US senator tells Biden to do more against ‘racist’ Israeli ‘land grab’ in West Bank

US senator tells Biden to do more against ‘racist’ Israeli ‘land grab’ in West Bank
US Senator Chris Van Hollen addresses the press at Beirut International Airport, Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 1, 2021. (Reuters)
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Updated 07 August 2023
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US senator tells Biden to do more against ‘racist’ Israeli ‘land grab’ in West Bank

US senator tells Biden to do more against ‘racist’ Israeli ‘land grab’ in West Bank
  • Chris Van Hollen tells The Guardian it is time for a reassessment of American diplomatic and military support
  • ‘In the absence of more accountability demanded from the United States, we undermine our own credibility’

LONDON: A senior Democrat has demanded that US President Joe Biden do more to stop “racists” in Israel’s government committing “gross violations” of Palestinian rights and territorial integrity.

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen told The Guardian after a recent visit to the West Bank that US military support for Israel is being used to annex parts of the Occupied Territories, facilitate violence by Israeli settlers and, along with inaction from the White House, is emboldening the far-right wing of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Van Hollen added that Israel should be investigated over possibly violating the 1997 Leahy Law on foreign militaries receiving US assistance whilst abusing human rights.

“President Biden should get more personally engaged in addressing these issues. We should make it clear, for example, that US military assistance is not to be used to aid and abet settler violence, and not to be used for the purpose of expanding settlements or protecting those who are erecting illegal outposts,” Van Hollen told The Guardian, adding that what is happening in the West Bank is a “land grab” of Palestinian territory.

“When you see it first-hand it underscores how alarming the situation is now with this ultra-rightwing Netanyahu government that includes known racists like (National Security Minister Itamar) Ben-Gvir and (Finance Minister Bezalel) Smotrich, and clearly shows that they’re determined to totally take over the West Bank,” he said.

“I’m very concerned about settler violence and the fact that you’ve got the (Israel Defense Forces) either looking the other way or sometimes cooperating with settlers in attacks on Palestinian villages and towns.”

Van Hollen said it is “time to really take a close look at how US security assistance is being used,” though he added that Israel still needs American support in the face of threats from Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah.

He said far-right elements in Israel’s government have little respect for the US or Biden. Earlier this year, Ben-Gvir tweeted: “President Biden needs to realize that we are no longer a star on the American flag.”

Van Hollen said: “Ben-Gvir openly thumbing his nose at the United States pretty much indicated they’ll do what they want to do, regardless of the US position.

“So, I do think that in the absence of more accountability demanded from the United States, we undermine our own credibility.

“We have to stand up for principles that underscore US policy, which is values of democracy, of freedom of human rights, rule of law.

“If we don’t stand up for those policies, even when we’re dealing with countries that are friends like Israel, we will undermine our credibility around the world.”

Van Hollen added that the focus should not just be placed on vocal figures such as Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, saying: “Obviously the rest of the (Israeli governing) coalition is either complicit in their actions through active support or through neglect.

“This is all happening on the watch of this current government and so the government needs to be held responsible for their actions, if they refuse to rein them in.

“President Biden himself keeps saying that he supports a two-state solution with equal measures of dignity and freedom for both peoples. But what’s happening on the ground in real time is undermining the vision laid out by President Biden himself.

“This is a moment to re-examine American policy and make determinations regarding the way forward.”

Van Hollen stopped short of saying the Israeli government itself is racist, but said: “Clearly the actions taken by Smotrich are a gross violation of the rights of Palestinians. He is essentially trying to expand Israeli civilian control over more of the West Bank.

“You’ve already got a de facto annexation, that’s obviously a step toward de jure annexation. But also, the fact that you’ve got Smotrich calling for — and I think I’m quoting him here — wiping out the Palestinian village of Huwara.

“You’ve got Ben-Gvir participating in marches with people chanting ‘Death to Arabs.’ You’ve got a huge spike in anti-Christian activities.

“So, it’s pretty clear that you have these ultranationalists violating the human rights of Palestinians.”

In the US, there has been growing opposition to continued cooperation with Israel under its current government.

