What's New

Resources updated between Monday, December 12, 2016 and Sunday, December 18, 2016

December 18, 2016

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom (L) and Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki, December 16, 2016. (AFP/Abbas Momani)

Sweden 'to Seek Anti-Settlement Resolution' During Security Council Presidency in January Article

President-elect Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, September 25, 2016

Plain Talk From Trump Startles the Middle East

December 17, 2016

December 16, 2016

The "Lights magic" Christmas market that was the target of the alleged attacker

A 12-year-old German-Iraqi boy tried to blow up a Christmas market in the town of Ludwigshafen, prosecutors say.

He left a rucksack with explosives which failed to detonate in November, and put another explosive device by the town hall a few days later, they say.

But a member of the public alerted the police, and no-one was injured.

The 12 year old - who is now in custody - is thought have been recently radicalised and to have links with the so-called Islamic State group.

Focus magazine cited security and judicial sources as saying the boy was "strongly radicalised" and apparently instructed by an unknown IS member.

The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office declined to comment on a possible IS link, but confirmed officials were investigating the case.

Public Prosecutor Hubert Stroeber said the boy left a backpack containing a home-made nail bomb at the Christmas market in Ludwigshafen, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on 26 November, but the device did not go off because the detonator apparently failed.

The second device near the city's town hall, placed on 5 December, was discovered by an "informant" and specialists defused it, Mr Stroeber said.

The boy was born in Ludwigshafen to Iraqi parents in 2004.

Prosecutors said no formal proceedings would be launched against him, because he is below the age of criminal responsibility.

Last Thursday, German police arrested two teenagers aged 15 and 17, accused of plotting a terror attack on a public institution in Aschaffenburg, in north-western Bavaria. Police found Islamic State flags and propaganda material in their homes.

Germany suffered a spate of attacks in the south of the country over the summer.

Ten people were killed and dozens more injured in separate gun, bomb, axe and machete attacks.

The authorities say they were not linked, and one of them was not terror-related.

But the wave of violence has made a nation already on edge after a huge influx of refugees even more nervous.

German-Iraqi boy, 12, 'tried to bomb Christmas market' Document

December 15, 2016

United Nations Headquarters, New York City

UN Seeks $138,700 for Database Blacklisting Businesses With Ties to Israel Development

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at UN headquarters in New York, September 22, 2016 (AFP PHOTO / Jewel SAMAD)

Palestinians Preparing New Security Council Draft Resolution – Report Article

The car struck by bullets, December 14, 2016

Terrorist Shoots Israeli Car with Two Children Inside Document

December 14, 2016

At an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council to discuss the worsening human rights situation in South Sudan, Russia blocked a proposal to strengthen the protection of human rights in the country. Tens of thousands of South Sudanese have been killed and millions displaced since the conflict between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar, members of feuding tribal groups, commenced in 2013.

At the December 14, 2016 emergency session, held upon the request of 16 of the 47 member states, the Human Rights Council, considered a resolution which called for the extension of the mandate of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan by an additional year. The Commission, created in March 2016 by the Human Rights Council, was originally mandated to monitor, report, and provide recommendations on the situation of human rights in South Sudan. The resolution, as originally drafted, also called for the Commission's mandate to be strengthened to include investigating crimes and human rights abuses to ensure accountability. However, Russia successfully introduced oral revisions which removed the extension and strengthening of the Commission's mandate. The resolution as orally revised was adopted without a vote.

Original language:

"13. Decides to extend the mandate of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, composed of three members, for a period of one year beyond its original mandate, renewable as authorized by the Human Rights Council, with the following amended mandate:
(a) To monitor and report, including publicly, on the situation of human rights in South Sudan, and to make recommendations to prevent further deterioration of the situation with a view to its improvement;
(b) To investigate alleged violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes, including those involving sexual and gender-based violence and ethnic violence, to establish the facts and circumstances thereof, and to identify alleged perpetrators of such alleged violations and abuses and of crimes perpetrated with a view to avoiding impunity and ensuring accountability;
(c) To assess past reports on the situation of human rights since December 2013 in order to establish a factual basis for transitional justice;
(d) To provide guidance on transitional justice, including accountability, and reconciliation and healing, as appropriate, and – once the Government commits to ending the violence against the civilian population and to cooperating with the hybrid court for South Sudan – to make recommendations on technical assistance to the Government to support accountability, reconciliation and healing;
(e) To engage with the Government of the Republic of South Sudan, international and regional mechanisms, including the United Nations, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, the African Union and its African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission Chair and civil society, with a view to providing information based on its engagement with relevant stakeholders, and to provide support to national, regional and international efforts to promote accountability for human rights violations and abuses, including those involving sexual and gender-based violence and ethnic violence;
(f) To make recommendations on technical assistance and capacity-building, as appropriate, in the promotion and protection of human rights, including on addressing sexual and gender-based violence and ethnic violence;"

Adopted language:

"13. Decides to reaffirm the mandate of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, with renewed emphasis on the need to establish the facts and circumstances of alleged violations and abuses of human rights with a view to ensure that those responsible are held to account, in order to present additional recommendations to the Council at the 34th session on ending impunity and ensuring accountability"

As South Sudanese Face Genocide, UN "Human Rights" Council Dithers Development

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, December 12, 2016

"Russia prevented the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday from thanking outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon specifically for promoting gay rights during his decade in office, diplomats said.

