Gabriel Helou

" The West hits Russia with sanctions for annexing Crimea, but it has yet to punish Israel for war crimes in Palestine. The velocity with which the US and EU imposed economic sanctions on Russia for its annexation of Crimea is equal to the mass of hypocrisy on Israel's creeping annexation of Palestinian land through colonial-settlement expansion ."

"Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday recognising Ukraine's Crimea region as a sovereign state, Russian news agencies cited the Kremlin press service as saying ."

“ Fireworks exploded and Russian flags fluttered above jubilant crowds Sunday after residents in Crimea voted overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine and join Russia . ”

“" In this century, we are long past the days when the international community will stand quietly by while one country forcibly seizes the territory of another ," he  said . ” The same international community stands silent at Israel’s 46-year-old occupation of Palestinian territories and of the Syrian Golan Heights. 

Ereikat revealed that Obama considers Palestine’s application for “ non-Member Observer State” status at the UN as “crossing all American red lines”. Well, Obama can keep his red lines to himself. It’s exactly the United States and Israel which need bold red lines. Palestine ’s application was legal, while Israel - supported by the US - systematically violates international law, without any accountability .

“ Israel’s policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territory have come under unusually hard-hitting attack by the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Peter Maurer, for their challenge to international law. In an article in the latest edition of the International Review of the Red Cross, Maurer explains this move away from the ICRC’s normal behind-the-scenes diplomacy by the fact that “the ICRC has been unable to engage in any meaningful dialogue with the Israeli government” on such key issues as the annexation of East Jerusalem, the routing of the barrier separating the West Bank and Israel, and the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The organisation believes all of these are violations of  international humanitarian law, IHL .”

“The former South African president had been ill for some time and was admitted to hospital earlier this year with a recurring lung infection. President Jacob Zuma made the announcement, saying: "He is now at peace ".”