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Coleg Elidyr
Holiday and Term Dates
Pre-entry assessments
Visiting Coleg Elidyr
Victoria House
Fundraising and Legacy
Coleg Elidyr Camphill Communities benefits from the expertise and professionalism of Trustees with a range of expertise. Trustees work with the Leadership Team in support of ongoing quality assurance and enhancement. Trustees are responsible for providing overall governance and strategic direction. This includes ensuring our financial health and developing the organisation's strategic plan.
We are always seeking to draw on a wide range of knowledge and experience to further enhance the work of the Charity. If you are interested in becoming a Trustee and would like notification of when a vacancy arises please email our office manager Lisa Blofield at lisablofield@colegelidyr.ac.uk
Alternatively, you can send a letter detailing your experience to the Company Secretary at the College address.
Vicky Davies
Chair of Trustees
Vickydavies@colegelidyr.ac.uk
Vicky is Chair of the Trustees and has a long personal association with CECC and the surrounding area of Rhandirmwyn. Having originally studied Agriculture and Business Studies, Vicky is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Management and currently works for the Welsh Government where she has held a variety of roles in the fields of agriculture and farm diversification. In addition to being the Chair, Vicky's specific areas of alignment are safeguarding and land management.
Colin MacIntyre
Vice Chair of Trustees
colinmacintyre@colegelidyr.ac.uk
Colin was elected to the Trustees of Coleg Elidyr Camphill Communities in June 2012. He has a long personal association with Camphill. His daughter attended the Sheiling School at Ringwood, Coleg Elidyr and now lives at Victoria House. Colin is now retired after a career with BP and Cairn Energy India.
In addition to his role as a Trustee, Colin continues to be very involved in charitable activities in Asia in both a corporate and personal capacity. Colin's specific areas of alignment are Health and Safety, Victoria House and Pre-Budget Governance.
Leigh Bradley
Trustee (parent)
LeighBradley@colegelidyr.ac.uk
Leigh has been a Trustee of Coleg Elidyr since March 2012, His relationship with the area stretches to his youth, as he was educated at the local Llandovery College. Leigh attended University in London prior to spending several years working abroad in the USA and France. He has an entrepreneurial track record, helping to found two companies, one of which (Maxstim Ltd) he remains working as a Director. Now Leigh lives in Cheshire with his wife and six children, one of whom, Tilly, has Down's syndrome. Leigh's area of alignment is finance.
janehamilton@colegelidyr.ac.uk
Having taken early retirement, Jane commenced her role on the Board of Trustees in 2016. With a background in senior management within secondary education, one of her responsibilities was the integration of children with specific learning needs into mainstream education. She is also expereinced in working with young people facing emotional and behavioural challenges, autism and ADHD. Jane is aligned to the College's education provision.
Bob Macey
bobmacey@colegelidyr.ac.uk
Bob was elected to the trustees in July 2015; when his son was a trainee in his 5th year at Coleg Elidyr. Bob worked as an economist in his early career and subsequently held a number of senior positions in the Welsh Government as a civil servant. Following his initial retirement he worked as a policy consultant and also conducted examinations of major infrastructure planning applications. He is now fully retired, lives in Cardiff, and when not rambling continues as a governor of the special needs school his son attended. Bob's areas of alignment are policy and volunteer welfare.
Wyn Llewellyn
wynllewellyn@colegelidyr.ac.uk
Wyn is a Consultant, Coach and Interim Manager, Partner and Principal Consultant at WynMill Consulting. Although born and bred in Cardiganshire, his corporate career was spent in the Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals sector at ICI and AstraZeneca. Here he worked in UK and Global roles in Sales/Marketing, Training & Development, HRD/ OD Management, and Business Change Management.
Having returned to live in Wales, he and his wife Millie are enjoying rediscovering the joys of West Wales. Wyn's areas of alignment are marketing and business planning.
Tony Blunden
tonyblunden@colegelidyr.ac.uk
Tony joined the Trustee Group in December 2017. He has three daughters, two were adopted as babies. Both these are now late teenagers, and both have very different additional learning needs. One attends Coleg Elidyr. With his wife Susan, Tony provided respite and fostering care for people and their families with additional needs for 15 years, until asked to adopt.
Tony has managed homes for people with cerebral palsy, specialist dementia accommodation, and worked as a volunteer with homeless young people and a number of support charities. Tony's areas of alignment are care and parent liaison.
