Netanyahu's office recallsGaza talks team to Israel for consultations
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Reuters
3 minutes ago
- Reuters
Chinese government has 'final say' in Dalai Lama reincarnation, Tibetan official says
BEIJING, Aug 5 (Reuters) - The discovery of the next Dalai Lama will be carried out by the Chinese government, and not under the current Dalai Lama's directions, a Chinese Communist Party committee official for Tibet said on Tuesday. China considers the Nobel laureate Dalai Lama a separatist and wants to bring Tibetan Buddhismunder its control,, opens new tab but the Dalai Lama and his huge following have been obstacles to that ambition. At his 90th birthday celebration last month, he assured followers that he would be reincarnated, and a non-profit institution he has set up will have the sole authority to identify his reincarnation. But Gama Cedain, the deputy secretary of the Chinese Communist Party committee in Tibet, said the Dalai Lama's reincarnation would be found using a domestic search and approval by the central government. "The central government has the indisputable final say in the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama," he told reporters at a press conference about the socioeconomic development in Tibet. He said that was the creed devotees adhered to, and the government's process follows the strict religious rituals and historical customs of the reincarnation of living Buddhas. "The reincarnation has never been decided by the Dalai Lama himself," he said. The current Dalai Lama, 14th in the line of spiritual leaders for Tibetan Buddhism, has said his reincarnation will be born outside China and ruled out Beijing's role in choosing his successor. China installed a Tibetan Buddhist monk picked by Beijing as the faith's No. 2 leader, the Panchen Lama, three decades ago after a six-year-old chosen by the Dalai Lama for the position disappeared in 1995.
New Statesman
33 minutes ago
- New Statesman
Kemi Badenoch's position on Israel is discrediting the Conservative Party
Photo byandWhen Kemi Badenoch became leader of the Conservative Party, she very sensibly aimed not to rush into early statements of detailed policy. Unfortunately, her appointment of Priti Patel as shadow foreign secretary was its own statement. Following her unauthorised 2017 trip to Israel while secretary for international development, Patel has been a disgraced figure. While there, accompanied by the peer Stuart Polak of the Conservative Friends of Israel, she met the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu without UK government officials or the British ambassador. Afterwards, she advocated a change in UK policy which, in breach of long-established humanitarian practice, would have included the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in its aid delivery. This episode could not have been a starker example of impropriety. It merited her dismissal but Theresa May was too weak to wield the axe. Instead, Patel was allowed to resign. And yet, Badenoch saw fit to appoint her to the shadow cabinet. Patel is now in a position to perpetuate her views at a critical moment in world events. Badenoch has shown no indication of knowing anything about Israel and Palestine, and has not made any profound statements on this, the one foreign issue, other than Ukraine, that has dominated global news since she was elected. All she utters is uncritical support for Israel. The Conservative Party used to have a world-view. It supported enlightened international cooperation, and institutions such as the UN along with its accompanying treaties, rules and conventions. More broadly, it was the UK that pledged to support a homeland for the Jewish people, and a future for the Palestinians next door. To their shame, while successive governments have forever delayed implementing that commitment, the Israelis each and every day have violently stolen ever more Palestinian land. Palestine is the only populous legally undisputed land in the world not allowed to call itself a state. It does not belong to Israel, and Israel's determination to annex it does not mean it is disputed. The illegality of Israeli encroachment is cast-iron in international law, a belief that has been the policy of Conservative and Labour governments for decades. Badenoch, however, seems to share the view of those like Patel who do not believe in their own policy. They can never bring themselves to say explicitly that settlements are illegal. The charge sheet against Israel is growing every day: disproportionate force, indiscriminate bombing, mass displacement, food deprivation, the replacement of the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA with mercenaries, the killing of tens of Palestinians each day as they desperately scramble for food, state-backed support for settler terrorists, and the banning of journalists from Gaza. Badenoch and her front bench have done nothing to condemn any of it. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe [See also: Jonathan Sumption on Israel and Gaza: A question of intent] Amid all this, Priti Patel has refused in the Commons to condemn settler violence – all she would say was that settlers are a barrier to a two-state solution. And when extremist Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir were sanctioned in June, she declined in her response even to mention their names. The likes of Suella Braverman, meanwhile, have branded pro-Palestine demonstrations 'hate marches'. Contemptibly, any pro-Palestinian voice within the Conservative Party is almost systematically accused of anti-Semitism and put into its complaints procedure, which silences and bullies. And as Michael Gove increases his hold on appointments to the leader's office, what could be more warped than his recent recommendation that the IDF be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize? It has now reached the point where Conservative comment has become so extreme it has discredited their entire foreign policy and is making them despised more widely. The party is increasingly becoming defined by its lack of humanity. The world is watching the extermination of an entire country. Palestine is being annihilated. Meanwhile the Conservative Party is covering itself in shame, and will stand no chance of re-election unless it states a clear policy based on international law, and promotes the UK's historic understanding of the region. This issue is and always has been about land. Israel's extremist government has only one objective, and that is to make all of Palestine theirs. All other talk, horrendous though the facts may be, is second to that. As leader, Kemi Badenoch could redeem herself speedily by stating loudly what all should be saying to Israel: 'Get out of Palestine, it isn't your country.' [See also: Keir Starmer alienates left and right on Gaza] Related
Sky News
42 minutes ago
- Sky News
No 10 declines to say if Palestine will be recognised with Hamas in power
The prime minister's spokesman has refused eight times to confirm whether recognition of Palestine could go ahead if Hamas remain in power and the hostages are not released. Keir Starmer's spokesman was questioned by journalists for the first time since the announcement last week that the UK will formally recognise the state in September - unless Israel meets certain conditions including abiding by a ceasefire and increasing aid. The policy has been criticised by the families of UK hostages, campaigners and some Labour MPs, who argue it would reward Hamas and say it should be conditional on the release of the remaining hostages. A senior Hamas politician, Ghazi Hamad, speaking to Al Jazeera, said at the weekend that major nations' decision to recognise a Palestinian state "is one of the fruits of 7 October". The PM's spokesman said on Monday: "The PM is clear that on 7 October, Hamas committed the worst act of terror in Israel's history. That horror has continued since then. "As the foreign secretary said over the weekend, Hamas are rightly pariahs who can have no role in Gaza's future, there is a diplomatic consensus on that. Hamas must immediately release all hostages and have no role in the governance of Gaza." But asked whether removing Hamas from power and releasing hostages were conditions for statehood, he said a decision on recognition would be made at the UN General Assembly meeting in September, based on "an assessment of how far the parties have met the steps we have set out. No one side will have veto on recognition through their actions or inactions." 2:25 He added: "Our focus is on the immediate situation on the ground, getting more aid in to end the suffering in Gaza and supporting a ceasefire and a long-term peace for Israelis and Palestinians based a two-state solution." Starmer, who recalled his cabinet for an emergency meeting last week before setting out the new position, is following the lead of French president Emmanuel Macron, who first pledged to move toward recognising Palestinian statehood in April. Canada has also backed recognition if conditions are met, including by the Palestinian Authority. The prime minister had previously said he would recognise a state of Palestine as part of a contribution to a peace process. 3:05 In his announcement last Tuesday, he said: "We need to see at least 500 trucks entering Gaza every day. But ultimately, the only way to bring this humanitarian crisis to an end is through a long-term settlement. "So we are supporting the US, Egyptian and Qatari efforts to secure a vital ceasefire. That ceasefire must be sustainable and it must lead to a wider peace plan, which we are developing with our international partners. "I've always said we will recognise a Palestinian state as a contribution to a proper peace process, at the moment of maximum impact for the two-state solution. With that solution now under threat, this is the moment to act." Adam Rose, a lawyer acting for British families of hostages in Gaza, has said: "Why would Hamas agree to a ceasefire if it knew that to do so would make British recognition of Palestine less likely?"
