On behalf of the PLO Executive Committee, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi strongly condemned the so-called ‘Mayor’ of Jerusalem Nir Barkat’s pledge to expel UNRWA from occupied Jerusalem, close down all its institutions, including the schools, and to shut down its operations and programs:

“Such a decision is inhumane and reckless”

“Seventy years ago, the people of Palestine suffered a grave historical injustice with the creation of the state of Israel on Palestinian land and the forcible dispossession and expulsion of 750,000 indigenous Palestinians.

Today, the Nazareth district court sentenced Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour to five months in prison for “allegedly inciting violence and supporting terrorist organizations” through her social media posts.  Previously, Dareen was arrested in 2015 and confined to house arrest for nearly three years.

This report includes examples of recent inciting statements made by top Israeli officials on the theft of Palestinian money, the threat of forcible transfer facing the Palestinian Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar, the peaceful Great Return March protestors and the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza.