Latest news with #ViennaConventiononDiplomaticRelations
Montreal Gazette
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Opinion: Israeli embassy killings ‘could have been us'
'This is us,' wrote a former colleague upon learning of the targeted killing of Israeli embassy staffers Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky. And indeed — it could have been us. The photos splashed across international media are hauntingly familiar: two bright-eyed 20somethings, dressed in suits and wearing diplomatic pins — symbols of state, now often positioned near yellow hostage ribbons. Their profiles echoed many of ours — young professionals at the very beginning of their careers, who chose service over salary, policy over profit, and long hours over recognition. They chose the path of purpose: the quiet, often invisible labour of diplomacy. I know this path well. Over a decade ago, I served in the same ministry, in the same department. We believed in the soft power of dialogue, in midnight memos and morning briefings, in showing up — day after day — in rooms where conflict and hope shared the same air. We believed diplomacy could hold back the tide — that words, presence and principle might prevent the chaos from reaching our doorstep. But on the evening of May 21, outside of the Capital Jewish Museum, the tide spilled over. And it did not stop at a border. The assassination of unarmed embassy personnel in the heart of Washington, D.C. — the symbolic capital of Western diplomacy — is more than a tragedy. It's a rupture of the global order. Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, foreign service staff are protected by international law. Milgrim and Lischinsky were not armed combatants. They were emissaries of engagement. Their killing was not only an act of violence; it was an attack on the very principle of diplomacy itself. When diplomats are no longer safe, when embassies become targets, and when international norms are violated without consequence, we all lose something. The scaffolding that holds together fragile peace efforts, conflict resolution and cross-border co-operation begins to collapse. That collapse affects every nation, not just one. It would be easy to chalk this up as another isolated act of violence in a world that has grown disturbingly used to them. But this wasn't random. It didn't happen in a vacuum. It unfolded in a climate of rising extremism, normalized hate speech and tolerated antisemitism — conditions that have been increasingly excused, dismissed or politicized. When rallies call openly for intifada, when hostage posters are torn down as if they're offensive rather than urgent, when Jewish institutions face threats that are dismissed as overreactions, violence becomes not just possible, but predictable. This is what happens when democracies turn a blind eye to growing ideological radicalism within their own borders. The irony, the heartbreak, is that Milgrim and Lischinsky devoted themselves to preventing the very kind of violence that claimed their lives. They were not only symbols of diplomacy — they were practitioners of it, working tirelessly to make dialogue possible in a world that is increasingly rejecting it. They are us. And we will be them — if we fail to defend the ideals they lived for. Because when emissaries of peace are gunned down, it is not only a Jewish tragedy. It is a diplomatic one. A democratic one. A global one. We cannot afford to let this become just another headline, another name, another shrug of indifference. The line has been crossed. The question now is: Who will stand up to redraw it? Margaux Chetrit is a writer, speaker and entrepreneur. She is a former parliamentary intern in Israel's Knesset. She served at the Consulate General of Israel in Montreal from 2008-2015.
ILoveQatar.net
22-05-2025
- Politics
- ILoveQatar.net
Qatar condemns shooting of international diplomatic delegation in Jenin by Israeli Occupation
The State of Qatar on 21 May 2025 condemned the Israeli occupation army's shooting of an international diplomatic delegation during its visit to the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, considering it a violation of international laws, conventions, and diplomatic norms. In a statement on Wednesday, 21 May 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the international community to assume its moral and legal responsibilities, confront Israel's violations and transgressions of international law, and compel it to respect the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which grants immunities to diplomatic missions.
Qatar Tribune
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Qatar Tribune
Qatar slams Israel army's shooting of int'l diplomatic delegation
QNA Doha The State of Qatar has condemned the Israeli occupation army's shooting of an international diplomatic delegation during its visit to the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, stating it's a violation of international laws, conventions, and diplomatic norms. In a statement on Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the international community to assume its moral and legal responsibilities, confront Israel's violations and transgressions of international law, and compel it to respect the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which grants immunities to diplomatic missions.
Qatar Tribune
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Qatar Tribune
Qatar condemns Israeli occupation's shooting of international diplomatic delegation in Jenin
DOHA: The State of Qatar has condemned the Israeli occupation army's shooting of an international diplomatic delegation during its visit to the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, considering it a violation of international laws, conventions, and diplomatic norms. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the international community to assume its moral and legal responsibilities, confront Israel's violations and transgressions of international law, and compel it to respect the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which grants immunities to diplomatic missions.
Leaders
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Leaders
Israeli Forces Open Fire near Diplomats Touring West Bank: PA
The Palestinian Authority (PA) accused Israeli forces of opening fire on foreign diplomats while visiting Jenin city in the occupied West Bank. On Wednesday, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said that Israeli troops opened 'heavy fire from inside the Jenin refugee camp to intimidate the diplomatic delegation that is conducting a field tour around the camp.' The tour aimed to explore the camp's conditions. It posted video footages showing dozens of people, including photographers, near an army checkpoint in Jenin and two Israeli soldiers pointing their guns towards them. Then, shots are being heard and people escape to their cars. The occupation forces opened heavy fire from inside the Jenin refugee camp to intimidate the diplomatic delegation that is conducting a field tour around the camp to witness the extent of the suffering endured by the residents of the area. قوات الاحتلال تطلق النار بشكل كثيف من… — State of Palestine – MFA 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@pmofa) May 21, 2025 In a statement, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned what it called a 'heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces, which deliberately targeted by live fire an accredited diplomatic delegation to the State of Palestine during a field visit to Jenin Governorate.' The statement added that 'this deliberate and unlawful act constitutes a blatant and grave breach of international law and of the fundamental principles of diplomatic relations as enshrined in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.' The Palestinian news agency (WAFA) reported that the diplomatic delegation included the ambassadors of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Portugal, China, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Türkiye, Spain, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Japan, Romania, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Canada, India, Chile, France, the UK, the European Union, and representatives of other countries. On the other hand, the Israeli military said it fired 'warning shots' after diplomats departed from their authorized path during a visit to the city of Jenin, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP). 'The delegation deviated from the approved route and entered an area where they were not authorized to be,' the Israeli military said in a statement, adding that 'soldiers operating in the area fired warning shots.' Short link : Post Views: 83
