Debunking 18 Claims Justifying the Gaza Massacre

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By Riham Darwish,

After spending a great deal of time online, I read and watched endless virtual conversations about who’s at fault and who’s not in the wake of the over 60 casualties in Gaza on Monday. Discussions varied from whether Israel is exercising a righteous act of self-defense, or if Palestinians are legitimately organizing a peaceful protest; whether it is a conflict between two equals who are both guilty, or it is between an army of a state and an occupied territory packed with civilians?

It’s mind-blowing how people have the energy to keep repeating the same claims over and over again for days and weeks, ignoring outside information. That is why I have decided to spare others the time, effort, and emotion, by writing out the most common claims I have seen regarding the events of the Great March of Return, followed by my responses. Those interested in fact-checking these common falsehoods, can find them in one place.

The one claim that I will not deal with, one of the most popular, is that of: “The Bible say God give the land of Israel to the Jewish people?” Fundamentalists, regardless of faith, will never see beyond their own holy books. This list isn’t for them and I won’t bother trying to change their minds.

Claim 1: Israel acted with “restraint” towards protesters in Gaza. 

Speaking at the United Nations on Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haleysaid,

“[W]ho among us would accept this type of activity on your border? No one would. No country in this chamber would act with more restraint than Israel has.”

Even harder it was to listen to an Israeli official saying how

“We have Israeli civilian communities, farms, and homesteads just 100 meters away from the border. If we’re allowing that borderer to be porous we’ll have dead Israelis.”

First thing I can think of is, what border? Israel is the only country in the world with no defined borders, as they keep expanding into others’ land. The line between Gaza and Israel is an armistice line from 1949 and 1967, not an internationally recognized border.

Second, Palestinians are not crossing the armistice line and killing Israelis living right across the fence once they are “unleashed.” They are not animals, neither are they cannibals! Palestinians are the not encaged blood-thirsty animals that will prey the first thing they witness once they are out. Yes, they are trying to cross the fence into 1948 areas, but this is about realizing their right of return to the land many of them were forced to leave. Seventy percent of Palestinians in Gaza are refugees from cities and towns in Israel. These people are trying to go home. They are trying to get to the houses they still have keys and official documents for! They are not embarking on a secret murderous mission.

Claim 2: Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people for 3,000 years ago. Moving the embassy is just a recognition of that reality.

At the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said,

“In Jerusalem, King David established our capital 3,000 years ago.” Several members of the Trump administration have stated in recent weeks that Jerusalem is already the capital of Israel and moving the embassy is a “recognition of reality.”

King David is described in the Bible as the second king to preside over the United Monarchy, a unified territory of all Jewish tribes that lasted for about 100 years. Most of what is known about Kind David comes from religious readings, not archeological evidence.

According to religious tradition, King David reigned around 3,000 years ago. His capital was considered to be where the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan is located in East Jerusalem, along with the Israeli settlement and Bible park called the “City of David.”

Claim 3: This Great March of Return is totally organized by Hamas, a terrorist group.

It’s quite funny how this claim gives a huge deal of legitimacy to Hamas. They do Hamas a favor when they say that it could actually mobilize more than 40,000 people in one day for one goal.

The Great March of Return was organized by a grassroots group of Palestinians in Gaza. Here’s one of the founders of the protests, Nabeel Diab, telling Mondoweiss that it is a lie that Hamas is behind this movement. 

Claim 4: Hamas paid each Palestinian protesters a whopping $1,000 to cross into Israel.

Alt-right personality Laura Loomer has circulated the claim that

“Hamas is paying $1000 to every Palestinian who tries to break the Gaza border with Israel and murder Israelis.”

Hamas was created in 1987. Palestinians had been resisting Israel since 1948. Who paid them before that?

Also, the assumption that Palestinians are nothing but a bunch of immoral mercenaries, is quite insulting to the nation that still comes up with new creative ways to prove its right in a better life.

Fact-check: relatives of Palestinians who were killed by Israeli forces were offered $3,000, and injured Palestinians were reportedly paid between $200 and $500. In reality these funds cover funerals, hospital bills, and provide a modest welfare stipend to the bereaved. More importantly, no Palestinian is being offered cash to kill Israelis.

When Will the Israeli Left Accept the Occupation Started in 1948, Not 1967?

Claim 5: Palestinians hate Israelis more than they love their kids.

This is a tired argument that keeps resurfacing one way or another ever since former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Mier said the first iteration,

“Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” 

The line was just as offensive back then as it is now.

I am not sure how I can explain that no sane human being feels at ease endangering their kids, no matter what outcome they are expecting. No one can do this. None. I hardly think this kind of statements are meant to be discussed with logic. These are dehumanizing cruel insults I have no interest in wasting time on.

Claim 6: Live ammunition was only used to stop the ones crossing the fence. Israel used tear gas and rubber bullets for the most part. The casualties of journalists and minors are totally unintended mistakes.

I won’t say a word here. I’d rather let the IDF official Twitter account respond to this one (note: the IDF later removed the tweet):

Claim 7: This is Israel’s land and it will always be Israel’s, deal with it.

We are dealing with it, trust me. You took territory by force and ethnic-cleansing. We are trying reclaim our rights as civil and bloodless as possible in regular non-violent civil disobedience and boycotts.

Claim 8: The humanitarian crisis in Gaza must be solved.

Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted yesterday,

“The United States must play an aggressive role in bringing Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt and the international community together to address Gaza’s humanitarian crisis and stop this escalating violence.”

While I appreciate these attempts to educate Americans on the Palestinian plight, and I understand how hard it is to maneuver while trying to avoid backlash, or in Bernie Sander’s case being smeared as “a self-hating Jew,” it is not very effective to call on an end to only the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, although it is getting worse by day.

The core problem is occupation and injustice. Without an end to the blockade, the humanitarian crisis will never end. Palestinians do not only demand food, water, and medication. They need full freedom, just like everybody else in the world.

Claim 9: Why should Israel give the Palestinians a state? Israel gave them Gaza and look what they have done with it? They are even split up between Fatah and Hamas.

