Middle East Monitor - The Latest from the Middle East

Israeli authorities announced on Monday that they had cancelled the UNESCO mission due to visit the old city of Jerusalem because the Palestinian Authority had failed to keep the mission away from politics, media sources reported.

Israeli radio, broadcasting in Hebrew, reported from sources in the Israeli foreign ministry that the decision was taken after the Palestinian side retracted previous pledges that the issue was not to be politicised.

EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS

On September 30, 2011, Muhammad Al-Durrah was killed in the arms of his father by Israeli army gunfire at the Al-Shohada Junction in the Gaza Strip. This was filmed by cameras from the France 2 news channel.

Since this is a resounding crime and a scandal that reveals the true conduct of Israeli soldiers and their manner of dealing with civilians, Israel has tried to fudge the story.

The failure of the National Salvation Front was apparent since its inception. Its leaders' famous first press conference was delayed for several hours, and when they finally showed up, they were fighting over the microphone. No one will ever forget when Dr. El-Baradei tried to snatch the microphone away from Amr Moussa, saying "Come on Amr, give me the microphone." Despite their eagerness, they were unable to succeed in anything, as they were contentious partners who have never achieved notable political or professional success.

The online edition of the Israeli newspaper Maariv revealed on Sunday that the Israeli army has recently resumed using snipers units to disperse Palestinian demonstrations; a practice it had abandoned for a short period.

The newspaper reported that this technique was used at the end of last week near the settlement of Beit El in eastern Ramallah. Tutu rifles (0.22 inch calibre bullets) were used injuring five Palestinian youths.

Israel announced on Monday that a missile fired from Syria landed in the occupied Golan Heights near an Israeli military patrol. No injuries were sustained.

This follows incidents last Wednesday's in which several missiles were fired on the Jabel al-Shaykh ares.

Tunisia was the country that kick-started the Arab Spring. In December 2010, a desperate young man set himself on fire, and the ensuing protests led to the fall of dictator President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the country's first democratic elections in decades (in October 2011). As neighbouring countries like Syria and Libya remain mired in conflict and bloodshed years after their respective uprisings began, Tunisia has dropped out of the international news somewhat. The first revolution in the Arab Spring, it has also been seen – broadly – as one of the most successful.

Israeli gunships opened their automatic gun machines on the Palestinian fishermen along the Gaza coast in the early morning of Monday.

Witnesses said that the shooting towards the Palestinian fishing boats had started before dawn and continued until morning. No casualties have been reported.

Haaretz newspaper has reported that the European Union has given into US pressure and postponed a decision to label settlement products, in order to distinguish them from other Israeli products, which would have facilitated consumer choice and the boycott of illegal products.

The newspaper quoted Israeli and European officials as saying that the decision, which had been due to be approved at a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council this week, had been postponed until late June.

A survey by the Pew Research Centre in Washington has shown that the majority of Egyptians are supportive of President Mohammad Morsi's regime, despite a decline of confidence in the Muslim Brotherhood, to which the President belongs.

The poll, published on Thursday, revealed that 30 per cent of Egyptians believe that their country is heading in the right direction, compared to 53 per cent last year, and 56 per cent in 2011. Moreover, only 39 per cent believe that conditions are better than what they were during President Hosni Mubarak's rule.

It's time to cancel the European Union's trade association with Israel if their government persists in violating international law

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Lord David Steel spent four years of his childhood in Kenya at the time of the Mau Mau uprising in the fifties and sixties, when thousands were killed rebelling against British colonial rule; now he is one of the longest serving leaders of the Liberal Party. This early experience became an important part of his life and has affected his approach to morality and his political career. "Looking back on it as a student I was horrified by the assumptions of superiority of one race over others", he explains.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has said that regarding Palestinian internal reconciliation, he "absolutely does not feel that the Egyptian position is closer to Hamas". "If I felt so, I would not be here in Cairo," he told Egyptian journalists.

In a meeting with the chief editors of Egyptian newspapers, Abbas said: "No one can deny that Hamas is a part of the Muslim Brotherhood, but what I heard from President Mohammed Morsi was that Egypt is still keen on achieving Palestinian reconciliation."

The government of Morocco has announced that it will not invite Israeli scientists to attend a scientific conference in Fez, local newspapers said on Friday. The news was confirmed by the office of the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. The conference is due to be held in June at the Sidi Mohamed Bin-Abdullah University.

Following the demands made by Egypt's permanent representative at the UN, UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, phoned Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, asking him to halt Israeli violations against the Al-Aqsa Mosque as they thwart peace efforts.

Joint efforts by Egypt's representative at the UN, Motaz Khalil, alongside those of representatives from Libya, Lebanon, Palestine and Deputy UN Secretary General, Yan Eliasson, led Mr Ban to phone Netanyahu.

They also asked the different UN departments to assume their responsibilities regarding the Israeli violations in Jerusalem, including settler invasions and attacks on Muslim and Christian places of worshiping. They called for Mr Ban to move immediately.