- 23 febr 2011
Fatah Official: 28 Jerusalem Area Municipalities to Boycott USAID in Response to Veto
Hatem Abdul Qader, the Fatah official in charge of Jerusalem affairs, announced on Wednesday that 28 Jerusalem area municipalities had decided to boycott and refuse money from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in response to the American veto of a resolution condemning illegal Israeli settlements at the UN Security Council last Friday.
At a press conference in Ramallah, Abdul Qader said the municipal councils of al-Ram, Inata, al-Ayzariya, Mikhmas, Abu Dis, and Hizma, among others, would participate in the boycott.
This is a protest against the use of the American veto against the resolution condemning Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, said Abdul Qader. These institutions took the decision to stop communications with American officials, not with the American people or with American journalists.D
The boycott, according to Abdul Qader, extends to Call types of aid from USAID.
http://bit.ly/gANwgU 7 jan 2012, 21:27 , Respect -
Maria 2 mrt 2011
Jerusalem municipality approves plan to build 14 homes in Ras al-Amoud
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli Jerusalem municipality has approved a plan to convert a deserted police station in Jerusalem's Ras al-Amoud district into a settlement outpost.
Fourteen new homes for Jewish settlers have so far been approved for construction there.
The fund that bought the property has sights set on getting construction permits for 104 other homes near the police station.
The plan is designed to form a bridge linking Ras al-Amoud and the Ma'ali Zetem settlement project, which houses more than a hundred Jewish families, the Israeli daily Haaretz has reported.
The project prepared two years back also includes a Jewish synagogue and a children's nursery.
Meanwhile, Ghassan Doughlas, who has been officially charged with monitoring settlement activity in the West Bank, reported that Jewish settlers have responded to the evacuation of a settlement outpost near the village of Qasra by setting up several mobile homes at the site.
The outpost southeast of the West Bank city of Nablus was evacuated a few weeks ago angering settlers who then attacked the nearby Qasra village injuring many Palestinian locals.
Israeli bulldozers have also begun excavations on territories bordering the Shilo settlement paving the way for expansion works, Doughlas added in a separate development.
Earlier on Tuesday, settlement activity researcher Qais Yousef Nasser reported that the Jerusalem municipality's planning department had approved last week a detailed plan to expand the Homat Shamuel settlement in the city.
The 250,000 sq meter plan includes 50 new homes and eight new synagogues and has set aside another 9,000 sq meters for commercial building.
He said according to recently revealed documents, the Israeli housing ministry has sold around 90 homes in Jerusalem since the year's onset, and announced on Feb. 27 that Israeli companies had won on bids to build 370 new homes in the Jerusalem settlements of Navi Yakoub, Ramot, Modi'in and Beitar Illit.
http://bit.ly/fzJPGJ
Israel OKs more settlements in al-Quds
Israeli soldiers stand guard while a bulldozer clears the ground to expand an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.
Despite worldwide calls for an end to the expansion of Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian land, Israel has approved the construction of more settlement units in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Israeli officials on Wednesday approved the construction of 14 new settlement units in the heart of the Arab neighborhood of Ras al-Amud as part of Tel Aviv's efforts to increase the Jewish population in the city's eastern sector.
An Israeli opposition party said that over 100 more settlement units are also to be built in the area to connect it with settlements in adjacent Maaleh Zeitim district, providing another linkage to the chain of Jewish settlements around East al-Quds' Old City.
"For the residents of Ras al-Amud, this will be very bad. They (the Jewish settlers) will expand. They attack residents, trying to create anger and anxiety and to push people to leave," said Ziad Hamouri, head of the Palestinian al-Quds Center for Socio-Economic Rights.
Palestinians and the international community have repeatedly condemned Israel's settlement activities in the occupied territories, calling it the main obstacle to end the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The new round of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) collapsed shortly after its start in Washington over Tel Aviv's refusal to freeze settlement construction on Palestinian territories, which was the PA's main demand for resuming the long-stalled talks.
Palestinians believe the expansion of Jewish settlements makes the establishment of a future Palestinian state impossible. Palestinians consider East al-Quds as the capital of their future independent state.
Israel occupied the West Bank and East al-Quds during the Six Day War in 1967, settling nearly 500,000 Jews in more than 100 settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Israel annexed East al-Quds in 1981 and considers it as its exclusive domain, but under international law, the area is considered as an occupied territory and Israeli settlement constructions are illegal.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/167848.html 7 jan 2012, 21:27 , Respect -
Maria 8 mrt 2011
Israeli foundation granted permission to build bridge on Maghariba gate
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Western Wall Heritage Foundation has gotten permission from the Jerusalem Building and Planning Committee to build a bridge on the Maghariba Gate of the Aqsa Mosque leading to the so-called Wailing Wall from the mosque's plaza.
