- 5 juli 2011
Abu Rudeinah: Settlement plans destroy peace prospects
RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israel's expansion plans in the illegal settlement Gilo in East Jerusalem destroy any attempt to restart the peace process, President Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeinah said Tuesday.
Jerusalem municipality council member Elisha Peleg told Reuters on Monday that the city planning commission had approved construction of 900 Jewish-only homes in Gilo.
Abu Rudeinah condemned the decision and said it shattered any attempt to lay down principles for a peace process.
The building plans were first announced in 2009 and drew criticism in the UN, Europe, the US and Japan.
At the time, US President Barack Obama said settlement building did not contribute to Israel's security, and made it "harder for them to make peace with their neighbors."
Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967 and unilaterally annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community.
The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state and fiercely contest any actions to extend Israel's control over the sector.
The last round of US-brokered peace talks collapsed over Israel's refusal to extend a partial freeze on settlement construction on occupied Palestinian land.
The Palestinians said they could not negotiate with Israel while it continued to build Jewish-only housing on land which would form part of a future Palestinian state in a peace agreement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402416
Reports of new plans for settlement expansion
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli television on Sunday reported plans to expand settlements south of Bethlehem and near Nablus.
This would apparently be the first time that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu has challenged the US administration and published tenders to build hundreds of units in Beitar Elit in Bethlehem and Shomron in Nablus.
The tenders discuss construction of 300 units in Beitar Elit, 40 units in Efrat on the lands of Al-Khader village, south of Bethlehem, and 46 others in the Shomron area in the Nablus district.
It was not clear if the Israeli government would ultimately approve the proposed expansions.
Responding to the report, Fatah leader Nabil Shaath said the step would be a blow to the peace process: "Israel is not only building in the major settlement blocs built on lands originally stolen from the Palestinian people, they want also to build and colonize in the cities which are crowded with people. This conduct does not leave any chance for the peace process."
Asked if the step was a message against the Palestinian bid for recognition at the UN, Shaath said construction has not slowed ahead of September, anyway: "[Even] the US president couldn’t stop settlements."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402298 7 jan 2012, 21:33 , Respect -
Maria 5 juli 2011
The Oslo Accords are all but dead
Settlement expansion persists as Israel's right-wing government continues to ignore the terms agreed to in the accords close to two decades ago.
In October 1991 he came with U.S. President George H.W. Bush to the Madrid Conference, which squandered the fruits of the Gulf War victory. In September 1993 he celebrated, with U.S. President Bill Clinton, the birth of the battered Oslo Accords. In early 1997 he managed to get Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sign the Hebron Accord, which left tens of thousands of Palestinians to the mercy of the students of Rabbi Dov Lior of Kiryat Arba. In late 1998 he was among those who gave birth to the Wye River Memorandum, which died in infancy. In 2000 he was a senior partner to the reverberating failure of American diplomacy in Israeli-Syrian and Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. And here he is again, this time as U.S. President Barack Obama's special envoy responsible for prolonging the death throes of the terminally ill patient known as the peace process.
Before Dennis Ross' comeback, our acquaintance managed to write a new book (together with David Makovsky ) called "Myths, Illusions, and Peace: Finding a New Direction for America in the Middle East."
It would be tough to find a bigger expert than Ross on the myths and illusions related to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. For years he has been nurturing the myth that if the United States would only meet his exact specifications, the Israeli right would offer the Arabs extensive concessions.
During the years he headed the American peace team, Israeli settlement construction ramped up. Now Ross, the former chairman of the Jewish People Policy Institute, is trying to convince the Palestinians to give up on bringing Palestinian independence for a vote in the United Nations in September and recognize the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people - in other words, as his country, though he was born in San Francisco, more than that of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who was born in Safed.
If they give up on the UN vote, Ross argues, then Netanyahu will be so kind as to negotiate a final-status agreement with them. Has anyone heard anything recently about a construction freeze in the settlements?
