Embassy of the State of Palestine

Rawabi, Palestine - 12 February 2013: His Beatitude Theophilos III, Patriarch of Jerusalem, all Palestine and Jordan, today blessed the cornerstone of Rawabi's first Greek (Rum) Orthodox Church. The Patriarch of Jerusalem remarked on his satisfaction with the central placement of the church in the new city's residential areas in accordance with the master plan. His Beatitude also credited the developer with a vision that is both inclusive and welcoming to Palestinians of all faiths and expressed his pleasure at the knowledge that Rawabi's Christian and Muslim places of worship will be an integral part of the fabric of daily life.
It is worth mentioning that Rawabi is a new city for Palestinian families. It will provide opportunities for affordable house ownership, employment, education and leisure.

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross is urging Israel to find a solution to save the lives of hunger-striking Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, and to allow their families to visit them.

The Society of St. Yves, the Catholic Center for Human Rights in East Jerusalem, requests your help to save the Cremisan valley in Beit Jala from being destroyed by the Israeli separation wall.
Next Tuesday, 12th of February, the final hearing in the Special Appeals Committee against the Wall will be held. The Catholic Center have prepared the following petition to show the objection of the Palestinian people and the international community to building the wall and annexing Palestinian land.
Please help the Palestinian Catholic Center for Human Rights by signing and sharing the petition they prepared with your mailing lists and contacts.

Robert Serry, Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace told the Security Council that "this is not a time to be idle" stressing that the consequences of inaction in the Arab- Israeli conflict could be dire for everyone.

Geneva, 31 January 2013 – The International Fact-Finding Mission on Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory today published its findings on the implications Israeli settlements have upon the human rights of the Palestinian people.
The report states that a multitude of the human rights of the Palestinians are violated in various forms and ways due to the existence of the settlements.

Today, PLO Executive Committee member, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi called on the international community to hold Israel accountable for refusing to attend its Universal Periodic Review conducted by the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), which was scheduled to take place yesterday, January 29:

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday that despite a change in Israel’s government, the Palestinian preconditions for negotiating with Israel would remain the same.

In a letter to the secretary General of the United Nations, Dr. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations, illustrated the Palestinian prisoners' plight and Israeli brutal killing of Palestinian Civilians.

Over and again, the Palestinian leadership has been asked: What are our expectations of the Israeli elections? Our answer: Peace is nowhere in sight.

Predictably, over the past few weeks Israeli and foreign media have been hounding us for our expectations of the Israeli elections, and whether there will be any chance of a future breakthrough. Our answer is that the likely outcome does not bode well for the chances of peace.

Al-Awda, The Palestine Right To Return Coalition and the Free Samer Issawi
Campaign calls on all people of conscience across the globe to stand with
Palestinian political prisoner and hunger striker Samer Issawi in his fight
for freedom and justice. He has been on hunger strike for over 178 days now
protesting the injustice of his detention and that of all the other
Palestinian political prisoners!