All Stories Archive

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner expressed his fear that Israel no longer appears prepared to pursue negotiations in the Middle East, adding that Paris remains fervently opposed to settlement construction in the West Bank, Israeli media reported on Tuesday. In an interview with France Inter radio, Kouchner elucidated that...

Turkey's Prime Minister Rajab Tayeb Erdogan criticised the Zionist government led by Benyamin Netanyaho saying he prefers to meet with the Sudanese president to discuss the crisis in Dar Fur rather than the head of the Israeli government to discuss the Goldstone report. Erdogan pointed out that during the...

A man humiliated The decision by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, not to run for re-election next year looks like the act of a man who has reached the end of his political tether. He is the principal Palestinian advocate of a negotiated two-state peace agreement with Israel. If...

Turkish police detained around 20 students on Wednesday after they pelted Israel's ambassador with eggs to protest the Jewish state's treatment of Palestinians, forcing him to cancel a university visit. The protest took place outside the university in the Black Sea port of Trabzon as ambassador Gabby Levy arrived...

A statement from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) today confirmed that Britain's foreign secretary David Miliband has been in touch with the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, Salam Fayad, over the deteriorating situation in Jerusalem. The statement also confirmed that Miliband expressed his grave anxiety...

Israeli political sources accused the British government of putting obstacles in the Jewish state's path to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).  A vote will be held on Tel Aviv's membership of the OECD by the beginning of the next year, 2010. The Hebrew radio reported...

A conference of foreign ministers of the Mediterranean Union due to take place in Istanbul in November has been cancelled after Egypt and several other Arab countries objected to the participation of Israel's extremist foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman; the Jerusalem Post reported yesterday. Egypt's foreign minister, Ahmad Abu Al-Ghaet...

A member of the Palestinian Parliament and leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, Mushir Al-Masri, regards the insistence of French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to visit Gaza as a positive step. By recognising the realities on the ground without overlooking them, the French and the West are correcting...

Pro-Palestine Supporters picketed the start of a 5 day Israeli Tourism event held in Spitalfields market, East London. Despite efforts by Israeli security to get demonstrators to move, police made no efforts to move them on to the frstration of the Pro-Israel organisers. To celebrate the new low cost...

Turkey has decided to cancel air force military exercises that were scheduled for next week, Israeli media reports revealed Sunday. According to sources in the Israeli security ministry, Ankara notified Israel about its decision days before the scheduled manoeuvres were to take place, with the participation of the United...

The Middle East Monitor (MEMO) has been in touch with the British Foreign Office in an attempt to illicit a reaction about Israel's ever increasing settlement expansion programs, including the laying of the foundation stone of the biggest settlement in Jerusalem yesterday. In a telephone interview with the Middle...

The Middle East Monitor (MEMO), has contacted MP's from the three main political parties, as well as the foreign office, to get their reaction to Israel's very provocative act yesterday of laying the foundation stone of a new settlement expansion program in East Jerusalem's Jabal Mukaber neighborhood. The response from...

Jerusalem's troublesome sheikhRa'ed Salah is mobilising opposition to the undermining of the Islamic presence in the city. His actions play to a wider audience, A subtle shift in power has recently taken place on the street in Jerusalem. The confrontations during the past week between Palestinians and the Israeli...

Turkish demonstrators blockade Israeli Council in Istanbul in protest against actions in Al-Aqsa Mosque. Hundreds of Turkish youths blockaded the Israeli Consulate from midnight Sunday until the early hours of Monday morning in Istanbul in protest against Zionists attempts to assault Al-Aqsa Mosque with the help of the Occupation...

Erdogan: Turkey will work to accomplish debate of the Goldstone report in the Security Council Turkey's Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced that his country would work within the Security Council to accomplish a debate of the Goldstone report published last month. The report confirmed that the Israeli army...

FCO letter "upgraded" minister's status to avoid arrestA last minute letter by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) to a London court purportedly upgrading Ehud Barak's visit from private to 'special' status saved the Israeli Defence Minister from certain arrest on charges of war crimes yesterday, 29th September. While...

Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon recently canceled a planned trip to Britain for fear of being arrested there. Ya'alon was invited to London to attend a fund-raising dinner for Benji's Home, a group home for soldiers with no family in Israel. The project is the initiative of the parents...

An international and impartial inquiry into Israel 's attack on a humanitarian flotilla, the opening of all crossing points to and from Gaza and an immediate end to the blockade are among Parliament's demands in a resolution passed on Thursday. MEPs also advocate reshaping the EU's Middle East policy,...

By Mehmet Nedim AslanAward-winning British film director Ken Loach has described Israel as a "racist state" in an interview with the Turkish daily Vakit newspaper. The director said the Israeli state was based on the ethnicity of those who are given automatic citizenship; this in itself is "proof of...

A British human rights lawyer Tayab Ali of Irvine Thanvi Natas solicitors has been appointed by the family of the assassinated Hamas leader Mahmoud Al Mabhouh to pursue legal action in the British court. Several persons using forged British passports were involved in the killing. Al Mabhouh was murdered...

Red Cross described Israeli siege as "collective punishment" of Gaza's civilian population as a violation of the Geneva Conventions, calling on Israel to lift it. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Monday described Israeli siege as "collective punishment" of Gaza's civilian population as a violation of...

Eyewitness accounts of Israel's assault on the aid ship Mavi Marmara are emerging which give a very different picture to the official Israeli version of events. Survivors of the assault on the largest ship in the Freedom Flotilla have said that wounded Israeli commandos were being treated in the...

This item was sent by Ken O'Keefe from Istanbul at 10.00hrs 05.06.2010 and provides an eyewitness account of events on the Mavi Marmara when Israeli commandos stormed the vessel. By Ken O'Keefe from Istanbul I have for many years understood that we, people of conscience, are the true holders...

As the activists kidnapped by the Israeli navy in international waters begin to be repatriated, sources in Israel claim that the process was delayed because the passengers of the MV Rachel Corrie would not sign documents pledging not to sue after their release. In the meantime, Israel is continuing...

After some confusion over its whereabouts, it has been confirmed that the Irish-flagged MV Rachel Corrie is heading for Gaza. Sailing in international waters the vessel is carrying humanitarian aid and is expected to arrive in Gaza on Saturday unless it is intercepted and hijacked by the Israeli navy...

By Mehmet Nedim Aslan A journalist covering the Gaza Freedom Flotilla was shot and killed by the Israeli commandos as he photographed their crime. Cevdet Kiliclar was one of 60 journalists on board the Mavi Marmara to provide accurate accounts of the Flotilla. According to the activists on the...

The Turkish President has said that Israel will "regret the great mistake" it made by attacking the Freedom Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza. Abdullah Gul said that the government of Israel acted against the long-term interests of the Israeli people. According to the Anatolia news agency, President Gul...

Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has reiterated Turkish support for the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip 'whatever the cost.' This statement was made yesterday evening during a telephone conversation between Erdogan and his Palestinian counterpart, Ismael Haniyeh. During the conversation, Haniyeh conveyed his personal condolences as well as...

Sources quoted by Radio Israel claim that the Israeli military is threatening to "use force if necessary" to stop the MV Rachel Corrie as it too attempts to break the siege of Gaza and take humanitarian aid to the territory. Named after the American peace campaigner who was killed...

GENEVA (31 May 2010) – The UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Richard Falk, urged Monday the international community to bring to justice those responsible for the killing of some 16 unarmed peace activist, when Israeli armed commandos stormed a convoy of ships carrying aid to Gaza....

In the wake of Israel's assault on and hijacking of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, relations between Turkey and Israel are set to take a dangerous turn. Sources in Turkey claim that the Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his army Chief of Staff and the country's Head of Intelligence are...

Turkey has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council following the attack by Israeli forces on the Freedom Flotilla which was attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Most of the ships in the flotilla were sailing under the Turkish flag. Anatol News Agency...

A representative from the port of Anatolia in Turkey has denied claims by the Israeli authorities that some of the participants in the Freedom Flotilla had weapons. The spokesman pointed out that all the ships were subjected to extensive searches and no weapons of any kind were found in...