People benefit from staff who are motivated and have learners at the heart of all they do; this was evident during our discussions with staff and our observations during the inspection
CSSIW Report, Feb 2016
The college has an extremely well-planned and well-managed curriculum, which it reviews regularly and adapts, where appropriate, to enhance the learning experiences for learners and meet their individual needs. This is a significant strength of the college.
ESTYN Full Report, August 2014
The staff take great care to treat the students as adults and allow them to make decisions (and take consequences) within their limitations. This has made a huge different to Martyn's self-confidence and ability to decide for himself – he is much less passively accepting of things than he used to be.
Parent Questionnaire, Summer 2015
'Staff consistently demonstrated an unconditional positive regard for students and this high regard was seen to be reciprocated. Students appeared confident, their achievements were celebrated and positive feedback was a constant'.
National Autistic Society 2016
'When our son started at Coleg Elidyr we felt we had reached our limits – we needed help to move him forward – well – we got it! he has achieved so much this year, far more than we could ever have imagined'.
Parent comment 2015
'People benefit from staff who are motivated and have learners at the heart of all they do; this was evident during our discussions with staff and our observations during the inspection'.
'The college has an extremely well-planned and well-managed curriculum, which it reviews regularly and adapts, where appropriate, to enhance the learning experiences for learners and meet their individual needs. This is a significant strength of the college'.
'The college has an extremely well-planned and well-managed curriculum, which it reviews regularly and adapts, where appropriate, to enhance the learning experiences for learners and meet their individual needs, This is a significant strength of the college'.
Estyn – last full inspection report 2014
Work standards are closely monitored as our organisation produces a range of luxury products. The quality of the work undertaken is to a very high standard…without doubt the contribution by students is of paramount importance to our organisation'.
Myddfai Trading company 2016
Overall we found that Coleg Elidyr offered a truly unique service for people with a range of learning disabilities. People were offered numerous opportunities and we found that there was a clear ennoblement focus on developing skills and maximising potential'.
CSSIW Report 2014
'He has progressed in every area more than we ever thought he could. He has the freedom within the college to out on his own to visit other houses. That's something he's never been able to do before, so his confidence has grown'.
At Coleg Elidyr, we understand that being away from family and friends can be a daunting experience for anyone and we work hard to ensure we provide a homely and secure environment where all students feel safe and at home.
Opportunities and support for learning and personal development at Coleg Elidyr span daily education sessions and residential living environments.
Coleg Elidyr has a strong commitment to the Well-being all students and staff. Central to student well-being is our commitment to a 24 hour curriculum and a Total communication environment.
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© Coleg Elidyr 2019


What does an entire nation long for year-round? The Summer Cabin. Most of us spend our summer vacation mosquito-squatting somewhere in the vast wilderness. However, the cabin holiday is not all about saunas and skinny-dipping, it is also about getting our hands dirty and growing anything and everything that tastes or looks good. Rhubarb and strawberries are the essential combo in every summer garden, and as a result they are rightfully adorning this very special green tea. If you ask a Finn what summer tastes like—they might lovingly say it tastes like this tea.
Absolutely refined tea. Delicate and fresh. Rhubarb and blackcurrant bring slight bitterness and acidity, while strawberries add wonderful sweetness to this green tea blend.


Let us help you determine what's wrong with your shoulder. You may use this special offer to come in for an appointment.
FREE 30 MINUTE MASSAGE, with certified massage therapist.
received at the time of service, Using this offer excludes any other special offers.


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World Freerunning Parkour Federation (WFPF) Sanctions First Ever USAP College Parkour Competition at University of Wisconsin, Platteville
WFPF September 1, 2015 WFPF Speaks2 Comments
College Parkour athletes, WFPF Parkour professionals, and sports fans about to converge on University Wisconsin, Platteville for historic Parkour gathering and competition on September 12 and 13th, 2015
September 02, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ — The WFPF is proud to announce the first ever USAP National Collegiate Parkour Competition which will be held at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville on Saturday and Sunday, September 12th and 13th, 2015, in cooperation with local Parkour Team Avialae.
