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Tag: Palestine

  • Three murders in three continents, same justification – By Owei Lakemfa

    Three murders in three continents, same justification – By Owei Lakemfa

    In the last eight days, there have been horrific murders in New York, United States; Sokoto, Nigeria and the Palestine in the Middle East by private individuals and state agents.

    The victims in America were eleven Blacks and two Whites; that in Nigeria was a young student, while that in the Palestine was a lady journalist whose professional work was repugnant to the Israeli authorities. The murderers believe they are superior to their victims and can justifiably take their lives without any form of trial.

    The murder in Nigeria was on Thursday, May 12, 2022 following discussions in a class WhatsApp group at the Shehu Shagari College of Education. A young lady had ascribed her success in the examinations to Jesus Christ. Some of her school mates who felt her arguments were blasphemous, went to the city to recruit other young men who invaded the school, seized Miss Deborah Samuel Yakubu, flogged and stoned her and then set her corpse on fire.

    The perpetrators believe their faith justifies their actions, but are not ready to proclaim that justification in a law court. What men of faith and courage do is to stand by their beliefs and actions and face the consequences, not hide behind street riots demanding they be freed without trial. In almost all cases, a criminal flees the crime scene aware of his crime and try running away from justice. Those macho men who took upon a defenceless young lady would have waited, rather than flee. There are even diversionary debates whether the perpetrators are justified or not. That is not the issue. Nigeria, despite pretentions at religiosity, is not a theocracy; it is a secular state based on law and order and this is a straight forward case of crime and punishment.

    o such ambiguity can be associated with the Biden administration in the case of the New York murders. Payton S. Gendron, an 18-year-old White Supremacist, wrote an anti-Black manifesto in which he claimed the White population is dwindling in size and being replaced by non-Whites. He then travelled about 200 miles to an area with a 78 per cent Black population. He made some reconnaissance at the Tops Friendly Markets store, Jefferson Avenue, the previous day. Then returned to shoot the victims and live-streaming the attack. It was a racist crime. Nobody spoke up for him even when there are racists like him in the political establishment.

    He was apprehended. Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia briefed the press to say: “The evidence that we have uncovered so far makes no mistake that this is an absolute racist hate crime. It will be prosecuted as a hate crime. This is someone who has hate in their heart, soul and mind.” That same evening, according to Buffalo City Court Chief Judge Craig Hannah, Gendron was charged with first-degree murder.

    Presidents Biden and Buhari made immediate reactions to the hate crimes, strongly condemning them and sympathising with the victims. But there the similarities end. Where Biden was categorical that there is no justification for the hate crime, Buhari tried to explain why the murder in Sokoto took place. He said: “… Muslims all over the world demand respect for the Holy Prophets, including Isah (Alaihissalaam, Jesus Christ) and Muhammad (SAW) but where transgressions occur, as alleged to be the case in this instance, the law does not allow anyone to take matters into their hands.” This sounds like begging the issue or making a mitigation plea.

    He then launched into preachments: “No person has the right to take the law in his or her own hands in this country. Violence has and never will solve any problem.” Where Americans are free to discuss the hate crime, including its origins, Buhari, in contrast, directed the Ministries of Information and Culture, Police Affairs and that of Communications and Digital Economy to work with GSM providers and Tech companies to “help contain the spread of false and inflammatory information through social media.”

    President Buhari also said he was calling for “tempered comments by the media and calm among the general population while investigation is on-going to find out the remote and immediate causes of the incident.” Contrast these with the clear, unambigious and categorical statement by the American Commander-in-Chief in which he stated: “We still need to learn more about the motivation for today’s shooting as law enforcement does its work, but we don’t need anything else to state a clear moral truth: A racially-motivated hate crime is abhorrent to the very fabric of this nation. Any act of domestic terrorism, including an act perpetrated in the name of a repugnant White nationalist ideology, is antithetical to everything we stand for in America. Hate must have no safe harbour. We must do everything in our power to end hate-fueled domestic terrorism.”

    The third infamous murder was that of Al Jazeera journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh. She was wearing a protective vest with PRESS emblazoned on it, a mark that was visible from an helicopter or low flying aircraft when she was shot by Israeli forces on May 11 in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. The 51-year-old Palestinian-American journalist was not among a crowd, so it was not a question of a stray bullet. In fact, she was standing with other journalists who were also wearing similar press vests, when she was shot dead, obviously by a marksman. Another Palestinian journalist, Ali al-Samoudi, shot in the back by the Israeli forces, survived and is in a stable condition.