According to Israeli Channel Two, the plan had previously been postponed for fear of international criticism and an outburst of protests.
Channel Two quoted Israeli Jerusalem councilman as saying that Maghariba bridge is the last remainder of Jewish sovereignty on the Aqsa Mosque, named by Jews as the Temple Mount. He said without it Jews would not have access to most of the holy of sites in the area, adding that it is important to start building in the near future.
http://bit.ly/el2up9
Construction rises by 60 per cent since US settlement activity veto
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- A Palestinian researcher said in press statements Sunday that Jewish settlement activity in the Palestinian territories has risen by more than 60 per cent after the US used its veto power to strike down an Arab-proposed resolution to the UN condemning settlement construction.
The rate of settlement activity is moving upwards, said Abdul-Hadi Hantash, adding that the US veto has become the fundamental supporter to impose new settlement realities on Palestinian land.
He said that it is not only the settlers but the Israeli government that is responsible for the marked increase, through its systematic coordination with settlers and occupational forces to raise the pace of settlement activity.
According to data provided by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, settlement activity had quadrupled since the expiration of the settlement freeze five months ago.
http://bit.ly/esE584 7 jan 2012, 21:27 , Respect -
Maria 13 mrt 2011
Israeli cabinet approves hundreds of new homes for West Bank settlers
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- The Israeli Cabinet has announced approval for the construction of hundreds of new houses in the West Bank to be built for Jewish settlers.
The move came in response to the killing of five Jewish settlers in the Itamar settlement near Nablus in the northern West Bank.
The units are set to be built in the settlements of Gush Etzion, north of Al-Khalil, Maale Adumim, in occupied Jerusalem and Karyat Sefer, west of Ramallah.
A family of five settlers were stabbed to death on Friday in the Itamar settlement drawing heavy response by the Israel occupation government which blamed the attack on Palestinians.
Jewish settlers under military protection carry out daily attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank from settlements deemed illegal by the UN.
http://bit.ly/ePDNsa
High alert as settlers commend new building
JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israeli police were on high alert on Sunday for fear of revenge attacks after the brutal stabbing of five settlers, including a three-month-old baby, killed in their beds at the weekend.
The Friday night attack, which saw three children and their parents murdered in a frenzied assault in their home in Itamar settlement near Nablus, sparked shock and anger in Israel, and prompted the government to approve the construction of hundreds of new settler homes.
"We have raised our level of alert in order to be ready for any disturbances on Sunday, the day in which the victims will be buried in Jerusalem," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.
An army spokesman said troops deployed throughout the West Bank had also been ordered "to be vigilant" for any attempted attacks in revenge for the grisly killings, pictures of which were widely circulated by the settler leadership.
The family were laid to rest on Sunday afternoon, as thousands of shocked and angry mourners flocked to Jerusalem for the funerals.
Ahead of the burial, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ministers had approved construction of "several hundred housing units within the settlement blocs" of Gush Etzion, Maale Adumim, Ariel and Kiryat Sefer.
All four are among the biggest settlement blocs in the West Bank.
The move was welcomed by the Yesha settlers' council, but prompted an angry denunciation from the Palestinian Authority.
"This decision by the government is a small step in the right direction," a Yesha statement said.
"It is deeply troubling that it requires the murder of children in the arms of their parents to achieve such an objective," it said.
But chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat lashed out, telling AFP the Palestinian Authority "strongly condemns the decision of the Israeli government to speed up and increase the building of settlements."
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry also expressed concern over the announcement.
Speaking with Ma'an, Serry's spokesman Richard Miron said the official was "concerned after seeing media reports announcing 500 new housing units in the occupied West Bank. Settlement activity is illegal and such a decision is not conducive to efforts to resume negotiations and achieve a negotiated Israeli-Palestinian peace."
The decision was taken by ministers late on Saturday, less than 24 hours after the Itamar stabbing in which five members of the Fogel family were killed: three-month-old Hadas, four-year-old Elad, Yoav, 11, and their parents Udi and Ruthie.
Grisly pictures from the scene released by the settler leadership on Sunday showed the victims lying on blood-spattered beds, each one with multiple stab wounds.
