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Belgian Court Opens Hearing Into Boycott of Israel Lawsuit, International NGOs Demand Sanctions on Israel Over Gaza Siege

April 15, 2015 

 

 

Int’l NGOs demand sanctions on Israel over Gaza

April 15, 2015, GAZA, (PIC)--

Several aids organizations including international ones have urged sanctions on Israel due to its continued siege on Gaza and its refusal to allow rebuilding process to kick off. 

The report  “Charting a New Course: Overcoming the stalemate in Gaza” says Israel must lift the blockade and allow free movement between the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip or face punitive measures.

The 46 organizations that signed the report, including Oxfam, Save the Children, KinderUSA, Medical Aid for Palestinians, CARE International, Norwegian People’s Aid and Médecins du Monde Switzerland, CCP Japan, Christian Aid, Church of Sweden, call for a suspension of arms transfers to Israel.

Gaza is worse off now

The report’s gist is that Gaza is a lot worse now than it was during the war with the slow death Israel and Egypt are imposing on Gaza. 

The report mentions that “As of January 2015, only 36 schools with minor damage have been repaired out of a total of over 258 damaged and eight destroyed in the attacks.”

And more than 100,000 people, whose homes Israel destroyed, remain displaced and without proper shelters. At least a dozen children passed away due to the lack of permanent shelter in previous cold spills.  

Israel’s unexploded munitions, the report states, claimed the lives of at least 10 and injured more than 35, most of whom children. 

400 Israeli violations of ceasefire

The report also states Israel has violated the ceasefire “more than 400” times, hindering farmers and fishermen and murdering a fisherman and injuring several other fishermen and farmers. 

According to the report, there must be practical measures against Israeli illegal policies. That includes making EU and other international relations with Israel conditional on it meeting its legal obligations and ensuring that companies that violate international law in the occupied West Bank and Gaza do not financially benefit from the reconstruction of Gaza.  

Belgian court opens hearing into boycott of Israel lawsuit

BRUSSELS, (PIC)--

The Brussels Court of First Instance held on Monday the first hearing of a lawsuit brought against the Belgian government to boycott Israeli goods produced in settlements that were constructed on Palestinian lands occupied in 1967.

The General Union of Palestinian Communities in Europe pointed out that the hearing was attended by the Belgian Ministers of Economy, Finance and Customs as well as the representative of the Palestinian House in Belgium in addition to Israeli and Belgian businessmen along with a group of attorneys.

The Union’s lawyers explained the extent of danger resulting from importing Israeli goods produced by illegal settlements. They confirmed that the Union refuses importing such products based on a previous decision.

They emphasized that the Belgian and the European consumers have the right to know the sources of these Israeli products as the European peoples in general refuse supporting Israeli settlements.

The Union’s attorneys presented several evidence and legal studies which strengthen their demand of issuing an order to prevent importing Israeli goods produced in Israeli settlements.

On the other hand, the Belgian government’s attorneys refused the lawsuit and said the commercial agreements are conducted directly between Israeli and Belgian companies, stressing that the government has no responsibility in this regard.

The hearing was concluded by adjourning the trial to May 12 to rule on the lawsuit which was filed in September, 2013.

Israeli-bombed building collapses in Deir al-Balah

GAZA, (PIC)--

A five-story-building collapsed in central Gaza Strip on Tuesday as it was bombed by Israeli Occupation Forces in last summer’s aggression on the enclave. It resulted in big damage in the area with no casualties reported.

Palestinian security sources told the PIC reporter that the building which belonged to martyr Abdulaziz Abu Zeaiter started to fall down gradually in Deir al-Balah town in central Gaza.

Eyewitnesses said the eastern part of the structure gradually crashed amid very loud sound whereas the western part is still solid.

Policemen and the civil defense rushed to the scene to evacuate residents amid concerns that the western part may fall down at any moment.     

Sheikh Sabri warns of turning a historical school into a synagogue

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--

Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, Head of the Supreme Islamic Council, warned of the decision made by Jewish extremist groups to turn the historical Tankaziya school in Jerusalem into a Jewish synagogue.

Sheikh Dr. Sabri revealed, in a press statement on Tuesday, that the Tankaziya school is an Islamic Waqf and Mamluk edifice located within al-Aqsa Mosque vicinity. It belongs to Prince Tankaz al-Naseri who died in 1340 and ruled Jerusalem in the Mamluk era.

The Prince established the school in 1328AD as an education place and an orphanage. It consists of two stories including a niche.

Dr. Sabri noted that in the early thirties of last century, the upper floor was an office for the Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini. Then, It was taken by the Sharia court as one of its departments before it was used as Al-Aqsa Islamic Secondary School from the fifties of the twentieth century to the year 1969.

In 1969, it was taken over by the Israeli occupation. The students were expelled out of the school and it was used by the Israeli border guards.

Sheikh Sabri himself was the headmaster of the school at that time before it was taken over by Israeli forces.

The Islamic Supreme Council condemned the Israeli aggressive and arbitrary seizure of the school and demanded its return to the Islamic Awqaf management.

Dr. Sabri called on UNESCO, the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) and the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) to bear their responsibilities and to exert efforts in order to protect the holy and historical sites in Jerusalem.

He also asked them to urgently move to oblige Israel to return the Tankaziya school to the endowment properties and to stop turning it into a synagogue.

Israeli minister incites against al-Aqsa Mosque

RAMALLAH, (PIC)--

The Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel has sent ”an urgent letter” to Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu demanding a stop to the Palestinian restoration works in al-Aqsa Mosque, Israeli Hayom newspaper said Tuesday. 

Ariel’s letter came shortly after the Islamic Waqf Department declared intention to carry out excavations to replace the carpets of the Dome of Rock, the newspaper said.

He said that the work is being done without permission and was illegally organized, and therefore the Israeli police should stop the work as soon as possible.  

“The work includes lifting flooring and excavation,” Ariel wrote.  “All of this is being done by mechanical equipment.”
According to the letter, the scope of work being undertaken is unprecedented and requires review and approval of the ministerial committee for an archaeological dig in holy places.  

 

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