    In May 2021, an Israeli air raid targeted the home of Voice of Al-Aqsa radio station journalist, Yusef Abu Hussein, killing him. On May 15, 2021, the Israeli racists gave media organisations a short notice before bombing the 12-storey building housing their offices, including those of Al Jazeera and the Associated Press. The Israelis justified their brazen attack on media offices on the excuse that the Hamas uses high rise buildings for military purposes.

    The Israeli authorities are infamous for eliminating whoever they think constitutes a security risk to their state. As infamous as this crime is, Akleh is to them, just one of over 45 journalists Israeli forces have murdered since 2000. Targeting her, four days before Palestinians marked the 74th Nakbah, the day 750,000 indigenious Palestinians were evicted from their homes by the occupying Israeli forces, was the racists in Tel Aviv making a statement that nobody is considered sacred, not the least a conscientious journalist like Akleh who exposed their genocide to the outside world. To the Israeli racists, God gave them the Palestine as his Chosen People, so like the racist Gendron in New York and the religious bigots in Sokoto, they have a sense of justification to take lives.

  • Anti-graft War: Nigeria signs pact with State of Palestine, IACA to battle corruption

    Anti-graft War: Nigeria signs pact with State of Palestine, IACA to battle corruption

    By Emman Ovuakporie

    Nigeria’s Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has signed two pacts with the State of Palestine’s Anti-Corruption Commission and the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) based in Laxenburg, Austria.

    TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports the agreements are part of measures by the ICPC to enhance its fight against corruption in the country.

    The Chairman of the ICPC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, signed the two agreements on behalf of Nigeria while the Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission of the State of Palestine, Mr. Raed Radwan, signed for his country and the Dean of IACA, Thomas Stelzer, signed for his organisation.

    The signing of the agreements is part of the side events at the ongoing Ninth Session of the Conference of the States Parties (CoSP9) to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) at the International Conference Centre in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

    The ICPC boss, in his remarks at the signing ceremony, expressed his delight at the culmination of one-year discussions with the Anti-Corruption Commission of the State of Palestine on the fight against corruption.

    He said, “This agreement has been approved by the Federal Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs. It seeks to identify areas of cooperation and coordination between the two parties in the field of preventing and combating corruption in accordance with the principles and objectives set out in the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

    “The two organisations shall, in accordance with the legal systems of their respective countries, cooperate and coordinate in the field of prevention and combat of corruption by studying the factors and conditions encouraging their practice, measuring and assessing their risks and the most appropriate ways to combat it.”

    Prof. Owasanoye, who likened corruption to Covid-19 pandemic, averred that corruption is perilous and doesn’t spare anyone and countries.

    He advocated international and regional collaborations between organisations and countries towards addressing the menace.

    The Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission of the State of Palestine, Mr. Raed Radwan, also conveyed the pleasure of the organisation and country to the signing of agreement with ICPC.

    “We are very happy to sign this agreement and to benefit from Nigeria’s experience in anti-corruption. We will light to express our pleasure to Nigeria and ICPC for making this MoU come to realization.

    “We are fully aware of the many challenges in combating corruption, and we hope that the MoU will greatly assist to confront and address corruption in our respective countries. Both organisations have received strong political backing from The Presidency towards this agreement,” said Radwan.

    In a related development, the ICPC also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA), an international organization and centre of excellence in the field of anti-corruption education, training, networking, cooperation, and academic research, with its seat in Laxenburg, Austria

    The ICPC Chairman stated that the agreement had become necessary due to the seriousness of the multi-dimensional threats posed by corruption to societies, undermining institutions of governance, ethical values and justice, and jeopardizing sustainable development, social and economic prosperity, and the rule of law, including the full enjoyment of human rights.

    He noted that prevention and combating of corruption can be substantially enhanced by international cooperation, involving all sectors of society, including the corporate sector, individuals, as well as civil society and non-governmental organizations, through sharing knowledge and expertise, as well as other joint efforts at the global and regional levels in support of the UNCAC and other relevant instruments.

    The ICPC and the IACA have agreed to explore, develop and strengthen their collaborative efforts and cooperation in the field of anti-corruption training and research, particularly by creating a strong partnership that will enhance the sharing of anti-corruption knowledge and expertise between them and other stakeholders.

