Latest news with #WaselAbuYousef
Al Bawaba
31-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Bawaba
U.S. slaps sanctions on Palestinian leaders for seeking justice
ALBAWABA- In a move widely condemned as an act of blatant bias and hypocrisy, the United States announced sanctions against officials of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), accusing them of violating peace commitments by "internationalizing the conflict with Israel." According to a statement issued Thursday by the U.S. State Department under the administration of former President Donald Trump, the sanctions will include visa restrictions on members of both the PA and PLO. The U.S. accused the Palestinian leadership of 'supporting terrorism' and 'undermining prospects for peace,' citing their outreach to international legal bodies like the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in pursuit of accountability for Israeli war crimes. The statement referenced the Middle East Peace Commitments Act of 2002, claiming the PA and PLO violated its terms by seeking global recognition of Palestinian statehood and challenging Israel's actions through international legal frameworks. However, Palestinian leaders strongly rejected the U.S. move. Wasel Abu Yousef, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, condemned the sanctions as a 'clear endorsement of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza' and an attempt 'to erase the Palestinian cause' at a time when more countries around the world are moving to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state. 'These sanctions are not about peace,' Abu Yousef stated. 'They are about silencing Palestinian rights, shielding Israel from accountability, and rewarding its crimes against our people.' This latest move highlights the entrenched double standards of U.S. foreign policy: while Washington penalizes Palestinian officials for seeking justice through international legal means and for gaining recognition of statehood, both legitimate under international law, it continues to offer unconditional political, military, and financial support to Israel despite overwhelming evidence of war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and genocide against Palestinians. Since the outbreak of the Gaza war on October 7, 2023, Israel has faced accusations of crimes against humanity, with over 200,000 Palestinians killed or wounded and thousands still missing. Yet, the U.S. has repeatedly vetoed international resolutions, blocked ceasefire efforts, and armed the Israeli military, undermining its own credibility as a broker of peace. This policy posture places the U.S. as a significant threat to justice, peace, and global stability, as it openly punishes the victims while emboldening the occupying power. Critics argue that by criminalizing Palestinian efforts to seek redress and justice, Washington is not only deepening the conflict but also dismantling the very principles of international law it claims to uphold.
Al Jazeera
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Netanyahu's political calculus that sent tanks into Jenin
In the early hours of Monday, 56-year-old Ahmed al-Amouri watched wryly as three Israeli tanks rolled into his hometown, Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. The last time he had seen tanks there was more than two decades ago when Israel sought to crush the second Intifada in 2002. This time, the scene seemed to provoke more humour than alarm. He joined bystanders who took selfies in front of the armoured vehicles or pelted them with rocks as they entered Jenin. 'There's no point bringing those tanks all the way here. The city's empty!' the father of five said. 'I and thousands of others have already been driven out, and unless they're fighting their own demons, they won't find anyone in the camp to battle with,' he said. He had followed the tanks from Wad Burkeen, the village where he's now based, about 10 minutes walk from his home in Jenin camp, which he had been forced out of, along with 14 members of his family, on January 26. The West Bank refugee camps host thousands of Palestinians whose forebears were ethnically cleansed by Zionist gangs to make way for the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948. Over the years, armed resistance has sprung up there. In 2002, as Israeli tanks bulldozed the alleys of these camps, fighters were ready with booby traps and ambushes. But as the three tanks rolled into Jenin this week, and became stationed at Al-Jabriyat neighbourhood, they found no resistance. Political, not tactical The tank deployment comes after more than a month of Israeli assaults on the occupied West Bank, dubbed 'Operation Iron Wall', which it launched just as a ceasefire took hold in Gaza. According to analysts, Israel's motivation is political rather than security-driven, seen as a move to appease far-right Israeli politicians angered by the ceasefire. The assaults in the West Bank have killed at least 61 people and displaced more than 40,000 since late January. 'The war in Gaza and now in the West Bank is part of Israel's collective punishment strategy,' said Wasel Abu Yousef, a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization's Executive Committee. 'The destruction of Palestinian cities and the displacement of residents are … political manoeuvres designed to tighten Israel's grip on the occupied territories,' adding that it would pave the way for the building of more illegal Israeli settlements. A test for Israel's long-term plans The latest developments in Jenin, analysts say, are Israel testing its vision for the West Bank, especially as Minister of Defence Israel Katz has said those who were displaced from the refugee camps will not be allowed to return. According to Palestinian political analyst Ahmad Abu al-Hija, the tank deployment is part of an Israeli strategy to reshape the security and governance structures of the West Bank. 'What's happening in Jenin is … about redefining Israeli control and potentially integrating elements of the Palestinian Authority's security forces into an Israeli-dominated framework,' he said. These attacks, he added, are also linked to Israel's push to dismantle refugee camps and the concept of Palestinians as refugees, which became apparent when it launched what seemed to be a campaign against UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees 'Eliminating UNRWA is part of erasing Palestinians' right of return. If the Jenin camp is dismantled, it will set a precedent for other camps across the West Bank, turning them into regular urban neighbourhoods and forcing Palestinians to integrate into Israeli-controlled municipal systems,' he explained. Far-right pressure and West Bank annexation For Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing growing domestic unrest over his handling of the Gaza war and a ceasefire reached in spite of his far-right partners, the escalation in the West Bank serves as a political distraction. His far-right allies, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have long called for the annexation of the West Bank and the expulsion of Palestinians. 'Netanyahu is trying to survive politically by offering military escalation as a concession to his far-right coalition,' said Suleiman Basharat, director of the Yabous Center for Strategic Studies. 'Deploying tanks in Jenin is … a spectacle designed to send a message to his base that he is taking decisive action' and 'to shock Palestinians into submission. 'By deploying heavy military machinery, it aims to create a sense of inevitability about its control over the West Bank.' A manufactured crisis Palestinian analyst Ahmed Rafiq Awad, director of the Al-Quds Center for Political Studies, said that while Israel aims to portray its military operations as necessary security measures, the excessive force used in the West Bank risks reigniting widespread Palestinian resistance. 'The level of brutality we're seeing – mass arrests, home demolitions, and continuous raids – could push Palestinians toward another uprising,' Basharat warned. 'If Israel continues this level of violence, we may see a return to mass popular confrontations similar to those of the first and second Intifadas.' Awad agreed that amidst a 'muted' response from the international community, and 'without real consequences, Netanyahu and his far-right allies will continue expanding settlements, erasing refugee camps, and entrenching the occupation under the guise of security.' For Palestinians like al-Amouri, the presence of Israeli tanks in Jenin is a grim reminder that the occupation is deepening. 'We've lived under their occupation all our lives. This is nothing new. In fact, this is all too familiar,' he said.
