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Russia is funding the reconstruction work in the historic center of the city of Bethlehem, where Jesus was born according to the New Testament.
Russia Reconstructing Star Street in Bethlehem, Leading to Jesus' Birth Place
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201705111053508617-russia-betlehem-star-street-jesus/
The Russian government has allocated $4 million to Palestine for reconstruction work in the historic center of the city of Bethlehem, where Jesus was born according to the New Testament, the head of the Russian Representative Office to the Palestinian National Authority told Sputnik Thursday.
The reconstruction of Star Street in the historic center of Bethlehem is a Russian project implemented jointly with the foreign and finance ministries of Palestine and the Bethlehem mayoral office," Aydar Aganin said.
Aganin took part in the Thursday project inauguration ceremony, which was also attended by the city authorities.
"The Bethlehem mayoral office received a grant from the Russian government in the amount of $4 million, for reconstruction," the Russian official told Sputnik.
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Pilgrimage Route, which goes from Jerusalem to the Church, connecting the entrance of Bethlehem with the Church and extending along Star Street through the historical Damascus Gate toward the Manger Square, is on the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage List.
The Star Street reconstruction project will cover not only the street itself, but all adjacent buildings as well. Repair work is scheduled to start in September, 2017.
Israeli Leadership Shows Teeth Over Historic UNESCO Vote on Jerusalem
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201705031053235152-netanyahu-unesco-jerusalem-vote/
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization passed a resolution on Tuesday, May 2, at the UN's Paris headquarters, that criticized Israel's actions in occupied East Jerusalem. It explicitly denounced actions taken by "Israel, the occupying power… to alter the character and status of the holy city of Jerusalem."
The resolution was particularly damning of Israel's annexation of Jerusalem, following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, which it called "null and void" and something that "must be rescinded forthwith." Before the war, Israel maintained an occupation of the city's East, claiming the entirety of the city as its undivided capital. The proclamation has never been granted recognition by the international community.
The resolution was submitted by Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Oman, Qatar and Sudan. It calls upon Israel as the "occupying power," to stop "persistent excavations, tunneling, works and projects in East Jerusalem," which is claimed by Palestinians as their capital.
There are concerns that the vote will have little impact upon Israel's conduct in East Jerusalem and the occupied territories more generally. Some however, are more resolute.
"Despite intimidation, coercion and bribery by Israel and the USA to kill it, the resolution was passed and Israel is livid. Next come the accusations of bias and denial. Palestine and Jerusalem is for the Palestinians and not the modern day colonizers," Palestinian author and journalist Jafar Ramini told Sputnik.
Despite the resolution passing with 22 votes to zero, and 23 abstentions, Netanyahu dismissed it, saying that:
"There is no other people in the world for whom Jerusalem is as holy and important as it is for the Jewish people."
He subsequently accused UNESCO of "denying that simple truth."
The United States, Germany, Italy and seven other board members voted against it.
The Prime Minister's condemnation was joined by chorus of criticism from other senior government officials. The Israeli Foreign Ministry excoriated the vote as the "unnecessary politicization of UNESCO."
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the vote "amounts to denying Israeli sovereignty over the whole of Jerusalem and presents our country as an occupying state."
The Minister of Culture and Sport, Miri Regev, also ventilated her consternation at the vote by saying that there is no need "for observers from the likes of the UN" to be in Jerusalem. Regev is expected to present a demand to the Israeli parliament on Wednesday, May 3, that the UNESCO offices in Jerusalem are shut down.
In stark contrast, the reaction by the Palestinian side was one of jubilation. The Foreign Ministry of Palestine lauded it is "a victory for international law." Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Malki celebrated the result of the vote, saying that the world had "chosen to stand on the side of what is right in the face of [Israel's] injustice, occupation and its illegitimate policies."
"We will defend our heritage and culture, our past and future," Riyad Malki added.
Netanyahu did however, try to rain on the Palestinian parade by remarking that "the number of countries that supported this absurd proposal continues to decline."
"A year ago 32 states supported it. Six months ago this figure had dropped to 26 and this time there are only 22," Netanyahu said.
The Palestinians argue that East Jerusalem must be the capital of any future Palestinian state, while Israel insists that Jerusalem in its totality is its undivided capital.
Palestine was admitted as a member state of UNESCO in 2011, a move that culminated in the US suspending its funding to the body.
According to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, there are more than half-a-million Israeli settlers who live in illegal Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israel to Cut UN Funding Over UNESCO Vote on Jerusalem 'Occupation'
https://sputniknews.com/world/201705031053244116-israel-netanyahu-unesco-jerusalem-occupation/
"In wake of the resolution, I have instructed Foreign Ministry Director General Yuval Rotem to deduct $1 million from the funds that Israel transfers to the UN. Israel will not sit by while the organization calls for the denial of our sovereignty in Jerusalem," Netanyahu said at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting as quoted in a statement published on his office's website.
Netanyahu Cuts Human Rights Funding to UN After ‘Occupying Power’ Vote
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201705041053257937-netanyahu-cuts-human-rights-fundung/
An additional $1 million was cut from the UNESCO budget by Netanyahu after the board of the UN cultural agency voted in favor of a resolution that called Israel an "occupying power" in Jerusalem and deplored its ongoing activities in areas determined under international law to be illegally occupied.
The latest cut brings Israel's original $11.7 million annual UNESCO commitment down to $2.7 million. Netanyahu's order follows hot on the heels of a March declaration to eliminate $2 million in human rights contributions after the passage of sanctions against Israel by the UN Human Rights Council for the country's continuing oppression of Palestinians.
In January, the prime minister axed $6 million from the country's UNESCO contribution after UN Security Council anti-settlement resolution 2334 was passed, demanding that Israel stop building housing on territories it does not legally own.
Insisting that the most recent vote was "delusional," Netanyahu commented on UN member observations of Israel's prison-like atmosphere surrounding Palestinians, claiming that, "There is a price for harassment," according to the Jerusalem Post.
"I directed the director-general of the Foreign Ministry to deduct a further million dollars from the money Israel transfers to the UN," he added.
Among the marked minority of UN member-states supporting Israel by voting against the most recent censure were Italy, the United States, Paraguay, Togo and Ukraine.
Russia Reconstructing Star Street in Bethlehem, Leading to Jesus' Birth Place
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201705111053508617-russia-betlehem-star-street-jesus/
The Russian government has allocated $4 million to Palestine for reconstruction work in the historic center of the city of Bethlehem, where Jesus was born according to the New Testament, the head of the Russian Representative Office to the Palestinian National Authority told Sputnik Thursday.
The reconstruction of Star Street in the historic center of Bethlehem is a Russian project implemented jointly with the foreign and finance ministries of Palestine and the Bethlehem mayoral office," Aydar Aganin said.
Aganin took part in the Thursday project inauguration ceremony, which was also attended by the city authorities.
"The Bethlehem mayoral office received a grant from the Russian government in the amount of $4 million, for reconstruction," the Russian official told Sputnik.
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Pilgrimage Route, which goes from Jerusalem to the Church, connecting the entrance of Bethlehem with the Church and extending along Star Street through the historical Damascus Gate toward the Manger Square, is on the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage List.
The Star Street reconstruction project will cover not only the street itself, but all adjacent buildings as well. Repair work is scheduled to start in September, 2017.
Israeli Leadership Shows Teeth Over Historic UNESCO Vote on Jerusalem
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201705031053235152-netanyahu-unesco-jerusalem-vote/
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization passed a resolution on Tuesday, May 2, at the UN's Paris headquarters, that criticized Israel's actions in occupied East Jerusalem. It explicitly denounced actions taken by "Israel, the occupying power… to alter the character and status of the holy city of Jerusalem."
The resolution was particularly damning of Israel's annexation of Jerusalem, following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, which it called "null and void" and something that "must be rescinded forthwith." Before the war, Israel maintained an occupation of the city's East, claiming the entirety of the city as its undivided capital. The proclamation has never been granted recognition by the international community.
The resolution was submitted by Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Oman, Qatar and Sudan. It calls upon Israel as the "occupying power," to stop "persistent excavations, tunneling, works and projects in East Jerusalem," which is claimed by Palestinians as their capital.
There are concerns that the vote will have little impact upon Israel's conduct in East Jerusalem and the occupied territories more generally. Some however, are more resolute.
"Despite intimidation, coercion and bribery by Israel and the USA to kill it, the resolution was passed and Israel is livid. Next come the accusations of bias and denial. Palestine and Jerusalem is for the Palestinians and not the modern day colonizers," Palestinian author and journalist Jafar Ramini told Sputnik.
Despite the resolution passing with 22 votes to zero, and 23 abstentions, Netanyahu dismissed it, saying that:
"There is no other people in the world for whom Jerusalem is as holy and important as it is for the Jewish people."
He subsequently accused UNESCO of "denying that simple truth."
The United States, Germany, Italy and seven other board members voted against it.
The Prime Minister's condemnation was joined by chorus of criticism from other senior government officials. The Israeli Foreign Ministry excoriated the vote as the "unnecessary politicization of UNESCO."
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the vote "amounts to denying Israeli sovereignty over the whole of Jerusalem and presents our country as an occupying state."
The Minister of Culture and Sport, Miri Regev, also ventilated her consternation at the vote by saying that there is no need "for observers from the likes of the UN" to be in Jerusalem. Regev is expected to present a demand to the Israeli parliament on Wednesday, May 3, that the UNESCO offices in Jerusalem are shut down.
In stark contrast, the reaction by the Palestinian side was one of jubilation. The Foreign Ministry of Palestine lauded it is "a victory for international law." Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Malki celebrated the result of the vote, saying that the world had "chosen to stand on the side of what is right in the face of [Israel's] injustice, occupation and its illegitimate policies."
"We will defend our heritage and culture, our past and future," Riyad Malki added.
Netanyahu did however, try to rain on the Palestinian parade by remarking that "the number of countries that supported this absurd proposal continues to decline."
"A year ago 32 states supported it. Six months ago this figure had dropped to 26 and this time there are only 22," Netanyahu said.
The Palestinians argue that East Jerusalem must be the capital of any future Palestinian state, while Israel insists that Jerusalem in its totality is its undivided capital.
Palestine was admitted as a member state of UNESCO in 2011, a move that culminated in the US suspending its funding to the body.
According to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, there are more than half-a-million Israeli settlers who live in illegal Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israel to Cut UN Funding Over UNESCO Vote on Jerusalem 'Occupation'
https://sputniknews.com/world/201705031053244116-israel-netanyahu-unesco-jerusalem-occupation/
"In wake of the resolution, I have instructed Foreign Ministry Director General Yuval Rotem to deduct $1 million from the funds that Israel transfers to the UN. Israel will not sit by while the organization calls for the denial of our sovereignty in Jerusalem," Netanyahu said at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting as quoted in a statement published on his office's website.
Netanyahu Cuts Human Rights Funding to UN After ‘Occupying Power’ Vote
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201705041053257937-netanyahu-cuts-human-rights-fundung/
An additional $1 million was cut from the UNESCO budget by Netanyahu after the board of the UN cultural agency voted in favor of a resolution that called Israel an "occupying power" in Jerusalem and deplored its ongoing activities in areas determined under international law to be illegally occupied.
The latest cut brings Israel's original $11.7 million annual UNESCO commitment down to $2.7 million. Netanyahu's order follows hot on the heels of a March declaration to eliminate $2 million in human rights contributions after the passage of sanctions against Israel by the UN Human Rights Council for the country's continuing oppression of Palestinians.
In January, the prime minister axed $6 million from the country's UNESCO contribution after UN Security Council anti-settlement resolution 2334 was passed, demanding that Israel stop building housing on territories it does not legally own.
Insisting that the most recent vote was "delusional," Netanyahu commented on UN member observations of Israel's prison-like atmosphere surrounding Palestinians, claiming that, "There is a price for harassment," according to the Jerusalem Post.
"I directed the director-general of the Foreign Ministry to deduct a further million dollars from the money Israel transfers to the UN," he added.
Among the marked minority of UN member-states supporting Israel by voting against the most recent censure were Italy, the United States, Paraguay, Togo and Ukraine.