Overnight, Palestinian witnesses reported a series of confrontations with angry settlers in and around the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
In Burin, five kilometers west of Itamar, locals said settlers had entered the village overnight, throwing stones and setting fire to one of the houses there.
Israeli troops quickly arrived at the scene and sent the settlers away, declaring the village a closed military zone, they said.
Troops were still operating in the nearby village of Awarta, which lies immediately west of Itamar, where they had arrested 20 people on Saturday after conducting house-to-house searches, Palestinian security sources said.
In the southern West Bank, witnesses said settlers had thrown stones at cars and houses in and around the southern city of Hebron, smashing the windshields of at least four cars, and had also stoned a fire engine in the southern town of Yatta.
Israel troops also clashed with Palestinians after they dispersed a group of settlers lobbing stones in Beit Ummar near Hebron.
The Nablus area is known for the ongoing friction between Jewish settlers and Palestinian residents, with tensions often disintegrating into clashes with rocks or even gunfire.
Netanyahu on Saturday expressed "deep outrage" over the Itamar attack but also called for restraint.
"Despite all the awful pain, I call upon all Israelis to act responsibly, with restraint, and not to take the law into their own hands," the Israeli premier said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=368171
UN officials concerned over new settlements
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry expressed concern Sunday after news of an Israeli government decision to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Speaking with Ma'an, Serry's spokesman Richard Miron said the official was "concerned after seeing media reports announcing 500 new housing units in the occupied West Bank. Settlement activity is illegal and such a decision is not conducive to efforts to resume negotiations and achieve a negotiated Israeli-Palestinian peace."
Israeli ministers approved the construction of more Jewish-only homes on occupied Palestinian lands within 24 hours of the slaying of a settler family. Three children and their parents were stabbed to death in their settlement home in the northern West Bank.
Following the news of the attack, which Israel blamed on Palestinians, Serry also spoke out condemning the murder and calling for a quick return to peace talks as the only way forward.
The Middle East Quartet issued a similar statement. Representatives from the US, EU, UN and Russia condemned the killings and emphasized the "need to expedite efforts to achieve Israeli-Palestinian and comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=368167
PA slams Israel's new settlement plan
A Palestinian man walks on his property overlooking the Israeli settlement Har Homa in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has condemned Israel's approval of a plan to construct hundreds more illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat says the PA "strongly condemns the decision of the Israeli government to speed up and increase the building of settlements."
"It strongly condemns the settler attacks against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and we ask the Quartet to urgently intervene to stop the actions of the settlers," he told AFP.
The condemnation came after Tel Aviv ordered construction of hundreds of settlements in four areas of the occupied West Bank.
"The ministerial committee responsible for settlements had decided to build several hundred units at Gush Etzion, Maale Adumim, Ariel and Kyriat Sefer" in the West Bank, announced the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Sunday statement.
Censuring the decision as "a mistake," Nabil Abu Rudeina, the spokesman for Acting PA Chief Mahmud Abbas, said that the Israeli regime is moving to create "big problems."
"The decision taken to build new settlements is a mistake and unacceptable," said Rudeina, adding "It will destroy everything and will lead to big problems."
The move would further complicate the stalled talks between Israeli and the PA officials.
Early this month, Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics said that the illegal settlement construction in the occupied West bank has climbed sharply in the past five months.
The data, released by the bureau on March 5, indicates that the Israeli regime started over 114 settlement units during the 10-month construction freeze Tel Aviv announced in November 2009.
The 114 units, the construction of which began during the so-called freeze, have now been completed. Additionally, the building of over 1,175 other units that started before the partial moratorium went into effect, have also finished.
The data also reveals that construction of over 427 housing units has begun since the expiration of the freeze in late September.
Israel's insistence to resume its West Bank settlement construction projects -- deemed by the international community as illegal -- prompted Palestinian Authority negotiators to walk out a new round of US-sponsored direct talks.
Palestinians have repeatedly voiced concern over efforts by the Israeli regime to wipe out the Islamic and Palestinian identity of the occupied territories, East al-Quds in particular, to effectively render the establishment of a future Palestinian state unfeasible.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/169669.html 7 jan 2012, 21:27 , Respect -
Maria 14 mrt 2011
US: Israel settlements in WB illegitimate
The United States has dismissed as 'illegitimate' a decision by Israel to construct hundreds more illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Washington was deeply concerned by continuing Israeli actions with respect to settlements in the West Bank," the State Department announced in a Sunday statement, the Israeli newspaper, Ha'aretz, reported.
The condemnation came after Tel Aviv on Sunday unveiled a plan to build several hundred units at Gush Etzion, Maale Adumim, Ariel and Kyriat Sefer.
Calling Israeli settlement activity 'illegitimate,' the US said that the decision to build 500 new settlements in the occupied West Bank counters the installed talks between Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials.
"Continued Israeli settlements are illegitimate and run counter to efforts to resume direct negotiations," the statement said.
The lack of a resolution to this conflict harms Israel, harms the Palestinians, and harms the interests of the United States and the international community."
"We will continue to press ahead with the parties to resolve the core issues in the context of a peace agreement," the statement added.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) also condemned Israel's approval of the construction of the new settlements.
"It strongly condemns the settler attacks against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and we ask the Quartet to urgently intervene to stop the actions of the settlers," Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat said.
The move would further complicate the stalled talks between Israeli and PA officials.
Early this month, Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics said that the illegal settlement construction in the occupied West bank has climbed sharply in the past five months.
The data, released by the bureau on March 5, indicates that the Israeli regime started over 114 settlement units during the 10-month construction freeze Tel Aviv announced in November 2009.
Israel's insistence to resume its West Bank settlement construction projects -- deemed by the international community as illegal -- prompted PA negotiators to walk out on a new round of US-sponsored direct talks.
Palestinians have repeatedly voiced concern over efforts by the Israeli regime to wipe out the Islamic and Palestinian identity of the occupied territories, East al-Quds (Jerusalem) in particular, to effectively render the establishment of a future Palestinian state unfeasible.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/169833.html
Yishai calls for retaliating to death of five settlers by expanding settlements
NAZARETH, (PIC)-- Israels interior minister Eli Yishai called on his government to initiate the building of 5, 000 settlement units in the West Bank, 1, 000 for each one of the five settlers killed in Itamar settlement.
Yishai stressed the need to intensify settlement expansion in the West Bank in light of what he described as the incitement against Israelis and the Palestinian calls for killing them.
He said that the Palestinian authority does not want peace and encourages murder while Israelis put their heads in the sand like ostriches.
Last Saturday morning, the Israeli media announced the death of five Jewish settlers in Itamar settlement near Nablus city, while Israeli officials hastened to accuse the Palestinians of killing them and incited settlers to avenge their death.
Some observers believe that Zionist official parties are behind what happened in Itamar settlement in order to justify pre-planned aggressive acts against the Palestinians in the occupied territories.
In a related incident, a large number of Israeli troops violently raided and ransacked Palestinian homes during the last two days in Awarta village of Nablus, and physically and verbally abused the villagers.
Local sources reported that the troops set up more than 15 military posts on the rooftops of houses in the village and prevented the citizens from leaving their homes.
They added that Israeli soldiers opened fire at water tanks on the rooftops amid racist slurs against Arabs.
Israeli soldiers reportedly beat Palestinian citizens when they break into houses and steal everything they can during the raids.
http://bit.ly/gCL8Li 7 jan 2012, 21:27 , Respect -
Maria 15 mrt 2011
Netanyahu plans to build wall along Jordan borders
NAZARETH, (PIC)-- Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to build a wall along the borders with Jordan similar to the one currently being built along the borders with Egypt, Hebrew press sources said on Tuesday.
Hebrew paper Yediot Ahronot said that Netanyahu had instructed the army to start planning the wall.
The Israeli premier had asserted during a tour of the Jordan Valley last week that it would remain under Israeli control in any future "peace settlement".
http://bit.ly/f6w2Zf 7 jan 2012, 21:27 , Respect -
Maria 17 mrt 2011
Jordan: Israeli settlements illegal
A file photo shows Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh (R) and Robert Serry
Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh says Israel's illegal settlement activities in the Palestinian occupied territories should be completely frozen.
"Settlement activities should be completely stopped in the occupied Palestinian territories as well as all unilateral Israeli measures," Judeh told UN special coordinator for the Middle East talks, Robert Serry, on Wednesday, Xinhua reported.
He said that the demographic and geographic changes occurring in the occupied Palestinian territories resulting from the construction of illegal settlement activities are the main cause of the long-frozen talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
Judeh said the unilateral Israeli measures in the occupied West Bank and illegally annexed East al-Quds (Jerusalem) are illegal.
These measures have destroyed the two-state solution as they divide the Palestinian territories and make them geographically unconnected, Judeh pointed out.
The Jordanian foreign minister stressed that the international community must adopt stringent measures and pressure Israel to move the realization of the two-state solution.