Ross is trying to peddle the illusion that the most right-wing government Israel has ever seen will abandon the strategy of eradicating the Oslo approach in favor of fulfilling the hated agreement. In an effort to save his latest boss from choosing between recognizing a Palestinian state at the risk of clashing with the Jewish community and voting against recognition at the risk of damaging U.S. standing in the Arab world, Ross is trying to drag the Palestinians back into the "peace process" trap.
If Obama really intended to justify his receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize, he would not have left the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the hands of this whiz at the never-ending management of the conflict.
Let us hope that the Palestinians are not tempted to give up on the UN vote in favor of the appearance of negotiations, which will serve to further prolong settlement expansion under the cover of the Oslo Accords. All we need is to recall the statement by Netanyahu, in which he was recorded telling settlers in Ofra in 2001 that he had previously extorted from the Americans a commitment that he would be the one to determine what qualifies as the "defined military sites" in the territories that will remain under Israeli control.
Netanyahu said that from his perspective the entire Jordan Valley qualifies. "Why is this important?" he asked. "Because from that moment I put a halt to the Oslo Accords."
As for Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, the Palestinians need to trap him with his own words; he had previously threatened that if the United Nations recognizes a Palestinian state, Israel will annul the Oslo Accords.
If I were in Abbas' place, I would tell Dennis Ross that he should tell his president to forget about negotiations without recognition in writing from Netanyahu stating that the permanent borders will be based on the 1967 lines with agreed-upon changes and committing to a total freeze of settlement construction during negotiations and a set timetable for withdrawal from the territories.
You don't want Oslo? Fine, we don't need it. No more "Palestinian Authority"; no more Area A, B or C (a division that has in effect created a Land of the Settlers on 60 percent of the territory ); no more "peace process."
Restore military rule in the West Bank. At the same time, you can reoccupy Gaza and go back to Gush Katif.
According to the Oslo Accords, the final-status agreement was supposed to have been decided upon 13 years ago - meaning that we would be celebrating its bar mitzvah this year. On September 13, the accords themselves will be turning 18, the number signifying life in the Jewish mystical tradition. The time has come to put the Oslo Accords out of their misery.
http://fwd4.me/05mk
Abu Rudeinah: Settlement plans destroy peace prospects
RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israel's expansion plans in the illegal settlement Gilo in East Jerusalem destroy any attempt to restart the peace process, President Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeinah said Tuesday.
Jerusalem municipality council member Elisha Peleg told Reuters on Monday that the city planning commission had approved construction of 900 Jewish-only homes in Gilo.
Abu Rudeinah condemned the decision and said it shattered any attempt to lay down principles for a peace process.
The building plans were first announced in 2009 and drew criticism in the UN, Europe, the US and Japan.
At the time, US President Barack Obama said settlement building did not contribute to Israel's security, and made it "harder for them to make peace with their neighbors."
Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967 and unilaterally annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community.
The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state and fiercely contest any actions to extend Israel's control over the sector.
The last round of US-brokered peace talks collapsed over Israel's refusal to extend a partial freeze on settlement construction on occupied Palestinian land.
The Palestinians said they could not negotiate with Israel while it continued to build Jewish-only housing on land which would form part of a future Palestinian state in a peace agreement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402416 7 jan 2012, 21:34 , Respect -
Maria 7 juli 2011
Ihsanoglu strongly condemns the building of more housing units in OJ
JEDDAH, (PIC)-- Ekmeluddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary general of the Organization for the Islamic conference, has strongly condemned the Israeli occupation authority’s endorsement of building 900 new housing units in occupied Jerusalem and 400 in West Bank settlements.
He said in a press release on Wednesday that the IOA escalation of authorizing the construction of those new units constituted a flagrant violation of the international law and the fourth Geneva Convention.
Ihsanoglu called for a firm international intervention to curb the IOA violations, urging the international quartet committee to oblige Israel to stop all kinds of settlement activity that infringe on the Palestinian people’s inalienable rights.
http://fwd4.me/05yH 7 jan 2012, 21:34 , Respect -
Maria 8 juli 2011
Israel expropriates Palestinian land in order to legalize West Bank settlement
Move is Netanyahu government's first confiscation of land in the territories.
For the first time in three years, the state has confiscated uncultivated land in the West Bank. The land will be used to legalize a nearby settlement outpost.
Last week, acting on orders from the government, the Civil Administration declared 189 dunams of land belonging to the Palestinian village of Karyut to be state land, so as to retroactively legalize houses and a road in the Hayovel neighborhood of the settlement of Eli. This would seem to violate Israel's long-standing commitment to the United States not to expropriate Palestinian lands for settlement expansion.
An Ottoman land law dating from 1858 allows uncultivated land to be declared state land. This law, which is still in force in the West Bank, is what was used to carry out the expropriation.
According to last Sunday's decree, the lands in question belong to the village of Karyut. Hayovel was built on these lands in 1998 as a temporary outpost, and later permanent houses and an access road were built. A 2005 report on the outposts by attorney Talia Sasson concluded that Hayovel was built on private Palestinian land.
After the Peace Now and Yesh Din organizations petitioned the High Court of Justice against the construction in 2005 and 2009, the Civil Administration reviewed the land's legal status. Since Jordan, which ruled the West Bank from 1948-67, had never registered them in its land registry, the Civil Administration reclassified them as under review. This meant that any place that was still cultivated in the late 1990s would remain private land, but the rest could be declared state land.
In 2004, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised U.S. President George W. Bush to stop this practice, and this promise was later reiterated by his successor, Ehud Olmert. In his speech at Bar-Ilan University in 2009, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "We have no intention to build new settlements or set aside land for new settlements. But there is a need to have people live normal lives and let mothers and fathers raise their children like everyone in the world."
This is the current government's first such expropriation of lands. The last lands to be similarly expropriated were 20 dunams near Betar Ilit that were declared state land in November 2008 to allow the construction of a gas station.
The declaration is another move toward retroactively legalizing Hayovel. The Palestinians now have 45 days to appeal to the military appeals committee. But the road to full legalization is still long, as the entire settlement of Eli lacks an approved master plan.
Peace Now chairman Yariv Oppenheimer said Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak were going to great lengths to legalize isolated outposts deep in the territories, even if this involves land expropriations, but "as far as evictions are concerned, the state is dragging its feet." He said this will encourage settlers to keep building illegally.
Eli's mayor, Kobi Eliraz, said he is glad the state is making progress toward formalizing the status of the Hayovel neighborhood.
http://fwd4.me/065o 7 jan 2012, 21:34 , Respect -
Maria 10 juli 2011
Hebron villagers protest settlement expansion
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Villagers from At-Tuwani south of Hebron marched Saturday to the outpost of the Maon settlement, delivering a message to settlers protesting their presence.
Israeli soldiers tossed smoke and stun grenades to disperse the protesters. One person sustained mild burns after a stun grenade exploded near his feet, a protest organizer told Ma'an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=403430 7 jan 2012, 21:34 , Respect -
Maria 13 juli 2011
Israel approves work on controversial museum
JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israel has approved the start of work on a controversial Museum of Tolerance that will be built on the site of an old Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
The project, organized by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, was the subject of a lengthy legal battle, with Palestinians and some Israeli supporters arguing the museum would desecrate the burial site.
Israel's courts rejected the argument, saying the site was de-consecrated decades ago, and the project has received planning approval from local authorities despite the protests.
On Tuesday, the interior ministry's district planning committee gave the final go-ahead for work to begin on digging the foundations for the museum, interior ministry spokeswoman Efrat Orbach told AFP.
"The permit was officially approved long ago, yesterday what was approved was only the first step towards the building itself," she said.
"Yesterday it was the first step towards building, which means that they have the permission to start digging. From yesterday they can start digging for that project. But the project itself was already approved about 10 years ago."