In November 2022, former American Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer joined Aaron David Miller, a former US Middle East peace negotiator, in calling for an end to Washington’s “controversial” military and diplomatic support for Israel, and a cut in weapons sent to the IDF.

A majority of American Jews, meanwhile, back the US imposing limits on aid to prevent it supporting Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

That opposition is also present abroad where, increasingly, the situation in Israel is being compared to apartheid in South Africa. 

Former Irish President Mary Robinson and former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently said, after their own visit to the West Bank earlier this year, that “the ever-growing evidence (shows) that the situation meets the international legal definition of apartheid,” with Israeli government policies “clearly show(ing) an intent to pursue permanent annexation rather than temporary occupation, based on Jewish supremacy.”

Van Hollen disagreed with this assessment, saying: “I do not describe what’s happened in the West Bank to date as apartheid. As you know, there’s an active debate over exactly how to define what’s happening there.

“But clearly, when you’ve got these racists like Ben-Gvir and Smotrich leading the charge on various policies, there’s a real danger of Israel heading in that direction in the West Bank.”


Israel reopens Gaza crossing to Palestinian workers

Israel reopens Gaza crossing to Palestinian workers
Updated 56 min ago
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Israel reopens Gaza crossing to Palestinian workers

Israel reopens Gaza crossing to Palestinian workers
  • The Israeli authorities had initially closed the Erez crossing, the only gateway for Palestinian pedestrians from the Gaza Strip, for the Jewish new year holiday on September 15

Erez: Israel said it reopened Thursday a key crossing with Gaza to Palestinian workers after shutting it during violent protests that saw the army launch strikes targeting Hamas military posts.
The Israeli authorities had initially closed the Erez crossing, the only gateway for Palestinian pedestrians from the Gaza Strip, for the Jewish new year holiday on September 15.
But they extended the closure citing security reasons following daily demonstrations along the border that left several protesters dead and injured in clashes with Israeli soldiers.
While patients seeking medical treatment and foreigners had been allowed to use the crossing, thousands of Palestinian workers from the coastal enclave had been banned from entering Israel.
On Wednesday evening COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, said the crossing would reopen for workers from Thursday morning.
The Palestinian civilian affairs ministry confirmed the crossing had reopened.
An AFP correspondent saw thousands of Palestinians waiting at the terminal to enter Israel.
Israel has issued work permits to some 18,500 Gazans, COGAT said last week.
The Gaza Strip, home to some 2.3 million Palestinians, had been rocked by violent protests in the past two weeks.
Protesters had often resorted to burning tires, throwing stones and petrol bombs at Israeli troops, who have responded with tear gas and live bullets.
The Israeli army had also resorted to drone strikes targeting military sites of the Islamist group Hamas, which controls the enclave.
Since September 13, seven Palestinians have been killed and more than 100 wounded in the violence in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-controlled health ministry.
Israel has imposed an air, land and sea blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized the Palestinian territory in 2007.
Armed conflict sporadically erupts between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip.
In May, an exchange of Israeli air strikes and Gaza rocket fire resulted in the deaths of 34 Palestinians and one Israeli.


‘Yesterday there was a wedding and happiness … now we bury them’

‘Yesterday there was a wedding and happiness … now we bury them’
Updated 28 September 2023
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‘Yesterday there was a wedding and happiness … now we bury them’

‘Yesterday there was a wedding and happiness … now we bury them’
  • Grief in Iraqi town after 113 die in wedding inferno
  • 9 arrested, warrants issued for hall owners

JEDDAH: Nine people were arrested on Wednesday and warrants were issued for a further four after more than 100 people died when a fire ripped through a packed wedding hall in northern Iraq.

Fire fighters searched the charred remains of the building in Qaraqosh, also known as Hamdaniya, onWednesday morning and bereaved relatives gathered outside a morgue in the nearby city of Mosul, wailing in distress.
“This was not a wedding. This was hell,” said Mariam Khedr as she waited for officials to return the bodies of her daughter Rana Yakoub, 27, and three young grandchildren, the youngest aged just eight months.
Survivors said the fire began about an hour into the wedding celebration when flares ignited a ceiling decoration as the bride and groom danced. Nineveh province Deputy Governor Hassan Al-Allaf said 113 people had been confirmed dead.