This usually comes in response to any mention of a future Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. This logic that says we do things better, we have to train them first, they can’t run their own affairs, is quite similar to the colonial narrative that says brown people always need supervision from the others who know better, as if we are underage teenagers who can’t control our own fates. I don’t really have anything to say to counter this claim except, “If you are going to use this statement, then don’t get mad when we call Israel a colonial-settler state.”

Palestinian family, 1910s, Ramallah. (Photo: Public Domain)

Claim 10: Every stone in this land was built by Israel. It was a barren land, Israelis built and grew it.

Palestinians do not deny the Jewish existence in historic Palestine. We do realize that the Jews existed there; we are not interested in contradicting the truth. It might be surprising to some, but both the Christians and the Muslims of Palestine believe in all the prophets of the Jewish faith; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, and Solomon. Narratives of the stories related to these figures are almost identical to people from all three faiths. There is no conflict there. In fact there are Jewish Palestinians. 

Furthermore, Palestine was not “a barren” land when European Jews arriving in the late 1800s and early 1900s began to increase. Haifa was an important cultural hub in the region. People worked to make a living, and historic Palestine was considered mostly an agrarian region of the Ottoman Empire. The old “land without a people” claim can be labeled as fiction.

Haifa Port. (Photo: Z. Kluger. Erez Israel from the air – 1937-38)

Advertisement for a 1939 theater production staged in Haifa. (Photo: Arab48)

Claim 11: Palestinians be third-generation refugees. That’s ridiculous.

Well, I think we can. As long as Palestinians are living in refugee camps, have very limited accessibility to the houses our families were forced out of, Palestinians can be refugees. Once Palestinians are given the choice to have our houses and farms back, only then we stop being refugees.

Claim 12: Refugee camps are not what you think. People drive nice cars and have decent housing. They even get educated. Why are they still complaining?

Thanks to the UNRWA schools and vocational training centers, generations of Palestinians refugees were and are still able to be provided with education. This is one basic human right granted by the UN. Although the education from the UN might not always be the highest-quality one can dream of, Palestinians have constantly managed to make something out of it, so they have better lives.

This does not go against the fact that they are still displaced. If you wish to understand why they can’t simply belong to where they were born and forget about anything else, please read my previous article on the connection between Palestinians and their heritage.

Claim 13: Israel is not an apartheid state. Palestinian territory IS where you can’t find one Jew living among Palestinians. Israelis are not welcome there.

This is an increasingly popular allegation, that it is the Palestinians who are practicing apartheid, not Israel. This narrative is promoted by Israel’s former ambassador to the U.S., Danny Ayalon. He even bothered to produce a video about it and make it his pinned tweet.

The Palestinian Authority does not ban Israelis from being in, or living in the West Bank. It is Israeli who has made it illegal for Israeli citizens to enter Area A of the West Bank, the section of the occupied Palestinian territory that houses all of the Palestinian urban areas.

Claim 14: Palestinians are anti-Semites.

I totally understand that European Jews still live the horrors of the Holocaust. I do realize that the anti-Jewish sentiment is still present in Europe and the U.S. to this very day, I have witnessed it first-hand. But remember, we, Palestinians, had nothing to do with this. We are not the Germans.

Claim 15: Palestinians are originally from other parts of the world, they are not natives to the land.

This could be true indeed. But if we are going to trace every inhabitant of every spot in the world to their ancestral origins, it should sound fair when the 5.2 million Native Americans decide to kick out every other American citizen and tell them: “you have all of Europe, Africa, and Asia to live in, this is ours and only ours.”

Claim 16: Most causalities on May 14th were middle aged males in military age.

I just heard this yesterday by the Israeli Ambassador to the UK on CNN. This is usually used to say that they are potential terrorists. Totally shifting attention from the fact that there were kids among the victims. As if saying that middle-aged male Palestinians are necessarily violent death-loving ones.

This reminds me of what extremists on our side usually say when they wish to justify suicide attacks in Israeli shops and buses, saying that “ALL Israelis serve in the military, that are all responsible for occupation, therefore, they are all legitimate targets”.

If the first claim is accepted by the international community, I don’t see why the second isn’t. It’s either both are true, or neither. And for the sake of humanity I sincerely hope it’s neither.

This claim originated from Hamas’ Saleh Bardwil who said 50 of the 62 killed on Monday were Hamas’ people. This statement is unfounded propaganda. Neither Hamas or Israel has provided evidence that this is true. And Bardwil has an incentive to fabricate Hamas’ importance wherever he can.

Claim 17: Palestinians don’t respect woman. They are barbaric. Why would civilized people give them any rights? They have to be better human beings first.

The fact that there are various forms of injustices within a community doesn’t mean they can be deprived of their basic rights. Palestinians can resist patriarchy, corruption, double standards, all while resisting occupation. If they cannot, I demand that I see examples of societies and countries that could not enjoy full sovereignty before they were perfectly ideal and crime-free.

Claim 18: The call for Palestinian right to return, is an explicit call to destroy Israel and to kill its people.

Why not think “The call for Palestinian right to return is a great step to achieving peace, so Israelis and Palestinians can live all together in one secular, multi-cultural state with equal rights for all, and an ending refugee sufferings?”

The claim shows, if anything, a deep sense of dehumanizing Palestinians, of not showing a regard to their feelings, aspirations, needs, and most importantly: rights.

*

Riham Darwish is a Palestinian blogger based in Amman, Jordan.

Featured image is from RT.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

israeli Government ‘Justifies’ Killings of Palestinians Saying ‘We Can’t Put All of These People in Jail’

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By Daily Sabah

An Israeli government spokeswoman has come under fire for her comments on the situation in Gaza and trying to justify Israeli forces’ use of live fire and the shooting dead of Palestinian protesters.

Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland on Monday, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Michal Maayan said

“Well, we can’t put all these people in jail” when asked why troops were shooting at the demonstrators.

