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Israeli Apartheid Regime Satisfied with the French White-Wash Conference, Continues Its Brutal Siege on Gaza and Occupation of the West Bank

June 5, 2016 

Editor's Note:

In a fake stunt initiative, the French President, Francois Hollande, held a token one-day conference in Paris for whoever wanted to come for a photo opportunity there.

The conference did not result in any decisions against the Israeli apartheid regime to ends its occupation of the Palestinian territories or to end its brutal siege of two million Palestinians in Gaza Strip.

It was nothing more than a white-wash move to show that that he thinks about peace in the Middle East, while he committed France to the NATO ongoing destruction of the Middle East.

 

A Palestinian woman and her children waiting to be allowed to cross from Gaza to Egypt, June 5, 2016	French President, Hollande, in a photo opportunity with conferees in a token peace conference in Paris, June 3, 2016

Pro-Palestinian rallies across Europe calling for lifting the brutal Israeli siege on Gaza, June 5, 2016 pic	Sit-inners in Amsterdam demand company to boycott Israel for its brutal occupation of Palestine, June 5, 2016 pic

 

Israel satisfied with the closing statement of the Paris conference

June 5, 2016, NAZARETH, (PIC)--

The Israeli government has expressed indirectly its satisfaction with the closing statement that was released by the Middle East peace conference held in Paris on Friday.

According to Israel's channel 10, a senior government official said, on condition of anonymity, that the closing communique of the Paris conference did not include any references to the 1967 borderline of the Palestinian state or Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.

He added that the conference also did not demand Israel to take instant steps towards the peace process.

The official also pointed out that the statement included only a call for the Palestinians and Israelis to return to the negotiating table.

The channel affirmed that the soft and satisfying tone towards Israel in the statement was the result of concerted diplomatic efforts made recently by Tel Aviv to convince American and European officials to refrain from crystallizing decisions against Israel's will.

However, the Israeli foreign ministry deplored the Paris conferees for not demanding the Palestinian president to engage in immediate peace talks without prior conditions in response to calls made by Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu in this regard.

The ministry said that the Paris conference contributed to hardening the Palestinian position further and made the peace more un-achievable.

Rallies across Europe calling for lifting the brutal Israeli siege on Gaza

June 5, 2016, COPENHAGEN, (PIC)--

A series of rallies was staged by a consortium of  Pro-Palestine organizations and forums across Europe to push for lifting the Israeli siege on Gaza.  

The Palestinian Forum in Denmark and the Palestinian Youth Assembly in Denmark staged a sit-in in the streets of Aarhus city.

The rally-goers lifted banners denouncing the Israeli siege on Gaza and slamming the silence maintained by the international community as regards the tragic situation endured by Gazans.  

The rallies fall in line with ongoing celebrations of the Global Week to Break the Siege on Gaza organized by the International and European Campaign to lift the siege.

Danish passers-by voiced their solidarity with the Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip and called for lifting the siege.

A similar event was staged on Saturday by the Palestinian Assembly in Germany in the capital Berlin to push for breaking the siege.

A series of pro-Gaza events was also held in the French city of Lyon and in Italy, calling for restoring Gazans’ free movement and alleviating the tragedy endured by civilians in the besieged coastal enclave.  

The start of the global week to break the siege on Gaza

June 5, 2016, BERLIN, (PIC)--

The activities of the global week to break the siege on Gaza kicked off on Saturday morning with the participation of more than 25 European institutions working for Palestine throughout the European continent.

The spokesman for the European campaign to lift the siege on the Gaza Strip, Khamis Kirt, said that they have completed the preparations for the launch of the week's events, stressing the importance to educate the European public opinion about the suffering of Gazans under the siege over the past ten years.

Kirt noted that such events play a significant role in exposing the ugly face of the Israeli occupation, "which uses all means to cover up their crimes against the Palestinians in general and the people of the Gaza Strip in particular."

The events began in a number of cities across the European continent, in Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Dortmund in Germany, in conjunction with the launch of similar events in Stockholm, Vickso, Atibora, Hlsnbura, and Malmo in Sweden, Paris and Lyon in France, Dublin the Irish capital, Vienna in Austria, the Greek capital Athens, the Italian city of Genoa in addition to similar activities in the Madrid in Spain, and Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

In his turn, the Chairman of the Palestinian Assembly in Germany, Suhail Abu Shamala, praised the efforts of the Palestinians in Europe and the liberals of the world in telling the world about the suffering of the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip. 

