Egyptian-brokered cease-fire goes into effect, bringing to a halt 51 days of death and destruction in the blockaded coastal enclave.

The European Union has welcomed the latest cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, bringing to an end 51 days of fighting between Israeli and Palestinian forces that have led to catastrophic death and destruction in the blockaded coastal enclave.

A statement from the European External Action Service “warmly” welcomed the Egypt-brokered agreement which went into effect at 16:00 GMT Tuesday and called “on all to abide by its terms.”

“We commend the efforts of Egypt and others in working towards the cease-fire, and express our sorrow for the loss of life, especially civilians and destruction caused in the last 50 days,” the office said on its official Twitter account, adding that the EU is ready to contribute to consolidating the truce.

For the past seven weeks, Israel has pounded Gaza with the declared aim of halting rocket fire from the territory, claiming at least 2,139 Palestinian — mostly civilian — lives, and leaving nearly 11,000 people injured. Thousands of homes have also been partially or completely destroyed by devastating Israeli bombardments.

At least 69 Israelis — 64 soldiers and five civilians — have also died in the conflict, according to Israeli figures.

Laurent Fabius, the French minister of foreign affairs and international development, also welcomed the cease-fire in an earlier statement saying that France, in coordination with its European partners and as a member of the United Nations Security Council “is committed to contribute to finding solutions through such an agreement.”

It was unclear as to whether by “solutions” Fabius meant an answer to the Palestinian situation, which has seen Palestinian refugees spread all over the world — many confined to refugee camps — since they were expelled by Jewish settlers from their homelands in 1948, or a solution to the latest conflict in Gaza.

“France urges all parties to respect and to continue discussions under the auspices of Egypt to achieve a sustainable solution that answers the requirements of lifting the blockade on Gaza and guaranteeing Israel’s security,” read the statement.

The cease-fire was also backed by Italy, which expressed hope that it would serve as a”turning point we have been waiting for and toward which we have been working with many other countries.”

“The Israelis and Palestinians now need to launch negotiations as soon as possible for a lasting truce and political agreement that finally lead to a stable settlement,” Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini said in a written statement.

Britain also welcomed the truce, Minister for the Middle East Tobias Ellwood hailing Egypt’s efforts in securing “this important step.”

“I welcome today’s agreement by all parties to a cease-fire. The cease-fire provides a critical and welcome window of opportunity for reaching a comprehensive agreement that tackles the underlying causes of the conflict,” Ellwood said Tuesday.

 “This should ensure that: Hamas and other militant groups permanently end rocket fire and other attacks against Israel; the Palestinian Authority resumes control of Gaza and restores effective and accountable governance; and that Israel lifts its restrictions in order to ease the suffering of ordinary Palestinians, and allow the Gazan economy to grow,” added Ellwood.

There was no mention of an answer to what many Palestinians call “underlying causes” — the continued misappropriation of lands by Israel, the diaspora of the Palestinian people and control of their livelihoods and borders.

The Palestinian situation began in 1917 when the British Balfour declaration promised a national home for Jewish people in Palestine. By 1948 a newly formed state inside of the Palestine boundary named “Israel” had declared independence, which resulted in 700,000 Palestinians fleeing or being expelled and hundreds of their villages and towns destroyed.

The Palestinian diaspora has since become one of the largest in the world, refugees spread across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and other countries, while many were settled in refugee camps in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Palestinians commemorate “nakba” — “the day of catastrophe” — on May 15 in memory of the expulsion.

Since 1948, Israel has continued to misappropriate Palestinian land, despite being condemned by the United Nations. The right of return to pre-1948 homes is still a demand for many Palestinians, in particular Hamas, which formed a national unity government with Fatah this year after nearly seven years of feuding.

The number of Palestinian fatalities from Israel’s latest offensive has surpassed the combined death toll from Israel’s two previous operations against Gaza, including Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead” in 2008/09 in which at least 1,500 Palestinians were killed over the course of three weeks.

*Anadolu Agency correspondents Hale Turkes from Ankara, Hajer M’tiri from Paris, Inci Gundag and Assed Baig from London, and Baris Seckin from Rome contributed to this story.

Read the original article published in Anadolu Agency on 27 August 2014

‘We don’t expect Christians, nationalists or socialists to apologise for [Adolf] Hitler,’ so why should we apologize for the Islamic State.

Muslim organizations have attacked British media values in the wake of what they see as a clamor to tie their faith to the Islamic State’s (IS) apparent murder of a U.S. journalist in Syria.

Mohammed Shafiq, the chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, told the Anadolu Agency Thursday that a narrative existed among “right-wing media and some politicians” that Muslims are not doing enough to combat extremism.

“But we have been speaking out since 9/11,” underlined Shafiq. “We condemn the murder of James Foley, but not because the British press tells us to, but because our faith tells us to.”

Foley’s death was broadcast in a video on YouTube on Tuesday night, his killer – who claims to be from the Islamic State – blaming U.S. involvement in Iraq in what sounds like a British accent before taking a knife to the 40-year-old’s neck.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has since said it is looking “increasingly likely” that the man was – or is – a British citizen. The government has previously said it believes that there are around 400 British nationals fighting alongside IS – formerly known as Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) – in Iraq and Syria.

The London Evening Standard newspaper acknowledged Wednesday that young men who have joined the IS are not necessarily representative of the capital’s Muslims, but went on to say “they are nonetheless worshippers at their mosques, members of their families, with friends and relatives privy to their plans.”

It called on Muslim communities to be “far more outspoken” about religious extremism, adding “we look to them, for instance, to organize protests against the Islamic State.”

Shafiq told AA that instead of making such generalizations that all Muslims share the same ideology, media and some politicians should instead be focusing on the root cause of radicalization and extremism.

“Our [British] inaction over Syria, our illegal war in Iraq and our silence over Gaza, and [British] support of the Israelis feeds the misconceptions and shows double standards,” he told AA.

Faith Matters Director Fiyaz Mughal agrees.

“The usual canard that is mentioned is that Muslims are not doing enough and these papers promote such ill-informed ideas,” he told AA.

“In fact, parents, mothers and [guardians] have actively been involved in dissuading young men from going to Syria and the stance of these papers shows how ill-informed their positions are as Muslim communities have been working tirelessly for at least five years on tackling extremism.”

Mughal added that some papers felt that all Muslims share a sense of “collective guilt” over the issue.

“Collective guilt is by itself anti-Muslim in nature since it targets all Muslims by virtue of their identity, when many have nothing to do with or have no control over global situations,” he said.

“We have to call this… exactly what it is – prejudice that targets whole communities.”

Massoud Shadjareh from the London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission said to AA that as human beings we “don’t expect Christians, nationalists or socialists to apologise for [Adolf] Hitler.”

“If ISIL self-represents as Islamic or Muslim or any other Islamic term, it neither gives them Islamic credibility, or connection with Muslims around the world; including those who seek political solutions through Islamic political and social organisation.”

Read the original article published in Anadolu Agency on 21 August 2014

Breen Tahseen says Turkey more important than France and Britain because it has more power in Iraq.

The son of an Ezidi leader has called for Turkey to help Ezidi refugees trapped in northern Iraq.

Breen Tahseen, the son of Prince Tahseen Saeed Bek, who is leader of the Ezidi people, said Turkey should open its borders to allow Ezidi refugees in and to deliver humanitarian aid.

Tahseen also said Turkey should arm those fighting the so-called Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.

Ezidis, an ethnic minority in Iraq, are a religious sect fusing Zoroastrian, Manichaean, Jewish, Nestorian Christian and Islamic elements. Orthodox Islamic scholars regard them as heretical.

Tahseen, 33, works in the Iraqi consulate in Manchester but said he was speaking in a personal capacity.

“Turkey is more important than France and Britain, because Turkey is closer to Iraq and has more power in Iraq, especially northern Iraq,” he said.

He called on Turkey and others to put troops on the ground to push IS back. France has pledged to arm Kurdish peshmerga forces battling Islamic State militants.

