- 5 juli 2010
Report: West Bank settlements to expand
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies - Israeli settlements across the West Bank are set to expand by up to 2,700 housing units when Israel's partial moratorium on building expires on 27 September, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported Monday.
According to the daily, the units were authorized before the temporary construction freeze was enforced, but several settlement networks are reportedly preparing for further expansion.
Gershon Mesika, council head of a northern West Bank settlement network in the Nablus district, called on planners to prepare to "grant building permits, to wrap up project planning and to transfer them to the engineering department for inspection," Haaretz reported.
"Time is short and there is much to be done," Mesika wrote in a letter obtained by the daily. "We want to welcome September prepared for final committee permits in order to immediately issue those permits as soon as the [freeze] period lapses, and to allow the commencement of construction."
Council deputy Ehud Stondia told Haaretz that the settlement network was "preparing for construction on the scale that existed before the freeze or even more."
Settlement expansion in East Jerusalem, Nablus
A survey compiled by the newspaper on settlement expansion following the moratorium's end reveals that East Jerusalem and the northern West Bank districts will be the most affected by the growth.
In the Nablus district, 800 Israeli-only homes are expected to built once the freeze ends. The settlement network set for the largest expansion includes the illegal residential areas of Yitzhar and Har Bracha.
Both settlements were named on a list put together by watchdog organizations in the West Bank for having skirted the limited construction ban and ramped up construction during the first months of the freeze.
In Qalqiliya, the Oranit settlement network is likely to expand by 600 homes with its local leader telling the daily that the bloc has "upgraded its engineering manpower ahead of the freeze's end" to make the construction process post-freeze "more efficient."
An expected 1,200 homes will be built across illegal settlements in Nablus, Ramallah, and East Jerusalem.
In the southern West Bank, the illegal Efrata settlement in Bethlehem is set to build more homes as well as Gush Etzion, Eshkolot, and Suseya in the Hebron district.
A 12,000-housing-unit complex was reportedly in the works in the Gush Etzion area, according to a June report from the Islamic Christian Commission, which said the homes would be built on lands near Walaja, where wall construction began at the start of the summer.
Partial, temporary freeze
In November 2009, Israel announced a partial freeze that affected some settlements but excluded others in Jerusalem as well as construction of municipal or community buildings, expansions of existing structures, and improvements to road and transport networks.
The move was a unilateral response to the Palestinian demand for a halt to settlement construction entirely, including the West Bank and Jerusalem. Palestinian officials had insisted that as long as Israel continued to build illegal settlements on Palestinian land, the state could not be considered a serious peace partner, since the settlement homes are in what would be the area of an eventual state.
The United States, which is sponsoring mediation efforts between Israeli and Palestinian officials, welcomed "with hesitation" the freeze, but called on Israel to expand the freeze to an indefinable period and to include Jerusalem. US Middle East envoy George Mitchell also called on Israel to halt its policy of home demolitions in Jerusalem.
The freeze was ultimately labeled insufficient by Palestinians, with both government and media groups reporting dozens of infractions on the freeze, as well as ramped up construction on municipal and Jerusalem projects.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=296930 6 jan 2012, 17:20 , Respect -
Maria 8 juli 2010
Netanyahu says direct talks 'soon'
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies - Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu told representatives of US Jewish organizations Wednesday that he believed direct negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli leaders would begin soon, Israeli media reported.
"This is going to be a very, very tough negotiation," the Israeli daily Haaretz quoted Netanyahu as saying, adding: "The sooner the better."
"Direct negotiations must begin right away, and we think that they will," he said
The Israeli premier met with US President Barack Obama a day before, who said Israeli-American bonds were "unbreakable," following reports that relations were strained. Israel announced further settlement expansion in occupied East Jerusalem during US Vice President Joe Biden's visit to the region in a bid to kick start talks in March, prompting the reports.
Israeli media reported Wednesday that Palestinian officials had no objections to entering into direct talks with Israel. However, President Mahmoud Abbas' office was quick to deny the rumor, reiterating that a complete halt to settlement activity across the West Bank, which includes East Jerusalem, should be adhered to first.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu told Larry King on CNN that he was prepared to discuss "right away" the future of settlements if Palestinians entered direct peace talks with Israel, according to Haaretz.
Asked if he would extend a 10-month moratorium on construction in settlements in the West Bank beyond September, Netanyahu said it was time for the Palestinians to drop preconditions for face-to-face talks.
"Let's just get into the talks and one of the things we'll discuss right away is this issue of settlements and that's what I propose doing," he said. "I put on a temporary freeze – seven months passed by but the Palestinians didn’t come and now they need another extension," the daily quoted Netanyahu as saying.
Abbas said Wednesday he wanted an Israeli “signal” on the key issues of security and borders before heeding US calls for a resumption of direct peace talks, Agence France-Presse reported.
“We are ready to go for direct talks if we receive any signals from the Israeli side on two issues, the borders and the security,” Abbas said in English during an official visit to Ethiopia.
“We have presented our proposals to both the Americans and Israelis and we are waiting for an Israeli impression and reaction,” he told reporters after meeting Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
The US has been mediating talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders since May after they were derailed in March following Israel's settlement expansion announcement. The "proximity" talks were given a four-month deadline, with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abul Gheit saying the Arab League was prepared to declare a Palestinian state if the current round of talks failed to achieve progress.
Reports suggest that settlement construction is set to continue at full speed once the freeze ends in September, with one settlement network leader telling residents to prepare for building on a scale previously unsurpassed.
Additionally, expansions are ongoing in East Jerusalem, with Israeli contractors commencing work on further settlement units to the north of the occupied part of the city and in the flash point neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
Direct negotiations were broken off in December 2008 when Israel launched Operation Cast Lead against Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=297749 6 jan 2012, 17:20 , Respect -
Maria 9 juli 2010
PA to Obama: Stop tax breaks on illegal settlements
Jerusalem - Ma'an - US tax deductions on West Bank settlements fund illegal activity and support "extremists and terrorists," the Palestinian Authority media center said Thursday.
“While the Palestinian people work hard to build a secure, independent state, these organizations are getting a tax break for funding settlers who steal our land and water, desecrate our places of worship, and terrorize our communities and our children,” said Ghassan Khatib, the center's chief.
“Not only does it undercut our efforts to build a democracy, it’s unfair to the American taxpayer who would like to see that money go to improve education, fund health care, or create jobs in the U.S.”
According to a recent report in the US daily The New York Times, the US Treasury lost taxes on $200 million over the past decade, due to tax breaks given to organizations that fund extremist Jewish settler groups in the West Bank. At least one of the groups has ties to a terrorist organization, the report read.
The statement said that, in line with the US stance that settlements are a major obstacle to the peace process, the US should halt all tax exemptions that benefit their funding. The move is "essential and necessary" and would "reflect US policy on this issue."
“It simply makes no sense that on one hand the American government says the settlements are one of the primary obstacles to peace, and on the other hand gives tax credits for funding the settlements,” said Khatib.
Khatib said the most "disturbing" aspect of the tax breaks concerned funding for “paramilitary operations” and “land reclamation,” both of which are tools used "to squeeze or force Palestinians off their own land." The official also pointed out that at least one of the non-profit organizations receiving tax deductions is led by a terrorist, David Ha'ivri, formerly David Axelrod of Queens, according to the New York Times.
The daily reported that Ha'ivri was, as recently as four years ago, involved in running The Way of the Torah, a designated terrorist organization in the US. The Times article also pointed out that one group of activists funded by US non-profits has pledged to attack a Palestinian mosque, vineyard or olive grove every time the Israeli government tries to curtail illegal settlement construction.
“This is incitement at its worst,” said Khatib. “And it makes it virtually impossible to create a stable, secure Palestinian democracy with this kind of activity surrounding us.”
The PA and the PLO maintain that re-entering direct talks with Israel is preconditioned on a complete halt to settlement activity across the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Additionally, several Palestinian officials have called on Israel to stop attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank by Israeli settlers, which the UN has noted is increasing.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=298010 6 jan 2012, 17:20 , Respect -
Maria 9 juli 2010
Netanyahu: We've already done enough
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled Thursday he would not extend a partial and temporary moratorium on new housing starts in settlements in the occupied West Bank.
"I think we've done enough. Let's get on with the talks," he was quoted as saying by Reuters, when asked in New York City whether he would extend the limited freeze to coax the Palestinians into peace talks.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=298018
Netanyahu makes fresh plea for talks with Palestinians
WASHINGTON // Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday repeated his call for an immediate resumption of direct talks with Palestinians, urging Mahmoud Abbas in strong terms to join him at the negotiating table without preconditions.
I think delaying the process, talking about talking, making preconditions about getting into talks, is a mistake, Mr Netanyahu said in an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations, an influential think tank in New York. I think it has cost about a year and I don't think it should cost us any more time.
Mr Netanyahu's remarks came at the end of a three-day visit to the United States that was billed as a chance for him to firm up the uncharacteristically turbulent US-Israel relationship. He met President Barack Obama at the White House on Tuesday and the two leaders emerged touting the strength of the US-Israel bond.
During his visit, the Israeli prime minister has often emphasised his willingness to enter direct talks. But he has side-stepped more complicated questions such as whether he will allow a temporary moratorium on settlement construction to expire in September or whether he is willing to relocate Jewish settlers as part of a two-state solution.
Direct talks were suspended in late 2008 after Israel launched a 22-day offensive in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians have said they will not participate in direct negotiations without full freeze on West Bank settlements. They also have been frustrated by Mr Netanyahu's failure to provide assurances about the size and shape of a future Palestinians state.
Mr Netanyahu said yesterday that he is willing to take political risks and emphasised that everything would be up for discussion once direct talks resume.
Israelis are prepared to go a very long way and I am prepared to lead them a very long way to make peace, he said, adding that a key condition for a future Palestinian state would be that it recognises Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.
When asked about the expiring settlement freeze, Mr Netanyahu offered few specifics, but hinted that he would not extend it.
I actually did this temporary freeze as an inducement to enter the talks. Now seven months into this 10-month moratorium, the Palestinians have not yet come in, but they are already arguing: Well you've got to extend that gesture, said Mr Netanyahu, who is under pressure from his right-wing coalition government not to renew the freeze. I think we've shown our good faith, he said. I think we've done enough. Let's get on with the talks.
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100709/FOREIGN/707089802/1011
Abbas: No direct talks until progress on borders, security
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Direct talks will not be resumed with Israel until progress is made during US-brokered proximity talks on the issues of borders and security, President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday evening.
“We hope to make progress that will enable us to launch serious negotiations leading to a two-state solution before it is too late,” Abbas said during a celebration at the the Cultural Palace in Ramallah, marking the Prophet Mohammad’s Night Journey.
US President Barack Obama urged the two sides this week to resume direct talks by September. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met Obama in Washington on Tuesday, said he believed direct talks would begin soon.
“We chose to start with borders and security. We proposed our vision and said that if progress can be made, we move to direct negotiations. However, if there will be no progress on these two issues, these negotiations will be a waste of time," Abbas said.
The president added that US-mediated indirect talks with Israel were agreed to “in order to reach appropriate situation to resume direct negotiations. We said we were ready to do that if we had positive reactions from the Israeli government especially with borders and security.”
Israel must evacuate all settlements in the final status deal, he said, adding that Jerusalem is facing “serious violations and aggression.”
“Lands are being confiscated, homes are being demolished and identities are being revoked. We refuse all these procedures and will face them with all power we have.”
Speaking of Israel’s ID card and residency rights revocation policy, affecting four Palestinian members of parliament, Abbas said “We will not agree to any Jerusalemite being displaced from his land. That is why we firmly opposed the Israeli decision to deport Jerusalemite lawmakers.”
On Friday, PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo said the Palestinian Authority is still waiting for a response on questions put forward to Israel during the current round of US-mediated talks, he said, adding that US Middle East envoy George Mitchell is due in the region in 10 days to relay answers.
“We will not get involved in negotiations unless we know where they lead,” he said, adding that the PLO requires a clear reference for talks, with issues on the agenda clearly explained, as well as a time line.
"We will not start direct negotiations that could last for more than ten years," Abed Rabbo added.
Direct talks with Israel were broken off in December 2008 as Israel launched its Operation Cast Lead against Gaza. The PLO and the PA have maintained that focal issues to talks, which include borders and security, should be addressed by Israel before Palestinian leaders return to the negotiating table.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=298337
Netanyahu hints he won't extend temporary settlement freeze
Speaking at Council of Foreign Relations in New York, PM says 'I'm prepared to take risks.'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled on Thursday he would not extend beyond September a 10-month moratorium on new housing starts in settlements in the West Bank.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York
"I think we've done enough. Let's get on with the talks," he said, when asked in an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York whether he would extend the limited freeze he put in place to coax the Palestinians into peace negotiations.
At the forum, Netanyahu repeated a call to the Palestinians to move from indirect talks that began in May under U.S. mediation to face-to-face negotiations on statehood.
But he gave no details of the "concrete steps" he promised, during White House talks on Tuesday, to take within weeks to encourage Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to upgrade the peace process.
"I think we should seize the moment. And it is a challenging moment and an important moment. We have the ability to negotiate a peace," Netanyahu said at the international affairs think tank in New York.
"And I'm prepared to take risks," Netanyahu added, while stressing that would not entail any move that could jeopardize Israel's security.
"But we have to get on with it. We should just stop all the delays and start now, next week, in two weeks - get the talks going. Because only if we start them, we can complete them."
Netanyahu said he intended "to confound the skeptics and critics." But he added: "I need a partner."
The future of settlements, he said, would be addressed in final status talks with the Palestinians. Netanyahu said in a U.S. television interview on Wednesday that Israel intended to deal with that issue "right away" once direct negotiations got under way.
Extending the limited freeze could pose significant political risks for Netanyahu, whose coalition government is dominated by pro-settler parties, including his own Likud.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-hints-he-won-t-extend-temporary-settlement-freeze-1.300831
PA to Obama: Stop tax breaks on illegal settlements
Jerusalem - Ma'an - US tax deductions on West Bank settlements fund illegal activity and support "extremists and terrorists," the Palestinian Authority media center said Thursday.
“While the Palestinian people work hard to build a secure, independent state, these organizations are getting a tax break for funding settlers who steal our land and water, desecrate our places of worship, and terrorize our communities and our children,” said Ghassan Khatib, the center's chief.
“Not only does it undercut our efforts to build a democracy, it’s unfair to the American taxpayer who would like to see that money go to improve education, fund health care, or create jobs in the U.S.”
According to a recent report in the US daily The New York Times, the US Treasury lost taxes on $200 million over the past decade, due to tax breaks given to organizations that fund extremist Jewish settler groups in the West Bank. At least one of the groups has ties to a terrorist organization, the report read.
The statement said that, in line with the US stance that settlements are a major obstacle to the peace process, the US should halt all tax exemptions that benefit their funding. The move is "essential and necessary" and would "reflect US policy on this issue."
“It simply makes no sense that on one hand the American government says the settlements are one of the primary obstacles to peace, and on the other hand gives tax credits for funding the settlements,” said Khatib.
Khatib said the most "disturbing" aspect of the tax breaks concerned funding for “paramilitary operations” and “land reclamation,” both of which are tools used "to squeeze or force Palestinians off their own land." The official also pointed out that at least one of the non-profit organizations receiving tax deductions is led by a terrorist, David Ha'ivri, formerly David Axelrod of Queens, according to the New York Times.
The daily reported that Ha'ivri was, as recently as four years ago, involved in running The Way of the Torah, a designated terrorist organization in the US. The Times article also pointed out that one group of activists funded by US non-profits has pledged to attack a Palestinian mosque, vineyard or olive grove every time the Israeli government tries to curtail illegal settlement construction.
“This is incitement at its worst,” said Khatib. “And it makes it virtually impossible to create a stable, secure Palestinian democracy with this kind of activity surrounding us.”
The PA and the PLO maintain that re-entering direct talks with Israel is preconditioned on a complete halt to settlement activity across the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Additionally, several Palestinian officials have called on Israel to stop attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank by Israeli settlers, which the UN has noted is increasing.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=298010 6 jan 2012, 17:20 , Respect -
Maria 13 juli 2010
US official slams Israeli right wing
Though Obama administration has not commented on homes to be built in Pisgat Ze'ev, official blames Right for attempt to complicate peace talks
WASHINGTON – An official US source told Ynet Tuesday that the construction of 32 new housing units in Pisgat Ze'ev, Jerusalem land conquered in 1967, was another attempt by the Israeli Right to complicate peace talks.
Original Report
32 homes approved in Pisgat Ze'ev / Ronen Medzini
Jerusalem planning committee allows construction of units on land conquered in 1967, Likud faction head insists 'we will continue to build in all neighborhoods'. Meretz: What do they think, Obama doesn't know?
Full Story
A week after the latest meeting between US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Obama administration refrained from bringing up the subject of the newly-announced construction.
But a US source commented on the matter, saying, "We recognize that Jerusalem is a deeply important issue to Israelis and Palestinians, to Jews, Muslims, and Christians everywhere. And we believe it is possible to reach an outcome that both realizes the aspirations of all parties for Jerusalem, and safeguards its status for the future."
Meanwhile, the renewal of home demolitions also sparked condemnation throughout the world. The European Commission said the move would undermine negotiations with the Palestinians.
EC President José Manuel Barroso expressed his concern at recent developments in the capital during a press conference in Brussels with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
Barroso said he was "concerned", and that both settlement construction and the demolitions were violations of international law. Fayyad added that the construction in Pisgat Ze'ev was inconsistent with the two-state solution.
The 32 homes are part of a larger project, which outlines 220 homes to be built near the Palestinian neighborhood of Hizma. An additional 48 homes are scheduled to be approved by the Jerusalem district planning committee next week.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3919469,00.html
Erekat: Conditions must be fulfilled before talks proceed
Bethlehem - Ma’an - Reaffirming the PA stance on conditions ahead of direct talks, PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said Tuesday that Israel must realize a halt to settlement construction.
"Israel must fulfill the terms of the peace process," Erekat said, hours after media reports announced the construction of 32 new settlement homes in East Jerusalem.
Though Palestinian negotiators decided to go ahead of proximity talks despite declarations that Israel's 10-month partial construction freeze in some West Bank settlements came nowhere close to fulfilling the demand, Erekat said the PA would stand firm on the issue in the face of pressure to move to direct talks.
Erekat said the US administration had been informed of the PA stance, reiterating the demand for a total halt to settlement construction on occupied lands taken by Israel in 1967.
The reaffirmation, Erekat explained, was necessary in light of the request of US President Barack Obama, made officially during a recent phone call with President Mahmoud Abbas, that US-mediated talks move to the direct discussion phase, following months of proximity talks lead by US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell.
On Sunday, Abbas explained that “We hope to make progress that will enable us to launch serious negotiations leading to a two-state solution before it is too late."
Mitchell was scheduled to return to the region on Saturday, Erekat said, adding that the PA hoped he would return with a package of guarantees so talks could move forward.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=299007 6 jan 2012, 17:20 , Respect -
Maria 16 juli 2010
Mitchell begins latest round of talks
Bethlehem - Ma'an - US Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell will to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, ahead of scheduled meetings with officials in Ramallah on Saturday and Cairo on Sunday.
The visit comes as forces in Ramallah including President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party have spoken out against talks with Israel, in light of a re-emergent Israeli home demolition policy in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, on top of the official go-ahead - given last week - for the construction of 32 new settlement units in East Jerusalem.
It has also been reported that Arab League Chief Amr Moussa has expressed reservations about moving to direct talks.
Earlier in the week, Abbas spoke publicly about his position on the issue, saying he would not agree to direct talks - which the US hopes to launch in September - unless Israel demonstrated its commitment to the process.
Before proximity talks led by the US began, Abbas said he could not enter direct negotiations unless Israel halted settlement construction on lands agreed to be part of an eventual Palestinian state. In November 2009, Israel announced a partial, temporary freeze affecting residential buildings in some settlements. Palestinian officials said the move was not nearly comprehensive enough to fulfill the condition.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=299989
Report: Lieberman wants Gaza as independent entity
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies - Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman plans to absolve Israel of responsibility for Gaza, Israeli press reported Friday.
Lieberman reportedly intends the move to achieve the international recognition the 2005 unilateral pullout from Gaza - when Israeli forces removed 21 settlements and thousands of soldiers from the enclave - was envisioned as. Israel's continued presence on Gaza's land and sea borders as well as airspace, prevented the international community from recognizing an end to the occupation.
The Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said Friday, that in closed meetings, Lieberman said he plans to shift his focus from the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah to relations with the Gaza government, stating that nothing should be expected from direct talks with President Mahmoud Abbas.
With European assistance, the report said, Israel’s Foreign Minister plans to lift the siege on Gaza, and allow the coastal enclave to function as a fully independent entity, and added that under the plan, the enclave’s borders with Israel would be hermetically sealed.
The report continued that Israel will allow ships to dock in Gaza following inspection at ports in Greece and Cyprus. European countries will be allowed to implement projects to improve the lives of residents of the Strip, such as a power plant, a desalination plant and a wastewater purification plant.
Lieberman will present his plan to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton during her scheduled visit to Israel next week, Ynet reported.
According to the EU, Ashton will also visit Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=299923
Israeli report: The cost of occupation
Bethlehem - Ma'an - A new report by an Israeli information center details the government’s “guns over butter” financial policy, saying it has contributed to ever-increasing poverty in Israel.
The report by the Avda center, which monitors equality and social justice in Israel, acknowledged that Palestinians pay the highest price, subject to Israeli military rule, unable to develop economically, reliant on donors, and vulnerable to violence, arrest, expulsion, humiliation in their homes, on their streets and at roadblocks.
However, it found that Israelis’ illusion that they live in a “normal country” is dependent on “a thick curtain of isolation based on physical separation and on a heavy military presence in the Palestinian territories.”
Economically, the report found the conflict with Palestinians is hindering Israeli aspirations to reach the living standards enjoyed by Europeans and Americans. Avda reported that Israel’s war on Gaza, which began December 2008, cost five billion shekels (around $1.3 billion). Further, in the aftermath of the war, tourism in Israel declined significantly.
The report noted that Israel, a country blessed with countless tourist attractions, attracted fewer tourists than its neighboring countries, Jordan, Morocco, or Egypt.
The two Palestinian intifadas, of 1987-1993, and 2000-2003, led to a drop in tourism, a decline in investments, an increase in unemployment, and a decrease in the purchasing power of Israelis , the report said.
Avda said it is impossible to accurately calculate the full cost of Israel’s military occupation, particularly as most defense budgets remain secret.
However, additions to the defense budget appropriated especially to pay for increased military activity in the Palestinian territories are published annually, and provide an inkling of the extent of military spending.
According to Avda’s report, the defense ministry received 45 billion shekels (approximately $11.63 billion) in “special appropriations” between 1989 and 2010, more than the total budgetary outlay for education in Israel in 2009.
The cost of building the separation wall between Israel and the West Bank is estimated at 13 billion shekels (approximately $3.36 billion), equal to the health ministry’s total budget for 2008. If the route of the wall followed 1967 borders, the Green Line, the wall would be 313 kilometers. The planned route, which runs inside the West Bank annexing Palestinian land, is 790 kilometers and therefore considerably more expensive.
Between 2001 and 2005, Israel’s social security budgets were drastically cut, as the Israeli finance ministry employed what Avda describes as a “guns over butter” financial policy. The report found that poverty has been increasing in Israel since the 1980s.
Internationally, the report found Israel’s occupation is increasingly isolating, as no other country in the world, including the US, recognizes the occupation. Further, no other country, including the US, recognizes Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem, the settlements, or the separation wall as a border.
The report noted the spread of the movement to boycott settlement produce as further evidence of the erosion of Israel’s international standing.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=299868 6 jan 2012, 17:20 , Respect -
Maria 17 juli 2010
Mitchell says Abbas meeting 'fruitful'
Ramallah - Ma'an - US Middle East envoy George Mitchell said his meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Saturday was "constructive and fruitful," and that he was "looking forward to continuing discussions."
Coming in between talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday and a scheduled meeting with Egypt's Hosni Mubarak on Sunday - and amid reiterated refusals by Palestinian officials to enter direct talks if Israel fails to meet confidence measures - some feared the round might mark a stall.
Appearing to deny the rumors, Mitchell told reporters that he was pleased with the talks, "which began to achieve President Obama's vision for the comprehensive peace in the Middle East.”
The mediator said an eventual peace deal would include two states "living in peace and security" as well as peace between Israel and Syria and "normalization with all of the Arab countries."
Not passing over the latest Israeli announcements on construction of more East Jerusalem settlements, and the re-starting of the country's Palestinian home demolition policy, Mitchell said officials had noticed "the hardships and the problems in the way to achieve it, but we are determined to continue and we were encouraged by the discussions which we heard today.”
Ramallah officials say Mitchell offered little
While the top-level meeting was talked about positively from the American side, Ramallah officials stated their outright rejection of the idea that proximity talks should move to direct discussions by September.
Fatah Central Committee member Mohammad Dahlan released a statement as Mitchell emerged from Abbas’ office announcing Fatah’s repudiation of the American push to get Palestinian and Israeli negotiators face-to-face.
“Mitchell did not offer President Abbas and the Palestinian leadership any new Israeli responses on the issues of security and borders,” Dahlan said, questioning any request that Palestinians move ahead with talks if Israel had failed to meet minimum requirements.
Negotiations, Dahlan continued, “require the achievement of clear progress and a clear Israeli response to the issues of borders and security,” which were the two items on the agenda.
Dahlan added that his was a stance supported by the Arab League and the Arab Peace Initiative follow-up committee.
PLO Executive Committee member Yaser Abed Rabo affirmed Dahlan’s allegations, saying, “The US envoy did not carry any good news except for answers on some questions that were transferred from the Palestinian Authority to Israel via the US administration.”
He noted that the Palestinian negotiators were plain with Mitchell, saying that without progress they would reject the request to move to direct talks.
Abbas to embark on local tour
After the meeting Abbas departed for Jordan, where he will meet with officials ahead of a trip to Egypt, where Mitchell will be meeting with the country’s President Hosni Mubarak.
Officials have not said whether the meeting will be multi-lateral, although Mubarak had originally scheduled a meeting with Netanyahu for Sunday as well. The meeting was reportedly postponed following the demolition of three Jerusalem homes last week.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=300215 6 jan 2012, 17:20 , Respect -
Maria 25 juli 2010
Abbas: Israel renewing cycle of violence
Bethlehem - Ma'an - President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that Israel’s continued settlement building on what would become a future Palestinian state was impeding a two-state solution and renewing the cycle of violence.
In his speech delivered at the summit of the African Union in Kampala, Abbas said Palestinians were clinging to peace “to build a better future for our coming generations and all peoples of the region,” the PA news agency Wafa reported.
The president reiterated that he is ready to resume direct talks as soon as Israel stops settlement construction and responds to proposals on borders and security, which were presented over six rounds of so-called proximity talks under the supervision of US envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell.
The Obama administration has urged the PA and Israel to swiftly enter into direct negotiations once the current round of mediated talks end. The PA says it will not return to the negotiating table until progress is made on borders and security, as well as complete halt to settlements.
Abbas asked African states to work regionally and internationally to pressure Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian land, to stop settlement building, and to dismantle the separation wall. Abbas said he was working to end the Israeli army’s incursions into Palestinian territories, the arrests and killings of Palestinians, and what he called its systematic ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem, according to Wafa.
Indirect talks were derailed in March, when Israel announced further settlement expansion in East Jerusalem during a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden to kick-start the peace process. The Arab League, PA, and PLO endorsed the latest round of negotiations in May.
Direct talks were broken off in December 2008 as Israel launched Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.
Abbas says he is prepared to meet with Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu if Israel agrees to the establishment of a Palestinian state on lands occupied in 1967 and halts settlements. He said Saturday that no progress was made toward resuming direct talks with Israel in spite of international pressure on the Ramallah-based leadership.
"Direct talks without an obvious reference could collapse from the beginning," the president told the Palestinian Broadcasting Corp. on the sidelines of the Uganda summit.
The 15th Assembly of the African Union opened Sunday in the Ugandan capital, where Abbas is attending as a guest. Several leaders are convening for the summit set to prioratize talks on Somalia's bloody conflict, two weeks after Somali Islamists killed 76 in twin blasts in Kampala during the World Cup final.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=302336
Abbas 'ready to meet' if Israel agrees on borders
Bethlehem – Ma'an – President Mahmoud Abbas says he is prepared to meet with Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu if Israel agrees to the establishment of a Palestinian state on lands occupied in 1967 and halts settlements.
Abbas said Saturday evening that no progress was made toward resuming direct talks with Israel in spite of international pressure on the Ramallah-based leadership. "Direct talks without an obvious reference could collapse from the beginning," the president told the Palestinian Broadcasting Corp. on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Uganda.
The president added that asking the UN Security Council to determine the borders of a future Palestinian state would require efforts from Arab leaders, allies, and US approval.
Arab leaders will soon convene to assess the outcome of the proximity talks before further steps are taken when the four-month deadline given by the Arab League has passed, Abbas added.
Motives to encourage the Palestinian Authority to re-enter direct talks are "marginal," Abbas said, adding that Israel had not committed to previous agreements, which included the release of Palestinian prisoners, a halt to Israeli military incursions, and the removal of checkpoints in PA-controlled areas.
Abbas added that Israel had not transferred sovereignty to the PA in additional areas of the West Bank nor did it allow construction material into Gaza.
The Obama administration has urged the PA and Israel to swiftly enter into direct negotiations once the current round of mediated talks end. The PA says it will not return to the negotiating table until progress is made on borders and security, as well as complete halt to settlements.
Indirect talks were derailed in March, when Israel announced further settlement expansion in East Jerusalem during a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden to kick-start the peace process. The Arab League, PA, and PLO endorsed the latest round of negotiations in May.
Direct talks were broken off in December 2008 as Israel launched Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=302164 6 jan 2012, 17:21 , Respect -
Maria 29 juli 2010
Arab League open to direct talks
Bethlehem - Ma'an - A follow-up committee of the Arab Peace Initiative met with President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo Thursday, and agreed “in principle” to direct talks, but with conditions.
Qatari Foreign Affairs Minister Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Ath-Thani, heading the meeting, said, "Of course, there is agreement, but agreement over the principles of what will be discussed and the manner of the direct negotiations,” the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported.
Adding that he was “full of doubts” over Israel’s seriousness, Ath-Thani said Abbas would decide whether to resume talks, and under what conditions. The foreign ministers sent a letter to the US administration listing a clear timeframe, specific reference terms and a monitoring mechanism as preconditions for direct talks, Haaretz said.
Abbas presented the committee with the outcome of six rounds of US-initiated, US-mediated proximity talks, which focused on borders and security. Direct negotiations were broken off in December 2008 when Israel launched its war on Gaza.
Despite intense US and Israeli pressure to resume face-to-face talks, the president, backed by his Fatah party and other PLO factions, has repeatedly insisted that direct talks will not resume until progress is made in proximity talks. Further, Abbas has demanded Israel stops building settlements on what would be a future Palestinian state under any agreement.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, speaking to Egyptian TV Thursday morning, said Abbas had received written assurances from the US administration regarding the general framework of any negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian officials, as well as "elements that govern the future of the settlements."
On Thursday morning, however, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it would be "impossible" to extend the current partial moratorium on settlement building, which expires in September.
A report from The Associated Press on Tuesday said a leaked document revealed that US President Barack Obama threatened to withdraw his support for a Palestinian state if negotiators did not move forward with direct talks.
Members of the follow-up committee will present their recommendations to the Arab League on 16 September, two weeks ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York, where ministers are expected to hold side-line meetings.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=303629 6 jan 2012, 17:21 , Respect -
Maria 2 aug 2010
Israel approves construction in East J'lem settlement
Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Jerusalem Municipality’s planning committee approved the construction of 40 housing units on Monday in an illegal settlement in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli media reported.
The approvals are part of a wider plan to construct 220 new houses in the Pisgat Ze’ev settlement, Israeli news site Ynet said, adding that 32 houses were approved last month.
The news comes as Palestinian negotiators demand an extension of the partial, temporary settlement freeze, which expires in September, as a precondition for direct talks to resume.
Palestinian officials have said that Israel cannot be considered a serious partner for peace while it continues to build illegal settlements on land which would be a future Palestinian state under any peace agreement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=304653
Erekat demands action over Jerusalem settlements
Bethlehem - Ma'an - As international pressure mounts on Palestinians to resume direct talks, chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat appealed for the same pressure to be applied on Israel to end its "brutal policies."
“At a time when world leaders passionately call for direct talks, I call on them to exert the same level of passion to preventing Israel from continuing its colonization process in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly in East Jerusalem,” Erekat said.
The official's statement coincided with the first anniversary of the eviction of the Al-Ghawi and Hanoun families, including 19 children, from their homes in occupied East Jersualem. Their houses were subsequently occupied by Israeli settlers.
The negotiations chief noted that the night before the Arab League met with President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo to discuss resuming face-to-face talks, Israeli settlers, assisted by police, took over a building in the Old City, leaving nine Palestinian families homeless.
Challenging Israeli courts to allow Palestinians to claim their properties in West Jerusalem while settlers are permitted to seize property in East Jerusalem, Erekat called on the Israeli government to stop demolishing Palestinian homes and evicting Palestinians.
The Palestinian vision, he said, is of “an open and shared city of Jerusalem as the capital of two states, based on agreed borders.”
Erekat added that the international community shares this vision, “yet Israel makes every effort to sabotage the possibility of achieving it.”
The Palestinian Authority cabinet, meanwhile, said direct talks with Israel required a strict timeframe and would not be entered without a total settlement freeze.
The weekly meeting, chaired by premier Salam Fayyad, saw ministers call on the international community to intervene in Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem, which the cabinet described in a statement as "provocative."
PA ministers further urged global governments to ensure Palestinian legislative rights, condemning the deportation orders against four Palestinian legislators from Jerusalem.
Additionally, the cabinet denounced settler attacks against Palestinians across the West Bank, calling on the international community to commit to their responsibilities to protect Palestinian civilians.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=304620
6 jan 2012, 17:21 , Respect -
Maria 3 aug 2010
Netanyahu says direct talks will start mid-August with no settlement freeze
Israel’s Prime Minister has told a meeting of his party’s ministers that direct negotiations with the Palestinian Authority will start in mid-August. Benjamin Netanyahu also claimed that his government does intend to commit to the PA's prerequisite for direct talks a full freeze on settlement construction.
