In Palestine, Brazilian football superstar Ronaldo is a hero. But the visit of the Real Madrid striker to Ramallah as a good-will ambassador for the UN Development Programme is likely to bring only temporary cheer. The aim of Monday’s visit was to highlight poverty and to foster a positive atmosphere in an area ravaged by occupation and violence. Ronaldo made a number of appearances in Ramallah and its twin city, al-Bira, accompanied by Palestinian Authority Minister for Social Affairs Hasan Abu Libdeh. He inaugurated the Ronaldo Centre for disadvantaged children and school drop-outs below the age of 15. He briefly met Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei in the latter’s office where he autographed footballs. Read more about Ronaldo hears of occupation woes
Ronaldo, the Brazilian soccer star, in his capacity as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will visit the West Bank city of Ramallah on 16 May for a first-hand look at UNDP youth and anti-poverty projects in the occupied Palestinian territory, announced UNDP’s Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (PAPP). During his visit to Ramallah, Ronaldo will inaugurate a new Centre for Disadvantaged Youth and will visit several anti-poverty UNDP projects, including UNDP’s “Football Workshops,” which have been designed to promote sport as a forum to teach leadership, confidence, and discipline, based on core principles of tolerance, cooperation, and respect. Read more about Football Star Ronaldo to Visit UNDP Anti-poverty Projects in the West Bank
During March and the first half of April movement in and out of the Gaza Strip steadily improved. However, the situation detriorated during the latter part of April following restrictions on Palestinian movement through Erez and periodic closing of Abu Houli junction. Access problems remain with the internal Gaza Strip enclaves, most notably Al Mawasi and As Siafa while a fourth enclave has now been created at Abu Nahiya. In the last four weeks, the Israeli authorities have not allowed United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to import petrol into the Gaza Strip. Read more about Gaza Strip access deteriorates
Incessant human rights violations by the occupying forces; Israel’s continued illegal policies aimed at changing the legal status, demographic composition and character of occupied East Jerusalem; the dire socio-economic situation in Palestine; and the need to put an end to Israel’s colonization of Palestinian land were highlighted as critical issues that required concrete action by the international community, as the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People met this morning. Palestine’s Chargée d’Affaires Somaia S. Barghouti said that the situation remained very critical, for improvements on the ground had only been minor. Read more about UN Committee on Palestine considers concrete action by international community
“[This] systematic analysis of the entire Israeli legal system as it relates to housing, land and property rights of Palestinians very clearly shows that there was every intent to dispossess Palestinians of their land over the past six decades. This was a systematic attempt, a very intentional outcome, and one that ultimately makes the proposed two-state solution a physical and practical impossibility.”Palestine Report Online interviews Scott Leckie, Executive Director of COHRE, the Geneva-based Center on Housing Rights and Evictions, about the human rights group’s conclusions, drawn from a new study entitled “Ruling Palestine: A History of the Legally Sanctioned Jewish/Israeli Seizure of Land and Housing in Palestine”, that a two-state solution is no longer viable. Read more about Ruling Palestine: An interview with COHRE's Scott Leckie
The Quartet working to restore peace in the Middle East – the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russian Federation – today reiterated its willingness to help Israelis and Palestinians with the hard work and difficult decisions needed to make positive use of what it called a “hopeful and promising moment” for both sides. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan summarized the Quartet’s conclusions at a news conference following the group’s meeting in Moscow. The Quartet said a new Palestinian State must be truly viable, with contiguity in the West Bank. No party should take unilateral actions that would prejudge the final status issues. “The Quartet urges both parties to fulfil their obligations under the Road Map,” Mr. Annan said. Read more about Middle East diplomatic Quartet meets in Moscow
The Red Crescent deploys mobile teams to provide primary health care to 25,000 vulnerable people affected by movement restrictions in the southern West Bank. Suheila Al-Hureibat, also known as Um Mohammad, is a 38-year-old mother of seven children, aged from two to 13. Still, she hopes for more. “We want another two, preferably boys,” she laughs, before adding more seriously: “It will be easier for them to make their living.” Um Mohammad is a resident of Beit Al-Rush, near Hebron. The southern West Bank is considered by many aid agencies as one of the areas with the worst humanitarian situations in Palestine. Read more about Health in Palestine: Access is the key
The outcome of Thursday’s local elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has underscored the competition between Fatah, the quasi-secular and ruling party of the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas, the Islamic resistance group. According to initial unofficial results, Fatah did well in many villages in the West Bank, wining as many as 50 of the 84 contested councils. However, Hamas emerged the winner in large towns such as Rafah, Qalqilya, and Bethlehem, and seems to have won as many as 32 local councils in the West Bank. Hamas leaders have argued, justifiably, that while Fatah won significantly more council seats than Hamas, the Islamist movement actually surpassed Fatah in terms of the number of votes it received. Read more about Palestinian poll shows Hamas strength
Veteran United Nations negotiator Alvaro de Soto will begin work immediately as the top UN envoy in the Middle East after Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appointed the Peruvian national to the post. On Monday, Mr. de Soto will accompany Mr. Annan to a working meeting of the Middle East Quartet — which comprises the UN, the European Union, the Russian Federation and the United States — in Moscow. De Soto succeeds Terje Roed-Larsen as UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and the Secretary-General’s Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority. He will also act as Mr. Annan’s envoy to the Quartet. Read more about Alvaro de Soto of Peru named new UN envoy to Middle East
The West Bank closure system comprises over 600 physical barriers placed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on roads to control and restrict Palestinian vehicular traffic, which the Israeli Government states is designed to protect Israeli citizens from Palestinian attacks. As of 12 April 2005, 605 closure barriers were recorded in the West Bank compared to 680 in November 2004. The closures are the primary cause of poverty and the humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and Gaza and have restricted Palestinian access to health and education services, employment, markets and social and religious networks. Most of the closure barriers removed were earth mounds. Read more about UN records 605 closure barriers in the West Bank