The 15-member council met to pay tribute to Ban, who will step down later this month. Being gay is a crime in at least 73 countries, the U.N. has said, and the issue of gay rights consistently sparks heated debate at the United Nations.

The United States and other members had wanted a council statement to read: 'It is thanks to you, Mr. Secretary-General, that women, young people, and the LGBT community have been heard and assisted, and today their voices sound louder and stronger in this headquarters and around the world.'

However, Russia objected, diplomats said...

In 2014, Ban said the U.N. would recognize all same-sex marriages of its staff, allowing them to receive its benefits. Russia, with the support of 43 states including Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, India, Egypt, Pakistan, and Syria, unsuccessfully tried to overturn the move last year.

In February, the 54-member African Group, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the 25-member Group of Friends of the Family led by Belarus, Egypt and Qatar protested six new U.N. stamps promoting LGBT equality."

Russia Prevents Security Council from Thanking Ban Ki-Moon for Efforts on Gay Rights Article

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, December 14, 2016

Netanyahu Asks Kazakhstan to Back Israeli Bid for Security Council Seat Article

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (left), September 30, 2016

French Middle East Peace Conference to Be Postponed Article

Screwdriver used to stab a police officer near the Lions’ Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City on December 14, 2016.

Two Border Police officers are in light condition after being stabbed in the head and upper body with a screwdriver by an Arab terrorist near Lion's Gate in Jerusalem's Old City on Wednesday afternoon.

While details of the attack remain unclear, Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the incident took place shortly before 1 p.m. Magen David Adom paramedics treated both officers at the scene, before transferring them to Hadassah University Medical Center in Ein Kerem.

The unidentified suspect is from the West Bank, and was shot by responding officers, Rosenfeld said. He was also treated at the scene before being rushed to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in critical condition.

Rosenfeld did not confirm reports that a 12-year-old sustained a light head wound during the attack, and is also being treated at an area hospital.

Police temporarily cordoned off the scene, searched for other potential suspects, and have opened an investigation, he said.

Lion's Gate was a flashpoint area during the so-called "stabbing intifada," from September of last year through much of this year.

The last stabbing attack occurred there in May, when a 60-year-old Israeli man was assaulted.

Wednesday's attack came one day after an attempted car ramming occurred when a Palestinian woman drove her vehicle toward Border Police and then charged officers on foot with a knife.

The unidentified Palestinian woman was arrested Tuesday afternoon at the Kalandia Crossing checkpoint, separating Jerusalem from Ramallah.

According to Rosenfeld, the attempted attack took place shortly after 2 p.m., when the suspect drove her car in the wrong direction toward police guarding the checkpoint.

"The officers fired warning shots in the air, and the female terrorist exited her vehicle with a knife and charged them screaming 'Allahu Akbar!,'" said Rosenfeld. "She was disarmed and arrested at the scene without being injured, and the area was temporary closed off." An investigation has been opened, he said.

Terrorist stabs two with screwdriver in Jerusalem Document

December 13, 2016

Former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton (File photo)

Former UN Envoy Bolton Urges Obama to Veto Anti-Israel Measures at World Body Article

Actresses Lynda Carter (left) and Gal Gadot (right) at event naming Wonder Woman an honorary UN ambassador, October 21, 2016

Wonder Woman Dropped as UN Envoy Article

Syrians fleeing attacks in Aleppo

Last Rebels in Aleppo Say Assad Forces Are Burning People Alive Document

December 12, 2016

Anti-Israel protesters in London (File photo)

The UK "Defines" Antisemitism to Have Nothing to Do with the Jewish State Article

Saudi women (illustrative)

Saudi police detained a young woman for violating modesty rules after she removed her abaya, the loose-fitting, full-length robes women are required to wear, on a main street in the capital Riyadh, local media reported on Monday.

The conservative Muslim country enforces a strict dress code for women in public, bans them from driving and prohibits the mixing of sexes.

The Arabic-language al-Sharq newspaper reported that the woman was detained after a complaint was filed by the religious police.

"Police officers have detained a girl who had removed her abaya on al-Tahliya street, implementing a challenge she announced on social media several days ago," the newspaper quoted Colonel Fawaz al-Maiman, a Riyadh police spokesman, as saying.

The sabq.org news website said the unnamed woman had posted on Twitter that she would go out in public without her abaya.

Both sabq.org and another news website, alweeam.com.sa, carried a picture of the woman wearing a black jacket over an ankle-length orange and pink dress. Sabq.org concealed the exposed parts of her body.

The post had drawn an angry reaction from some Saudis.

"She has been arrested and we demand utmost punishment, for the state has rules that she did not respect," one Twitter user said.

Saudi police detain young woman for removing abaya Document