“We saw the fire pulsating, coming out of the hall. Those who managed got out and those who didn’t got stuck,” said survivor Imad Yohana, 34.
Outside the morgue, one woman said: “I lost my daughter, her husband and their three-year-old. They were all burned. My heart is burning.”

A man called Youssef stood near by with burns covering his hands and face. He said he had not been able to see anything when the fire began and the power cut out. He had grabbed his three-year-old grandson and managed to escape. But his wife, Bashra Mansour, did not make it. People in black streamed towards the cemetery in Qaraqosh on Wednesday as a line of pickup trucks drove past carrying the dead. Hundreds gathered, many sobbing, as coffins were carried at shoulder height, some shrouded in white, one with a floral cloth, before being lowered into their graves.
Most residents of Qaraqosh, which is mostly Christian but also home to some of Iraq’s Yazidi minority, fled the town when Daesh seized it in 2014. But they returned after the group was ousted in 2017.
“Yesterday there was a wedding and happiness. Now we are preparing their burial,” said deacon Hani al-Kasmousa at Mar Youhanna church, where the wedding service took place on Tuesday before the evening celebration.
People who survived the blaze said the hall appeared poorly equipped for it, with no visible fire extinguishers and few exits. Iraq’s Interior Ministry said nine wedding hall staff had been arrested and it had issued arrest warrants for the four owners.


Arab family of five shot dead as crime rates in Israel soar

Arab family of five shot dead as crime rates in Israel soar
Updated 28 September 2023
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Arab family of five shot dead as crime rates in Israel soar

Arab family of five shot dead as crime rates in Israel soar
  • Arab mayors have accused the government and police of deliberately neglecting their communities and of enabling criminals to act with impunity

JERUSALEM: Five members of an Arab family were shot dead in their home in Israel, police said on Wednesday, in the latest in a wave of crime-related killings in Israel’s Arab communities that has reached a new peak this year.
The shooting of the five, including a woman and two teenagers, in the northern town of Basmat Tab’un followed a separate incident in which a 50-year-old man was killed earlier on Wednesday.
More than 180 Arab citizens in Israel have been killed in crime-related violence since January — a seven-year high — in a spate of killings that have continued unchecked, drawing accusations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist government was ignoring the bloodshed.
“Israel has the abilities, the Israeli government understands what needs to be done, everybody understands what needs to be done, there simply is no will and no leadership,” said Mansour Abbas, leader of one of the parties that represent Israel’s Arab minority.
Arab mayors have accused the government and police of deliberately neglecting their communities and of enabling criminals to act with impunity. They have refused to work with the far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has past convictions of support for terrorism and anti-Arab incitement, and have demanded that Netanyahu intervene instead.
With Israel facing its worst political crisis in decades, over Netanyahu’s drive to push through divisive changes to the judiciary, Arab citizens say the collapse of personal safety in their communities must receive more government attention.
Ben-Gvir, who did not immediately comment on Wednesday’s incident, has rejected accusations of inaction. He has said fighting crime is high on his agenda and that police have stepped up crime-busting activity, including the seizure of weapons and funds from criminal groups.
“As police, we will do everything to get to the killers,” police spokesman Eli Levi told reporters at the scene of Wednesday’s crime.
Arab citizens, most of whom are descendants of Palestinians who remained in Israel during the mass exodus of refugees in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation, make up about a fifth of the country’s population.
They have for decades faced high poverty rates, poorly funded schools and overcrowded towns lacking services and say they are treated as second-class citizens compared with Jewish Israelis.


Lebanese military court sentences Daesh official to 160 years in prison

Lebanese military court sentences Daesh official to 160 years in prison
Updated 27 September 2023
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Lebanese military court sentences Daesh official to 160 years in prison

Lebanese military court sentences Daesh official to 160 years in prison
  • Imad Yassin, a Palestinian in his 50s, confessed to all 11 charges against him

BEIRUT: Lebanese military court has sentenced an official with the extremist Daesh group to 160 years in prison for carrying out deadly attacks against security forces and planning others targeting government buildings and crowded civilian areas, judicial officials said Wednesday.