Serry said the United Nations appreciates Jordan's efforts to reach a proper solution to the lingering talks.
Direct talks between the Palestinian Authority and Tel Aviv broke down after Israel refused to extend a partial moratorium on its settlement activities on occupied Palestinian land after it ended in late September.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170334.html...Read more 7 jan 2012, 21:28 , Respect -
Maria 29 mrt 2011
Israel plans 1608 new housing units in OJ
(2:01) Netanyahu firm on Jerusalem
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) is planning to build 1608 new housing units in eastern Jerusalem, the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz said on Tuesday.
It added that the planning and construction committee of the Jewish controlled municipality of occupied Jerusalem would endorse a new neighborhood in Jabal Abu Ghunaim of 983 units in two weeks.
It said that 625 other housing units would be built in Pisgat Ze'ev in line with plans to expand existing colonialist neighborhoods in the holy city.
The paper said that the committee was pondering 2200 other units in Ramat Shlomo also in occupied Jerusalem.
http://bit.ly/g3fYiw
PCBS: Rate of Settlement Construction Quadrupled Last Year
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics revealed today that the rate of settlement construction in the West Bank has quadrupled over the past year.
In 2010 over 6,764 new housing units were added to existing settlements compared with 1,703 in 2009. According to the data the total number of settlements, outposts and military bases came to 470, 2010 saw the building of seven new outposts and the expansion of 141 sites, centering around the Jerusalem District where the number of settlements, settlers and built up areas in the Jerusalem area accounted for 23.7% of the total built up land in Israeli settlements.
The data showed that about 51% of settlers live in the Jerusalem Governorate and the ratio of settlers to Palestinians in the West Bank is about 21 settlers for every 100 Palestinians. The highest ratio is in Jerusalem where there are about 71 settlers for every 100 Palestinians.
The PCBS report said that there around 11.4 million people living in the historic land of Palestine in an estimated 27,000km2 where Jews account for 49.4% of the population and inhabit more than 85% of the total area of land.
The report added that, the area of the Palestinian Territories isolated between the wall and the Green Line amounts to about 733km2 which accounts for around 13% of the West Bank, of which around 348km2 is agricultural land, 110km2 is uncultivated land and military bases and 250km is forest and open land in addition to 25km2 of built up Palestinian land.
The report also noted the escalation of Israeli violations against Palestinians and their property in Jerusalem in 2010 with the authorities assigning about 1,496 dunams for the building of the wall and the expansion of settlements and issuing about a thousand edicts to evacuate homes in preparation for demolition. For example in 2010 the Bustan area in Silwan saw the demolition of 31 houses which were home to 224 Palestinians, 115 of them children.
The PalStat report comes on the eve of the 35th anniversary of Land Day commemorating the 1976 protest against the Israeli government designating thousands of dunams of land for settlement and security purposes and the subsequent violent crackdown by the Israeli authorities which killed six Palestinian youths.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9798&Itemid=62 7 jan 2012, 21:28 , Respect -
Maria 31 mrt 2011
PA stresses Palestine recognition
Mahmoud Abbas
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has stressed recognition of an independent Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.
Acting PA Chief Mahmoud Abbas said his side intends to work on the case if no accord is reached between the PA and Israel, and if serious talks do not resume, Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported on Thursday.
"If Israelis do not want negotiations, and don't want an accord, then what are we supposed to do?" Abbas asked.
Direct negotiations between Israel and the PA were re-launched in Washington in September 2010, but were suspended later on after Tel Aviv refused to freeze settlement activities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to extend the partial 10-month moratorium on the settlement expansion projects, which expired last September.
Despite international calls for a halt to such activities, Israel is continuing its settlement building, which is illegal under the international law, in the occupied territories, especially in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
In January, PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said the Palestinian Authority would initially seek UN Security Council recognition but, should it fail, it will turn to the General Assembly, where the decisions are not binding but there is no veto.
On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon once again urged Israel to put an end to its occupation of Palestinian territories and its aggression against Palestinians.
The UN chief pointed out that Israel's construction of illegal settlements on the occupied lands must be halted immediately.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/172396.html
UN chief: Israel must end occupation
Ban Ki-moon
The UN secretary general has called on Israel to put an end to its occupation of Palestinian territories and its aggression against Palestinians.
Ban Ki-moon said that Israel's construction of illegal settlement on the occupied lands must be halted immediately, stop all forms of violence and provocation and must revert back to its 1967 borders.
The occupation that started in 1967 is morally and politically unsustainable, and must end, Ban said in a meeting in Uruguay on Tuesday.
The target date for completing the Palestinian Authority's two-year State-building program is fast-approaching, Ynet News quoted Ban as saying.
He added that the Palestinians have a legitimate right to the establishment of an independent and viable State of their own.
Ban said that there must be a just and agreed solution to the prolonged plight of the Palestinian refugees.
The UN chief also urged Israeli authorities to remove obstacles to freedom of Palestinian movement and cease military operations against them.
Ban further called for the easing of the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip which has been under an all-out land, aerial and naval Israeli blockade since 2007.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/172377.html 7 jan 2012, 21:28 , Respect -
Maria 2 apr 2011
Peace Now: East Jerusalem settlement set to grow
JERUSALEM (AFP) -- An Israeli landowner is seeking to sell plots for 30 homes in a Palestinian neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, where 117 settler families already live, Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said on Friday.
Peace Now spokeswoman Hagit Ofran said that although the landowner has declared himself ready to sell to the highest bidder - Jew or Arab - the outcome is most likely to be an extension of the existing settlement enclave in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-Amud.
"We know the owner...he is a settler himself," she told AFP. "If the Palestinians can put up enough money they may be taking it but settlers want it also, so I believe that it's more likely to go to the settlers."
Ofran said that construction was still subject to final planning approval.
Jerusalem city council, which has approved the area for residential development, says only that it makes no distinction between Jews and Arabs in construction projects.
The international community has repeatedly called on Israel to avoid new building projects in occupied East Jerusalem, which it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed shortly afterward.
US-brokered peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians are deadlocked over the issue of Jewish-only settlement in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The Palestinians walked out of direct peace talks three weeks after they started last September when Israel refused to extend a 10-month partial freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank.
They refuse to negotiate with Israel while it builds on land they want for a future Palestinian state.
In March 2010, the interior ministry announced a plan to build 1,600 settler homes in Ramat Shlomo, an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
The announcement, which came as US Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Israel, provoked fierce American opposition and soured relations with Washington for several months.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374598 7 jan 2012, 21:28 , Respect -
Maria 3 apr 2011
Israel plans to turn Issawiyya, Tur land into national park
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israel's Jerusalem municipality and nature authority have devised a plan to turn land in the city's Issawiyya and Tur districts into a national park, a Palestinian lecturer and researcher disclosed.
The move came after claims that the area contains Jewish valueables that belong to the second alleged temple.
It is expected that the district planning and building committee in the Israeli Ministry of Interior will decide next Tuesday to accept the plan initially and take it to the public for objections, said planning and building lecturer and Jerusalem affairs expert Qais Nasser.
Nasser outlined the details of plan based on documents he obtained. He said the project would cover 661,000 sq meters of land in historic Issawiyya and Tur, known as Karm al-Rumi, Ras al-Salm, Zaafarana, Maraj, Rabie, Dya and Khulla al-Jawz. The western end would be adjacent to the Hebrew University, and the eastern end would run along Highway 1, which leads to the Ma'ale Adumim settlement. It would also reach the Tur district to the south and Issawiyya and the Hebrew University to the north.
The Israeli Jerusalem municipality presented the project to transform the region into an Israeli national park claiming that it is maintaining the historic Jewish values in the region belonging to the Second Temple, Nasser said.
According to the project's documents, the Israeli nature authority will sign an agreement to operate the park with the Hebrew University.
http://fwd4.me/yuB
Jerusalem advancing Gilo homes
Meretz' Alalo. 'We won't let them'
On eve of President Peres' meeting with US President Obama, District Planning and Construction Committee expected to approve 942 housing units in neighborhood located beyond Green Line.
The Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Committee will convene Monday to discuss the construction of 942 housing units on the southern slopes of the Gilo neighborhood, located beyond the Green Line. The discussion will be held just before President Shimon Peres' meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington.
The committee discussion is being held at a very sensitive time for Israel, especially in light of the growing criticism among the international community over the government's failure to advance a peace initiative and find a breakthrough which would revive negotiations with the Palestinians.
In addition, as far as the international community is concerned, the Gilo neighborhood is controversial and expanding it is considered "creating facts on the ground" before reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
A previous approval of 1,600 housing units in Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo neighborhood during US Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel created a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.
During Monday's discussion, the committee members are expected to okay a plan to built 942 additional housing units and hand it over to the Interior Ministry's Planning and Construction Committee for approval.
