Israel

British Parliament votes in favor of Palestinian state recognition

Britain’s House of Commons voted in favor of recognizing a Palestinian state late Monday in a move that will not alter the government’s stance on the issue, but that carries symbolic value for Palestinians in their pursuit of statehood. Lawmakers in Britain’s lower house of parliament voted by 274 to 12 to pass a non-binding motion stating: “That this House believes that the Government should recognize the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution.

Palestinians: We have 7 of 9 Security Council votes needed to force ballot on resolution to end ‘occupation’

A senior Palestinian official said Monday that the Palestinian Authority has mustered the support of seven of nine UN Security Council members needed to bring to a vote its resolution that would force an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines by November 2016. Speaking in an interview with the Bethlehem-based Ma’an News Agency, Sha’ath said, “We are at the stage of lobbying within the Security Council to get nine or more votes.” Sha’ath said that the PA was facing opposition to the move from the US, who was not only threatening to veto the resolution should it be brought to a vote, but also was urging other Security Council members to oppose the resolution and push back a vote on the measure until after US midterm elections in November.

British parliament to hold symbolic vote on Palestine status

British lawmakers will next week hold a symbolic parliamentary vote on whether the government should recognize Palestine as a state, a move unlikely to shift official policy but designed to raise the political profile of the issue. Britain does not class it as a state, but says it could do so at any time if it believed it would help the peace process between the Palestinians and Israel. The motion due for debate in Britain’s lower house of parliament on Oct.

Palestinians push UN resolution demanding broad Israeli withdrawal

The Palestinians are pushing a United Nations resolution that makes stiff demands against Israel and could put the Obama administration in a difficult position should it come to a vote. The draft resolution, which was given to Fox News on Wednesday by a diplomat who wished to remain anonymous, calls on Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and East Jerusalem by November 2016 as part of a new push for independence and full U.N.

Temple Institute In Israel Raises $100k for Third Temple Plans

The Temple Institute’s crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the modern architectural plans for the Third Holy Temple in Jerusalem came to a close on Rosh Hashanah after surpassing its $100,000 goal in 60 days. The initiative began on the first day of the month of Av, when Jews commemorate the destruction of the ancient Holy Temples. Almost 900 pledges have come in from more than 30 countries worldwide.

‘Shemitah’ starts at sundown: Are you ready?

The ancient principle of the “Shemitah” goes back 3,000 years to the time of Moses, but a rabbi from New Jersey is warning Americans to pull out their Bibles and take note. The year of the Shemitah, also called the Sabbath year, begins at sundown Wednesday with the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and continues through Sept. 13, 2015.

Poll: Half of Palestinians support armed intifada against Israel

A public opinion poll published on Tuesday showed that half of the Palestinian public supports an armed intifada against Israel. The poll, published by the Nablus-based An-Najah University, included 1,360 Palestinians (860 from the West Bank and 500 from the Gaza Strip) above the age of 18, was conducted during the period from 11-13 September. It has a margin of error of three percent.

East Jerusalem riots continue after funeral of Arab teen

Hundreds of people attended the Monday funeral of 16-year-old Mohammed Sinokrot, who died of his wounds sustained during a protest over a week ago in the Wadi Joz neighborhood of East Jerusalem. His death sparked street violence in the area and masked rioters threw stones at police during the funeral as well, leading to the arrest of three. The even that wounded and eventually led to the death of Sinokrot occurred on the 31st of August.

A Palestinian State in Egypt’s Sinai?

Israeli officials on Monday enthusiastically embraced reports that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi recently offered the Palestinians an independent state in the Sinai Peninsula in return for dropping claims to the pre–1967 borders. According to the offer, which was reported by the Arab media and by Israel’s Army Radio, Egypt would give the Palestinians land in the Sinai that would effectively expand the territory of the Gaza Strip fivefold. This “Greater Gaza” would be a fully independent state under the sovereignty of the Palestinian Authority, and would serve as a homeland for all Palestinians “refugees.

Jerusalem hospital testing Nigerian tourist for Ebola

A Nigerian health worker visiting Israel has been hospitalized in Jerusalem in fear that she might be infected with the Ebola virus. The woman was admitted to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center with a high fever and other symptoms that possibly indicate that she contracted the deadly strain. The hospital was conducting tests to determine if the quarantined tourist was carrying the first-seen case of Ebola in Israel.

UK ‘Deplores’ Israel Declaring State Land in Judea

The British government on Monday said it “deplores” an announcement made by Israel on Sunday, in which the Jewish state declared 4,000 dunams (988 acres) of land in Judea as state land. “The UK deplores the Israeli government’s expropriation of 988 acres of land around the settlement of Etzion,” British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a statement. Hammond further threatened “this is a particularly ill-judged decision that comes at a time when the priority must be to build on the ceasefire in Gaza.

Here’s How Palestinian Children Celebrated Hamas’ Summer of Rocket Attacks on Israel

Children dressed as Hamas militants and armed with mock weapons were among the Palestinians celebrating what they described as Hamas’ “victory of the resistance” over Israel after seven weeks of violence and bloodshed. While the mainstream media neglected to publish photos of Hamas fighters as they launched more than 4,480 rockets at Israel in July and August, there are nevertheless news service photos of children in Gaza and the West Bank cities decked out in full Hamas regalia, celebrating the group classified by the U.S.

Islamic State vows to reach ‘Palestine’ and ‘Kill the Barbaric Jews’

The organization calling itself the Islamic State has risen from the fog of war in Syria and Iraq in recent months and drawn the attention of the world with major victories on both sides of the Euphrates River that have claimed swaths of territory for its declared caliphate, or Islamic State. Now in the organization’s new English language publication, Dabiq, aimed at young Muslims in western states, the extremist organization declared, “Islamic State will do everything within its means to continue striking down every apostate who stands as an obstacle on its path towards Palestine.” Denouncing the ineffectiveness of other Arab states and organizations in carrying out the “will of Allah,” the magazine vows that, “Its [Islamic State’s] actions speak louder than its words and it is only a matter of time and patience before it reaches Palestine to fight the barbaric Jews and kill those of them hiding behind the gharqad trees – the trees of the jews.

Hamas: Our War is For Liberating Jerusalem, Not Lifting Blockade

Hamas’s true objective in Operation Protective Edge – and negotiations that may follow – is in “liberating” Jerusalem from the Jews, a Hamas spokesman stated earlier this week. “The time has come for us to say that the true war is not aimed at opening border crossings,” Sami Abu Zuhri said. “Our true war is aimed at the liberation of Jerusalem, Allah willing.

Abbas to ask UN to set timetable for Palestinian state along 1967 lines

Palestinian officials have said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is planning to ask the UN to set a timetable for the end of the Israeli occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines, with its capital in East Jerusalem. The official told the Associated Press that Abbas would present his proposal as part of a “day after” plan following the end of the current war in the Gaza Strip. According to the Qatari News Agency, an agreement over the matter was reached in Abbas’ meeting with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Hamas’ political chief Khaled Meshal, in Doha on Friday.

Israel To Sign A Seven Year Cease-Fire With The Palestinians?

Tarek Fahmi, the head of the Israeli Unit at the Egyptian National Center for Middle East Studies, said that “the goal of the talks today is to neutralize the main crisis points, particularly [the question of] the Gaza airport and Israeli concessions regarding the sea, as well as the issue of the tunnels.” Fahmi said that the negotiating sessions that took place on Monday were “critical.” “Israel insists on demilitarizing the Gaza Strip from rockets and missiles, and the declaration of a cease-fire that would last between five and seven years,” he said.

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