| Palestinians confront Emirati delegation at Al-Aqsa | | Aaron Boxerman - Times of Israel - Members of an Emirati
agricultural delegation, arrived in Israel to accelerate the
implementation of the Normalization Agreement, decided to visit the
Al-Aqsa Mosque. In marked contrast to the Israeli media and
political establishment hailing their "historical" visit,
Palestinian at Al-Aqsa were far from welcoming. strongly hostile.In
videos of the delegation’s arrival at the mosque, circulated widely
on Palestinian social media, a Palestinian at the scene is heard
shouting “Trash, trash!” at the Emiratis, and another one telling
them to “leave, go on, get out.” Palestinian Authority Prime
Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called the Emiratis` visit “saddening"
and stated “One ought to enter the gates of the blessed Al-Aqsa
Mosque by way of its owners, rather than through the gates of the
occupation”. The incidents might be the harbingers of what would
happen at Al-Aqsa should large-scale pilgrimage from the Gulf start,
a possibility mentioned by President Trump at the singing ceremony a
few weeks ago. [ak] | 20/10/2020 |
| Israel to put temporary freeze on demolitions in East Jerusalem | | YUMNA PATEL - Mondoweiss - According to Adalah – The Legal Center for
Arab Minority Rights in Israel, the Israeli government will be
freezing demolitions “across the country,” a move that the government
had reportedly taken at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis back in
March. After COVID-19 death rates declined inside Israel during the
summer months, Adalah noted that Israel “amped” its demolitions of
Palestinian homes back up. Following a letter to Israeli Attorney
General Avichai Mandelblit, sent by Adalah Attorney Suhad Bishara,
“demanding an immediate halt to Israel’s accelerated policy of home
demolitions” in East Jerusalem, the Israeli Justice Ministry
announced it would “adjust” the policy to reflect the actions taken
back in March./After re-examining things – and given the restrictions
recently imposed by the government following the further spread of
COVID-19 –it has been decided at this stage, to adjust the
enforcement policy of planning and construction offenses to align
with the state of emergency, similar to the policy decided upon in
March 2020,” the ministry said.(rh) | 6/10/2020 |