This historic event is the culmination of much dedication and hard work by WFPF, USAP College co-directors Matt and Greg Milano, and UW Platteville Parkour director Conner Hjellming. After WFPF helped create and produce MTV's "Ultimate Parkour Challenge" in 2009 and 2010, which to date still has the largest audience of any Parkour event with over 3.5 million viewers, there was a huge surge in interest in Parkour around the world. In the United States, that was reflected by a jump in demand by gyms that wanted to start Parkour programs, Parkour practitioners who wanted become certified to teach Parkour, and American college students who wanted to starte university Parkour clubs. WFPF received countless messages immediately after the airing of the first episode and the calls never stopped. It was at this time that WFPF founders launched USA Parkour to help bring insurance and other member services to the growing number of Parkour programs in gyms and on college campuses across the USA. At about the same time, WFPF co-founders ran across a team video by the Boston College Parkour team featuring among others, identical twins and WFPF affiliate athletes Matt and Greg Milano. The Milano brothers had gotten the attention of WFPF months earlier and had been invited to be affiliates, but their appearance in the Boston College team video peaked even more interest by the founders who called the Milano brothers to find out what exactly was happening with Parkour on university campuses around America. That discussion culminated in WFPF asking the Milanos if they would be willing to use their experience and the WFPF name and good reputation to help other colleges and universities build Parkour on their own campuses. That was the creation of "College WFPF" which now has become "USAP College". The ultimate goal was to create this grass roots division of WFPF to help, through a collaborative effort, to bring the college Parkour community together. Matt and Greg, using their own experience creating and running Boston College Parkour, became USAP College's collegiate directors and the long journey began. Years of meetings, mentoring university Parkour groups, discussing ideas and challenges, university Parkour jams, and lots of patience has led to this WFPF/USAP competition at University Wisconsin, Platteville. Please check out the USAP College facebook fan page here: www.facebook.com/USAPcollege
"The exciting thing about a competition like this is that it shows other universities that a Parkour competition can be done on their campus. All it takes is for one of their own Parkour leaders to take the bull by the horns, contact us at WFPF/USAP and start the ball rolling!", says WFPF/USAP co-founder David Richard Thompson. "I absolutely see more and more of these in the future. One day I think there will even be Parkour scholarships to universities around the country"
The Parkour leader at University Wisconsin, Platteville that is helping make this happen is WFPF affiliate athlete, Conner Hjellming, a junior criminal justice major from Byron, Minn., and president of the Parkour Club on campus. His goal is to bring Parkour to the forefront as a sport just like any other sport, and through this event, he is making that happen. He worked with the WFPF/USAP and his college administration to get this competition off the ground. Part of his journey was getting the UW Platteville Parkour club officially recognized by the university last year. The club currently has 30 registered members who train five days a week.
"Conner is definitely an embodiement of the Parkour spirit," says WFPF/USAP co-founder Victor Bevine. "He never took 'no' for an answer, and stuck with it until his university approved their Parkour club. Working with Conner has been an inspiration for us and all the USAP College clubs striving for official recognition."
Both Thompson and Bevine agree "Doubly" that the Milano twins, Matt and Greg, were the perfect partners to help jumpstart the USAP College community around the United States and their efforts helped lay the groundwork for this inaugural collegiate competition at UW Platteville.
The event will run from 1-8 p.m. Sept. 12 and noon-7 p.m. Sept. 13. On Sept. 12 the course will be a non-competitive Parkour jam for qualified participants over the age of 18. This will take place at the outdoor track near Williams Fieldhouse. September 13 is the day of the inaugural Collegiate Parkour Competition, featuring the official WFPF gameplay. Public admission for one day is $10 or $15 for the weekend. Cost for UW-Platteville faculty, staff or students with ID for one day is $3 or $5 for the weekend. (details and complete schedule below).
USA Parkour (www.USAParkour.org ) and the World Freerunning Parkour Federation (www.WFPF.com) is sanctioning the competition. Professional parkour athletes from WFPF will serve as judges during Sunday's competition. Participants will compete in three categories including speed, a challenge round, and a freestyle round.
More than 10 collegiate teams from around the United States have been invited and Hjellming is hoping for a big crowd of spectators to help make this historic event a big success.
The WFPF recently partnered with American Eagle Outfitters for their Flex Denim jeans launch which can be seen in all their stores internationally as well as in a Times Square Jumbo-tron video. Part of this campaign also included a Funny or Die Parkour spoof of the AEO Flex Denim campaign starring "New Girl' and "Jurassic World" actor Jake Johnson.
