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Tag: illegal

  • Netanyahu Moves to Expand Illegal Israeli Settlements in Syrian Golan Heights

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    Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

    Israeli troops and military vehicles cross in and out of Syria through a gate in the boundary fence near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on December 15, 2024. (Photo: Mati Milstein/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

    Turkey’s foreign ministry condemned the plan as “a new stage in Israel’s goal of expanding its borders through occupation.”

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel would move to expand settlements in the occupied and illegally annexed Golan Heights, exploiting the collapse of the Assad government to further entrench its control of Syrian land.

    Netanyahu said in a statement Sunday that “strengthening” the Golan Heights is synonymous with “strengthening the state of Israel” and declared that “we will continue to hold onto it, make it flourish, and settle in it.”

    According to Netanyahu’s office, the Israeli government “unanimously approved” the prime minister’s push to double the settler population in the Golan Heights.

    There are currently dozens of Israeli settlements housing roughly 20,000 people in the territory, the bulk of which Israel unlawfully annexed in 1981 after occupying it during the 1967 war.

    Israel’s settlement expansion plan sparked outrage from countries in the region, with Turkey’s foreign ministry condemning the decision Sunday as “a new stage in Israel’s goal of expanding its borders through occupation.”

    The foreign ministry of Saudi Arabia accused Israel of “sabotaging” Syria’s “prospects for restoring its security and stability.”

    “The kingdom reaffirms that the occupied Golan is Syrian, Arab land,” the ministry added.

    Israel’s military has wasted no time advancing on Syrian territory in the wake of Assad’s fall. As Drop Site noted over the weekend, “Israeli tanks have advanced into villages and towns in Syria’s Quneitra governorate, across from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, damaging streets, cutting down trees, and destroying electricity poles.”

    “Israel ordered residents to evacuate their homes. When many refused, Israeli forces destroyed water supply networks and power lines in an attempt to force them out,” the outlet added.

    On Saturday, as The Guardian reported, “Israel struck dozens of sites in Syria overnight with airstrikes” after the Israeli defense minister announced the country’s forces “would remain for the winter on Mount Hermon—known to Syrians as Jabel Sheikh—in positions they occupied last week.”

    Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of the rebel group that helped drive Assad from power, denounced Israel’s “uncalculated military adventures” but said that “the priority at this stage is reconstruction and stability, not being drawn into disputes that could lead to further destruction.”

    “Syria’s war-weary condition, after years of conflict and war, does not allow for new confrontations,” he said.

    Israel’s push for settlement expansion in the Golan Heights comes amid the country’s large-scale, catastrophic assault on the Gaza Strip, which Israeli forces are preparing to occupy indefinitely.

    President-elect Donald Trump’s return to power in the United States is expected to embolden the far-right forces in Netanyahu’s government that are seeking to return settlements to Gaza and annex the West Bank.

    Netanyahu said in a video statement that he had “a very friendly, warm, and important discussion” with Trump late Saturday about the future of the Middle East.

    “I said we would change the Middle East and we are doing so,” the prime minister said. “I discussed with President-elect Trump the need to complete the victory.”

    Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

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    Oxford college referred to regulator over £1m+ investments in illegal Israel settlements

  • Thousands of PTI supporters reach Islamabad demanding Imran Khan’s immediate release

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    Original article republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

    Thousands of supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan marched to Islamabad over the past few days facing heavy repression from security forces

    Thousands of members and supporters of Tehreek-e-insaf (PTI) reached Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, on Tuesday, November 26, facing heavy repression by security forces including tear gas and live fire. Reportedly four people have been killed. Protesters are demanding the release of their leader, former Prime Minister Imran Khan and have also called for the restoration of the party’s allegedly stolen mandate in this year’s national elections.

    PTI and Khan supporters started marching to Islamabad from all corners of the country on Sunday, aiming to reach D-Chowk near the country’s Parliament. However, security forces have attempted to prevent the movement by erecting barricades, including shipping containers, on roads linking the capital with other regions, along with other coercive measures.