Palestinians and Arab-Israelis, including some whose ancestors were buried at the Mamun Allah cemetery in Jerusalem, have expressed outrage at plans to build a museum dedicated to tolerance on a former burial site.
But Israel's Supreme Court in 2008 ruled that the site was no longer a burial ground, pointing out no objections were lodged in 1960 when the municipality put a parking lot over part of the graveyard.
Lawyers for the project's promoters, backed by Jerusalem city authorities, have offered to transfer any graves to a section of the graveyard that will not be affected by the construction, but Muslim leaders rejected the suggestion.
Huda Al-Imam, director of the Center for Jerusalem Studies and a leading campaigner against the museum's construction, said activists would continue to push for the project's cancellation.
"We are trying as much as possible to do this with efforts not only on the United Nations level but also on the Israeli court level, on the international court level," she told AFP.
"We're trying also to put some pressure on certain Arab leaders, such as Jordan's King Abdullah to try to intervene and see whether it is possible to put some pressure on the Israeli side."
Imam said the cemetery represents "Palestinian cultural heritage and it is supposed to be a protected place or site."
"They should respect human heritage and human dignity and not build this museum of tolerance on a Palestinian cultural site and try to delete our identity."
It was not clear when ground would be broken on the project. Plans unveiled in 2010 call for a six-story structure with three floors above ground and three below, at an estimated cost of $100 million.
The new design was created by an Israeli architecture firm after famed architect Frank Gehry pulled out of the project last year.
There is heightened sensitivity about construction work in Jerusalem, with many observers noting that building projects are often politically motivated.
Many points of tension currently exist in the city due to house demolitions and the eviction of Palestinian families who are often replaced by Israeli settlers, notably in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan.
Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since 1967. There has never been international recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Eastern part of the city.
Ma'an staff contributed to this report
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=404971 7 jan 2012, 21:34 , Respect -
Maria 14 juli 2011
Israel To Expand Itamar Illegal Settlement Near Nablus
Israeli sources reported on Wednesday evening that the Israeli government decided to approve a plan aiming at the expansion of the Itamar illegal settlement, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
The cabinet will be approving the new plan after studying its maps. The approval comes to implement the vows of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, following the stabbing attack carried out against a family in Itamar, last march, leading to a death of a settler father, mother and three of their children.
The plan was exposed in a letter sent by Israeli Interior Minister, Matan Vilnai, who had previously asked member of Knesset of the Yacov Katz, leader of the National Union Party, asking about the official stance of the Israeli government regarding plans to expand 13 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Vilnai responded by stating that “currently, there are no active plans”, and that the Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, along with related government agencies, had concluded the setting of the borders of Itamar to enable its expansion.
In the coming few days, the settlement council in Itamar will be presenting modified plan, that would be submitted for approval and licensing by the Israeli government and different ministries.
Israel is also preparing plans to regulate the Rahlim illegal outpost, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
The outpost is illegal under Israeli law as it was never licensed by any ministry, but now Israel wants to transform it into a settlement in order to be eligible for further services and infrastructure.
In his letter, Vilnai stated; “the government is currently weighing plans to legalize and document Rahlim, but the political leadership still needs to issue an official decision in this regard”.
He also referred to Naghot illegal outpost near the southern West bank city of Hebron, stating that the issue is currently under legal procedures that aim at weighing the possibility of transforming it into a “legal settlement”.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61678 7 jan 2012, 21:34 , Respect -
Maria 18 juli 2011
Israel to build 336 illegal homes
Israel is seeking construction companies to build 336 apartments in the occupied West Bank as illegal settlement activities continue in the Palestinian territories.
Israeli officials said the bids to the developer firms went out on Monday, the Associated Press reported.
The estimated three-year construction would begin within the next 12 months, according to the officials.
