Embassy of the State of Palestine

On the holy occasion of Palm Sunday and beginning of the Holy Week in Jerusalem, PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, spoke of her outrage at the increasing denial of entry to Jerusalem for Palestinian Christians.

Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will head the Palestinian delegation to the spring meeting of the ad-hoc liaison committee of donor countries, due to convene in Brussels on 19 March 2013. The delegation will present a report outlining the vital importance of removing all imposed restrictions on Palestinian movement and economic activity in Area 'C', including East Jerusalem in order for the Palestinian people to exercise their right to development and exercise sovereignty over the territory of the State of Palestine.

In future, the 'State of Palestine' will be the official alternative name for the 'Palestinian Authority' within all UN institutions, but not in Palestinian-Israeli institutions, Ban Ki-Moon has said.

JERUSALEM, March 12, 2013 – The World Bank’s latest Economic Monitoring Report stresses that while the donor community’s efforts are directed towards short-term relief for Palestinian fiscal stress, it is important to recognize that the prolonged system of closures and restrictions is causing lasting damage to the competitiveness of the Palestinian economy.
The report entitled Fiscal Challenges and Long Term Economic Costs was released today ahead of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) meeting, a forum of donors to the Palestinian Authority (PA), which will meet in Brussels on March 19. The report analyzes the state of the Palestinian economy and the PA’s fiscal position.

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, PLO Executive Committee member, received a letter from Catherine Ashton, European High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on March 6. The letter was in response to a correspondence that Dr. Ashrawi sent the High Representative in December which discussed Israel's latest violations of international law which constitute a continuation of a preexisting Israeli policy to intensify and escalate settlement activity and land theft.

Cabinet welcomed, during its weekly meeting chaired by Prime Minister, Dr. Salam Fayyad, the UNICEF report which condemned the occupation authorities' systematic violations against Palestinian children detained in its prisons, including the use of inhumane and degrading treatment against them. The Cabinet demanded the international community to assume its responsibilities, especially with regard to children's rights, which have become a key component for customary international law and international human rights law.

During its weekly meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, the Cabinet renewed its call on the international community to actively intervene and compel occupation authorities to immediately release prisoners on hunger strike, especially Samer Al-Issawi and Ayman Sharawneh, whose health conditions have deteriorated, and held occupation authorities fully responsible for their lives.

For several years, national lawyers, human rights organizations,
United Nations experts and treaty bodies have been publishing reports of ill-treatment of children who come in contact with the Israeli military detention system. Following an increasing number of allegations of ill-treatment of children in military detention, UNICEF has conducted a review of practices related to children who come into contact with the military detention system, from apprehension, to court proceedings and outcome.

In a letter to the Secretary General of UN, Palestinian Ambassador to UN recalled the continuing plight of Palestinian Prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails. Samer Issawi and Ayman Sharawnah continue their hunger strikes in protest of their unlawful detention without charge.Both men were transferred to hospital on 27 February due to their deteriorating health.

Israel will open new “Palestinian bus routes” in the West Bank tomorrow after bowing to pressure from settlers who argue that sharing transportation is a security risk.

Officially, the new lines, operated by the Afikim company, are designed to ease pressure on the transport network that carries people from the West Bank into central Israel, which many Palestinians with Israeli work permits use each day. However, the Transport Ministry in Jerusalem has been accused of promoting segregationist policies after advertisements for the new routes were produced only in Arabic and distributed only in Palestinian villages in the West Bank.