He pointed to the role of the Palestinians in Germany in this regard; "where they work on making the public opinion in Germany aware of the tragedy of the siege and the suffering of civilians in the Gaza Strip, and to address the Israeli occupation version through which it tries to cover up its crimes against the besieged Gaza Strip.”

Furthermore, the spokesman for the global campaign to break the siege on Gaza and the member of its Board of Directors, Mansour al-Aakel, pointed to the importance of the international dimension of the events of solidarity with the Gaza Strip, which includes many Arab and international cities, praising the cooperation of hundreds of local institutions all over the world for their participation in the events of the global week to break the siege on Gaza.

Al-Aakel stressed the need for the continuation of activities of solidarity with the people of Gaza to break the siege and open all ports and crossings to ensure the freedom of movement for more than two million Palestinians trapped in the enclave, including the seaport and airport and to end the separation between Gaza and the West Bank.

In the same context, the Palestinian Assembly in Germany organized on Friday a rally in solidarity with the Gaza Strip in the city of Dortmund, raising banners which describe the huge suffering experienced by the people of the Gaza Strip.
 
The global campaign to break the siege on Gaza has begun a wide series of events last Monday in conjunction with the anniversary of the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara massacre.

Sit-inners in Amsterdam demand company to boycott Israel

June 5, 2016, AMSTERDAM, (PIC)--

The Palestine House in Amsterdam and Dutch pro-Palestine groups participated in a protest sit-in to demand a local company to end its business ties with Israeli firms.

According to the information office of the Palestinians in Europe, the sit-in took place outside the headquarters of the Dutch company, AIRBNB, at the World Trade Center in Amsterdam.

The participants condemned the company for dealing with Israeli firms working in and for Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

In another event, the Palestinian Forum and Palestinian Youth in Denmark on Friday organized a sit-in in solidarity with the Gaza Strip on a main street in Aarhus city.

The participants carried banners denouncing Israel's blockade on Gaza and the international silence towards the humanitarian suffering of its population.

Egypt opens Rafah crossing for fourth day

June 5, 2016, GAZA, (PIC)--

The Egyptian authorities on Sunday morning opened the Rafah border crossing for the fourth day for the travel of a limited number of passengers.

Only 10 buses carrying a total of 1,008 passengers had left Gaza yesterday through the Rafah crossing.

According to the border and crossings authority in Gaza, five ambulances carrying a number of wounded and sick citizens also crossed into the Egyptian side on Saturday.

Last Thursday, 369 Palestinian passengers, who were stranded in Egypt, were able to enter Gaza, while the Egyptian authorities rejected the travel requests of 40 others and prevented them from leaving Gaza.

During the last two days, 2,256 passengers left for Egypt through the crossing, 301 others entered Gaza and 113 citizens were denied entry to the Egyptian territories with no stated reasons.

Palestinian media sources have expected that the Egyptian authorities may open the Rafah crossing for two additional days, but there is still no official confirmation in this regard.

Haniya urges Egypt to keep Rafah crossing open permanently

June 5, 2016, GAZA, (PIC)--

Deputy political bureau head of Hamas, Ismail Haniya, on Sunday urged the Egyptian authorities to keep the Rafah border crossing open around the clock.

Speaking during the al-Quds and al-Aqsa Festival held by Hamas, Haniya said: “We are quite aware of Egypt’s needs in terms of national security. We, Gazans, have done our best to boost security along the borders.” 

He added that Hamas has no military activity in Sinai or elsewhere.

The Hamas official called on the Palestinian people and the Muslim Community of nations to adopt a unified strategy to face up to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

He stressed Hamas’s ongoing efforts to boost national unity and preserve the bonds of all accords signed with regional and international parties.

Haniya hailed the Palestinian protesters and anti-occupation activists in Occupied Jerusalem, the West Bank, and 1948 Occupied Palestine.

He called for protecting the Jerusalem Intifada and warned of underway attempts to snuff out the flames of anti-occupation activism. 

“As we are going through an exceptional phase in our journey of national liberation, we need to pluck up our courage and come up with challenging decisions,” he further stated.

“The uprising is the choice of a people and of a generation that is tracking the road towards the liberation of their motherland,” Haniya concluded.

 

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