Her comments during a live recording quickly went viral, drawing criticism from all around the world

Responding to criticism that the U.S. decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem will only cause more ‘instability’ in the region and hurt the peace process, Maayan said

“But moving embassies to Jerusalem isn’t stopping peace, it’s actually helping peace because it’s helping the Palestinians realize that Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish state of Israel and it helps them realize a reality that’s very important to us to go further on.”

“Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, it’s going to be the capital of Israel whatever future settlement we will arrive with Palestinians,” she told the Irish broadcaster.

Israel has come under international pressure after its border forces on Monday killed some 60 Palestinians protesting against the transfer the same day of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.

More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in seven weeks of protests, mainly from Israeli sniper fire.

Monday’s demonstration had coincided with Israel’s 70th anniversary – an event Palestinians refer to as “The Catastrophe” – and the relocation of Washington’s embassy to Jerusalem, which also took place Monday.

Last week, the Israeli government said the ongoing protests along the Gaza-Israel fence constituted a “state of war” in which international humanitarian law did not apply.

World Diplomats Skip US Embassy Opening Ceremony in Jerusalem

The original source of this article is Daily Sabah

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

لن ينالوا من بندقية شعبنا ولا إسفين بينها وبين الشعب

مايو 31, 2018

صابرين دياب

ودائماً، كلّ شيء مُسخَّر لاجتثاث المقاومة المسلحة وبعديد الأساليب، بالسلاح، بالثقافة، بالسياسة، بالحرب النفسية، بالاختراق المخابراتي، بالصهاينة العرب، بالتطبيع الفلسطيني، بالأنجزة ، بالمقاومة «السلمية السلبية»، قل ما شئت، اطلب ما تشاء، وما نريده فقط هو… لا مقاومة! هذا هدف الأعداء أو إنْ شئتَ، «الثورة المضادة.»

لن نعود طويلاً ولا تفصيلاً إلى الوراء، يكفي فقط أن نعيد للذاكرة بعض المحطات من جانب العدو:

«مبادرة» بيريس عام 1976 لإقامة كيان سياسي في الضفة وغزة، وقد تمّ رفضه.

بعد خروج قيادة م.ت.ف. من لبنان 1982 باستثناء بعضها، قال «جورج شولتس»، وزير خارجية العدو الأميركي وقتذاك: حان الوقت لـ «تحسين شروط معيشة الفلسطينيين»، أيّ أنّ القضية مجرد مسألة إنسانية، وليست قضية وطنية قومية سياسية، لكن أتت لاحقاً الانتفاضة، لتنسف كلّ هذا اللغو والتشفي.

ما كتبه نائب رئيس بلدية القدس المحتلة «ميرون بنفنستي» قبل اشتعال الانتفاضة الأولى عام 1987 : «إننا في ربع الساعة الأخير من انتهاء المقاومة، وعلى إسرائيل ان تعمل على هذا الأساس تجاه الضفة وغزة»، أيّ الابتلاع، واندلعت الانتفاضة الأولى بعد أيام، إذ قلبت المعادلة تماماً، ولم تكن الانتفاضة نضالاً سلمياً على نهج الأنجزة التي تباركها وتدعمها «السلطة الفلسطينية»، لا سيما في ريف رام الله وبيت لحم، وتصنيع رموز لها، بل النضال الجماهيري الحقيقي لا الشكلاني، الذي حلّ مؤقتاً محلّ نضال النخبة المسلحة، ولعب دور رافعة للكفاح المسلح.

كانت اتفاقات أوسلو تحت تسمية سلام الشجعان! وإنما هي «سلام المستجدّين»، ولكن الشعب ابتكر أساليب كفاحية عدة، سواء العمليات الاستشهادية، أو العمليات المسلحة الفنية الفردية الموجعة، أو الإضرابات المديدة عن الطعام في باستيلات الاحتلال، وجميعها كانت روافع للكفاح المسلح، إنه جدل الموقف الجمعي الشعبي مع نضال المفارز المسلحة، كطليعة.

ثم كانت الانتفاضة الثانية، والتي كُتب الكثير من الإدانة لممارستها الكفاح المسلح! وتمّت تسمية ذلك بـ «عسكرة الانتفاضة»، بغرض تقزيم النضال المسلح من قبل مثقفي الطابور السادس، وتنفير الناس منه وتكفيرهم به، لأنّ المطلوب دوماً، الذراع التي تطلق النار!

هذا إلى أن كان الخروج النسبي الصهيوني من قطاع غزة تحت ضغط المقاومة، او إعادة الانتشار الصهيوني على حواف القطاع، الأمر الذي حوّل غزة إلى بُندُقة يصعب كسر بندقيتها.

وأما التالي، فأطروحات متضادّة… بالضرورة :

منذ اتفاقات اوسلو على الأقلّ، والتي هي بمثابة ضمّ الضفة الغربية بالتدريج، مقابل رشى مالية ريعية، لشريحة من الفلسطينيين، أيّ ريع مالي مقابل مساومات سياسية. وهذا أحد المشروعات التصفوية، ثم تبع ذلك الضخ الإيديولوجي الهائل، في مديح «السلام العادل»! ولم تتورّط في هذا، قيادة م.ت.ف. وحدها، بل الكثير من المثقفين الفلسطينيين او الطابور السادس الثقافي، من ليبراليين وما بعد حداثيين ومتغربنين ومتخارجين، ناهيك عن كثير من المثقفين العرب وكثير من الحكام طبعاً، وتواصل تسويق الفلسطيني «كمؤدّب، ناعم، حضاري إلخ…»، وجرى ضخّ أموال كثيرة في الضفة الغربية، كي تُطفئ الشحنة الوطنية في الجماهير، لدفع المجتمع نحو الشره الاستهلاكي، ولو حتى بالوقوع تحت عبء القروض وفوائدها، وخاصة قروض الرفاه والاستعراض الاستهلاكي، وعامل تقليد الفقير للغني، والعالمثالثي للغربي!

