Israel protests UN chief Ban Ki-Moon’s use of term ‘nakba’
Rotem Sela; 16/5/08
The Israeli mission to the United Nations is seeking clarifications after an official communique released by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s bureau made specific reference to the word “nakba,” according to a report broadcast on Israel Radio early Friday morning. The report said the UN chief telephoned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to express his solidarity with the Palestinians on the day they mark the “nakba,” the Arabic word meaning “catastrophe” that is used in reference to the founding of the state of Israel. Danny Carmon, Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UN, told Israel Radio that the term “‘nakba’ is a tool of Arab propaganda used to undermine the legitimacy of the establishment of the State of Israel, and it must not be part of the lexicon of the UN.”
See: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/984009.html
Holocaust: A Melodrama at UN Council
Hassan Tahsin; 16/5/08
Several Western ambassadors walked out of a recent special Security Council session on Gaza. The reason? The Libyan representative drew a parallel between the Palestinian suffering in Gaza and the Nazi-orchestrated Holocaust against the Jewish minorities. On hearing the comparison the French ambassador disconnected his earphone and left the meeting hall. The representatives of the United States, Britain, Belgium and Cost Rica followed suit. Their conduct apparently suggested that Israeli Army or anything related to the Jews for that matter, are above criticism.
Huge Rallies, Black Flags Mark Nakba
Mohammed Mar’I; 16/5/08
As thousands of Palestinians throughout the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Syria and Lebanon marked yesterday the official 60th anniversary of the Nakba — the 1948 events that led to the “catastrophe” of the State of Israel’s inception, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas used the opportunity to emphasize the urgency of finding a solution to the conflict which has plagued the region for the past 60 years. Abbas said during a televised speech, which was broadcasted in honor of the day that “after 60 years since the ‘Nakba,’ the time has come for the Palestinian people to establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.”
See: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=109901&d=16&m=5&y=2008
On a river heading home
Rami G. Khouri; 16/5/08
The fact that both Israeli independence and the Palestinian Nakbeh (catastrophe) of 1948 are now acknowledged virtually simultaneously around the world is a great achievement for the Palestinians - just as the creation of Israel was a miracle in the eyes of the world’s Jews. The two big stories 60 years after 1948 are the strength and vitality of the Israeli state, and the depth, vigour and relentless quest for life, land and liberty of the Palestinian people. We are almost equally matched in numbers - about seven million each - and in our indomitable spirit. We are both attached to the same land, for which we fight passionately, each having resorted to militancy, heroism in their own eyes, and terrorism in the eyes of the other. We have both suffered exile and disenfranchisement - from Babylon to Burj Al Barajneh - along with death, despair and denial. We each know what it means to be scapegoated, caricatured and abused. And we both entered the 21st Century with widespread international recognition and support.
See: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=7904
The lament of Iqrit and Kafr Birim
George S. Hishmeh; 16/5/08
The recent record speaks for itself. All that Israel under Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has done so far is dismantle one - yes one - outpost, called Amona, in February 2006. On the other hand, Israel has this month ordered the demolition of the Palestinian village of Al Aqabah, in the Jordan River Valley - “the mosque, medical centre, the roads, all the homes and a kindergarten serving more than 130 children” - because it lacked a building permit. “This is a mockery of law and justice,” complained the Rebuilding Alliance, an American nonprofit organisation which helped the village rebuild its kindergarten. It ,meanwhile, has called on Americans to write their congressman to help save the village. (www.RebuildingAlliance.org.) Israel has also prevented Palestinian Christian children from travelling to Israeli-occupied Jerusalem this month for this year’s annual “Children’s Journey to Jerusalem”, which coincided with the Greek Orthodox Easter.
See: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=7906