The officials said Imad Yassin, a Palestinian in his 50s, confessed to all 11 charges against him, including joining a “terrorist organization,” committing crimes in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp of Ein El-Hilweh, shooting at Lebanese soldiers, and transporting weapons and munitions for militant groups.

Yassin, also known as Imad Akl, said he was planning several other attacks, including blowing up two main power stations, the headquarters of a major local television station in Beirut, killing a leading politician, as well as planning attacks on hotels north of Beirut, the officials said on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Before joining Daesh, Yassin was a member of other militant groups, including Al-Qaeda-linked Jund Al-Sham, which is still active in Ein El-Hilweh. In later years, he became Daesh’s top official in the camp.

Yassin was detained in Ein El-Hilweh, near the port city of Sidon, six years ago and has been held since. The total 11 sentences that he received count to up to 160 years in prison, the officials said.

The session during which he was sentenced started on Monday night and lasted until the early hours of Tuesday. 

At the height of its rise in Iraq and Syria in 2014, Daesh claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in different parts of Lebanon that left scores of people dead.


Morocco aims to become key player in green hydrogen

Morocco aims to become key player in green hydrogen
Updated 27 September 2023
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Morocco aims to become key player in green hydrogen

Morocco aims to become key player in green hydrogen

RABAT: Morocco has voiced ambitious plans to become North Africa’s top player in the emerging “green hydrogen” sector, with plans to export the clean-burning fuel to Europe.

Hydrogen is seen as a clean energy source that can help the world phase out fossil fuels and reduce atmospheric carbon emissions in the battle to slow global warming.

Morocco, which already runs large solar power plants, also hopes to harness green hydrogen — the kind made without burning fossil fuels — for its sizeable fertilizer sector.

Around 1.5 million acres of public land — nearly the size of Kuwait — have been set aside for green hydrogen and ammonia plants, the economy ministry says.

King Mohammed VI has hailed a national green hydrogen plan dubbed l’Offre Maroc (the Moroccan Offer) and called for its “rapid and qualitative implementation.”

Speaking in July, before the country’s earthquake disaster, he said Morocco must take advantage of “the projects supported by international investors in this promising sector.”

Local media have reported about investment plans by Australian, British, French, German and Indian companies.

Hydrogen can be extracted from water by passing a strong electrical current through it.

This separates the hydrogen from the oxygen, a process called electrolysis.

If the power used is clean — such as solar or wind — the fuel is called “green hydrogen,” which is itself emission-free when burnt.

But there are problems: Hydrogen is highly explosive and hard to store and transport. This has set back hydrogen fuel cell cars in the race against electric vehicles using lithium-ion batteries.

However, experts say green hydrogen also has a big role to play in decarbonizing energy-intensive industries that cannot easily be electrified such as steel, cement and chemicals.

Powering blast furnaces with hydrogen, for example, offers the promise of making “green steel.”

Hydrogen can also be converted into ammonia, to store the energy or as a major input in synthetic fertilizers. Morocco is already a major player in the global fertilizer market, thanks mainly to its immense phosphate reserves.

It profited after fertilizer shortages sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent prices up to 1,000 euros ($1,060) per ton.

Morocco’s state Phosphate Office has announced plans to quickly produce a million tons of “green ammonia” from green hydrogen and triple the amount by 2032.

Analysts caution that Morocco still has some way to go with its ambitious green fertilizer plans.

The sector is “embryonic and the large global projects will not see the light of day until three to five years from now,” said Samir Rachidi, director of the Moroccan research institute IRESEN.

Morocco’s advantage is that it has already bet heavily on clean energy over the past 15 years.

Solar, wind and other clean energy make up 38 percent of production, and the goal is to reach 52 percent by 2030.

For now green hydrogen is more expensive than the highly polluting “brown hydrogen” made using coal or “grey hydrogen” produced from natural gas.

The goal is to keep green hydrogen production below $1-$2 per kilogram, Ahmed Reda Chami, president of the Economic, Social and Environmental Counsel, told the weekly La Vie Eco.