Israel removes more security installations from al-Aqsa

Al Jazeera
July 27, 2017

Jerusalem, Jul 27: Israel has removed more security installations from the entrance to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem after protest and deadly unrest in recent days.

Newly installed railings, gates and scaffolding where cameras were previously mounted were removed from the entrance to the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, reported Al Jazeera early on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Israel had removed metal detectors from the entrance, installed after an attack nearby that killed two policemen on July 14.

Palestinians began to gather at the entrance to celebrate in the early hours of Thursday, with whistling and constant horns from cars.

A Palestinan man in the crowds at the entrance told Al Jazeera that he was there to celebrate a signifcant "victory".

"Today is a joyful day, full of celebration and sorrow at the same time - sorrow for the people who lost their lives and were injured," he said.

"We are under occupation and the al-Aqsa Mosque is a red-line to everyone in Jerusalem - actually, to everyone in Palestine, and all over the Muslim world - but much more for the people of [Jerusalem]. It's dearer than their own lives," he told Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from outside the compound in occupied East Jerusalem, said the crowds were celebrating what protesters feel is a "significant victory" that has gone beyond simply protesting against security measures.

"This is very much a grassroots movement - this isn't led by Hamas or Fatah, the traditional political leaders of the Palestinians," he said.

"This is an occupied East Jerusalem movement; it's effectively leaderless but it's growing and growing."

A tense standoff has been underway between Israel and Muslim worshippers at the holy site despite the removal of the metal detectors, with concerns of major unrest later this week if no resolution is found.

Muslims have refused to enter the site and have prayed in the streets outside for more than a week after Israel installed the new security measures there.

Palestinians view the move as Israel asserting further control over the site, which houses the revered al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

Israeli authorities said the metal detectors were needed because the July 14 attackers smuggled guns into the site and emerged from it to attack the officers.

Protests and deadly unrest have erupted in the days since the measures were installed, with violence breaking out around the compound in Jerusalem's Old City and in the occupied West Bank.

Hundreds of Palestinians were injured in the past two weeks in confrontations with Israeli forces. Most of the injuries inflicted by the Israeli forces were from rubber-coated steel bullets.

An Israeli settler killed 18-year-old Muhammad Mahmoud on July 21 Sharaf in the Ras al-Amud neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem.

A second Palestinian, 20-year-old Muhamad Hasan Abu Ghanam, was killed by live fire during the demonstrations in Jerusalem.

And Israeli forces killed a third victim, 17-year-old Muhamad Mahmoud Khalaf, in clashes in the West Bank.

A Palestinian also broke into a home in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank last week and stabbed four Israelis, killing three.

There have been concerns that Friday's main weekly Muslim prayers - which typically draw thousands to al-Aqsa Mosque - will lead to even more serious clashes between protesters and Israeli security forces.

It was not immediately clear whether Muslim authorities would now give their approval to re-enter the site.

Mohammed Nuseibeh, deputy chairman of the Waqf Higher Council, told Al Jazeera said they would not issue an official response until their own technicians had gone into the mosque compound and evaluated it.

Al Jazeera's Imran Khan said this has become a movement fighting against wider Israeli occupation.

"Even though the security measures have all been removed, these people say they will not go inside al-Aqsa Mosque, they want to remain outside, they want to get their voices heard," he said.

"For the first time in many years occupied East Jerusalem is in the headlines. These people have traditionally felt that none of the Palestinian representaives ever spoke for them."

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imran
 - 
Thursday, 27 Jul 2017

chor. he never speak truth. pajji pajji sullu

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News Network
April 12,2020

Apr 12: Parents in Abu Dhabi affected by the Covid-19 situation can seek help from the authorities in paying off their children's school fees, it was announced on Sunday.

The Abu Dhabi Media Office took to Twitter to announce the reprieve. The Authority for Social Contribution - Ma'an and Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (Adek) "will support parents with children attending private schools in #AbuDhabi who are affected by the current economic challenges, by paying school fees or providing devices for distance learning".

The move is part of the 'Together We Are Good' programme which aims to support residents impacted by the Covid-19 coronavirus crisis in the country.

