DOHA (Al Jazeera) – The emir of Qatar has urged the international community to give as much attention to resolving the forgotten and ignored conflicts in the world, stressing in particular the Zionist-Palestine conflict, as it has to the war in Ukraine.
Addressing business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Monday, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said that while “laser focus” is rightly applied to finding a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis, help and solidarity should be given to victims of “every race, nationality and religion”.
He mentioned the case of Shireen Abu Akleh, the veteran Palestinian journalist who was killed by Zionist troops earlier this month in the occupied West Bank.
“Her death was just as horrific as the seven journalists killed in Ukraine since March of this year, and the 18 other journalists killed in Palestine since 2000, and many other journalists killed in the line of duty in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen,” the emir said.
He said there should be no tolerance of attacks on journalists, and urged those in attendance to not accept a world where governments have double standards regarding the value of people based on their religion, region or race.
“We consider the value of each European life to be just as precious as someone from our region,” he said.
Sheikh Tamim pointed out that the Davos forum is of “exceptional importance” as it is held amid economic challenges and geopolitical turmoil.
“Before we can hope for economic prosperity, we must first examine, repair and enforce our framework for peace,” he said. “And we need to send a reassuring message to people around the world: only through unity, we can overcome the conflict that divides us. Our united efforts need to be based on principles already agreed on and the charter of the United Nations, international law, and respecting each other’s sovereignty.”
As the occupying regime continues with its illegal settlement expansion activities and land grab policies across the Palestinian territories despite international outcry, a Palestinian minister says more than 20,000 homes in the holy city of Al-Quds face demolition threat from the Zionist regime,.
Palestine’s al-Quds Affairs Minister Fadi al-Hidmi said on Sunday that there are more than 20,000 Palestinian housing units threatened with demolition by the regime’s municipality in the holy city, the Palestinian Information Center reported.
He made the comments during a symposium on Al-Quds and the Al-Aqsa Mosque held in the Turkish capital Ankara, adding that the municipality demolished around 500 Palestinian-owned residential buildings in the city during the past two years.
The occupying regime routinely demolishes Palestinian houses in the West Bank, claiming that the structures have been built without the so-called permits, which are almost impossible to obtain. They also sometimes order Palestinian owners to demolish their own houses or pay the costs of the demolition if they do not.