  • Jonathan warns international communities against taking sides in Israel, Palestine conflict

    Jonathan warns international communities against taking sides in Israel, Palestine conflict

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan has warned the international community against taking sides in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.

    In total, 197 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including at least 58 children, and more than 1,200 wounded since Israel launched its air campaign against Hamas, a terrorist organisation on May 10 after the group fired rockets. The heaviest exchange of fire in years was sparked by unrest in Jerusalem.

    But taking to Twitter on Monday, the ex-President said the conflict can only be resolved when those living within the borders of Israel and Palestine take the time to understand each other until they come to a place where they can coexist, co-prosper, and eventually cooperate.

    He also called for peace on both sides, adding that the international community should work towards ensuring a ceasefire.

    “I sue for peace in both Israel and Palestine, and urge that every international support should be towards deescalating the conflict, rather than escalating it,” he said.

    “The present conflict in that part of the world can never be resolved by nations and institutions taking sides. It can only be resolved by those living within the borders of Israel and Palestine taking time to understand each other until they come to a place where they can coexist, co-prosper and eventually cooperate.

    “For that to happen, what is needed, in the immediate term, is a ceasefire, followed by massive confidence building on both sides. That is what the international community should aim for. Peace. It is achievable.”

    Overnight Sunday to Monday, Israel launched dozens of strikes in the space of a few minutes across the crowded coastal Palestinian enclave controlled by Islamist group Hamas, according to AFP journalists and the army.

    Flames lit up the sky as explosions shook Gaza city.

    The strikes caused widespread power cuts and damaged hundreds of buildings, local authorities said. No casualties were immediately reported.

    West Gaza resident Mad Abed Rabbo, 39, expressed “horror and fear” at the intensity of the onslaught.

    “There have never been strikes of this magnitude,” he said.

    Israel’s army said in a statement that it hit the homes of nine “high-ranking” Hamas commanders, without providing details on casualties.

    The overnight bombardment also included the third round of strikes on what the army calls the “Metro,” its term for a Hamas underground tunnel network.

    Fifty-four fighter jets pounded 15 kilometers (nine miles) of tunnels, which the army has previously acknowledged runs in part through civilian areas.

    Gazan Mani Qazaat said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “should realise we’re civilians, not fighters”, adding “I felt like I was dying”.

  • Palestine: The Human Race, Animal Race and Rat Race, By Owei Lakemfa

    By Owei Lakemfa.

    Nabil Suleiman stood before the Nigerian audience. His speech was quite short. It did not matter because his being told the story of pain. Apparently, he has done well for himself but it is an inner fulfillment he seemed to crave and an end to the suffering of his people, the Palestinians. It was at the 2019 Human Rights Day this Wednesday, December 10. He told the audience at the University of Lagos: “ I have been in Nigeria for more than twenty years. I am proud to be a Nigerian, and I am proud to be a Palestinian. My father left Palestine in 1948 when he was five. I was born in Lebanon; I have never been to Palestine.”

    His story is typical of five million Palestinians who are refugees in various parts of the world because Israel refuses them the right to return home contrary to international law and the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.” Israel which is occupying the Palestinian territories including Gaza and the West Bank refuses to allow Mr. Suleiman’s family return home, and is refusing him and his children, the right to even see their homeland.

    It is for people like the Suleiman family, world peace and social justice that eight Nigerian human rights and civil society groups held a joint international symposium on “The Inalienable Rights Of Palestinians To Statehood”

    Alhaji Hassan Adebayo Sunmonu, 79, founding President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and former Secretary General of the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) is one of few Africans who met and interacted with Yasser Arafat, the legendary Palestinian leader who dedicated his life for the liberation of his people. As chairperson of the occasion, he said the Palestinian cause is just and is backed by international conventions and laws, but that these have not been effected because: “ In international relations, the application of international laws, is also a question of power play” The United Nations (UN) he said, has been powerless to call Israel to order because a single country amongst the five Permanent members of the UN Security Council (United States, Britain, France, China and Russia) can veto the decision of all other members of the world body. He argued that the Jewish lobby and media in America is so powerful that it is virtually impossible for any American administration to oppose Israeli actions no matter how outrageous.

    In my paper, I argued that the 2019 International Human Rights Day, starkly reminds us that the human race should be superior and live better lives than the animal race, and avoid the rat race.

    I said in this age, when many take basic human rights for granted, in the case of the Palestinians, Israel violates ALL the 30 Articles of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights passed 71 years ago. This includes building physical and mental walls, mass imprisonment, discrimination, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, arbitrary arrest, detention and exile.