"Parents can call the toll-free helpline on 800-3088 or register their request at http://togetherwearegood.ae. The closing date for fee assistance applications is 23rd April 2020," the media office tweeted.

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News Network
May 5,2020

Dubai, May 5: A Saudi ministerial decision issued on Monday allows companies in the private sector to reduce salaries by 40 per cent and allows termination of contracts owing to the economic hardships resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to daily newspaper Al Sharq Awsat.

The new decision was still not published by the cabinet according to the newspaper.

The decision which the newspaper saw a copy of was signed by Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development to regulate the labour contract in the current period, allows employers to reduce the employees salaries by 40 percent of the actual effective wage for a period of 6 months, in proportion to the hours of work and allowing the termination of employee contract after 6 months of the COVID-19 circumstances.

The new decision has also included a provision in which the employer would be allowed to cut wages even he or she benefits from the subsidy provided by the goverment, such as those for helping pay workers wages or exemption from government fees.

The decision also stressed that employers are not allowed to terminate any employee, unless three conditions are met.

1.            First the passing of six months since the measures of salary cut has been taken

2.            Reducing pay, annual leave and exceptional leave were all used

3.            Company proves that its facing financial troubles due to the circumstances.

The memo, which goes into affect as soon as its published in the government’s official newspaper, ensures that the employee will receive his/her salary if on annual leave within the period of 6 months.

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News Network
May 7,2020

Dubai, May 7: Saudi Arabia will emerge as the victor of the oil price war that sent global crude markets into a spin last month, according to two experts in the energy industry.

Jason Bordoff, professor and founding director of the Center for Global Energy policy at New York’s Columbia University, said: “While 2020 will be remembered as a year of carnage for oil nations, at least one will most likely emerge from the pandemic stronger, both economically and geopolitically: Saudi Arabia.”

Writing in the American publication Foreign Policy, Bordoff said that the Kingdom’s finances can weather the storm from lower oil prices as a result of the drastically reduced demand for oil in economies under pandemic lockdowns, and that it will end up with higher oil revenues and a bigger share of the global market once it stabilizes.

Bordoff’s view was reinforced by Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, former chairman of Royal Dutch Shell and one of the longest-standing directors of Saudi Aramco. In an interview with the Gulf Intelligence energy consultancy, he said that low-cost oil producers such as Saudi Arabia would emerge from the pandemic with increased market share.

“Oil is the only commodity where the lowest-cost producers have contained their production and allowed high-cost producers to benefit. When demand recovers this year or next, we will emerge from it with the lowest-cost producers having increased their market share,” Moody-Stuart said.

Bordfoff said that it would take years for the high-cost American shale industry to recover to pre-pandemic levels of output. “Depending on how long oil demand remains depressed, US oil production is projected to decline from its pre-coronavirus peak of around 13 million barrels per day.

“Shale's heady growth in recent years (with production growing by about 1 million to 1.5 million barrels per day each year) also reflected irrational exuberance in financial markets. Many US companies struggling with uneconomical production only managed to stay afloat with infusions of cheap debt. One quarter of US shale oil production may have been uneconomic even before prices crashed,” he said.

Moody-Stuart said that recent statements about cuts to the Saudi Arabian budget as a result of falling oil revenues were “an important step to wean the population of the Kingdom off an entitlement feeling. It means that everybody is joining in it.”

The former Shell boss said that other big oil companies would follow Shell’s recent decision to cut its dividend for the first time in more than 70 years. But he added that Aramco would stick by its commitment to pay $75 billion of dividends this year.

“When a company looks at its forecasts it looks ahead for one year, so for this year it (the dividend) is fine,” he said.

Bordoff added that Saudi Arabia’s action in cutting oil production in response to the pandemic would improve its global position.

“Saudi Arabia has improved its standing in Washington. Following intense pressure from the White House and powerful senators, the Kingdom’s willingness to oblige by cutting production will reverse some of the damage done when it was blamed for the oil crash after it surged production in March,” he said.

“Only a few weeks ago, the outlook for Saudi Arabia seemed bleak. But looking out a few years, it’s difficult to see the Kingdom in anything other than a strengthened position,” Bordoff said.

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