Embassy of the State of Palestine

Maps, leaflets and posters explain the work of Zochrot – Hebrew for "Remembering". The organisation's mission is to educate Israeli Jews about a history that has been obscured by enmity, propaganda and denial for much of the last 66 years.

Next week, Zochrot, whose activists include Jews and Palestinians, will connect the bitterly contested past with the hi-tech present. Its I-Nakba phone app will allow users to locate any Arab village that was abandoned during the 1948 war on an interactive map, learn about its history (including, in many cases, the Jewish presence that replaced it), and add photos, comments and data.

RAMALLAH, May 5, 2014 – (WAFA) – Member of PLO Executive Committee Hanan ‘Ashrawi stated Monday that the Israeli government and extremist right-wing coalition reveal the true face of the Israeli apartheid regime which is based on discrimination, exclusion and rejection of the other in gross violation of humanitarian and international law.

‘Ashrawi made this statement reacting to Israeli Prime Minister’s Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to enshrine Israel's status as the 'national homeland for the Jewish people' in law.

GAZA, May 5, 2014 (WAFA) – Al-Mezan Center for Human rights said, in a press release on Monday, the Israeli law provides immunity and amnesty to investigators of the Israeli Security General Service to practice torture and ill-treatment against Palestinian prisoners, in violation of prisoners' rights.

From today, the State of Palestine is bound by international human rights standards, having brought into force five treaties, with two others coming into effect in July.

The treaties include the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Optional Protocol to this last convention will come into force in May.

In a meeting on April 30th with the European Union (EU) Representative to the West Bank, Gaza Strip and UNRWA, John Gatt-Rutter, Deputy EU Representative, David Greer, and Head of the Political Section, Hans Grundberg, at the PLO headquarters in Ramallah.
PLO Executive Committee member, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi urged the international community, in particular the European Union, to continue upgrading its relations with Palestine, and to recognize the State of Palestine, as well as to curb the Israel’s persistent violations and unilateral measures, particularly its illegal settlement activity, apartheid walls, home demolitions, the revocation of the residency status of thousands of Palestinians living in Jerusalem, the abuse and torture of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, the annexation of land in Area C, its continued siege and blockade of the Gaza Strip, and the isolation of Jerusalem from its Palestinian environs.

The US secretary of state, John Kerry, has warned in a closed-door meeting in Washington that Israel risks becoming an "apartheid state" if US-sponsored efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement fail.

PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Saeb Erekat issued a statement on end of the nine months negotiations period in which he emphasized the Palestinian stand saying:
“We remained fully committed to this 9 month process, despite an escalation of oppressive Israeli policies. Israel should once and
for all understand that negotiations are a peaceful tool towards achieving peace rather than a smoke screen behind which it can
continue its violations of human rights, further its settlement enterprise and make the two-state solution increasingly impossible.”

According to a special report issued on April 29,2004 by the Palestinian Negotiations Affairs Department during the past 9 months, 61 Palestinians died due to the action of Israeli forces and more than 1100 injured by Israeli military and security officials.

Israeli settlement watchdog, Peace Now, which issued its report on Tuesday, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “broke all construction records in the settlements” in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

“This is an unprecedented number representing an average of 50 housing units per day or 1,540 per month,” the left-wing NGO said.

RAMALLAH, April 27, 2014 (WAFA) - In response to a question on the occasion of Holocaust Day, raised in conversation with Rabbi Marc Schneier, President Mahmoud Abbas said that: what happened to the Jews in the Holocaust is the most heinous crime to have occurred against humanity in the modern era. He expressed his sympathy with the families of the victims and many other innocent people who were killed by the Nazis.

President Abbas stressed that the Holocaust is a reflection of the concept of ethnic discrimination and racism which the Palestinians strongly reject and act against.