Day: May 15, 2023

Deputizing for His Majesty King Abdullah II, Minister of Investment Kholoud Al-Saqqaf inaugurated the fourth Conference for French-Speaking Business Owners on Monday, in the Dead Sea area. The conference, held under the theme “Jordan: The Land of Promising Opportunities for International Investors,” aims to promote investment potential in the country and attract more foreign businesses. Organized by the Jordan Businessmen Association (JBA), in cooperation with the French-speaking businessmen group, the conference brings together some 200 investors and economic experts in various fields, as well as several local, Arab, and international companies and institutions. Sixteen nations, including Jordan, are taking part in the two-day conference, which will have 12 sessions with 60 experts and professionals presenting for the first time in a non-French-speaking nation. In addition to Jordan, the conference is attended by France, Belgium, Tunisia, Algeria, Canada, Romania, the Ivory Coast, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Croatia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Benin, Palestine, and Senegal. In remarks during the opening ceremony, Al-Saqqaf said that the bilateral ties between Jordan and French-speaking nations (Francophone countries) are crucial for political and economic development as well as for free trade, culture, and education. “We hope this conference will provide a venue for experience sharing and the introduction of investment prospects in Jordan, looking forward to a genuine ongoing collaboration that meets its objectives,” she added. The minister referred to the most significant economic reforms that the Jordanian government has undertaken to unleash potential opportunities, pursue comprehensive and sustainable growth, and enhance the quality of life for Jordanians, noting that the Ministry of Investment was established to serve as the primary source for investment in the Kingdom. She also mentioned the adoption of the new Investment Environment law in accordance with the best international practices, as well as the planning of public-private partnership projects with the intention of luring and facilitating investments and integrating into regional and international markets. “The Kingdom sought to create an action plan based on thorough planning and an ambitious vision for the future represented in the introduction of Economic Modernization Vision 2033, which focuses on a total modernization of political, economic, and administrative systems. This national road map has ambitious, attainable, and temporary standards for governments over the course of the next ten years, led by His Majesty King Abdullah II,” she added. One of the eight most crucial engines of the Vision, which strives to encourage both local and foreign investment and improve the business climate in Jordan, is the investment engine, she said. In order to make Jordan a viable and desirable investment destination, the Ministry of Investment is working on a number of programs. Regarding collaboration between the public and private sectors, Al-Saqqaf stated that several bankable projects have been identified, including investment potentials in the water, transportation, digital economy, and educational sectors. Additionally, an integrated investment platform concerned with promoting investment in Jordan (Invest.Jo), in accordance with international best practices in this area, will soon be launched to promote Jordan’s competitive investment environment. The minister went over the promising investment opportunities in every industry, including information technology, travel and medical tourism, pharmaceuticals and life sciences, health care services, the food industries, textiles and apparel manufacturing, agriculture and related agricultural labor, logistics, chemicals, and fertilizers. She emphasized that Jordan is prepared for investment and that the Ministry of Investment, which represents the government, is able to offer all forms of assistance to complete the investment process, from promoting the investment opportunity to helping in the establishment of economic activity to overcoming any challenges that may arise in the post-operational stage. JBA President Hamdi Tabbaa asserted that the conference’s planning is a reflection of the Association’s efforts to strengthen Jordanian-Francophone countries’ trade, investment, and economic cooperation in a variety of fields. “The conference is a significant step toward developing an action plan that improves the use of business and investment prospects present in numerous Francophone nations dispersed across the continents of the world,” he continued, highlighting Jordan’s location which offers a great opportunity to start and engage in collaborative projects as a global logistic hub for commerce. President of the French Economic, Social and Environmental Council, Thierry Baudet, referred to Jordan as a friend of the Francophone nations and expressed his hope that the conference would serve to expand ties, particularly considering that the Kingdom is a politically stable nation. “In addition to unemployment, Jordan is currently dealing with a number of climate change-related issues, which have an impact on the country’s limited water supplies. As a result, business owners and investors need to drive their investments toward the Kingdom and develop business, trade, entrepreneurs, and pioneers,” he added. Head of the French-speaking businessmen group, Jean Le Blacher, indicated that in addition to promoting the French language, the group works to boost economic prospects and develop financial and commercial exchanges within the Francophone region. On its first day, the conference provides insight into several significant topics, the most crucial of which are investment potential in Jordan through Francophone nations, investment funds, and economic and trade linkages between Jordan, the Middle East, and Francophone countries. It will also tackle prospects for investment opportunities in the energy and water sectors, mining sector, green technology, and French as the primary business language in the Francophone world, in addition to the role of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Source: Jordan News Agency

President Mahmoud Abbas today urged the colonial states to redress the historical injustice inflicted on the Palestinian people. Speaking before at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York in high-level meeting dedicated for the first time in UN history to mark the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, President Abbas held colonial powers, particularly the US and Britian, directly responsible politically and morally for the Nakba and stressed that they have a historical responsibility to bring the historical suffering inflicted on Palestinians to an end. The Nakba (Arabic for the ‘catastrophe’) refers to the 1948 displacement and dispossession of 750,000 Palestinians due to massacres carried out by Zionist militias. 500 Palestinian towns and villages were ultimately destroyed. President Abbas stated that the UN has either to oblige Israel to respect the United Nations’ resolutions, particularly the UN General Assembly Resolution 181 and UNGA Resolution 194, or else suspend Israel’s membership in the UN. He highlighted the pressing need to recognize the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, explaining that the most important prerequisites for regional peace and security is the recognition of the Palestinian people’s rights not only to self-determination, but also to independence, the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, the resolution of the refugees issue based on UNGA Resolution 194 and the release of all Palestinian political prisoners from Israeli prisons. Touching upon the founding myths of Zionism, President Abbas stated that the Palestinian narrative of the Nakba has begun to make its way to the awareness of the peoples, who have come to uncover the fraudulence of the Israeli narrative and listening to the Palestinian narrative and their tragedy. He refuted the Zionism’s founding myth of ‘a land without a people for a people without a land’, a myth that transformed in time to the idea of the uncultivated land, the greening of the desert and the idea of Israel’s defensive wars, while stressing that the indigenous Palestinian people have lived in their homeland, Palestine, since time immemorial and explaining that this myth has served as a cover to Zionism and Israel’s incessant attempts to obliterate the existence of the Palestinian people. He made reference to that Tantura: an explosive documentary directed by Israeli filmmaker Alon Schwarz that contains eye witness accounts of the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians at the hands of the Zionist militias in 1948. Reversing the infamous myth made in 1973 by Israeli diplomat Abba Eban that ‘the Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity,’ President Abbas said that it is the Palestinians who have lacked a partner for peace, and the it is Israel that has never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. He wondered how it could be that there is no a Palestinian partner for peace and that the Palestinian people do not have a genuine interest in peace when they have recognized Israel’s sovereignty over 78 percent of historic Palestine on the assumption that they would be able to exercise sovereignty over the remaining 22 percent. He affirmed that the Israeli occupation, Israel’s settler-colonialism and the ongoing Gaza siege are the root cause of the spiraling violence, whose effects were being felt around the world. He posed the question as to how long shall Israel remain above the law and how long shall it enjoy impunity, while stressing that the root causes of the ‘conflict’ and the Palestinian Question would remain unaddressed as long as Israel continues to act as a state above the law, demonstrate contempt for the law, fails to acknowledge its responsibility for the Nakba, seek forgiveness, redress the Palestinian people for this historical injustice and implement UN resolutions. If such a case persists, the Palestinian people would pursue all legal means to safeguard their rights, including pressing war crimes charges against Israel with the International Criminal Court, Abbas added. He stressed his keenness to achieve national unity within the framework of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and commitment to resolutions of international legitimacy. He concluded by pointing out that the UN decision to commemorate the Naka on May 15 constitutes a UN recognition of the perpetual historical injustice inflicted on the Palestinian people and a refutation of Zionism’s myths regarding the establishment of Israel. He voiced his confidence that the UN would not spare any effort in order to redress the historical injustice imposed upon the Palestinian people and eliminate the consequences of the Nakba. The UN commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba comes based on a resolution adopted by the General Assembly on Nov. 30, 2022, which stipulated that May 15, 2023, is considered a day to commemorate this memory.

