MRN

The aspiration of the Media Review Network is to dispel the myths and stereotypes about Islam and Muslims and to foster bridges of understanding among the diverse people of our country. The Media Review Network believes that Muslim perspectives on issues impacting on South Africans are a prerequisite to a better appreciation of Islam.

Joint open letter

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

(source: AlHaq.org)

To: Mr. Thomas Dupla Del Moral, Middle East Director, External Relations Directorate General, European Commission

Dear Mr. Dupla Del Moral,

Re: EU-Israel Sub-Committee on Political Dialogue and Cooperation, 15 December 2010

As Palestinian human rights organisations committed to the protection and promotion of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), in light of the upcoming EU-Israel Subcommittee Meeting on Political Dialogue and Cooperation, scheduled for 15 December 2010, we would like to express our strong concerns regarding Israel’s continuing settlement construction.

For over four decades Israel has engaged in a policy of consolidating its territorial, administrative and legal control over the OPT, constituent of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, by establishing and expanding its illegal settlements. Settlements and their associated infrastructure of Israeli-only by-pass roads, checkpoints, roadblocks and the Annexation Wall, control 42% of the West Bank. Built on lands illegally confiscated from Palestinians, the settlement infrastructure fragments the occupied territory into separate enclaves, preventing the Palestinian people from making use of their land and natural resources, and exercising their right to self-determination.

In addition to having a devastating impact on Palestinian freedom of movement, family life and access to education, food, health care and other services, Israel’s settlement enterprise has further resulted in the creation of two parallel and unequal societies in the OPT – a superior Israeli settler society and a dominated and disadvantaged Palestinian society that is denied its fundamental human rights.

Obamas dose of reality may be a cure for the palestinians

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

By Tony Karon

(source: The National)

The Obama administration’s announcement that it had capitulated before Israeli recalcitrance on a settlement freeze should be read as a cry for help. Mr Obama has, in fact, taken a bold step in acknowledging frankly that he has a problem. He has been repeating the rituals and catechisms of the failed Oslo peace process in the hope of producing a different outcome. Now, he’s been forced to acknowledge that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a communication problem that can be solved by simply getting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Mahmoud Abbas to talk.

Mr Obama’s epiphany appears to have come after his final humiliation by Mr Netanyahu, who turned down a massive package of military aid and diplomatic concessions offered for just 90 more days of a partial settlement moratorium aimed at restarting talks. Mr Netanyahu has so successfully resisted the US administration over settlements that there was little credibility to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s insistence, in a speech on Friday, “that the position of the United States on settlements has not changed and will not change… we do not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity”.

Strong words, perhaps, but they can barely be heard above the roar of construction equipment in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The US disapproves, but it will impose no consequences for Israel ignoring that disapproval, and international law, by continuing to build outside of its 1967 borders.

A message from Isaraeli military prison on international human rights day

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

(source: Huffington Post)

Majida Abu Rahmah: My imprisoned husband Abdullah Abu Rahmah passed the following message through his lawyer:

A year ago tonight, on International Human Rights Day, our apartment in Ramallah was broken into by the Israeli military in the middle of the night and I was torn away from my wife Majida, my daughters Luma and Layan, and my son Laith, who at the time was only nine months old.

As the coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements I was convicted of “organizing illegal demonstrations” and “incitement.” The “illegal demonstrations” refer to the nonviolent resistance campaign that my village has been waging for the last six years against Israel’s Apartheid Wall that is being built on our land.

I find it strange that the military judges could call our demonstrations illegal and charge me for participating in and organizing them after the world’s highest legal body, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, has ruled that Israel’s wall within the occupied territories is illegal and must be dismantled. Even the Israeli supreme court ruled that the Wall’s route in Bil’in is illegal.

I have been accused of inciting violence: this charge is also puzzling. If the check points, closures, ongoing land theft, wall and settlements, night raids into our homes and violent oppression of our protests does not incite violence, what does?

Former European leaders sanction Isarael over settlement building

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

26 former top EU officials, including ex EU chief Solana and former German President Richard von Weizsacker, urge world powers to confront Jerusalem over its refusal to obey international law.

By Akiva Eldar

(source: Haaretz)

A group of 26 senior former European leaders who held power during the past decade are calling for strong measures against Israel in response to its settlement policy and refusal to abide by international law. In an unusual letter sent Thursday to the leadership of the European Union and the governments of the EU’s 27 member states, the signatories, including former heads of state, ministers and heads of European organizations, criticize Israel’s policies.

Among those signing the letter are the former European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, former German President Richard von Weizsacker, former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzales, former president of the EU Commission and former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, and former Irish President Mary Robinson. The group drew up a series of recommendations to the current EU leadership during a meeting in London in mid-November.

The sharply worded document joins a decision by the governments of South American countries, including Brazil and Argentina, to recognize a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. In addition, the European Union Council has decided to support the Palestinian Authority’s decision to establish an independent state and put an end to the occupation.