The details for the UW Platteville Parkour competition:
The first ever USAP Collegiate Parkour Invitational
FEATURING WFPF PROFESSIONAL PARKOUR ATHLETE JUDGES:
Robbie Corbett
Fernando Arce
Paul Whitecotton
Aleksandr Baiturin
1st University Plaza, Platteville, WI 53818
DATES & WHAT TO EXPECT
1PM start time
Non-competitive PK jam for qualified participants 18 and over
Challenges and prizes
Qualifiers for competing athletes
Sunday September 13th
NOON start
Competition day
Jam during intermissions
Jam following end of competition
$10 Day Pass
$15 Weekend PAss
UWP Students and Staff
(Must show student or staff I.D)
$3 Day Pass
$5 Weekend Pass
RSVP Today!
For more information contact Conner Hjellming at hjellmingc@uwplatt.edu
The World Freerunning Parkour Federation is dedicated to the safe and respectful advancement of the Parkour Movement throughout the world. Inspired by the creativity and mental discipline embodied by Parkour, the athlete/founders of the WFPF and their partners will faithfully bring this philosophy of movement to the growing numbers of optimistic young people around the globe who believe that through camaraderie, self-expression, and service to others, there is no obstacle that cannot be overcome.
2 Comments on "World Freerunning Parkour Federation (WFPF) Sanctions First Ever USAP College Parkour Competition at University of Wisconsin, Platteville"
that he is grateful that his mom puhesd him to practice the piano although he hated it at the time. Now, he is a musical genius. That has really caused me to think about pushing' in general. I brought this up to a local group for discussion and you would have thought I was suggesting physical child abuse! Ironically, this morning, before I found you, I had my own breakthrough. To truly become an expert' the 10,000 hours have to either grow from a seed of interest inside of you or ignite a flame somewhere during the process.Bill Gates fell in love with computers and pursued his 10,000 on his own.Billy Joel had help from his mom pushing probably at some point really enjoyed it but maybe as it wasn't initially his passion, that has resulted in his personal struggles with drugs and alcohol. They say stress happens when where you are isn't where you want to be. His 10,000 hours made him an expert but since it may not have been his dream (just guessing here) he reconciled the talent not matching the dream with drugs.A young local skater had close to the 5000 to 7500 hours, that her mom made sure of, but she didn't have the dream, so she let skating fall by the wayside. Had her mom spent her time and energy on something her daughter really felt passionate about, the ending would have been different. Kids can get so enticed by their parents pride and support and maybe even the fast treadmill of scheduling that they lose touch with what they really want and than all of those hours which could have been growing the child's dream into reality are wasted on what the parent thinks needs to be done.Thank you for your post!Melissa
My name is sumit rupani….I am from india..and I want to learn parkour…how can I learn professional parkour??? Please help me…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Diplomatic Mission of Palestine
Latest News in Palestine
Ambassador's Articles
Official Viewpoint
Biletral Relations
About Palestine
Palestine and the UN
Palestinian Government
Life Under Occupation
Football Under Occupation
Palestine's Accession to International Treaties
December 31, 2014 Palestina
List of treaties signed by MR Abbas, President of the state of Palestine on the 31st of December 2014
1. Convention on the Political Rights of Women
2. Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the 'New York Convention')
3. Basel Convention on the Control of Trans boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
4. Convention on Biological Diversity and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity
5. Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II)
6. Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem (Protocol III)
7. Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses
8. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents
9. United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
10. Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel
11. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
12. Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity
13. Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court
14. Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
15. Declaration in accordance with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
16. The Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons
17. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
18. Convention on Cluster Munitions
Whisper in the Presence of Wrong is a Non- democratic Culture
Hikmat Ajjuri
"The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that´s the essence of inhumanity".
No conflict on earth has more international attention devoted to it than the Israeli Palestinian conflict; it is the only question of the cold war era, which is still waiting for an answer. It is all because the International Community – represented by the UN and its security council – against all the rules has so far allowed Israel ,the occupying power, to ignore the International Law and meanwhile call on the oppressed Palestinians to forego their internationally recognized right to resist this Israeli military occupation. All in spite of the norm that no power on earth can stop an oppressed people, determined to win their freedom.