The latest act of Israeli aggression against aid workers seeking to help Palestinians under siege in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of at least 10 and possibly 20 activists. Many more have been wounded. Full details of the action taken by the Israeli navy, in which commandos stormed...

EU parliament – External relations A delegation of nine Members of the European Parliament, from the Foreign Affairs, Budgets and Development committees, left the Gaza Strip on Friday after a fact-finding mission hosted by UNRWA. The delegation monitored and assessed the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the impact of...

As reception plans are completed for the Freedom Flotilla due to arrive in Gaza on the 27 May, the Chair of the Popular Committee Against the Siege has revealed details of the ships setting sail with much-needed humanitarian aid. Jamal Alkhodary, MP, said that three ships were due to...

Israeli Industry, Trade and Labour Minister, Binyamin Ben Eliezer, has criticised the decision by the Palestinian Authority to boycott Israeli products manufactured in settlements claiming that resorting to measures of economic boycott was malicious. Ben Eliezer called on Palestinians to call off the boycott in light of the proximity...

The Free Gaza Movement welcomes statements by the Irish Government to ensure the safety of the passengers and cargo currently making their way to the besieged Gaza Strip. His Excellency Mr. Breifne O'Reilly, Irish ambassador in Tel Aviv, traveled to the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem this week "to...

On Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that international communication had been opened with the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas. The Ministry explained that Moscow recognises Hamas as a movement that retains the confidence of a large segment of the Palestinians people who have both its sympathy and trust. It also...

The European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG) has welcomed the decision taken by Dublin City Council to boycott a French company which has a role in Israel's illegal West Bank settlements. The Council of Ireland's capital city has recommended that it will not "enter into any...

According to a leading Turkish newspaper, Turkey has set up anti-aircraft batteries against Hawk planes in a village near the Turkey-Syria border. The news item was reproduced by the Israeli daily 'Maariv' which refrained from mentioning its Turkish source. The Turkish newspaper asserted that the purpose of deploying the...

A group of Muslim dignitaries and heads of NGOs from Britain and France has just returned from a trip to Istanbul where they had gone to meet the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The purpose of the visit was to give the delegates an opportunity to voice their...

Israeli press sources have revealed that helicopters belonging to the Israeli and the US air forces have flown over German airspace in what they refer to as "a joint exercise using live ammunition". According to Haaretz, the exercise took place last week with pilots of the Israeli and American...

Analysis / It is unclear how diplomatic ties will unfold under Britain's new government, but the candidate from the party perceived as toughest on Israel will certainly not hold the reins of power. By Anshel Pfeffer Sighs of relief will have been heard in Israel's London embassy on Friday...

The head of the Turkish Relief Foundation (IHH) has called on the Israeli authorities to release his organisation's representative being held in Israel after his arrest in the West Bank last week. Mr. Bülent Yildirim made his demand for the release of Izzat Shahin at a press conference at...

It has been revealed by sources in the Israeli parliament (the Knesset) that most Turkish members of parliament have withdrawn from the Israel-Turkey Parliamentary Friendship League because of the political crisis between the two countries. Knesset member Robert Tiviaev, who heads the Israeli side of the Friendship League, said,...

After expelling Mossad representative in London over alleged forged passports used in Hamas man's assassination in Dubai, Yedioth Ahronoth learns UK refusing to allow replacement into Kingdom. By Itamar Eichner A month-and-a-half after the United Kingdom expelled the Mossad representative in London over Israel's alleged forging of UK passports...

A Hebrew newspaper has published details of the attempt by British police officers to arrest the Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni in December last year. The move came after reports were circulated that Ms. Livni was in a north London hotel. According to the electronic version of Yedioth Ahronoth,...

Frankie Boyle: refuses to apologies for anti-Israel joke Comedian Frankie Boyle has described Israel as an "aggressive, terrorist" and "apartheid" state during an attack on the BBC's decision to apologise for a joke he made about Jews. The Scottish comedian, who has appeared on Mock the Week and Have...

British MP George Galloway is challenging the Canadian government over its ban on his entering the country last year. The MP was due to visit the country to give lectures on the situation in Occupied Palestine and the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip by Israel. Canada's government considers...