Embassy of the State of Palestine

England’s most senior Catholic, the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, has spoken out about the impact of Israel’s security barrier on the lives of West Bank Palestinians.

He also referred to the “state of Palestine”, while calling on Catholics to pray for a successful outcome to Middle East peace talks.

A report by the Catholic human rights group, the Society of St. Yves, published on Monday said the Israeli Ministry of Interior has rejected 43% of the applications for family unification submitted by Palestinians since the year 2000 and 24% of the child registration applications submitted since 2004.

TWENTY YEARS have passed since the celebrated Arafat-Rabin handshake on the White House lawn. Twenty years have passed since the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority. Twenty years have passed since the formal start of the peace process. This year marks twenty years of shattered hopes and unfulfilled obligations, of promises betrayed and an illegal colonization process that not only continues to intensify, but has inched us ever closer towards permanently ending any hope for a peacefully negotiated two-state solution. On September 13th, 1993 the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements between Israel and the PLO (“Oslo I”) was signed. However, Israeli bulldozers kept bulldozing, and with every illegally placed stone, the hope for peace faded. Since 1993, Israeli settlers have tripled in number, their settlements choking and separating East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and fragmenting the West Bank itself into loosely connected cantons. This publication spells out how the OSLO PROCESS metamorphosed into a process of colonization, taking us ever further from a just and lasting solution to this conflict.

"A report published Monday by an Israeli rights group reveals "deep gaps" in the education system for Palestinians and Israelis in Jerusalem.

The report published by Ir Amim and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel found that there is a severe shortage of classrooms in East Jerusalem, a higher dropout rate and "tremendous disparities" in the allocation of professional positions between the two educational systems."

Dr. Ashrawi stressed, “Israel is forging a new reality for Jerusalem by annexing Jerusalem and destroying the authenticity and character of the city with its draconian laws. With its policies of demolishing Palestinian houses, evicting Palestinians from their ancestral homes, revoking Palestinian IDs and constructing illegal settlements and the Apartheid Wall, Israel is sending a message to the world that Jerusalem is an exclusively Jewish city where Palestinian Christians and Muslims have become temporary residents at the mercy of Israeli occupier. Without East Jerusalem as our capital, there can be no Palestinian state or any hope for peace.”

B'Tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories calls for An investigation to be opened into the incident in order to examine the truth behind the killing of three Palestinians in Qalandiya Camp, and particularly the command’s decision to carry out the arrest in this manner, and the question whether their forces prepared in advance for the mission in a way that could have prevented the use of lethal arms. B’Tselem has written to the Military Advocate for Operational Matters and to the SHAI [Judea and Samaria] District Police, which is in charge of investigating suspected breaches of shooting protocol by Border Police, demanding that an investigation be opened. Additionally, the military must take action to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, such as establishing clear procedures for arrest missions and for the entry of army forces into densely-populated residential areas.

27 August 2013 – The United Nations human rights office today expressed concern over the forced eviction of Palestinians in the West Bank as a result of recent demolitions carried out by Israeli authorities, and noted this could amount to a violation of international law.

Today PLO Executive Committee member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi strongly denounced Israel’s military incursion into the Qalandia refugee camp near Jerusalem which resulted in the killing of 3 Palestinians and the wounding of 15 – 6 of whom are in critical condition: “Israel’s use of excessive and indiscriminate violence and live ammunition in densely populated civilian areas represents a blatant violation of international and humanitarian law. “

“We call on the members of the United Nations Security Council, the Quartet and the rest of the international community to take serious measures to bring an immediate end to the killing of innocent civilians and to terminate Israel’s impunity."

Today Ambassador Mansour sent an identical letter to the Secretary-General, President of the Security Council and President of the General Assembly regarding today’s killings of Palestinian civilians in Qalandiya refugee camp and the continuation of illegal settlement construction.
Read the full letter here

Ramallah-Tuesday 20/8/2013, Cabinet stressed during its meeting in Ramallah, chaired by Dr. Rami Hamdallah, the Prime Minister of the caretaker government, its full support for the efforts of the President and the Palestinian leadership to achieve the legitimate national rights of our people and the continuation of government responsibilities in meeting the needs of citizens and enhancing their steadfastness, in addition to the advancement of the economic situation with the continued consultations to form the sixteenth government.