“IS is not just dangerous for Ezidi people; it affects everyone,” Tahseen said.

He called on European countries to take in Ezidi refugees. He said thousands of Ezidi were trapped and unless doctors and soldiers were put on the ground there was no way of knowing the exact number.

He said more than 600 Ezidi women and girls had been kidnapped by Islamic State fighters and taken to Mosul.

Mount Sinjar, in northwest Iraq near the border with Syria, has been home to thousands of Ezidis who have fled in fear of being massacred by Islamic State militants, who consider them “devil-worshippers.”

The militants have been blamed for several massacres already. Reports say that hundreds of people have been massacred, including at least 80 Ezidis who refused to convert to Islam.

More than 1 million civilians have been displaced by the clashes in the north and west of the country.

Read the original article published in Anadolu Agency on 17 August 2014

Malaysian government minister says US also guilty for supplying war weapons to those killing innocent Palestinians in Gaza.

A top minister in the Malaysian government has accused the United States of hypocrisy in its criticism of Russia for supplying arms to separatist groups, stating that the U.S. is just as guilty in that is supplying war weapons to those killing innocent Palestinians in Gaza.

“A lot of people are making very hypocritical statements, especially in the last week where Western leaders were saying it is obvious the weapons were supplied by the Russians to the rebels in order to shoot down the plane,” Mukhriz Mahathir, the chief minister of the northern state of Kedah told the Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.

“This begs the question, who then supplied weapons that Israel is using against Palestinians? They need to be careful with statements like that.”

Last Thursday, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is believed to have been shot down in the Eastern Ukraine while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, resulting in the death of all 298 on-board.

The U.S. and Britain have since threatened sanctions against Russia for allegedly supplying weapons to the separatists.

Andrei Purgin, a deputy prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, has denied the accusations, saying all its weapons were stolen from the Ukrainian government.

The British government has also been accused of double standards, the head of French President Francois Hollande’s ruling Socialist ruling party calling Prime Minister David Cameron a “hypocrite” Tuesday night over Britain’s arms sales to Russia.

The British government had insisted that any arms licenses granted for equipment to the Russian military had been suspended in the wake of the MH17 disaster, but the Independent newspaper reported Wednesday that at least 251 export licenses for the sale of controlled goods – ranging from sniper rifles to night sights – remain in place despite Cameron’s calls for other countries – in particular France – to halt lucrative arms deals with Moscow.

Cameron had singled out French President Francois Hollande for his refusal to call off a £1 billion ($1.7 billion) deal to sell Moscow two helicopter carriers in the wake of the aircraft being downed.

Malaysian minister Mahathir is the political heir of influential former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, who has frequently criticized former U.S. President George W. Bush, Vice-President Al Gore and former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for their countries involvement in the Middle East and their backing of Israel.

He asked Wednesday that the world not speculate on the downing of MH17″ until a formal independent investigation is undertaken that points to the identity of the shooter.”

“[We] and the families of the MH17 victims would like to know the motive of the shooter. What they wanted to achieve by shooting a civilian plane. Was this planned or an accident?” he said.

At least 609 Palestinians and 29 Israelis have died in Israel and Palestine over the last two weeks, most Palestinians dying during Israel’s bombing campaign and subsequent ground invasion in Gaza.

The United Nations office of humanitarian affairs has said that civilians made up at least 75 percent of Palestinian deaths, many of them children.

Meanwhile, the international community has stepped up diplomatic efforts to revive an Egyptian brokered cease-fire proposal that was rejected by Hamas.

Mahathir said that the U.S. has been promising to assist in ceasefires for years, but little had been done to help the Palestinians beyond that.

“Have we ever seen [the U.S. looking for] a possible closure to this?”

The Palestinian situation began in 1917 when the British Balfour declaration promised a national home for Jewish people in Palestine. By 1948 a newly-formed state inside of the Palestine boundary named “Israel” had declared independence, which resulted in 700,000 Palestinians fleeing or being expelled and hundreds of Palestinian villages and towns destroyed.

