Sweden's attempts to insert language into an EU resolution on the Middle East that would recognize east Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent Palestinian state harms European efforts to play a significant part in mediating between Israel and the Palestinians, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued Tuesday morning.
The statement followed a Haaretz report that the Swedes were pushing a resolution that will be discussed at a monthly meeting of EU ministers…
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Posted on December 1, 2009 at 11:30pm —
Palestinian statehood is a "vital" component necessary for regional peace, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, in a message to mark Monday's annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
But amid criticism of Israel's settlement activities during the two-day solidarity event, Israeli officials were bracing for Palestinian diplomats to declare new diplomatic strategies during a General Assembly debate on Monday. Specifically, officials were expected…
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Posted on December 1, 2009 at 8:30am — Comment
Israel is likely to free up to 980 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Corporal Gilad Shalit, the State Prosecutor announced Sunday. The prosecution was responding to a petition submitted to the High Court of Justice by a group of bereaved parents, requesting that the names of Palestinian prisoners included in the prisoner swap be disclosed immediately to the public.
The Prosecutor reported that Israel is likely to release 450 priso…
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Posted on November 29, 2009 at 8:00pm — Comments
Israeli settlement leaders vowed Sunday to defy a government crackdown on construction in Judea and Samaria by laying cornerstones in communities across the territories. Their announcement came hours after Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered his ministry to urgently recruit and train some 40 supervisors to oversee the 10-month construction freeze. It remains to be seen if the settlers will be able to do more than lay cornerstones with forty inspectors roving the area. The I…
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Posted on November 29, 2009 at 8:00pm — Comment
Iran's government approved a plan Sunday to build 10 industrial-scale uranium enrichment facilities, a dramatic expansion of the program in brazen defiance of demands by the UN that the nation halt enrichment. The decision comes just days after the UN nuclear watchdog agency (the IAEA) censured Iran for its program and demanded that it halt construction of a newly revealed enrichment facility in Qom.
Iran's state news agency IRNA reported that the government ordered the At…
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Posted on November 29, 2009 at 7:30pm — Comment