Day: May 25, 2023

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis declared Wednesday evening his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president, according to the Florida Times Union. In his campaign video on his Twitter account, DeSantis said he was running to “lead our great American comeback”. DeSantis is Donald Trump’s main opponent for the the Republican presidential primary contest.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh today described forcing the Ein Samiy community, east of Ramallah, to relocate to escape settler violence as racist and ethnic cleansing. He said in a statement that this is part of a systematic policy of settlement expansion, through which the Israeli occupation authorities seize the land to expand the settlements that are built on lands in the targeted villages and towns throughout the occupied territories that live the terrorism of the occupation soldiers and settlers. Shtayyeh stressed the right of the residents of Ein Samiya community to return to their lands and properties, demanding an end to the displacement plans that affect about 250 communities along the eastern slopes of the West Bank.

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA

Yvonne Helle, Acting Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said today that the Palestinian community of Ein Samiya, near Ramallah, is compelled to relocate amid an increase in Israeli settler violence. On Monday 22 May, the Palestinian herding community of Ein Samiya began dismantling and leaving their homes, citing settler violence as their main reason. Until this week, Ein Samiya was home to 178 people, including 78 children. ‘These families are not leaving by choice; the Israeli authorities have repeatedly demolished homes and other structures they own and have threatened to destroy their only school. At the same time, land available for the grazing of livestock has decreased due to settlement expansion and both children and adults have been subjected to settler violence,’ said Helle. ‘We are witnessing the tragic consequences of longstanding Israeli practices and settler violence.’ Helle said in a statement that several communities have recently been displaced in similar circumstances, noting that since 2022, 81 Palestinians, including 42 children, have had to leave their communities of Wadi al-Seeq and Lifjim and similarly, last year, about 100 people left their community of Ras a Tin. ‘pursuant to international humanitarian law, the Government of Israel has obligations to protect Palestinians living under occupation and ensure that those responsible for violence against Palestinians are held accountable,’ said the Acting Humanitarian Coordinator. ‘Repeated demolitions, settlement expansion, loss of access to grazing land, and settler violence continue to cause concern about the coercive environment, which together with loss of homes and access to lands, generate more humanitarian need. Humanitarian actors are assessing the needs of the community and will continue to provide them with assistance,’ she said.

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA

Over 6,550 Palestinian students face life without an education unless Israel cancels demolition orders for 57 schools in the occupied West Bank, today said the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Two schools in the Bedouin communities of Ein Samiya, northeast of Ramallah, and Khashm al-Karm, southeast of Hebron, are at risk of imminent demolition by Israeli authorities. In Ein Samiya, continuous settler attacks and the anticipated demolition of the school forced the entire community of 172 people, including 78 children, to flee their homes on Tuesday. ‘We urge Israel not to destroy schools and to cancel all demolition orders in the occupied West Bank immediately,’ said Caroline Ort, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s country director for Palestine. ‘When a school is demolished, it not only disrupts the learning of those students but also the future of their families who will have to relocate their homes and livelihoods to give their children education.’ Ort said that ‘Israeli state and settler violence, property destruction and the denial of basic services has forced three Palestinian communities to flee their homes in 2023 alone. Without tangible actions to hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law, more and more Palestinians will be forcibly displaced.’ Israeli settlers set up an outpost some 500 meters from Ein Samiya last week and began a sustained attack on the whole community for several days. Since March 2022, Israeli settlers have harassed and intimidated the community, including throwing rocks at Palestinian vehicles, vandalizing and stealing agricultural equipment, setting fire to farming land, uprooting crops, running over livestock, and blocking roads. The West Bank Protection Consortium, led by NRC, provides material and legal assistance to the Ein Samiya and Khashm al-Karm communities, including building the two schools. Prior to their construction, children had to travel several kilometers in mountainous terrain near settlements to attend classes. The schools have long been at risk of demolition because they have no building permit, virtually impossible to obtain under Israel’s discriminatory and unlawful planning regime. The Israeli authorities already demolished a Consortium-funded school in the Jibb al-Deeb community, south-east Bethlehem, on 7 May. NRC visited the community following the demolition. Children said they have lost the school and the contents of their classrooms. They then moved to makeshift tents that were also confiscated by Israeli authorities. A fourth grader recalled the moment her school was torn down. ‘I saw them [Israeli military] destroy my school from my home,’ she said. ‘I came the following day to see it all empty. My school was gone. This is not right because it stops us from learning.’ A teacher at the school added, ‘The mental toll on the children and teachers is even more damaging. But despite this and the heavy price we are paying, we want to give children an opportunity to learn, because this is the right thing to do.’ Attacks on education or destruction of schools must not be used as a tool to destroy the future of young Palestinians, said NRC, adding that, alongside its partners, it will continue to provide support to those affected and urge Israel to abide by its obligations under international humanitarian law.

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates today welcomed the adoption by the World Health Organization (WHO) of a decision on the State of Palestine titled Health Conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the Occupied Syrian Golan. The decision was adopted at the meeting of the WHO General Assembly during its current 76th session during which 76 countries voted in favor of the decision, while 13 countries, including the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the United States, Britain, Fiji, and Australia, voted against, while 35 countries abstained. The Foreign Ministry thanked all the countries that voted in favor of the decision, calling on the countries that did not support it to reconsider their policies and not act in double standards when it comes to Palestinian rights. It stressed the importance of this decision, which talks about the health conditions in Palestine in light of the continuation of Israel, the occupying power, with its systematic violations of the rights of the Palestinian people to access health services, and the need for the international community to put pressure on Israel to accept the just demands of the Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in its jails, saying the lives of the prisoners is everyone’s responsibility.

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA