Learn about the history of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, equality and justice by exploring major events in the history of their oppression on this day of the year.
18 September
PATEL'S PLAN FOR HUMANITARIAN AID TO ISRAELI ARMY
On this day in 2017, Priti Patel met the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Yuval Rotem in New York, following meetings with Israeli figures including Benjamin Netanyahu. The meetings, with no British officials present, were kept secret from the Foreign Office. Patel, the UK International Development secretary with control of the UK humanitarian aid budget, also failed to inform Prime Minister Theresa May of her department’s plans to send UK humanitarian aid money to the Israeli army accused of grave human rights abuses.
خطة باتيل لتقديم المساعدات الإنسانية للجيش الإسرائيلي
سبتمبر18
في مثل هذا اليوم من عام 2017، التقت بريتي باتل بمدير عام وزارة الخارجية الإسرائيلية يوفال روتيم في نيويورك، بعد اجتماعاتها مع شخصيات إسرائيلية من بينها بنيامين نتنياهو. الاجتماعات، التي لم يحضرها مسؤولون بريطانيون، تم الاحتفاظ بسريتها دون اشعار وزارة الخارجية. كما فشلت باتيل، وزيرة التنمية الدولية البريطانية التي تسيطر على ميزانية المساعدات الإنسانية البريطانية، في إبلاغ رئيسة الوزراء تيريزا ماي عن خطط وزارتها لإرسال أموال المساعدات الإنسانية البريطانية إلى الجيش الإسرائيلي المتهم بارتكاب انتهاكات جسيمة لحقوق الإنسان.
Patel was forced to resign from her role as international development secretary after just 14 months.
Theresa May gave Ms Patel the choice of falling on her own sword or be sacked after it became clear she had held meetings with the Israeli government without informing the Foreign Office or Downing Street.
Boris Johnson appointed her Home Secretary after she lobbied for UK humanitarian aid to Israeli military,
Patel was sacked from Theresa May’s cabinet in 2017 for having a secret diplomatic backchannel with Israeli officials, which was used to influence changes in official UK policy. Home Secretary is one of the most senior positions within the cabinet, considered in Britain as one of the “great offices of state”.
It was revealed that Patel had visited Israel and held 12 secret meetings with senior officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu. Following these meetings she returned to the UK and lobbied for UK involvement in Israeli operations in the Golan Heights (which the U.K. does not recognize as an Israeli territory), furthermore, calling for Britain to begin sending military aid to Israel...
A senior Conservative party member told the Telegraph, “She had a week full of meetings without officials and without contacting the embassy. She saw the Israeli Prime Minister with donor lobbyists and failed to declare or admit to the meetings. She commissioned policy work as a result. It is a total breach of the [ministerial] code. She's toast.”
But Johnson gave her a top job
Guardian and Al-Jazeera contributor Hicham Yezza