People in Western democracies enjoy peace, justice and equality in their territories. Because the people in these democracies make the system, implement it and observe it. In an utter contradiction, the Palestinians are forced to live under the Israeli occupation and endure mental and physical torture, captivity, bondage, political slavery in addition to poverty and hunger at the hands of the occupying forces. Ironically and in spite of these facts and many others including total ignorance of Israel to all calls on Israel to comply with International law and international humanitarian law, Israel continued to receive unconditional support from Western leaders. This support had for our misfortune perpetuated the Israeli military occupation and pushed a peaceful settlement further. This support had contributed tremendously contributed to change negotiations from a realistic option to end this conflict to a trick by which Israel gains time to grab more and more of the land which is internationally allotted for the sovereign state of Palestine.
The major Western powers have in the past, viewed the Apartheid regime in South Africa as well as Israel, as their strategic partners in their cold war struggle to isolate the Soviet Union and to protect their interest in the Middle East. As soon as the cold war ended, the West toppled the South African Apartheid regime because it became an unbearable burden on the West and the Western humanitarian and democratic values.
Because Israel and Apartheid South Africa are two sides of one coin, the West is now obliged to follow the same rules with Israel to end its occupation in order to burry once and for all the cold war and finally bring peace to our world.
Israel is so far the only apartheid state left on the face of our planet. The architect of the South African Apartheid itself, Prime Minister, Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd, said in 1961: "The Jews took Israel from the Arabs after the Arabs had lived there for a thousand years. Israel, like South Africa, is an apartheid state."
Today in the Holy Land:
Palestinians are forced to carry identification cards at all times when travelling from city to city.
Palestinians must apply for a difficult to obtain permit to travel from city to city.
Palestinian Christians and Muslims are not allowed to buy, rent or lease land in 93% of the state of Israel because they are not Jewish.
Israel takes 85% of the Palestinian water resources and the remaining 15% is divided between Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
In the West Bank, Palestinians are not allowed to drive on roads allocated for Jewish settlers.
All attempts by Western powers, in their quest to ensure global safety and security, are unfortunately, directed towards the wrong targets. In fact, the resurgence of the Taliban and the emergence of terror such as Al-Qaeda and its new generation, Islamic state in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as well as the previous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and nuclear ambitions in the region, are all collateral to the Israeli occupation of the Arab territories, including the state of Palestine. Israel, the occupying power is the only state that ignores the international law and blatantly conducts terror with impunity.
The Israeli Film director Shai Carmeli-Pollak said in August 2006: "Life under occupation is life under permanent terrorism". I, on too many occasions, affirmed the integral relation between the Israeli occupation, its crimes against humanity and the emergence of the Islamic radicalism or terrorism but to no avail. The Israeli creation of new facts to Judaize Jerusalem, the third holiest place for all Muslims and to ethnically cleanse it of its indigenous Palestinian residents is a recipe for hatred, anger and radicalism. More importantly a recipe for a religious war.
Finally, I find it quite inspiring to realize that this fact has lately been acknowledged first, by John Kerry, the US secretary of state who suggested that a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians would help the campaign to defeat the jihadists of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria. "As I went around and met with people in the course of our discussions about the [anti-Islamic State] coalition … there wasn't a leader I met with in the region who didn't raise with me spontaneously the need to try to get peace between Israel and the Palestinians, because it was a cause of recruitment and of street anger and agitation that they felt they had to respond to," said Mr Kerry, at a state department gathering to mark the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival.
Former president Bill Clinton, said on the 21st of Sep. 2010 "solving the Israeli Palestinian conflict would take away much of the motivation for terrorism around the world". I with these inspiring quotes from strategic allies of Israel, dare to call on the International community, including friends of Israel, first not to let world peace be hijacked by irresponsible Israeli politicians such as Netanyahu and his extreme coalition. Second to follow the brave steps of the Kingdom of Sweden, to fully recognize the state of Palestine as a first and positive step to forcing Israel to end its 47 years of occupation of the state of Palestine. Indifference as well as whispers in the presence of wrong is neither a democratic culture nor a European value.
Ambassador of Palestine
Article first appeared in: Diplomática, Dec. 2014 – February 2015
Portugal lit a candle in the Holy Land
The creation of the state of Israel a year after the UN general assembly resolution number 181, of 1947, had so far caused a tremendous damage in human lives and infrastructure. Israel was established without agreement or even consultation with the indigenous population.
Had the UN enforced fully the aforementioned resolution, no doubts, many innocent lives Jewish Palestinians and worldwide lives, which had unnecessarily been lost in what is called the war of terror and counter terror, could have been saved. These tragedies are still ongoing because all middle eastern wars and their repercussions are collateral to the Israeli illegal practices and conquering land by force including Palestine which houses the most religious Christian's and Muslim's Holy Places.