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency

Israeli authorities today notified a Palestinian from the village of Al-Jalama, northeast of the occupied West Bank city Jenin, of their intention to seize his land in favor of expanding the apartheid wall, according to local sources. Mohamoud Abu Farha, the owner of the land, told WAFA that the Israeli forces notified him of their intentions to take over his land, to which he has documents that approve his ownership of the land, in favor of establishing a new extension of the annexation wall. The authorities ordered Abu Farha to not place any vehicles within 10 meters of the land under the pretext of that it was declared a closed military zone. Citizens expressed fear that such step aims to expand the wall which will lead to preventing them from entering their lands, said Amjad Abu Farha, head of the village council.

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency

The Israeli occupation authorities today seized a Palestinian tract of land to expand a colonial settlement in the northern occupied West Bank district of Qalqiliya, according to local sources. They said that the authorities took over 14 donums of olive-planted land belonging 10 families living in the villages of Jit, Fara’ta and Til, located east of the city, to make room for the expansion of the colonial outpost of Havat Gilad. Over 700,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law. The number of settlers has almost tripled since the Oslo Accords of 1993, when settlers’ number estimated 252,000. Illegal colonial settlements have leapt from 144 to 515 in that time. Israel’s nation-state law that passed last July stated that building and strengthening settlements as a ‘national interest.’

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency

Israeli settlers today torched Palestinian crops in Kisan village, east of the southern occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, according to municipal source. The village mayor, Mousa Ebayyat, said that a group of settlers set fire to wheat and barely crops planted in a plot land belonging to two farmers from the village. The assailants came from the nearby colonial settlement of Ma’ale Amos. Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities. Settler violence includes property and mosque arsons, stone-throwing, uprooting of crops and olive trees, attacks on vulnerable homes, among others. There are over 700,000 Israeli settlers living in colonial settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency

Israeli police today detained four Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, according to local sources. They said that the heavily-armed police rounded up two Palestinians from the Old City of Jerusalem. Meanwhile, police detained another, identified as a resident of Silat al-Harithiya village, northwest of Jenin, from his workplace in Umm al-Fahm city in northern Israel. The sources confirmed an army raid in Shweika neighborhood, north of Tulkarm, resulting in the detention of another. Earlier today, Israeli forces detained 11 Palestinians and ransacked a number of houses mostly in predawn raids across the West Bank. One of the detainees was identified as a resident of Silat al-Harithiya village, northwest of Jenin, another of Nur Shmas refugee camp, east of Tulkarm, another as a resident of Tulkarm refugee camp, and another as a resident of Tammun town, south of Tubas, in the northern West Bank. As part of the seven others, a Palestinian was detained from Arura town, north of Ramallah, four others from Beit Kahel town, northwest of Hebron, another from Sa’ir town, northeast of Hebron, in addition to another from al-Karmel village, east of Yatta. Israeli forces frequently raid Palestinian houses almost on a daily basis across the West Bank on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians, triggering clashes with residents. These raids, which take place also in areas under the full control of the Palestinian Authority, are conducted with no need for a search warrant, whenever and wherever the military chooses in keeping with its sweeping arbitrary powers. Under Israeli military law army commanders have full executive, legislative and judicial authority over 3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank. Palestinians have no say in how this authority is exercised. According to the latest figures from Addameer, the Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, there are currently 4,900 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 155 children and 32 female prisoners. This number includes 1,014 Palestinians placed under ‘administrative detention’, that allows the detention of Palestinians without charge or trial for renewable intervals ranging between three and six months based on undisclosed evidence that even a detainee’s lawyer is barred from viewing. Mass arrest of Palestinians is nothing new. According to a 2017 report by Addameer, over the past 50 years, more than 800,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned or detained by Israel, this figure is now believed to be closer to 1 million. This means that about 40% of Palestinian men and boys living under military occupation have been deprived of their freedom. Almost every Palestinian family has suffered the imprisonment of a loved one.

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency