Yasser Arafat

Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic has laid a wreath on the grave of Yasser Arafat.

On the occasion, he "reminded of the many years of friendship between the two nations," the Serbian government said.

Mohammed Dahlan, the powerful arch-rival to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, will again face a court in Palestine over allegations of embezzling $18 million of public money from his homeland.

Balkan ties

One of Israel’s defining political figures and a Nobel peace prize laureate died at the age of 93, two weeks after having a stroke. Shimon Peres had twice served as prime minister of Israel and later as the country’s ninth president. He had been seriously ill on a respirator in an Israeli hospital near Tel Aviv and died after his condition deteriorated sharply.

When ?pek Cem Taha, the daughter of a former Turkish foreign minister (who passed away in 2007) decided to initiate a lasting idea to maintain her father's personal commitment for peace, the first door she knocked on was that of Yorgo Papandreu.

Former Israeli president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres, 92, was hospitalized Jan. 14 for cardiovascular problems and is in stable condition after a medical procedure, his spokesman said.

The elder statesman, who has towered over Israeli politics for decades, was hospitalized near Tel Aviv "after experiencing chest pains," the spokesman said in a statement.

It was an idea from the head of the Diyarbak?r Bar Association, Tahir Elçi. Just an idea? 

Greece had abstained in November 29, 1947, when the UN General Assembly voted to recognize the newly-born Jewish state. Greek governments continued with this policy until 1990. During this time, the Israeli envoy in Athens had the title “Diplomatic Representative” until Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis was elected as Greek PM.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Feb. 24 hailed the verdict of a New York court which found the Palestinian leadership responsible for six deadly attacks in Jerusalem that killed Americans.
      

Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghuti has been placed in solitary confinement after publishing a letter calling for a return to "armed resistance" against Israel, a Palestinian NGO said on Nov. 12.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Nov. 11 accused the Islamist movement Hamas of trying "to destroy" efforts to broker national unity through a series of bomb blasts in Gaza last week.