It is astonishing after all these years that world leaders accept to be eluded all this time by the Israeli political leadership. Twenty years of vain negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis should have proven to all that Israel was never interested in Peace. Israel's participation in the Madrid land for peace conference of 1991 was not a choice but by force because it was threatened to lose America's loans totalling 10 billion dollars. In 2011, former American President Clinton said that Netanyahu is responsible for the failed negotiations with the Palestinians and he is not interested in Mideast peace deal.
All Israeli leaders realize that it is unacceptable for any Palestinian to engage into negotiations with Israel while settlement activity continues. Because doing so is like negotiating over a pizza while one party to the negotiations is eating it.
The question the international community should ask is not who wants negotiations but who wants solutions. The answer is clear one side wants to negotiate a permanent solution and the other wants permanent negotiations. Last week the Israeli defence minister, Ya'alon, told settlers that he wished to expand settlement construction and refrained from doing so for fear of the American administration's displeasure. He also said; "this (American) administration will not last for ever". This statement shows the true anti peace intentions of the Israeli leadership. President Obama said "Netanyahu is a political coward and is so thoroughly a captive of the settler lobby. (Haaretz 15 Jan 2014).
On the other hand, the Palestinians in 1988 and in 1993 explicitly recognized the right of Israel to exist on 78% of historic Palestine. By doing so, the Palestinians limited their national aspirations to 22% of their historic homeland. It is an historic compromise in the interest of peace. Peace is too precious to be left in the hands of such Israeli irresponsible Politicians, Ya'alon and Netanyahu who also salutes a rabbi who supported a work on the laws of killing non-Jews". (Sefi Rachlevsky , Apr.23, 2013).
In the midst of this darkness, candles were finally lit by Sweden and some European Parliaments to comfort the children of the Holy Land; Jews, Christians and Muslims. The Last so far was the Portuguese Parliament in the hope that be transformed to a Swedish style.
These candles were in fact lit by the power of the European values. This European positive move is a victory to all those who want peace in the Holy Land .More important is, a European response to the pain and the grievances which are inflicted on the Palestinians Christians and Muslims by the Israeli occupying power, over the past decades. Our enemy is never the Jews but it is the Israeli military occupation, which should be ended by the force of human values.
Article first appeared on 22.12.2014, Diário de Notícias
Friendship Group Portugal – Palestine
Meeting of the friendship group Portugal – Palestine, Portuguese Parliament, (video conference ), 15/12/2014
Biletral Relations, Uncategorized
Agreement between Palestinian Businessmen and Arab-Portuguese Chamber
Cooperation Agreement between the Palestinian Businessmen Forum and the Arab-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry was signed on 11th of December 2014, in order to build a framework for development support and commercial, industrial and economic cooperation, based on mutual interest between both countries. The two parties agreed to encourage and assist projects whose goals are the promotion and the development of trade, industrial and economic cooperation between the two countries in accordance with the international laws and conventions already signed by them. The two parties also agreed to identify the possibilities of growth, and sustain development of mutual relations, as well as the commercial, industrial and economic cooperation.
Israel should be the first to recognize Palestine
In the first week of this month, Netanyahu called to bring an end to his government, three years before it officially ends. Early elections became a normal practice for Prime Minister Netanyahu in his three terms to keep hijacking peace in The Holy Land.
Latest opinion poll showed that however, two thirds of Israelis don't want Netanyahu, yet according to the same poll it is expected that he is most likely to be the next prime minister.
This explains how the Israeli society suffers leadership crises. It is all because of the brain wash to which this Israeli society has been exposed to by the right wing propaganda to thwart the peace process which began in 1993. this propaganda costs former prime minister, Rabin his life in 1995 at the hands of a Jewish extremist.
Israel, since Oslo waged two wars against Lebanon two wars against the West Bank and 4 wars against Gaza. The code word for these wars was alleged Security, while in fact all these wars were elections motivated to benefiting from the Israelis obsession with security. Shimon Peres regardless of how visionary he is , had never won any elections. While, Sharon however, was sacked from his ministerial post due to his war crimes in 1982, yet he later was elected to become the most popular prime minister in Israel because he excels at war times more than at peace.
