The irony, but true in the case of Israel-Gaza...
Abbas says Russia is fair mediator, should take part in peace negotiations: Report
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has blamed the US for trying to box Russia out of Middle East peace talks and says Moscow should play a rule in such negotiations.
Speaking to Russia’s state-owned TASS news agency while visiting Moscow, Abbas said Russia “has always sought and is seeking ways to resolve the issue peacefully”.
“America has always wanted to exclude Russia from this process,” Abbas added. “We do not accept under any circumstances the exclusion of Russia from any format for a Middle East settlement because it has a truly fair position on the Middle East issue, based on international law.”
Israel’s ‘terrorist’ labels on killed Palestinian journalists must end: CPJ
The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on Israel to stop making “unproven claims that journalists slain by its forces are terrorists or engaging in militant activity”, and demands international, swift, and independent investigations into these killings.
The New York-based watchdog said: “Since the war began on October 7, 2023, Israel has used questionable and sometimes contradictory evidence to label at least three journalists killed by the [Israeli army] as members or suspected members of a militant organisation.”
“Smear campaigns endanger journalists and erode public trust in the media. Israel must end this practice and allow independent international investigations into the journalists’ killings,” said CPJ programme director Carlos Martinez de la Serna.
“Even before the start of the Israel-Gaza war, CPJ had documented Israel’s pattern of accusing journalists of being terrorists without producing credible evidence to substantiate their claims,” he said.
The journalists whom CPJ says Israel has smeared include:
- Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul, killed along with freelance camera operator Rami al-Rifi near Gaza City by an Israeli drone strike on July 31, 2024.
- Al Jazeera journalist Hamza Al Dahdouh and freelancer Mustafa Thuraya, killed in an Israeli strike on January 7, 2024.
- Yaser Murtaja, a photojournalist for Gaza-based media production company Ain Media, who was killed by Israeli fire in 2018.
Since the war began on October 7, 2023, Israel has used questionable and sometimes contradictory evidence to label at least three journalists killed by the IDF as members or suspected members of militant organizations.https://t.co/pYzyx2QrPb
— CPJ MENA (@CPJMENA) August 14, 2024
AFC condemns Israel’s detention of Palestinian football chief
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has denounced Israeli authorities for detaining Jibril Rajoub, the president of the Palestine Olympic Committee and Palestine Football Association (PFA).
We reported yesterday that Rajoub was detained by Israeli forces as he returned to the occupied West Bank via Amman. Although he was released, his passport was confiscated, and he has been summoned for further questioning on Thursday.
The AFC said it was “alarmed by the violation of Rajoub’s fundamental rights, particularly his freedom of movement to conduct his duties as a sports leader, especially as the president of the PFA”.
Rajoub has previously been threatened with imprisonment by some members of the Israeli government for campaigning to bar Israel from the Olympics and football World Cup because of its violations of the Olympic Charter and FIFA regulations against apartheid in sports.