In September 2010, the Israeli regime resumed the expansion of settlements in occupied Palestinian territories after a 10-month partial freeze, prompting Palestinian Authority leaders to break off the US-sponsored talks with Tel-Aviv that had resumed after a lengthy stalemate.
http://networkedblogs.com/kxTIC
IOA to build 350 housing units in West Bank
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli housing ministry has endorsed the construction of tens of new housing units in major settlement blocs in the occupied West Bank, the Hebrew radio reported on Monday.
The broadcast said that the minister invited tenders for the construction of 350 housing units in Beitar Illit settlement southwest of Bethlehem and Karnei Shomron near Nablus.
Hebrew media revealed earlier this month plans for this new wave of construction, saying that war minister Ehud Barak had authorized it following the Itamar attack, in which Palestinians were charged with killing settlers, so as to appease settlers, but kept it a secret to evade reactions.
http://fwd4.me/06wt
PA slams plan for settlement construction
Palestinians say state's plan to build 6,900 housing units across country, including 336 in West Bank settlements, is another reason to appeal to UN. Meanwhile Ynet learns Barak tried to prevent forced eviction in Migron outpost.
The Palestinian Authority slammed Israel's newest plan to build housing units beyond the Green Line, saying that the measure is yet another reason to appeal to the United Nations for recognition of a Palestinian state.
Meanwhile Ynet learned Monday that Defense Minister Ehud Barak attempted to reach an agreement with Binyamin Regional Council that would prevent the razing of three permanent structures in the West Bank outpost of Migron.
Barak met with Council head Avi Roeh two weeks ago, and asked him if he had any other solutions that would prevent a forced eviction of the structures, in accordance with a High Court injunction, but the meeting ended without an agreement.
PA spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said of the construction plans, "The actions and decision of (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu's government are disgraceful and invalid. The Israeli government's entire policy of settling on Palestinian lands is unacceptable because it is illegal."
Aiming to alleviate the national housing shortage, the Construction and Housing Ministry issued on Monday a tender for the construction of 6,900 housing units across the country – including 336 units in the West Bank settlements Beitar Illit and Karnei Shomron.
"This decision is another reason for us to turn to the Security Council to ask for recognition of a Palestinian state, and to achieve full membership in the UN," Abu Rudeina told the Palestinian news agency WAFA in a statement.
Abu Rudeina called on the international community to "take responsibility and to announce clear stances on Israel's settlement policy, which not only harms the Israeli-Arab peace process, but also peace in the entire world."
Syria recognizes state within 1967 lines
Fatah also spoke out against the measure, saying that Netanyahu's government "insists on building settlements and destroying peace in the region, thus rejecting the calm and stability."
"The Israeli decision to continue building in the occupied territories backs the Palestinian leadership's intention to turn to the UN," the movement said in a statement.
According to Fatah, "Israel alone will bear the responsibility for blocking the peace process with its total violation of international law and its insistence to continue with… settlement, land confiscation and the Judaization of the holy city (Jerusalem)."
Meanwhile a senior official from the Syrian foreign ministry announced Monday that his country "recognizes a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines with eastern Jerusalem as its capital, based on legitimate Palestinian rights."
The official told a local news agency that "Syria intends to treat the PLO offices in Damascus as an official embassy from now on." According to the report, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas praised the Syrian announcement.
http://fwd4.me/06yM 7 jan 2012, 21:34 , Respect -
Maria 19 juli 2011
Tel Aviv approves construction of 7000 settler housing units
(2:00) Tel Aviv approves construction of 7000 settler housing units - Press TV News 1 x viewed
According to Israeli Daily Haaretz, Israel’s Housing Ministry has authorized the construction of 350 settlement housing units in the West Bank and around the city of Jerusalem/ al Quds.
Spokesman for the Housing Ministry, Ariel Rosenberg revealed that the new construction was part of a wider plan to build another 7,000 homes.
According to Haaretz, the Housing Ministry linked the new construction to a nationwide plan to lower housing prices, which have skyrocketed in recent years, and appease protesters demanding affordable living space.