    Protesters traveling in trucks, buses, cars or on foot from various provinces, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), where the PTI is in power, were reportedly attacked by the security forces using batons and tear gas. Additionally, a large number of people have been arrested after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared the protest illegal last week.

    The actions of the security forces delayed the gathering in Islamabad on Sunday, forcing the PTI to announce that it might take a couple more days for all its supporters to assemble at the designated place in Islamabad. PTI announced that it will not abandon the protest until all objectives are achieved.

    The march is organized in response to Khan’s “final call” for protest issued earlier this month. Khan urged all his supporters and party leaders to mobilize and march in solidarity until they achieve the release of all political prisoners, the reversal of 26th constitutional amendment, the restoration of democracy and of the constitution, and the return of “the stolen mandate,” referring to allegedly rigged general elections held in February this year.

    The 26th amendment, passed in October, gave more power to the parliament over the judiciary, despite objections raised by PTI and several other parties. PTI claims that the amendment was introduced specifically to prevent Khan’s early release from jail.

    Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced that the government would prevent protesters from entering the capital at any cost. The government also accused PTI of working against the interest of the nation. Naqvi admitted that mobile internet services had been suspended in some parts of the country to manage the situation.

    The government also filed cases against Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi, former president Arif Alvi, and several other PTI leaders under Pakistan’s anti-terrorism laws, the Express Tribune reported.

    The protests may further erode the legitimacy of the government 

    Ammar Ali Jan, head of the Haqooq-e-Khalq Party (HKP), told Peoples Dispatch that the coalition government of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and Peoples Party of Pakistan (PPP), led by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, is already facing a serious crisis of legitimacy due to the questionable way in which it came to power during the general elections with the backing of the “establishment”, i.e. the military. The ruling coalition is now on the defensive as PTI’s frequent calls for popular protests further deepen the crisis of legitimacy.

    Khan, who has been held in Pakistan’s Adiala Jail since his arrest in August last year on various charges, remains very popular. Despite allegations of manipulation, attempts to disqualify the party, and Khan’s imprisonment, PTI won the largest number of seats in the parliament.

    While the former Prime Minister has been convicted on several charges, many of those convictions have been reversed by higher courts, and in some, he has been granted bail. Last week, the IHC granted him bail in one of the most high-profile cases, related to Toshakhana or the illegal sale of state gifts.

    However, the Pakistan’s government has refused to release him, claiming that several cases are still pending. Khan and his supporters assert that all cases filed against him since his ousting from power in July 2022 are politically motivated and stem from his criticism of the military’s role in politics.

    Ammar Ali Jaan warns that if the current siege of the capital is prolonged or if any bloodshed occurs, the regime’s “crisis of legitimacy” will intensify further, potentially numbering the days in power for the current government.

    Original article republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

  • Braverman’s plans to lock up refugees breaches international law, UN warns

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/braverman-plans-to-lock-up-refugees-breaches-international-law-un-warns

    Proposals to imprison asylum-seekers arriving by small boat would be illegal, UNHCR tells the Home Secretary

    PROPOSALS endorsed by Suella Braverman to lock up refugees arriving in small boats and bar them from ever settling in Britain would breach international law, the United Nations refugee agency warned today.

    The idea were set out in a report by right-wing think tank the Centre for Policy Studies, with a foreword written by the Home Secretary — seen as a partial endorsement of the measures.

    The report suggests that,“if necessary” to tackle small boat crossings, Britain should withdraw from the European Convention of Human Rights.

    People who arrive “illegally” in Britain, it says, should be detained indefinitely and ministers should legislate to make it impossible to for a person who travels here from a “safe” country to claim asylum.

    Hitting out at the report, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) questioned the authors’ use of the term “illegal,” noting that there is “no such thing as an illegal asylum-seeker.”

    …