زُرعت في رحم الوطن مئات منظمات الأنجزة، وتمتعت بإمكانيات هائلة، وامتصّت العديد من اليساريين الجذريين ليصبحوا دُعاة سلام! وينضمّوا إلى شريحة تعتمد على الريع الأجنبي كتحويلات من الخارج، لتصبح شريحة العائدات غير منظورة، وجرى تسويق أطروحة الحزب الشيوعي الإسرائيلي والجبهة الديمقراطية للسلام والمساواة المنبثقة عنه، عن «السلام العادل»، وحل الدولتين، واحدة سيدة استعمارية وأخرى مسودة وتابعة، وأطروحات لآخرين مثل «دولة لكلّ مواطنيها» لصاحبها عزمي بشارة وحزبه،

ووصل الأمر إلى طرح مشروع الدولة الواحدة بين المستعمِر والمستعمَر، وهي ليست سوى دولة لكلّ مستوطنيها! وترافق مع كلّ هذا الضخ الإعلامي لصالح ما تسمّى «المقاومة السلمية».

لكن المقاومة السلمية، لها مضمونان:

الاول.. المضمون الاستسلامي، الذي يرفض ويعاقب ويقمع أية مقاومة مسلحة، والذي يمكن تلخيصه في ما كتبه د. صائب عريقات «الحياة مفاوضات»،

وردّ عليه أحد العروبيين «الحياة مقاومة»، ولا يُخفى، انّ المفاوضات لم تصل فقط إلى طريق مسدود، بل تمّ انتزاعها من أيدي الفلسطينيين لصالح الأنظمة العربية المعترفة بالكيان الصهيوني، بل بعضها متآمر على القضية. بإيجاز، وقف هذا النهج ضدّ أيّ كفاح مسلح فلسطيني في أيّ مكان كان، والتوجه حتى الآن، إلى أمم العالم للتضامن مع هذا النمط الاستسلامي من المقاومة! في محاولة للتبرّؤ، بل ونفي، الكفاح المسلح ليبدو كما لو كان إرهاباً!!

والثاني.. المضمون المقاوم، الذي يرفض المفاوضات، ويرفد الكفاح المسلح، ويضاد الأنجزة، ويتبادل الأدوار، طبقاً للتكتيك مع الكفاح المسلح، ويعتبر نفسه جزءاً من محور المقاومة، ويعمل على شق مسارات جديدة، سواء في تحشيد الشارع العربي أو التضامن الأممي، لتكريس حقيقة، أنّ التحرير هو الطريق للمقاومتين الرديفتين، الشعبية السلمية والكفاح المسلح.

يمكننا اعتبار معركة خلع البوابات الإلكترونية في القدس، التي هدفت الى أسر المسجد الأقصى، مثالاً على المقاومة الشعبية السلمية، ذات الطابع التضحوي والصدامي. وقد أخذت هذه المقاومة تجلّيها الأوضح والأوسع، في الحراك الشعبي السلمي في قطاع غزة منذ شهر ونصف الشهر، ولم تتوقف الا بتحقيق مطالبه، ولكن، بينما المقاومة الشعبية السلمية تبتكر أنماطاً جديدة لمواجهة العدو، يقوم دُعاة المقاومة السلمية السلبية، بتلغيم هذه المقاومة بشعاراتهم التصفوية مثل «السلام العادل»، و»حلّ الدولة الواحدة»، و»حلّ الدولتين» ويتظاهرون إعلامياً انتصاراً لغزة !!..

وعليه، فإنّ اللحظة الراهنة الساخنة، تشترط الوقوف في وجه تمييع المقاومة الشعبية السلمية الحقيقية والجذرية، ومحاولات امتطائها وتطويعها لصالح الاستسلام، وخاصة حيث أخذت تنجز هذه المقاومة الحقيقية تضامناً في العديد من بلدان العالم على المستوى الشعبي خاصة.

لقد أعاد حراك غزة، مسألة التحرير إلى الأجندة الكفاحية بعد أن تمّ خصي النضال الفلسطيني، في استعادة المحتلّ 1967، وتبني الاستدوال بدل التحرير، وفي تبني شعار العودة فقط تحت راية الكيان الصهيوني، وهي الخديعة التي تورط فيها الكثير منذ عام 1948.

وعود على بدء، فإن إطراء المستوى السلبي من المقاومة السلمية مقصود به، التكفير بالمنظمات المسلحة والتطاول عليها، ونفي اية إيجابية للكفاح المسلح، وإطراء المقاومة الناعمة ضد العدو، وهي جوهرياً، استجدائية إحباطية لا تخرج عن إيديولوجيا استدخال الهزيمة.

ما من شك، في أنّ ثمة شهوة وغاية للمحتلّ، بتشويه صورة الكفاح السلمي الحقيقي الذي يمقته ويبغضه هو وكثير من العرب وبعض الفلسطينيين للأسف، لأنه ظهر الكفاح المسلح القوي، ولعل ما اقترفه الاحتلال بحق سفينة الحرية امس الاول، يؤكد مدى خشيته من مسألة التضامن العالمي مع الشعب الفلسطيني، ومن ناحية أخرى، تجري محاولات لسرقة حراك غزة على أيدي الاستسلاميين والأنجزة، وتوجيه النقد للمنظمات المسلحة المقاومة، بيد أن ما حدث في اليومين الأخيرين، قد أكد أنّ الحراك السلمي في غزة وهو شعبي لا شك، في أنه رديف بل من اشتقاقات الكفاح المسلح، ولا سيما بعد رشقات الصواريخ ضد الجزء الجنوبي المحتل من فلسطين، وصولاً إلى عسقلان.

حتى كتابة هذه المقالة، راجت أخبار عن دور رسمي مصري «لإطفاء النار»! ليس هذا موضوع نقاشنا، ولكن هذا الدور، هو الشرح البليغ للحال الرسمي العربي، وهو ما يجدر أن يحفزنا لاستعادة الشارع العربي، الذي حُرم من التقاط واحتضان الانتفاضة الأولى، حيث تمّ الغدر بها قبل أن تكون بداية ربيع عربي حقيقي، فهل سينجحون في اغتيال حراك غزة؟ يجب أن تُفشِل غزة ذلك.

بقي أن نشير إلى أنّ المقاومة الشعبية السلمية الحقيقية، اللاشكلانية واللاتمييعية للنضال الوطني، هي رافد المقاومة المسلحة، وهما معاً جناحا حرب الشعب، ضمن محور المقاومة، وهكذا، لن يتمكنوا من كسر فوهة البندقية.

مناضلة وكاتبة فلسطينية في الأراضي المحتلة

الأنجزة – ngo مصدر الاشتقاق اللغوي – وهي منظمات مموَّلة من الغرب «أوروبا وأميركا»، باسم خبيث – منظمات غير حكومية – كي تخفي علاقتها بالغرب، وتدّعي التنمية كذباً وتبتلع الثوريين بالمال. وتسميتها الكاملة بالانجليزية:

non govermental organizaition

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Presidential Decree On national objectives and strategic tasks of Russian Federation’s development in the period up to 2024

May 28, 2018

translation by Miles for the Saker Blog

P R E S I D E N T OF R U S S I A N F E D E R A T I O N

DECREE № 204

Signed 07 May 2018

On national objectives and strategic tasks of Russian Federation’s development in the period up to 2024

To facilitate breakthrough scientific, technological and socio-economic development of Russian Federation, increase of population, increase of standard of living, creation of comfortable living environment and to create conditions and opportunities for self-realization and development of talents of every person, I hereby ORDER:

1. Government of Russian Federation to ensure attainment of following national objectives of development of Russian Federation in the period up to 2024:

a) Securing sustained natural growth of population in Russian Federation;

b) increasing life expectancy to 78 years (by 2030 – to 80 years);

c) Securing sustained growth of citizen’s real income, as well as growth of pensions above the level of inflation;

d) halving the poverty rate in Russian Federation;

e) Improving living conditions of no less than 5 million families per year;

f) acceleration of technological development of Russian Federation, increasing in the number of organization implementing technological innovations to no less than 50 percent of the total number of organizations;

g) ensuring accelerated implementation of digital technologies in economy and social sphere;

h) securing the Russian federation’s place amongst the top five world economies, ensuring economic growth at a rate above world average while sustaining macroeconomic stability, which includes keeping inflation rate at a level not higher than 4 percent;

i) creation of high-productive export-oriented subsector in basic sectors of economy, first of all in manufacturing and agriculture industries. Such subsector should be manned by highly-skilled personnel and develop on the basis of modern technologies;

2. Government of the Russian Federation is to:

a) adopt by 1 of October 2018 General Directions of activities of Government of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2024, as well as Projection of socioeconomic development of Russian Federation for the same period, establishing mechanisms and resourcing for attainment of national objectives specified in paragraph 1 of this Decree;

b) develop (amend) according to national objectives specified in paragraph 1 of this Decree, in conjunction with federal and regional public authorities and present for review by Presidential Council for Strategic Development and Priority Projects by the 1 October 2018 national projects (programmes) in following areas:

Demography

Healthcare

Education

Housing and urban environment

Ecology

Safe and high-quality roads

Labor productivity and support of employment

Science

Digital economy

Culture

Small and medium-sized business and support of sole proprietorship

International cooperation and export.

3. Government of the Russian Federation while preparing national programme of demographic development must proceed from the necessity to ensure by 2024:

a) Attainment of the following objectives and benchmark figures:

Increase of healthy life expectancy to 67 years;

Increase of total fertility rate to 1,7;

Increase of percentage of citizens leading healthy lifestyle, as well as increase the percentage of citizens systematically engaged in physical fitness and sports;

b) Completion of following tasks:

Implementation of mechanism of financial support of families at the childbirth

Creation of conditions for employment of women with children, including 100 percent availability of preschool education facilities for children below age of 3 (by 2024);

Development and implementation of programme for systemic support and increase of quality of life for citizens of senior generations;

Creation of system of motivation for citizens to lead a healthy lifestyle, including healthy diet and rejection of unhealthy habits;

Creation of conditions for all groups and categories of population to engage in physical fitness activities, sports, mass sports, including increase of availability of sport infrastructure, as well as preparation of sports reserve.

4. Government of the Russian Federation while preparing national project for healthcare must proceed from the necessity to ensure by 2024:

a) Attainment of the following objectives and benchmark figures:

Lowering mortality rate amongst working-age population (to 350 cases per 100,000 population), mortality rate from circulatory system diseases (to 450 cases per 100,000 population), mortality rate from tumors, including malignant ones (to 185 cases per 100,000 population), infant mortality rate (to 4,5 cases per 1000 births);

Elimination of personnel deficit in primary medical care facilities;

Ensuring annual preventive medical examination coverage for all citizens;

Ensuring optimal availability of primary medical care facilities for population (including residents of settlements situated in remote areas);

Optimization of work of primary medical care facilities, reducing wait time for citizens in said facilities, simplifying procedures for setting up appointment with a doctor;

Increasing volume of exported medical services no less than fourfold compared to 2017 level (to 1 billion USD annually);

b) Completion of following tasks:

Completion of development of primary medical facilities’’ network with use of geospatial information system for the purposes of healthcare, given the need to build out-patient medical facilities and midwife centers in settlements with population between 100 and 2,000 as well as taking into account use of mobile medical complexes in settlements with population below 100;

5. Government of the Russian Federation while preparing national project for education must proceed from the necessity to ensure by 2024:

a) Attainment of the following objectives and benchmark figures:

Ensuring global competitiveness of Russian education, securing Russia’s place amongst top ten leading countries for quality of general education;

Raising harmoniously-developed and socially responsible individuals on the foundation of moral and spiritual values of peoples of Russia

b) Completion of following goals:

Implementation of new educational methods and technologies on all levels of basic and secondary general education, which should ensure successful development of basic skills and abilities, increase students’ motivation to learn and level of their involvement in the process of education, as well as updating the content and perfecting methods of education in “Technology” educational domain;

Creation of effective system for identifying, support and development of talents and abilities of children and youth, based on the principles of justice and universality and which objectives should be self-determination and vocational guidance of all students;

Creation of conditions for early development of children below age of three, implementation of a program for psychological, pedagogical, methodological and consultative assistance to parents, whose children receive in-family pre-school education;

Creation of modern and safe digital environment for education, which ensure high quality and accessibility of all types and levels of education;

Implementation of national system for professional growth of teaching staff, encompassing no less than 50 percent of teachers in general-education schools;

Modernization of vocational education, including by implementation of adaptive, practical-oriented and flexible educational programs;

Creation of a system for constant updating of professional knowledge by employed citizens, as well as for learning new professional skills, including obtaining expertise in the area of digital economy by all who willing;

Creation of a system of vocational contests with objectives to provide citizens with opportunities for professional and career growth;

Creation of conditions for development of mentorship, support of civil initiatives and projects, including in the area of volunteering;

Doubling the number of foreign nationals receiving education at Russian high education and science facilities, as well as implementation of set of measures to employ best of them in Russian Federation.

6. Government of the Russian Federation while preparing national project for housing and urban environment must proceed from the necessity to ensure by 2024:

a) Attainment of the following objectives and benchmark figures:

Provision of affordable housing for families with average income (including creation of an option to buy (build) housing with use of mortgage with interest rate below 8 percent;

Increase of housing construction volume to no less than 120 million square meters annually;

Radical increase of the comfort level of urban environment, increase of index for quality of urban environment for 30 percent, halving the number of cities with adverse urban environment as calculated in said index;

Creation of mechanism for direct citizen participation in creation of comfortable urban environment, increase of proportion of citizens participating in resolving the matters of urban environment to 30 percent;

Ensuring steady decrease of housing stock that is unsuitable for a living;

b) Completion of the following tasks:

Perfecting mechanisms of financing housing construction, including development of mortgage securities market and gradual shift from attracting funds into participatory construction of apartment buildings and other real estate objects to other forms of financing housing construction, which should ensure citizen rights’ protection and reduction of risks for them;

Modernization of construction industry and increase of quality of industrial construction of housing, including through imposing restrictions on use of obsolete technologies and through promotion of implementation of cutting-edge technologies in design and construction, perfecting of the mechanisms of state support for construction of standard housing;

Decrease of administrative burden on developers, perfecting legal framework and procedures of regulating housing construction activities;

Ensuring efficient use of lands for purpose of mass housing construction under conditions of preservation and development of green funds and territories that contains objects of ecological, historic and cultural, recreational, wellness or other importance;

Creation of mechanisms for development of comfortable urban environment, complex development of cities and pother settlements with taking into account index of quality of urban environment;

Creation of mechanisms of resettlement of citizens from housing that is unsuitable for a living, which should ensure observation of housing rights as stated by laws of Russian Federation;

7. Government of the Russian Federation while preparing national project for ecology must proceed from the necessity to ensure by 2024:

a) Attainment of the following objectives and benchmark figures:

Effective managements od industrial and consumer waste, including elimination of all unsanctioned dump sites within cities’ limits, identified as such by 01 January 2018;

Radical decrease of atmospheric air pollution in large industrial centers, including decrease of aggregate amount of air pollution emissions in most polluted cities by no less than 20 percent;

Increase of quality of drinking water, consumed by population, including for residents of settlements that do not have modern systems of centralized water supply;

Ecological rehabilitation of water bodies, including river Volga and preservation of unique water systems, including lakes Baikal and Teletskoe;

Preservation of biological diversity, including via creation of no less than 24 specially protected natural areas;

b) Completion of the following goals:

Creation of comprehensive system of solid household waste management, including elimination of dump sites and recultivation of lands where it was situated, creation of conditions for recycling of all industrial and consumer waste, disposal of which are prohibited;

Creation and efficient operation of a system for civil control, aimed at identification and elimination of unsanctioned dump sites throughout territories of all constituents of Russian Federation;

Creation of modern infrastructure for safe management of waste with first and second hazard classes, and elimination of most hazardous objects of accumulated environmental damage;

Implementation of comprehensive plans for lowering air pollution emissions in big industrial centers, including cities Bratsk, Krasnoyarsk, Lipetsk, Magnitogorsk, Mednogorsk, Nizhniy Tagil, Novokuznetsk, Norilsk, Omsk, Chelyabinsk, Cherepovets and Chita, with taking into account summary calculations for permissible negative environmental impact in each of those cities;

Ensuring use of a system of environmental management based off best available technologies by all object with significant negative environmental impact;

Increasing the quality of drinking water via modernization of water supply system with use of prospective technologies of water preparation, including technologies developed by military-industrial complex;

Environmental rehabilitation of water bodies, including implementation of project, aimed at three-fold decrease of proportion of contaminated wastewater, discharged into river Volga, sustainable operation of water management complex of Lower Volga and preservation of Volga-Akhtuba floodplain’s ecosystem;

Preservation of unique water bodies, including implementation of project for preservation of lake Baikal and measures for litter-cleaning coasts and coastal zones of lakes Baikal, Teletskoe, Ladoga, Onega and of rivers Volga, Don, Ob, Yenisei, Amur, Ural, Pechora;

Preservation of biological diversity, including increasing acreage of specially protected natural areas, by 5 million hectares, reintroduction of rare animal species, creation of infrastructure for environmental tourism in national parks, as well as preservation of forests, including via reforestation of all areas where forests has been cut down or otherwise destroyed;

8. Government of the Russian Federation while preparing national project for creation of safe and high-quality toads must proceed from the necessity to ensure by 2024:

a) Attainment of the following objectives and benchmark figures:

Increase of proportion of regional roads meeting statutory requirements in their total length to no less than 50 percent (compared to their length as at 31 December 2017), as well as well as adoption of said requirements by regional public authorities, which should be based on federal-level requirements for road safety;