In response, the Palestinian Authority condemned the construction of new settlement units. Palestinian Presidential Spokesperson Nabil Abu Rdeineh, strongly condemned the new Israeli settlement construction decision inside the West Bank. Abu Rdeineh said that this is another reason that calls on us to head to the UN and the Security Council to seek UN recognition of the state of Palestine.
http://fwd4.me/074O
EU 'disappointed' in settlement construction
The European Union issued a statement expressing great disappointment in Israel's authorization of construction in the settlements Beitar Illit and Karnei Shomron.
The Construction and Housing Ministry issued a tender for the construction of 6,900 housing units across Israel including 336 in the West Bank settlements.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4097635,00.html 7 jan 2012, 21:34 , Respect -
Maria 20 juli 2011
OIC condemns new Israeli settlement plan, Dignite attack
JEDDAH, (PIC)-- Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations, strongly condemned Israel's recent decision approving 336 housing units in the West Bank, emphasizing that they were banned by international law.
In a fresh statement released Wednesday, Ihsanoglu called on the Quartet and the international community to compel Israel to discontinue its policy of changing demographics and confiscating lands in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Ihsanoglu also strongly condemned Israel's naval takeover of the French Dignite – Al-Karama ship while on its way to Gaza, calling it a flagrant violation of international law.
”Israel's continuance in preventing humanitarian aid convoys to the besieged Gaza Strip, and its attacks on international supporters of the besieged Palestinian people, coinciding with the escalation of its military aggression on the Gaza Strip, require a decisive international stance in the face of the repeated violations and crimes,” Ihsanoglu said.
He also emphasized the need for continued campaigning by pro-Palestinian activists in order to end the siege on the Gaza Strip, and called on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities regarding the siege.
http://fwd4.me/079I
Hague disappointed over building of new Israeli housing units in West Bank
LONDON, (PIC)-- British foreign secretary William Hague has expressed “disappointment” at news on Tuesday of tenders being issued for over 300 housing units in the Israeli settlements of Beitar Ilit and Karnei Shomron in the West Bank.
He said in a press release, “I am extremely disappointed by news that Israel’s Housing Ministry has published tenders for over 300 housing units in West Bank settlements.
“Such announcements that expand illegal West Bank settlements, create further obstacles on the difficult path to peace. What is needed is an urgent return to negotiations on a two state solution.”
http://fwd4.me/078R 7 jan 2012, 21:34 , Respect -
Maria 21 juli 2011
Netanyahu vows to solve housing crisis
As protest over lack of affordable housing intensifies, PM promises to 'keep doing more'.
"The plight is genuine and I embrace the protesters," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday, in light of the growing public protest over the lack of affordable housing.
The protest, which started in Tel Aviv, has swept many of Israel's large cities, with protest camps – "tent cities" – set up in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Holon, Beersheba, Kfar Saba, Herzliya, Raanana and many others.
Netanyahu claimed that the issue of affordable housing has been prominent in his agenda since his election, saying "no one is doing more on the subject than me, from construction reforms, to the national housing committees' bill and the Israel Land Administration reform, and providing incentives to couples moving to the periphery."
The prime minister vowed to continue formulating solutions for the housing crisis.
Netanyahu further promised to ensure an increase in available and affordable apartments, saying the decisions are pending: "I saved Israel's economy in the past and now I will turn my attention to the housing crisis, the prices of milk and the other problems plaguing the market."
http://fwd4.me/07Gp 7 jan 2012, 21:34 , Respect -
Maria 22 juli 2011
In C-area, Ramallah, The West Bank
(3:44) In C-area, Ramallah, The West Bank (Arabic: ????? ???????? ad-Daffah l-Garbiyyah)
NILS LUNDGREN, REPORTER
I need help to make a translation in this videoclip from arabic to english or swedish.
Sorry to say, I can´t pay you for the translation, it has to bee an dealistic work.
