New York  - The World Jewish Congress on Wednesday lodged a rare protest to the UN General Assembly president for disparaging Israel's treatment of the Palestinian people.

Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann had likened Israel's policy toward the Palestinians to "the apartheid of an earlier era." He also called for punitive measures against the Jewish state, including divestment and sanctions.

D'Escoto Brockmann said this week on the international day to support the inalienable rights of the Palestinians that the biggest failure of the UN had been not to establish a Palestinian state after 60 years.

New York-based WJC President Ronald Lauder said the UN official's statement was "false and without basis."

New York  - The continued fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants has become the "biggest challenge" to the political talks aimed at resolving the conflict, the United Nations said Tuesday.

"Recent developments in the occupied Palestinian territories and in Israel underscores that the gap between the political tracks and the situation on the ground remain large, posing considerable obstacles in the path that lies ahead," UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs B Lynn Pascoe said.

New York  - The Palestinian people's rights to self- determination and statehood should be supported after 60 years of deprivation, United Nations officials said Monday.

While the UN advocates for Palestinians' rights, it also defends Israeli's rights to live in security within their borders.

The UN on Monday marked the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, an occasion to reiterate calls for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Negotiators at last year's meetings in Annapolis, under the sponsorship of the White House, had hoped for a peace agreement by the end of December.

Nablus, West Bank - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Saturday sharply criticized Israel and rival Palestinian group Hamas for obstructing the Arab-Israeli peace process, two days after the Palestinian Authority published advertisements in major Israeli newspapers offering peace in return for a withdrawal to pre-1967 borders.

DHABI, Nov. 22nd, 2008: A local UAE newspaper today warned against violent consequences of what it called "an inhuman Israeli blockade" on Gazans who it said were already living under impoverished circumstances.

"The consequences will not be limited to the Palestinians entrapped in this cycle of misery. Instead, the world community will also be affected, as its ineffectiveness and indifferent stance would lead to negative consequences", opined today the Gulf News.

Gaza/Tel Aviv - Ismail Haniya, the leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, said Friday his movement remained interested in its informal truce with Israel, which had held for nearly five months, but has been jeopardized by renewed violence over the past two weeks and more.