Decrease of share of overloaded federal and regional roads by no less than 10 percent in their total length as compared to 2017;

Twofold decrease in number of accident concentration sections (accident-prone areas) of road network as compared to 2017;

Decrease of road accidents –related mortality by a factor of 3,5 as compared to 2017 – to a level not exceeding 4 deaths per 100,000 population (zero mortality by 2030);

b) Completion of the following tasks:

Increasing proportion of roads meeting statutory requirements in biggest urban agglomerations to 85 percent of their total length;

Adoption of new mechanisms of development and maintenance of road network, including use of infrastructural mortgage, life-cycle contracting and best technologies and materials;

Increasing disbursement rate to regional budgets for revenues from excise duties on fuel and lubricants to 100 percent;

Implementation of publicly accessible system for control of accumulation and spending of road funds on all levels (in 2019);

Creation of mechanisms of economic stimulation of preservation of regional and municipal roads;

Implementation of new technological requirements and standards for outfitting the roads, including standards based on digital technologies, aimed at elimination of accident concentration sections;

Implementation of technologies for automation and robotization of traffic management and traffic rules compliance oversight;

Increasing penalties for drivers who violate traffic rules, as well as increasing requirements for the level of their professional training;

9. Government of the Russian Federation while executing in tandem with regional public authorities national programme for labor productivity and support of employment must ensure by 2024:

a) Attainment of the following objectives and benchmark figures:

Increase of labor productivity on middle and big-sized enterprises of basic non-resource-based sectors of economy by no less than 5 percent annually;

Bringing into participation in aforementioned programme at least 10 regions of Russian Federation annually;

Bringing into participation in aforementioned programme at least 10,000 middle and big-sized enterprises of basic non-resource-based sectors of economy;

b) Completion of the following tasks:

Stimulating implementation of cutting-edge management, organizational and technological solutions for increase in labor productivity and equipment modernization, including via tax preferences;

Reducing statutory and administrative limitations which prevents labor productivity growth, as well as phase out of non-productive and obsolete jobs;

Creation of a system for methodological and organizational support of labor productivity growth at enterprises;

Creation of a system for personnel training aimed at teaching of foundations of labor productivity growth, including via use of digital technologies and platform solutions.

10. Government of the Russian Federation while preparing national project for science must proceed from the necessity to ensure by 2024:

a) Attainment of the following objectives and benchmark figures:

Ensuring Russia’s place amongst top five leading countries, conducting scientific research and development in areas, defined by priorities of scientific development;

Ensuring attractiveness of work in Russia for leading Russian and foreign scientists and promising young researchers;

Accelerated growth of domestic spending from all sources for scientific research and development as compared to country’s GDP growth;

b) Completion of the following tasks:

Creation of cutting-edge infrastructure for scientific research and development and innovation activities, including creation and development of network of unique research facilities of Megascience class;

Modernization of no less than 50 percent of instrument base of leading facilities conducting scientific research and development;

Creation of world-class scientific centers, including networks of international mathematics centers and centers for genomic research;

Creation of no less than 15 world-class research and education centers, based on integration of universities and research facilities and their cooperation with organizations of real economy;

Creation of comprehensive system for training and professional growth of scientific and pedagogical personnel, aimed for creation of conditions for conducting scientific research and development by young scientists, creation of research laboratories and competitive science teams;

11. Government of the Russian Federation while executing in tandem with regional public authorities national programme “Digital Economy of Russian Federation” must ensure by 2024:

a) Attainment of the following objectives and benchmark figures:

Threefold increase in domestic spending (calculated as proportion of GDP) from all sources for development of digital economy as compared to 2017;

Creation of sustainable and safe information and telecommunication infrastructure for high-speed transfer, processing and storage of big amount of data, accessible by all organizations and households;

Predominant use of domestic-made software by public and municipal authorities and organizations;

b) Completion of the following tasks:

Creation of legal framework for digital economy, based on flexible approach to each sphere, including implementation of civilian circulation in sphere of digital technologies;

Creation of global competitive infrastructure for transfer, processing and storage of data, predominantly on basis of domestic developments;

Ensuring training of high-quality personnel for digital economy;

Ensuring informational security on the basis of domestic developments which ensure protection of interests of individual, organization and state during transfer, processing and storage of data;

Creation of cross-cutting digital technologies, predominantly on the basis of domestic developments;

Implementation of digital technologies and platform solutions in areas of public administration and provision of public services, including for the benefit of population, small and medium sized businesses, including sole proprietors;

Transformation of high-priority sectors of economy and social sphere, including healthcare, education, industry, agriculture, construction, urban environment, transport and energy infrastructure, financial services through implementation of digital technologies and platform solutions;

Creation of comprehensive system for financing project for development and/or implementation of digital technologies and platform solutions, including venture financing and other development institutions;

Development and implementation of national mechanisms for coordinated digital economy development policies implementation between states – members of Eurasian Economic Union;

12. Government of the Russian Federation while preparing national programme for culture must pay special attention to necessity to:

a) Strengthening of Russian civic identity as based on spiritual, moral and cultural values of Russian peoples;

b) Creation (reconstruction of museum complexes and complexes for cultural education, including concert halls, theatrical, musical, choreographical and other creative arts schools, as well as exhibition spaces;

c) Providing children’s schools and colleges for music, artistic and choreographical schools and colleges and creative arts schools with necessary equipment and materials;

d) Supporting youth talented in music, including through creation of National Youth Symphony Orchestra;

e) Creation (reconstruction) of club-type organizations for cultural recreation in rural settlements, development of municipal libraries;

f) Creation of virtual concert hall in no less than 500 cities of Russia;

g) Creation of conditions for screening of national movies in settlements with population below 500,000;

h) Professional training for personnel in field of culture;

i) Modernization of regional and municipal youth theaters and puppet theaters through reconstruction and capital repairs;

j) Support of volunteer movements, including in the field of preservation of cultural heritage;

