<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[UN expert denounces Israeli actions, urges Palestinians’protection]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<div><strong><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:verdana,geneva;">UNITED  NATIONS, Jan 15 (APP): </span></strong></div>
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<div><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:verdana,geneva;">A UN human rights expert has called on the  international community to intervene following what he described as a  series of illegal acts by Israeli authorities in the occupied  Palestinian territories. According to UN Special Rapporteur Richard  Falk, these acts include the killing of four Palestinians in the West  Bank in the past two weeks by Israeli troops as well as the demolition  of the historic Shepherd Hotel in East Jerusalem, a Palestinian  landmark, to make way for the construction of more Israeli settlements.<br />
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<p><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:verdana,geneva;">“Together these events demonstrate a general and unacceptable Israeli  disposition to use excessive force against Palestinians, who are already suffering from prolonged occupation,” he stated in a press statement  issued in Geneva on Friday. “It is impossible to separate this pattern  of excessive use of force against Palestinians from the indiscriminate  use of force against civilians in Israe’s larger occupation policy, as  illustrated by the cruel punitive blockade that has been imposed on the  people of Gaza for more than three years and by the illegal manner in  which Israel carried out attacks for three weeks on the defenseless  population of Gaza two years ago,” added Falk. </span></p>
<div><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:verdana,geneva;"> In the most recent incident, on Jan. 9, the Jerusalem Municipality  demolished a wing of the Shepherd Hotel in East Jerusalem as part of a  plan to build new Israeli settlement units. The move was deplored by  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who said that it only serves to heighten  tensions, in a statement</span><br />
<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:verdana,geneva;"> issued by his spokesperson. </span><br />
<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:verdana,geneva;"> Falk also spoke out against the demolition. “This is part of an  accelerating pattern in Jerusalem that consists of shifting the  demographic balance to reinforce Israeli claims to control permanently  the entire city,</span><br />
<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:verdana,geneva;"> making the creation of a viable Palestinian state, with its capital as East Jerusalem, virtually unattainable,” he stated. </span><br />
<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:verdana,geneva;"> “It is time for the international community to step in and offer this  long vulnerable Palestinian population protection against the violence  perpetrated by Israeli authorities,” he stressed. </span><br />
<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:verdana,geneva;"> Falk has been serving since 2008 in an independent and unpaid capacity  as the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights on  Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. </span><br />
<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:verdana,geneva;"> He reports to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council. </span></div>
<p><a href="http://ftpapp.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=127725&amp;Itemid=39">Associated Press Of Pakistan ( Pakistan&#8217;s Premier NEWS Agency ) &#8211; UN expert denounces Israeli actions, urges Palestinians’protection</a>.</p>
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