    I pointed out four ironies about the state of Israel. First, that the Jews who suffered greatly under the racist ideology of Nazism are implementing another brand of the same racist ideology, Zionism which claims superiority over other human beings. That the Jews who suffered genocide under Hitler are today, carrying out genocide against the Palestinians. Thirdly, that the Jews who for over 2,000 years yearned for a homeland are now denying another race of people, the Palestinians, a homeland of their own.

    The fourth irony I pointed out is Israel which at inception refused to allow God be mentioned in their constitution, because the new Jewish leaders argued that God had done very little for them, and therefore deserved no mention, is being presented as a Christian country. I pointed out that the founders of Zionism and Israel including Theodor Herzel, the Austro-Hungarian journalist who founded the Zionist Movement, David Ben-Gurion (Green) founder and first Prime Minister of modern Israel, Moshe Dayan, former Defence and Foreign Minister, and former Prime Ministers Golda Meir and Yitzak Rabin were atheists!

    But that unfortunately, many Africans sheepishly and ignorantly support and rationalize the crimes against humanity perpetuated by Israel because they have the false belief that it is a religious conflict. I concluded that the resolution remains a two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians would have guaranteed and secured borders, with a shared Jerusalem and a shared commitment to social justice.

    Malam Naseer Kura, political and human rights activist said the Palestinian issue is a struggle against occupation and racism and that there is the need to for Nigerians to wage the Palestinian struggle as they did against Apartheid. The Nigerian government he said, needs to go beyond the mere recognition of the PLO and Palestine Authority to ensure that Israel abides by United Nations Resolutions. He urged it to set aside a Solidarity Day with Palestine.

    Dr. Ihsan Adel of Ruhr University, Germany said the five million Palestinian refugees must be allowed to return to their ancestral home. Ruhr who provided statistics on the continued Israeli theft of Palestinian lands, replacing existing Palestinian homes with Jewish settlements and the 708-kilometre wall Israel has built into the Palestinian West Bank, appealed to countries including Nigeria to insist that Palestinians like other peoples of the world, have a right to self-determination.

    Biodun Aremu, Secretary of the Joint Action Front (JAF) of Civil Societies and Co-Secretary of the Labour-Civil Society Coalition (LASCO) said there are four major historical injustices. They are the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade which went on for 350 years, the 1884/85 Partition of Africa; the Palestinian Issue and the continued colonization of the Saharawi in Western Sahara by Morocco.

    He said given the ambivalence of the UN on many issues including the Palestinian Question, there may be the need to renegotiate the body or Nigeria’s membership, adding that the Veto power must not be allowed to continue.

    Aremu argued that: “ The American economy is a war economy, that is why it is at war everywhere” and encourages conflicts including in the Palestine. He urged for mass education to educate Nigerians and Africans about the nature of the Palestinian conflict, America and the UN.

    Rasheed Atta, a lawyer from the International Institute for Human heritage (IIHH) argued that with the Palestinians in captivity, all humans are in bondage. To pressure Israel to end its gross violation of human rights of Palestinians, he urged an international boycott of Israeli goods, disinvestment from its businesses and sanctions.

    Participants endorsed the submissions of the speakers and the need to support the right of Palestinians to self-determination and their homeland.

  • Palestine to consider legal options if Israel, U.S. ruin new peace talks format – Minister

    Palestine is considering legal options in case Israel and the U.S. choose to derail negotiations on the Israel-Palestine settlement, Foreign Minister Riyad Maliki told Sputnik in an interview.

    Palestine has been seeking a new format of peace talks with broader mediator participation since refusing to let the U. S. remain the sole main mediator following the latter’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

    “We are asking for advice from many internationally recognised legal experts to help us also to focus on different specific legal tracks and to see what could we do in the near future when it comes to this…

    “You know, if the negotiations track is closed by the rejection of Israel and the U. S., that means that they are not leaving us with many options but to focus on the legal one,” Maliki said.

    Maliki underlined that Palestine has signed over 100 international conventions and agreements containing certain conditions on how member states should or could act.

    “We believe will be reviewing all these bylaws of the hundreds of conventions and agreements, we’ll see if we could also utilise them in order also to use them within the legal track also in that sense,” the minister stressed.

    According to Maliki, Palestine may ask the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Israel’s settlement activities in the West Bank or could go to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or courts within different countries to hold Israel accountable for its actions.

