Britain Caves to Israeli Pressure; Agrees to Revoke 'Universal Jurisdiction' Law

IMEMC - In his visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories this week, British Foreign Secretary William Hague reported being 'ambushed' by Israeli officials who cancelled a high-level security briefing with Hague in response to a British threat to arrest an Israeli official for war crimes.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague (Photo Courtesy of JC)

Hague said he resented this move by Israel, since the British coalition government had already agreed to change the 'universal jurisdiction law' which allows for the prosecution of foreign citizens who have engaged in crimes against humanity.

Israeli officials have faced increasing threats of arrest by a variety of countries which use the universal jurisdiction law. According to Amnesty International, the law of universal jurisdiction is a requirement for all states who are signatories to the Convention against Torture and the Inter-American Convention, which states that whenever a person suspected of torture is found in their territory, they must submit the case to their prosecuting authorities for the purposes of prosecution, or to extradite that person.

Most recently, Israeli Cabinet Minister Dan Meridor had to cancel a trip to England November 1st after British intelligence officials warned him that he could face an arrest warrant upon entry into the UK.

Meridor is just the latest in a string of Israeli officials who have been cited for potential war crimes, including former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, former Israeli defence minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, former Defense chief-of-staff Moshe Ya'alon, former air force chief Dan Halutz, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni, among others. Most were cited for the ongoing Israeli military occupation of Palestine, and attacks against Palestinians, while Ariel Sharon was cited for his role in the Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon in 1982.

The British Foreign Secretary's trip to the region this week was also criticized by Israeli officials due to the Secretary's decision to meet with Palestinians who recently lost their homes to violent Israeli settler takeovers in East Jerusalem.

Israeli police, Bedouin clash at mosque demolition

A view of Bedouin tents near an Israeli settlement in Umm Al-Kheir village, in
Hebron in the West Bank, in March 2010. (Ma'an News Agency)

Ma'an - TEL AVIV – Israeli police on Sunday arrested five people protesting the demolition of a mosque in the Bedouin city of Rahat in southern Israel.

Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said the protestors had thrown rocks at the police, who were providing security for civil authority workers who were taking down the structure.

The mosque had been built without the necessary permission, and was earmarked for demolition under a court order.

According to Rosenfeld, Rahat inhabitants had rejected compromise proposals to build the mosque in another location.

Rahat, with a population of around 42,000 people, is the only Bedouin location in Israel to have city status.

UN: Gaza construction materials delayed

Ma'an - GAZA CITY – Less than 200 truckloads of food and commercial goods were slated to enter the Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning, Palestinian liaison officials said.

The goods, crossings official Raed Fattouh said, would be transported via the southernmost crossing Kerem Shalom, and would be transferred into Gaza along with limited amounts of industrial diesel and cooking fuel.

According to reports by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, current import levels - controlled by new terms of siege established by Israel following a global outcry in June - remain less than 40 percent of pre-siege levels.

The latest report on the crossing from the UN body said the import of construction materials, which remain strictly controlled by Israeli officials, and banned, except for projects under international supervision - remains limited.

Projects spearheaded by the UN Relief and Works Agency, the main body charged with the care of Palestinian refugees in the Near East, have been delayed by Israeli border officials, the report said.

Of the 1.7 percent of building projects approved for Gaza, OCHA said, Israeli officials have only allowed a small fraction of the supplies necessary for reconstruction into the coastal enclave.

Citing capacity constraints of the conveyor belt at the northern bulk goods crossing, Karni, the report said only 39 of 226 truckloads of materials requested by UNRWA for the projects, mainly clinics and schools, have entered Gaza.

Israel claims 'no army activity in area', yet Palestinians continually shot in 'buffer zone'

Ma'an - GAZA CITY – Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian civilian in the central Gaza Strip east of the Al-Bureij refugee camp on Tuesday, medical officials said.

An unidentified 35-year-old man was transported to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the town of Deir Al-Balah, also in the central Strip. Medics said he was lightly injured with a gunshot wound to the shoulder.

An Israeli military spokesman said there was no army activity in the area.

Israel's army enforces a "buffer zone," off limits to Palestinians on the Gaza side of the Green Line, between 300 meters and one kilometer from the border. Palestinians are frequently shot when they venture anywhere nearby.

A UN study released in August noted that "Palestinians have been totally or partially prevented from accessing land located up to 1,000-1,500 meters from the Green Line (depending on the specific area)."

Twenty-five Palestinian civilians have been killed in the border area since the end of Israel's three-week offensive on Gaza in January 2009.

Palestinian 20-year-old loses vision after inhaling Israeli tear gas

Ma'an - JERUSALEM – A resident of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem is suffering severe vision problems after inhaling tear gas during recent clashes in the flashpoint neighborhood, a community center said.

The Wadi Hilwa Information Center said Ahmad Al-Juba, 20, gradually lost his vision since the clashes in late September, when Israeli forces used tear gas against protesters. Clashes broke out after a settler security guard shot dead resident Samer Sarhan.

According to the center, Al-Juba was transferred to an Israeli hospital, where it was said his vision was damaged by tear gas.

Report: Israel PM offers to trade freeze for US spy

Ma’an - JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested to US President Barack Obama to free Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard in exchange for extending settlement freeze in the West Bank for 60 days, an Israeli news site reported Saturday.

Inian Merkazi ("Central Issues") quoted sources in Washington saying Netanyahu has already made his suggestion. Jonathan Pollard is serving a life term in an American jail after being convicted of espionage and spying for the Israeli state against its closest ally.

It is widely believed that Obama offered Israel certain guarantees in exchange for extending its partial freeze, which expired 26 September. The PLO has said it will not return to talks without a new announcement.

In an editorial, The New York Times argued Friday in an editorial that the offer, which did not mention Pollard's release, was "very generous — too generous, we believe ... It included additional security guarantees and more fighter planes, missile defense, satellites. Mr. Netanyahu still refused," the paper said.