Please mail me: [email protected] 7 jan 2012, 21:35 , Respect -
Maria 23 juli 2011
Israel to carry out two new Jewish settlement projects in East Jerusalem
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israel plans on carrying out new settlement projects in Har Homa and Pisgat Ze'ev, Jewish settlements established in occupied East Jerusalem, Israel's weekly newspaper Kol Ha'ir has revealed.
The project in Har Homa, which was erected in Jabal Abu Ghneim, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, comprises 97 settlement units, seven structures, and a small trading center, with costs at around US $38.3 million. Some of the structures will be built near a park under construction, and among the structures, some will be one unit and some will be made up of 16 units, the source said.
The houses have gone on the market during the first stages of construction. Some of those homes are expected to be occupied in November 2012, and they are expected to be fully occupied by May 2013.
The source added that the Pisgat Ze'ev project, in northeast Jerusalem, will include 24 new settlement units and will cost around US $14.7 million.
http://fwd4.me/07Mf 7 jan 2012, 21:35 , Respect -
Maria 24 juli 2011
Israel approves new Eilat international airport
JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israel's cabinet on Sunday approved plans for a new international airport near the southern resort town of Eilat, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Speaking ahead of his weekly cabinet meeting, in which the airport project was approved, Netanyahu said the airport would be located in Timna, northeast of Eilat, in the southern Aravah region of the Negev desert.
"It will be an alternative to Ben-Gurion international airport and serve as an additional international airport for the state of Israel. It will also be an alternative airport for Eilat," he said.
"It will free up considerable land in Eilat, provide a solution for the expansion of Eilat and prevent noise and other pollution in the city."
Israel has three international airports, but most tourists flying into the country arrive at the Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv.
The new airport will replace Eilat's current airport, which is located in the centre of the popular tourist destination, as well as the Ovda international airport in the Negev desert nearby.
The project is expected to cost 1.6 billion shekels ($471 million) and is scheduled to take about three years from the start of work, though it was not clear when construction might begin.
The plans call for the new airport to serve around 1.5 million people a year, the prime minister's office said.
Netanyahu said the new airport was part of ongoing government attempts to improve links between the south of the country, including the Negev, and the more populated centre and north.
"In other words, this is a very important decision," he said.
"It is part of the steps we are taking to change Eilat and the Negev, including laying a railway to Eilat and widening the Aravah road ... All of these things are really changing the face of reality in the state of Israel and I think that they attest to the fact that things are changing very rapidly."
The airport is expected to be named after Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut, who was killed in the Columbia space shuttle disaster, and his son Assaf, an Israeli fighter pilot killed in 2009 when his aircraft crashed in Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=408116 7 jan 2012, 21:35 , Respect -
Maria 26 juli 2011
PM presents plan to add 50,000 new apartments, 10,000 dorms
Netanyahu outlines discounted land slated for rentals, tax incentives to rent empty homes; slams ILA monopoly; calls housing crisis "real," "the main way to lower apartment prices is to build more apartments."
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and other senior ministers unveiled a plan to tackle the housing crisis Tuesday morning, promising to improve the situation of young couples, students, discharged soldiers and the homeless.
Under the plan, which Netanyahu said would be finalized by the end of next week, bureaucratic barriers to planning and to the sale of land for apartments will be removed, he said. The wide-ranging plan also includes the building of 10,000 dormitory units for university and college students, and the removal of municipal tax exemptions that will force owners of empty apartments to offer them for housing.
"Next week - and I wish it could be this week - we will take two massive steps. The first thing we'll do," he said, "is remove restrictions on residential planning." The second step, Netanyahu said, will be to "remove the restrictions for the sale of land for residential [building]."
Addressing housing problems faced by students, Netanyahu said that the state would build 10,000 new dormitory units for university students. "We'll allow for students to arrive from available housing located outside major city centers," he added, citing travel times to Tel Aviv University from Kfar Saba and Lod.
Before detailing his plan, Netanyahu said that bureaucracy is responsible for the shortage of available housing in Israel today, noting that there is "a real housing crisis."
"The main way to lower the prices of apartments in the long term," he said, "is to build a lot more apartments."