As part of the plan, the Gilo neighborhood will be expanded eastward and southward, to the end of the Jerusalem Municipality's jurisdiction.
According to the documents submitted to the committee, one of the plan's goals is to "strengthen Gilo's eastern ties by connecting it to Road 60 in the southeast. On the West, the plan offers a connection through 'forest roads', which also allow the residents to enjoy the western and northern green areas."
'Road of conflict'
Construction in Gilo. 'Thwarting chance for peace'
According to the plans, the new buildings are expected to stretch over some 88,000 square meters (947,220 square feet) 1,000 square mters for commercial purposes, 20,000 for public buildings and 3,500 for recreation and sports purposes. The plan also includes a clause allowing the addition of some 300 housing units in the future.
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mayor Nir Barkat have decided to adopt a road of conflict rather than a road of agreements and understandings," said one of the committee members and head of the Meretz faction, Yosef "Pepe" Alalo.
"Unfortunately," he said, "they trust the fact that the world is busy creating revolutions in the Middle East and think this is the right time to approve 900 housing units without the world responding. They don't understand that the world and we won't let them continue creating unilateral facts which thwart the chance to reach an agreement. Today, more than ever, is the time to launch a dialogue with the Palestinians."
The Jerusalem Municipality said in response, "The plan discusses privately-owned land. The private owners are seeking to advance construction in the area according to the mater plan and in accordance with the law.
"Jerusalem was united more than 40 years ago, and since then there has been no change in the building policy. The municipality continues to advance construction for Arabs and Jews as one according to the overall plan."
The municipality added that "new construction in Jerusalem is necessary for the city's development and for allowing young people and students live in the city and buy an apartment. It's important to note that the district committee is obligated to discuss any plan submitted according to professional criteria only, without religious racial and sexual discrimination."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051362,00.html 7 jan 2012, 21:28 , Respect -
Maria 4 apr 2011
Israel to build more al-Quds settlements
Israel has planned to construct more houses in East al-Quds (Jerusalem), as the longtime illegal settlement activities across the Palestinian land increase.
Israeli officials said on Monday that a committee was going to discuss plans for another 948 homes in Gilo, a settlement area in East al-Quds, AFP reported.
The move comes as the United Nations and the European Union condemn the Israeli settlements as illegal under the international law, which bans the construction of units on occupied territories.
Early in March, Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics said that the illegal settlement construction in the occupied West bank has climbed sharply in the past several months.
The data, released by the bureau on March 5, indicates that the Israeli regime started over 114 settlement units during the 10-month construction freeze Tel Aviv announced in November 2009.
Israel's insistence to resume its West Bank settlement construction projects -- deemed by the international community as illegal -- prompted Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiators to walk out on a new round of US-sponsored direct talks.
Palestinians have repeatedly voiced concern over efforts by the Israeli regime to wipe out the Islamic and Palestinian identity of the occupied territories, East al-Quds (Jerusalem) in particular, to effectively render the establishment of a future Palestinian state unfeasible.
Israel occupied the Palestinian lands after the Six-Day War in 1967, and has ever since expanded its illegal settlements with utter disregard for the international condemnation.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/173017.html
Report: More settlement homes in works
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- The construction of another 124 apartment units in the occupied West Bank were approved by the Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Committee, which was set to convene Monday for a discussion on the approval of an additional 942 units, Israeli media reported.
The daily news site Ynet said the the latest housing push would center on Gilo, a large suburban housing community built on lands illegally seized and annexed from the West Bank municipalities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
Approval for the 124 units, and discussion of further expansion comes as Israel's President Shimon Peres visits Washington, and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton prepares for a visit to the Middle East.
Settlement construction derailed the peace process in September, when weeks after US mediators had established talks between sides, an Israeli partial moratorium on settlement construction came to an end construction was resumed.
Palestinian negotiators said talks could not continue in good faith as long as Israel was building Jewish-only homes on occupied land, which both sides agree will form the basis of a Palestinian state.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375182 7 jan 2012, 21:28 , Respect -
Maria 5 apr 2011
PA official warns Israel over settlements
An aide to acting Palestinian Authority (PA) Chief Mahmoud Abbas has warned Israel over its "destructive" settlement policy that exacerbates the situation in the Arab world.
We warn Israel and the international community of the Israeli policy of settlement, because it will be an introduction to more tension and unsettlement and will drag the region to the climates of wars, Xinhua quoted Nabil Abu Rudeina as saying in a statement on Monday.
The statement came in response to the Israeli government's decision to build more settlement units in the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank.