The diaspora has since become one of the largest in the world, refugees spread across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and other countries, while many were settled in refugee camps in the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinians commemorate “nakba” – “the day of catastrophe” – on May 15. in memory of the expulsion.

The right of return to pre-1948 homes is still a demand for many Palestinians, especially Gaza’s Hamas goverment – deemed a terrorist organisation by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union, amongst others – and what many see as fuelling the Palestianin-Israeli crisis.

*Anadolu Agency correspondent Assed Baig contributed to this story from London.

Read the original article published in Anadolu Agency on 23 July 2014

Protesters flock to British capital as Israel escalates its onslaught against Gaza Strip.

About 100,000 protestors from across Britain have rallied in London to protest against Israel’s onslaught on Gaza, according to demonstration organizers Stop the War coalition.

Demonstrators of mixed ethnicities, race and color from across Britain including grandmothers and children, Jews and Muslims, began their march from Downing Street on Saturday amid bright sunshine.

 Protestors chanted: “David Cameron shame on you!” and “Free Palestine!” as they marched under the watch of police officers lining the streets and hovering in helicopters in the skies above the British capital.

As the march started, about 10 members of London’s Hasidic Jewish community posed beneath a banner emblazoned with anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela’s words: “South Africans cannot feel free until the Palestinians are free.”

Stop the War rally organizer Lindsey German told the crowds: “We will demonstrate until Gaza is free,” as she stood on a stage outside the Israeli embassy.

‘Stop arms sales’

Peace activist Kate Hudson asked demonstrators: “Who actually has weapons of mass destruction?”

 “Israel!” the crowds shouted back.

Member of Parliament Jeremy Corbyn declared: “The very least the UK can do is stop the arms sales to Israel.”

Another demonstrator, 28-year-old Dominic, told Anadolu Agency: “I want Israel to know that killing children is unacceptable, and that we will oppose them every step of the way.”

Police barricades prevented the marchers from reaching the Israeli embassy, where one eight-year-old boy posed on a side street with his face daubed in fake blood next to a poster stating: “Freedom for Palestine.”

‘Joyous disbelief’

The British media has come under attack for its coverage of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, with several demonstrations behind held outside BBC offices around the country over the past week amid criticism the broadcaster’s reportage of the onslaught was biased in favor of Israel.

Channel 4 Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Miller tweeted from Gaza: “This London protest pic greeted with joyous disbelief here.”

Crispian Balmer, Reuters bureau chief for Israel and the Palestinian Territories, tweeted: “Much larger protest over Gaza in London than anywhere in the Arab world.”

One marcher said, as he tweeted a picture of the crowds: “It’ll embarrass Arab countries!”

Londoner Michelle said: “We can’t let this continue, we have to stand against oppression, and it looks like tens of thousands of people think the same because just look at the massive turn out.”

‘Free Palestine’ call

Observers said the demonstration would reinforce the reputation of London as a pro-Palestinian activist base.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz said: “The British capital has indeed become the most active center of pro-Palestinian groups, especially those of the BDS (broad pro-Palestinian campaign group) strand.”

All the demonstrators had one message for Israel and the British government: “Free Palestine.”

Police said three people were arrested.

Offensive stepped up

At least 339 Palestinians have been killed and more than 2,390 injured, according to Palestinian health officials, since Israel launched its offensive on 7 July with the ostensible aim of halting rocket fire from Gaza.

One Israeli has been killed as a result of Palestinian rocket fire during the same period.

The Israeli army stepped up its offensive on Thursday, sending troops into the Gaza Strip.

The ongoing offensive, dubbed “Operation Protective Edge,” is the self-proclaimed Jewish state’s third major assault on the embattled coastal enclave – which is home to 1.8 million Palestinians – in the last six years.

Read the original article published in Anadolu Agency on 19 July 2014

New report says no empirical evidence to support notion that UK nationals fighting in Syria are threat on return.

Read the original article published in Anadolu Agency on 18 July 2014

US calls for a full, credible, and unimpeded international investigation into downed Malaysian airliner.

Read the original article published in Anadolu Agency on 18 July 2014