوں نے لکھا کہ ان کا نام بلاول بھٹو زرداری ہے اور وہ پاکستان کے عوام کے ساتھ کھڑے ہيں جو سلیکٹڈ کو مسترد کرچکے ہیں۔

https://jang.com.pk/news/929290

پی ایس 70 ماتلی ضمنی انتخاب: پی پی کے محمد ہالیپوٹو کامیاب

 ضلع بدین کے حلقہ پی ایس 70 ماتلی کے ضمنی انتخابات میں غیرسرکاری اور غیر حتمی نتائج کے مطابق پی پی کے امیدوار محمد ہالیپوٹو کامیاب ہوگئے ہیں۔

حلقے کے تمام 123 پولنگ اسٹیشنز کا غیرسرکاری نتیجہ سامنے آگیا ہے۔

غیرسرکاری اور غیر حتمی نتائج کے مطابق پیپلز پارٹی کے امیدوار محمد ہالیپوٹو 44 ہزار 893  نے ووٹ حاصل کیے جبکہ جمعیت علماء اسلام (جے یو آئی ف) کے امیدوار گل حسن 6 ہزار 143 ووٹ ووٹ لے سکے۔

خیال رہے کہ حلقے میں پولنگ صبح 8 بجے شروع ہوئی اور اپنے شام 5 بجے تک بلا تعطل جاری رہی۔

شدید گرمی کے باوجود صبح سے ہی پولنگ اسٹیشنوں پر رش نظر آیا، اور ووٹرز کی بڑی تعداد حق رائے دہی استعمال کرنے گھروں سے باہر آئی۔

خواتین پولنگ اسٹینشز پر بھی ووٹرز کی بڑی تعداد ووٹ کاسٹ کرنے پہنچی۔

علاقے میں ٹوٹی سڑکیں، اسپتالوں کی کمی، اسکولوں کی خراب صورتحال، گندگی اور صفائی کی ابتر حالت پر ووٹرز سخت پریشان دکھائی دیے۔

حلقہ پی ایس 70 میں ووٹرز کی کل تعداد 1 لاکھ 66 ہزار 909 ہے۔ جن میں خواتین ووٹرز کی تعداد 75 ہزار 222 ہے۔

خیال رہے کہ یہ نشست پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کے رکن اسمبلی بشیر احمد پالیپوٹو کے انتقال کے باعث خالی ہوئی تھی۔

اس نشست پر 5 امیدوار ضمنی انتخاب میں حصہ لے رہے ہیں، جن میں پیپلز پارٹی کے محمد ہالیپوٹو اور جے یو آئی کے گل حسن میں سخت مقابلہ متوقع ہے

https://jang.com.pk/news/929250

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PM Imran Khan trying to make Sindh's land barren by reducing water supply, says Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari

 

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was trying to make the lands of Sindh barren by reducing the water supply to the province.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was trying to make the lands of Sindh barren by reducing the water supply to the province.Speaking at a press conference, the opposition leader said that the Khan-led federal government had failed to ensure a fair distribution of water in the country, reported The News International. "Karachi, Thatta, Badin, Sujawal and Tharparkar have been facing acute water shortage while stopping water supply to Sindh at the time of sowing would be disastrous for rice cultivation and textile sector," he said. Demanding the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) officials clarify on whose orders the share of water for Sindh was reduced, Bilawal said that any province of the country would raise its voice if its right to water was violated.

Responding to Bilawal's comments, IRSA spokesman Muhammad Khalid Rana said that due to the shortage of water in the rivers, water supply to Sindh had to be reduced for some days but the situation is under control now, The News International reported. Earlier yesterday, farmers of Pakistan's Sindh province and workers of the PPP threatened to stage a sit-in protest at the Sindh-Punjab border to seal it if the 'theft' of the province's waters was not stopped.

While addressing a press conference on Saturday, Sindh's irrigation minister Sohail Anwar Siyal said that the PPP will stage a protest under the leadership of Bilawal, Dawn reported. Siyal and Sindh's information minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah reiterated that the inefficiency of the federal government has caused a great deal of damage to the country's agriculture sector and national economy.

This is a government of the elite, by the elite, and for the elite – says Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

 

The Chairman Pakistan People’s Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, has said that the legacy of Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi’s government would be unfettered and unabashed corruption and incompetence. The unprecedented massive corruption, he said, was the root cause of Pakistan’s decimated economy.

In a statement, Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that any nation plagued with a corrupt ruler would never be able to stabilise the economy. “This a government of the elite, by the elite, and for the elite. They are busy minting money, while the masses have been crushed under the burden of skyrocketing prices of essential commodities.”
He said that the puppet PM, Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi, was solely responsible for the economic disaster in the country, and despite all his efforts to scapegoat his ministers and advisors, he would not be allowed to escape accountability for his actions.
The Chairman PPP, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, demanded the puppet PM explain where the billions of rupees the government had accumulated from levy and taxes on gas and electricity had gone. Have the government and its myriad ministers pilfered from the national exchequer?
“As custodian of the national exchequer, the PM is responsible for the public’s wealth. The buck stops with the puppet PM, and he will have to answer for every paisa.”

The PTI-led federal government first increased taxes to generate more revenue and then this revenue was being siphoned off by the crony capitalists and ministers from public welfare projects. The federal government and the Prime Minister have lost all credibility in the eyes of the people, he added. International institutions that monitor corruption have fully exposed the so-called transparency and honesty of Imran Khan and his government. To add to the farce that is this PTI led government, Imran Khans own party members have questioned his capability to govern fairly and honestly.
“A liar who has clung to the corridors of power through back room deals and false promises can never be trusted, nor he can be sincere to the people of the country. Imran Khans mandate doesn’t come from the people, so he doesn’t serve them. Only true representative of the will of people would be able to rescue Pakistan from the quagmire this government has sunk us in.”

https://www.ppp.org.pk/