The prime minister noted the reforms passed Monday regarding housing planning commissions, saying the move was "a very strong step" that would result in 50,000 new housing units being put on the market within a year and a half.
In addition, Netanyahu said that thousands of housing units designated for rentals would be built throughout the country. The lands for such projects, he said, would be sold at a 50 percent discount, with the savings passed on to the residents.
Speaking before the press conference, MK Carmel Shama- Hacohen said that Netanyahu's plan would see meaningful changes being made "sooner than months." Describing elements of the plan, he sid, "We're talking about immediate changes, including rent prices."
Netanyahu said the plan was two years in the making, adding that he recognized that prices were too high even before the latest rise in the cost of housing. He said he recognized the urgency of taking measures to alleviate pressure on the housing market, saying, “Young people are living with their parents, and soon they will be living with their grandparents.”
The PM released the plan at a joint press conference at his office in Jerusalem, flanked by Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, and Housing and Construction Minister Ariel Atias, Deputy Minister for the Advancement of Young People, Students and Women Gila Gamliel, and PMO director-general Eyal Gabai,
Protests over lack of affordable housing stretched into the 12th day on Tuesday morning, following a day of protests across the country that saw approximately 100 young people protesting outside the Knesset as its committees were discussing housing reforms. The protesters also blocked roads in Jerusalem and Haifa. Eleven demonstrators were arrested in Jerusalem.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=231020
'Turkey slams Israel for continued W. Bank building'
In response to publishing of tenders for settlement units, Ankara says "illegal actions on invaded lands are unacceptable,” report says.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned Israel for continuing to approve the building of new homes in West Bank settlements, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported on Monday.
“Israel’s illegal actions on the lands it has invaded are unacceptable,” a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said in response to the Ministry of Housing and Construction's publishing of tenders for 336 settlement units last week.
“This decision will deepen the suspicions of Israel’s sincerity in pushing the peace process forward,” the statement added, according to the newspaper. “We stress that we don’t recognize the illegal steps Israel is taking, challenging international law.”
The statement represents a further blow to the already strained relationship between the two countries, which has come under close scrutiny in the run up to the publication of the UN report into the IDF raid on the Turkish Mavi Marmara ship last year.
According to the Ministry of Housing and Construction, 294 new homes will be built in the Beitar Illit settlement just outside of Jerusalem and 42 in the Karnei Shomron settlement outside of Kfar Sava.
News of the possible authorization of the homes was first released in May and has been reported on several times since then. The Beitar Illit homes were actually approved by the Defense Ministry in April.
Both West Bank Jewish communities are located within the settlement blocs. Israel believes that both settlements will be included in Israel permanent borders once an final status agreement is reached with the Palestinians.
New construction in both communities has effectively been frozen, since both settlements had began work on all of their authorized housing.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=230982
PA minister: No plans to ease settlement boycott
HEBRON (Ma’an) -- The Palestinian Authority's economy minister Hassan Abu Libda said Monday that during 2010 settlement products were substantially reduced throughout the Palestinian marketplace.
“It is shameful for us as Palestinians to support settlement activities and to contribute to their well-being while they’re occupying and confiscating our land,” Libda said.
The law banning sale of such goods put a big dent in the settlement economy, which was estimated at some 200 million shekels per year when it was last legal to buy and sell them in 2010, he said.
“The idea was to gradually clean Palestinian markets from any Israeli settlement products and still our goal is to completely not have any products of settlements in our markets,” Libda said.
However, the minister added, “What we have failed at doing is to create jobs for Palestinians as an alternative from working in settlements by the end of 2010,” once a key goal of the boycott campaign.
Although the PA will continue banning settlement goods despite Israel's controversial boycott law, Libda noted that trade in goods from inside Israel would continue as before.
“I do not call for boycotting Israeli products. A focus on consuming national products will eventually improve the quality … You’re working on liberating Palestine and that won’t happen through politics only."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=408258