Israel is again sending a message to the United States and the international community that it is not interested in peace, security and stability in the region," Abu Rdineh noted.
Israel had earlier announced a plan to construct more houses in East al-Quds (Jerusalem), as the longtime illegal settlement activities across the Palestinian land increase.
Israeli authorities said on Monday that a committee was going to discuss plans for another 948 homes in Gilo, a settlement area in East al-Quds.
The move comes as the United Nations and the European Union condemn the Israeli settlements as illegal under the international law, which bans the construction on the occupied territories.
Early in March, Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics said that the illegal settlement construction in the occupied West bank has climbed sharply in the past several months.
The data, released by the bureau on March 5, indicates that the Israeli regime started over 114 settlement units during the 10-month partial construction freeze Tel Aviv announced in November 2009.
Israel's insistence to resume its West Bank settlement construction projects prompted PA negotiators to walk out on a new round of US-sponsored direct talks with Tel Aviv.
Palestinians have repeatedly voiced concern over efforts by the Israeli regime to wipe out the Islamic and Palestinian identity of the occupied territories, East al-Quds in particular, to effectively render the establishment of a future Palestinian state unfeasible.
Israel occupied the Palestinian lands during the Six-Day War in 1967, and has ever since expanded its illegal settlements with utter disregard for the international calls for an end to the illegal construction.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/173118.html 7 jan 2012, 21:28 , Respect -
Maria 6 apr 2011
Special committee to expedite settlement plans in east Jerusalem
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli interior ministry's district committee for planning and building decided to form an ad hoc committee to work on expediting the implementation of settlement plans which the government adopted in occupied Jerusalem.
According to lawyer Qais Naser, this new committee will meet weekly in order to finish the ratification of structural maps issued by the Israeli government, noting that every map contains at least 200 housing units aimed at expanding existent settlements or building new ones.
The lawyer affirmed that the Israeli government last month ordered the interior ministry to assign his district committee in Jerusalem to form immediately an ad hoc committee to activate all plans to be set by the minister of housing.
He warned that Israel's settlement activities would rise unprecedentedly in east Jerusalem if this committee was formed and handled the government's settlement plans.
http://fwd4.me/z6I
Ashton criticizes Israeli settlement in OJ
BRUSSLES, (PIC)-- Catherine Ashton, the high representative for foreign affairs and security in the European Union, said that the Israeli settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian land is illegal.
She said in a statement on Wednesday that the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem were illegal according to the international law.
Ashton said she was extremely disappointed at the Israeli approval of building 942 new housing units in Gilo settlement in occupied Jerusalem.
She said that the future Israeli plans in occupied Jerusalem would entail more harm to the already fragile political environment.
Such steps ran contrary to efforts aimed at reaching a peaceful solution that would maintain the security of Israel and the right of Palestinians to establish their state, the EU official said.
http://fwd4.me/z6H 7 jan 2012, 21:28 , Respect -
Maria 7 apr 2011
Jordan, UN discuss Israeli settlements
Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh
Jordan says the continuous building of illegal settlements by Israel on occupied Palestinian lands is impeding efforts to resume talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The Palestinian cause is the core to resolving all regional conflicts, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh told US Deputy Special Envoy for Middle East David Hale in Amman on Wednesday, Jordan's Petra news agency reported.
Highlighting efforts to resume the long-stalled talks between the two sides, Judeh condemned Israel's unilateral, illegal and provocative measures in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Efforts must be undertaken to freeze these illegal construction activities immediately, he said, highlighting Jordan's efforts to resume PA-Israeli talks.
The latest round of direct talks between Israeli and PA negotiators was derailed by Tel Aviv's refusal to extend a temporary, partial freeze on its West Bank settlement projects after the moratorium expired last September.
Judeh and Hale underlined the need for negotiations to tackle all final-status issues according to certain mechanisms and within a clear timetable to arrive at a comprehensive solution.
For his part, Hale briefed Judeh on the outcome of talks which US President Barack Obama is holding with all stakeholders to overcome obstacles, in addition to preparations for the upcoming meeting of the Middle East Quartet -- which comprises of Russia, European Union, the UN and the US -- in Berlin.
On Monday, Israeli authorities approved the construction of 942 new housing units in Gilo, a settlement neighborhood in Jerusalem's mostly Arab eastern sector.
The move was condemned by the United Nations on Tuesday, with the world body branding it as illegal and contrary to the roadmap adopted by the Middle East diplomatic Quartet.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/173482.html