13. Government of the Russian Federation while executing in tandem with regional public authorities national project for development of small and medium sized businesses and support of sole proprietorship must ensure by 2024:

a) Attainment of the following benchmark figure: increase in number of employed in the area of small and medium sized business, including sole proprietors to 25 million people;

b) Completion of the following tasks:

Improvement of conditions for doing business, including simplification of tax reporting for entrepreneurs, who use cash-register equipment;

Creation of a digital platform for support of production and marketing by small and medium sized businesses, including sole proprietors;

Perfecting of the system of procurement used by biggest contractors to buy from small and medium sized businesses, including sole proprietors;

Simplifying access to concessionary financing, including annual growth in volume of soft loans provided to small and medium sized businesses, including sole proprietors;

Creation of a system for acceleration of small and medium sized businesses, including sole proprietors, which include infrastructure and support services and their accelerated development in the areas of betterment of urban environment, science and technology, social sphere and ecology;

Modernization of the support system for small and medium sized businesses, including sole proprietors, who engage in export trade, increase of proportion of such exporters in total volume of non-resource exports to no less than ten percent;

Creation of a support system for farmers and development of agricultural cooperation;

Creation of favorable conditions for self-employed citizens through creation of a new taxation scheme which should include automated transmission of sales information to tax authorities of the Russian Federation as well as unified payments on proceeds which should include social insurance contributions;

14. Government of the Russian Federation while preparing national programme for development of international cooperation and exports must proceed from the necessity to ensure by 2024:

a) Attainment of the following objectives and benchmark figures:

Creation of global competitive non-resource-based sectors in manufacturing industry, agriculture and service industry, total share of exported goods and services from which must be no less than 20 percent of country’s GDP;

Reaching volume (in monetary terms) of exported non-resource non-energy related goods and services of no less than 250 billion USD annually, including engineering goods – 50 billion USD annually, agriculture products – 45 billion USD annually, as well as exported services – 100 billion USD annually;

Creation of effective system for division of labor and production cooperation inside Eurasian Economic Union for reasons of increasing trade volume between member states of the Union by a factor of 1,5 and increase of volume of cumulative mutual investments by a factor of 1,5;

b) Completion of the following tasks:

Directing industrial, agriculture and trade policies, including mechanisms of state support, towards achievement of international competitiveness of Russian goods and services to ensure their presence on external markets;

Reducing administrative hurdles and procedures in the area of international trade, including cancellation of excessive licensing requirements for exports and in the area of foreign exchange controls, creation (by 2021) of “one stop window” system for interactions between international trade actors and supervisory authorities;

Completing creation of a set of flexible financial instruments for support of exports (by 2021), including extended pre-export, export and equity financing, leasing and long-term support measures;

Elimination of logistical limitations for exporting goods through use of railroads, motor and sea transportation, as well as construction (modernization) of State border crossing points;

Creation of unified system of institutions for export promotion, which should include modernization of Commercial Missions of Russia;

Completion of creation of common markets for goods, services, capital and labor force inside Eurasian Economic Union, including final elimination of barriers and limitations, cancellation of exceptions in economic cooperation, while simultaneously intensifying the use of mechanisms for joint projects activity.

15. Government of the Russian Federation to prepare in accordance with Strategy of spatial development of Russian Federation in collaboration with regional public authorities and by 01 October adopt a comprehensive plan of modernization and expansion of backbone infrastructure, which should ensure by 2024:

a) Development of “West-East” and “North-South” transport corridors for cargo transportation, through, among others:

Construction and modernization of Russian sections of automotive roads related to “Europe – West China” international transportation route;

Increase of capacity of Russian seaports, including ports of Far Eastern, North-Western, Volga-Caspian and Azov-Black sea basins;

Development of Northern Sea Route and increase flow of goods through it to 80 million tons;

Reduction of travel time by railroads for cargo containers, in particular, on route from Far East to western border of Russia to seven days, as well as fourfold increase in the volume of transit container cargo, transported by railroads;

Creation of nodal multimodal cargo transport and logistics centers;

Increase of carrying capacity of Baikal/Amur and Trans Siberian railways by a factor of 1,5 to 180 million tons;

Increase in carrying capacity of railway links to seaports of Azov/Black sea basin;

b) Increase of a level of economic interconnectedness throughout territory of Russian Federation via expansion and modernization of railway, air, road, sea and river infrastructure, including:

Gradual development of transport linkages between regional administrative centers and other cities driving economic growth, including elimination of infrastructural limitations on territories with economic development potential, adjacent to such transport linkages;

Reconstruction of regional airports’ infrastructure and expansion of network of inter-regional regular passenger aviation routes bypassing Moscow to 50 percent of all internal regular air routes

Creation of foundations for development of high-speed and superhigh-speed railway communications between big cities;

Increase of carrying capacity of internal waterways;

c) Guaranteed provision of affordable electricity through, among other means:

Electrification of “East-West” and “North-South” transport corridors, including Baikal/Amur and Trans Siberian railways in conjunction with development of transport infrastructure;

Development of centralized energy systems, including modernization of generating capacities of thermal, nuclear and hydroelectric power plants in accordance with the needs of socioeconomic development;

Sustainable power supply of consumers in the Russia’s regions, first of all, Republic of Crimea, Sevastopol city, Kaliningrad region, as well as regions comprising Far Eastern federal district;

Development of distributed power generation, including on the basis of renewable energy sources, particularly for remote and isolated energy districts;

Implementation of intelligent power grid management systems based on digital technologies;

16. Government of Russian Federation to:

a) Prioritize budget allocations of a federal budget for execution of national projects (programmes) mentioned in subparagraph “b” of paragraph 2 of this Decree while preparing annual draft federal budget for next financial year and planning period;

b) Ensure priority redirection of additional federal budget revenues towards execution of national projects (programmes) mentioned in subparagraph “b” of paragraph 2 of this Decree.

17. This Decree is coming into effect on the day of its official publication.

President of

Russian Federation

V. PUTIN

Moscow, Kremlin

07 May 2018

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!