    “First of all, Israel represents an occupying power … and this is something we should really address maybe through the ICJ.

    “When it comes to the criminal actions committed by the Israeli government then we could back to the ICC, when it comes to some actions taken by Israel like trying to sell settlement products then we will go to the European court, or to the national country courts,” he explained.

    He also said the Palestinian government doe not intend to self-dissolve and hand control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to Israel.

    On Monday, Nabil Shaath, the foreign affairs adviser of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told Sputnik that some within the Palestinian National Authority were discussing the option of dissolving the administration of the autonomy and let Israel bear the full brunt of running the occupied West Bank.

    “No, you know, the current status of the Palestinian authority was created by Oslo agreements and was supposed to end in 1999 with moving into a full-fledged state.

    “This did not happen, so obviously, if we want to move from where we are, we are not talking about a regression to the status, we should really talk about how we can really move closer to the state which was given to us by the [UN] resolution of Nov. 29, 2012, which says that the state of Palestine is under occupation,” Maliki said.

    Commenting on Shaath’s words, the foreign minister stressed that these were referring to the mood of some in the administration who are dissatisfied with the fact that Israel continues to occupy the West Bank but does not pay any of the costs while refusing to move closer to the two-state solution.

    “This really a discussion that continues to be heard within the Palestinian circles just to give back Israel full responsibilities of the occupation and let them really face all this financial and others security challenges,” he said.

    The minister said the main objective was nevertheless to “move forward” to declaring a full-fledged Palestinian state.

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  • Palestine may abandon autonomy, return responsibility to Israel – Presidential Aid

    Palestinians may decide to dissolve the existing self-governing bodies and return the responsibility over the territories and its large population to Israel, Nabil Shaath, the foreign affairs adviser of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said.

    In accordance with existing agreements, the bulk of the Palestinian population of the West Bank live in the so-called Areas A and B, where the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is responsible for providing all civilian services.

    Shaath told Sputnik: “yes, I think it’s an option we are discussing … But do you know what it will cost Israelis?

    “My God! They control us and we pay for it. Now we pay for security, we pay for education, we pay for roads, we pay for health.

    “We pay for everything and they are controlling it.”

    Shaath, when asked about the possibility of the PNA’s dissolution, said that Palestinians realise that the existence of the Palestinian self-rule makes Israel’s burden of being an occupying power relatively cheap and comfortable, however, it had not been initially designed this way.

    “Yes, but that was not the object of that, of course. The object was that it is an interim period that will last at best for three years.

    “And then two years of permanent status negotiations. So at most after five years we will have a totally independent state. This never happened.

    “We are still living in the first two years of the Gaza-Jericho agreement which is a very interim status and even it is violated,” Shaath said.

    Israel and Palestine are locked in a decades-long dispute over borders and sovereignty.

    Israel seized Jerusalem from Jordan during the Six Day War in 1967 and declared the city its capital.

    Palestine seeks to establish East Jerusalem as its own independent state’s capital.

    In early 1993, secret Palestinian-Israeli talks were launched in Oslo.

    The parties eventually managed to finalise an agreement that would end the conflict between the the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Israel.

    The agreement called for the withdraw of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and for the establishment of a limited Palestinian National Authority.

    In addition, the Palestinian side renounced past calls for the destruction of the State of Israel as part of the agreement.

    In 1995, the parties signed the Oslo II agreement on the principles for organising temporary self-governance in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

    The West Bank was divided into three administrative units: Areas A, B and C.

     

  • Anti-Trump protesters turned off Bethlehem Christmas lights

    Palestinians switched off Christmas lights at Jesus’ traditional birthplace in Bethlehem on Wednesday night in protest at U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

    A Christmas tree adorned with lights outside Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, where Christians believe Jesus was born, and another in Ramallah, next to the burial site of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, were plunged into darkness.

    “The Christmas tree was switched off on the order of the mayor today in protest at Trump’s decision,” said Fady Ghattas, Bethlehem’s municipal media officer.

    He said it was unclear whether the illuminations would be turned on again before the main Christmas festivities.

    In a speech in Washington, Trump said he had decided to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the U.S. embassy to the city.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Trump’s move marked the beginning of a new approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and said it was an “historic landmark”.

    Arabs and Muslims across the Middle East condemned the U.S. decision, calling it an incendiary move in a volatile region and the European Union and United Nations also voiced alarm at the possible repercussions for any chances of reviving Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.