Israel says Nickolay Mladenov to direct Trump’s proposed Gaza ‘peace board’
UN special envoy for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov, attends a news conference at the (UNSCO) offices in Gaza City. September 25, 2017
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that former United Nations Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov will direct a proposed United States-led “board of peace” in Gaza.
In a statement on Thursday, Netanyahu’s office said Mladenov “is slated to serve as Director General of the ‘Peace Council’ in the Gaza Strip”. Israel’s President Isaac Herzog also met Mladenov on Thursday, a spokesperson from his office said, without elaborating.
Under Trump’s plan to end the war, the proposed Board of Peace would supervise a new technocratic Palestinians government, the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an international security force, the further pushback of Israeli troops, and the reconstruction of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.
Trump is expected to announce appointments to the board next week, according to the Axios news outlet, citing US officials and sources familiar with the matter.
“Among the countries expected to join the board are the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye,” Axios reported.
Mladenov, a former Bulgarian defence and foreign minister, previously served as the UN envoy to Iraq before being appointed as the UN Middle East peace envoy from 2015 to 2020.
During his time as Middle East envoy, Mladenov had good working relations with Israel and frequently worked to ease tensions between Israel and Hamas.
https://apnews.com/article/bulgaria-middle-east-gaza-nikolay-mladenov-5b4f02c2deb0ba621951c71e6ac60dd1
Mladenov served as the top U.N. envoy in Iraq from 2013 to 2015, before then-U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed him as the organization’s top Mideast envoy. During that job, he helped to defuse cross-border violence between Israel and Hamas and keep up the idea of a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As a sign of recognition for his peace efforts in the Middle East, he received in February 2021 the Grand Star of the Order of Jerusalem, awarded by the Palestinian president to officials, envoys, and prominent figures in recognition of their service.
Definitely seems like a much better choice than Tony Blair.
Workers at NY’s Israeli-owned Breads Bakery unionize, call to end ‘support of Palestine genocide’
https://www.timesofisrael.com/workers-of-israeli-owned-ny-bakery-unionize-call-to-end-support-of-palestine-genocide/
Employees at New York City’s biggest Israeli bakery chain say they have formed a union — and one of their top demands is “an end to this company’s support of the genocide happening in Palestine.”
As an example, they cited Breads Bakery’s participation in last year’s Great Nosh, a citywide festival of Jewish food held on Governor’s Island.
“The workers refuse to participate in Zionist projects such as fundraisers that support the ‘Israeli’ occupation of Palestine, baking cookies with the ‘Israeli’ flag, and catering events such as the Great Nosh, which are connected to organizations that donate millions each year to the IDF,” the union, which is calling itself Breaking Breads, said in a statement issued Tuesday.
The employees at Breads, a spinoff of a Tel Aviv bakery with six outposts in New York City, say “over 30%” of the company’s 275 workers signed cards in support of the union, which will be represented by United Auto Workers. They are alleging poor working conditions, low and unfair pay, and a lack of “respect” from management.
But the workers are also calling on the bakery’s operators, CEO Yonatan Floman and founder Gadi Peleg, to end Breads’ ties to Israel. Both men are Jewish Israelis, and Breads’ menu features items from across the Jewish diaspora that are popular in Israel, such as rugelach, challah, bourekas, and its award-winning babka.
"We cannot and will not ignore the implicit and explicit support this bakery has for Israel,” Breaking Breads posted on Instagram on January 1 in a statement that appeared in English, Spanish, Arabic, and French. It said it had announced itself to Breads’ management days earlier.
“We see our struggles for fair pay, respect, and safety as connected to struggles against genocide and forces of exploitation around the world,” the statement continued. “There are deep cultural changes that need to happen here, and we need to see accountability from upper management.”