In 1988, the Palestinians have made an unprecedented concession when recognized the right of Israel to exist on 78% of their historic land. All Arab and Muslim countries endorsed an initiative in 2002 calling to normalize relationship with Israel in return for the land Israel took by force in 1967.
In response to all these good gestures, Israel, decided to continue with its military occupation of the state of Palestine, (West bank including East Jerusalem and the Gaza strip).
Israel as well as the whole world knows that this occupation is contrary to the UN Charter. This Israeli defiance of the International legitimacy coupled with the Israeli creation of new facts to Judaize Jerusalem, the third holiest place for all Muslims and to ethnically cleanse its indigenous Palestinian residents are becoming a recipe for hatred, anger and radicalism (AL Qaeda and ISIS) in the region and beyond.
John Kerry, the US secretary, who said that a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians would help the campaign to defeat the jihadists of ISIS, has acknowledged this fact. In 2010 former president Clinton has also acknowledged it.
In November 2012, the UN .Organization, Voted favourably for the upgrade of Palestine to a non-member state. This vote is no doubt a victory to the UN and its charter but more important for the children of the Holy Land; Jews, Christians and Muslims.
Judicially, Israel should be the first state to recognize the state of Palestine because Israel´s acceptance as member state of the UN in 1949 was conditioned by the creation of the state of Palestine
Israel is the only country, which has no internationally recognized border or Capital. Israel, accordingly, becomes normal country only when the state of Palestine is realized. Full recognition of the state of Palestine is an obligation for all those who endorse the two states solution.
President Obama in his last visit to Israel told Netanyahu that Israel´s security is only attainable by peace.
In this context, it is expected that the EU, the true guardian of human values, to take brave and responsible gestures such as done by Sweden.
The full recognition of the state of Palestine is the only effectual tool to forcing Israel to end its illegal 47 years of military occupation, to realize the two states solution.
Because twenty years of vain negotiations and the lack of action by the International community, all encouraged Israel to conduct it war crimes with impunity as if it is an above the international law country.
Article first appeared on 10.12.2014: http://www.publico.pt/mundo/noticia/israel-devera-ser-o-primeiro-a-reconhecer-a-palestina-1678967
Two States Solution
December 3, 2014 Palestina
The continued Israeli occupation of the State of Palestine: West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza, which began in 1967 is contrary to the UN Charter, which affirms the inadmissibility of conquering land by force.
Israel however has come into being by a UN resolution, has so far ignored all (more than 40) UN Resolutions, all calling on Israel to reverse its illegal actions in the occupied State of Palestine and to withdraw from these territories but to no avail. In spite of this defiance Israel continued to receive unconditional support from the Western democracies, in particular America.
I on too many occasions asserted the integral relation between the Israeli occupation and its war crimes and the emergence of the Islamic radicalism or terrorism represented by Alqaedah and ISIS. The Israeli creation of new facts to Judaize Jerusalem, the third holiest place for all Muslims and to ethnically cleansing of its indigenous Palestinians residents is a recipe for hatred, anger and radicalism, more importantly a recipe for a religious war.
This fact was lately acknowledged, by John Kerry, the US secretary, who said that a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians would help the campaign to defeat the jihadists of ISIS. Former American president Bill Clinton said on the 21st of Sep. 2010: "solving the Israeli Palestinian conflict would take away much of the motivation for terrorism around the world".
In November 2012, 138 member states of the UN organization, voted favourably for the upgrade of Palestine to a non-member state of the UN. This vote was a victory to world peace, the UN charter and human values.
I with these inspiring changes have no doubts that the International community, including all European democracies will never let world peace be hijacked by irresponsible Israeli politicians such as Netanyahu and his extreme coalition. I as well predict that the responsible and brave step of the Kingdom of Sweden, to fully recognize the state of Palestine will be followed by the rest of the EU member states. Because indifference, as well as whispers in the presence of wrong, is neither a democratic culture nor a European value. We all know that this recognition is the only effectual tool to forcing Israel to end its illegal 47 years of military occupation the state of Palestine.
Article first appeared on 03.12.2014: http://economico.sapo.pt/noticias/a-solucao-de-dois-estados_207421.html
Lisbon – Portugal
'There will be no land left'
Enterrando a Nakba: Como Israel esconde, sistematicamente, evidências da expulsão de árabes em 1948
Mayor of Bethlehem visits Lisbon
Young Palestinians in Portimão Sports Camp
Lunch with the Parliamentary Friendship Group
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