The PA's chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, has made it clear that the Palestinian Authority does not intend to start direct talks with the Israelis before the latter accept all of the Palestinian conditions for such talks to take place. One of the conditions is the need for an agreement on the agenda for the talks to include the status of Jerusalem, the demarcation of the borders and the right of return of Palestinian refugees, as well as the illegal settlements built in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Jerusalem.
"The key to direct negotiations is in the hands of [Prime Minister] Bibi Netanyahu," added Mr. Erekat. "The minute he agrees to stop settlement construction and to have terms of reference for these negotiations around a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, with agreed land swaps, we will have direct negotiations immediately."
http://fwd4.me/0i24
6 jan 2012, 17:21 , Respect -
Maria 15 aug 2010
Settlement support will cost more
Palestinian divestment from the settlements serves neither side in the conflict.
Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians are still not taking place, but the indirect conversation is crystal clear. Take the decision of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad that, from next year, Palestinians will be banned from working in the settlements. This is an impetus not for the peace process, but for an economic policy.
An estimated 22,000 Palestinians currently work in the settlements, of whom 11,000 are in construction, 8,000 in industry, and about 3,000 in agriculture.
The Palestinian argument is not new. The settlements strip the Palestinians of resources and their factories represent competition. The novelty lies in Palestinian legislation, a continuation of the decision to boycott products from the settlements. Likewise, the proposal aspires to disengage the economy of Palestine from that of the settlements. For Fayyad, the paradox in which the Palestinians are building the settlements and enabling settlement production cannot go on.
Israeli industrialists and contractors were predictably quick to cry foul. How is it possible to maintain the settlements without cheap labor? If Israel wants to stick with its settlement policy, it must tell the public to pay up. The bill is already on the table. In exchange for every Palestinian worker who will leave, the settlers are asking for NIS 2,000 in compensation to make up the wage difference between an Israeli and a Palestinian worker. That adds up to NIS 44 million for industry alone, with farmers and building contractors waiting in line. This sum covers more than the social benefits paid to Israeli employees and not to Palestinians; some of it is meant to serve as a "bonus" to lure Israeli workers.
But beyond exposing the wage gap between Israeli and Palestinian workers, and the new tax Israelis will be asked to pay the industrialists and contractors in the territories (who had it easy ), the Palestinian decision must raise a few more questions.
The departure of the Palestinians from the settlements and the entry of Israelis in their place means a rise of about 20,000 settlers. If this includes their families, the number of Israeli labor migrants to the West Bank will reach 60,000 to 80,000 persons, increasing the number of settlers living in the territories by 20 to 25 percent.
On the face of it, the Palestinian Authority should keep the Palestinians working in the settlements so they will not grow, but nationalist Palestinian logic appears to override this view. Whoever demands the settlements be removed cannot, at the same time, earn a living from them.
Israelis should see this phenomenon as troubling, both for the left and the right. Both are interested in encouraging "Hebrew" labor. But the left will have to decide whether this principle holds true for the territories, as encouraging Hebrew labor there means increasing the number of settlers. The right and economic neo-liberals will have to decide whether they are willing to see the government pay for such a move. If they oppose government intervention, the employers in the settlements may leave the settlements - as some have already done - and thus the number of work places in the territories will shrink, even for Israelis. The right could actually wind up encouraging the departure of the settlers. If they support compensation for employers, this will contradict the economic doctrine they support.
When the government is preparing to replace the workers in the settlements, as the industry, trade and labor minister has promised, why not implement the principle of compensation inside the Green Line? The answer is that inside Israel, the laws of economics are in operation while in the territories, ideology rules. For the same reason that Israeli governments ensured cheap housing for settlers, this government will ensure that employment at settlement factories is subsidized. Instead of Mohammed, the employee will now be Moshe.
It's hard to believe the PA decision has stirred any new thinking on the issue of government assistance to the settlements. We can imagine what could be done with the sums of money that will go to compensate employers in the territories and ask: Who is going to bear the brunt of the cost?
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/settlement-support-will-cost-more-1.308082
Netanyahu approves building of 23 classrooms in West Bank
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu approved Sunday the building of 23 caravans in the West Bank that will be used as classrooms for Jewish students living in eight different settlements Army Radio reported Sunday.
Due to the lack of classroom space in the area, Netanyahu instructed that the buildings be erected as soon as possible and that a legal solution be found to the current situation.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=184850
6 jan 2012, 17:21 , Respect -
Maria 16 aug 2010
Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat 'Israel marring serious peace process'
The Palestinians have slammed Israel for refusing to halt its illegal settlement activity in the West Bank, saying Tel Aviv has rejected a "serious" peace process.
On Monday, Israeli media reported that a forum of seven top cabinet ministers would reject an expected statement from the Middle East Peace Quartet demanding the resumption of direct talks and a settlement freeze.
rejecting the statement of the international Quartet before it is even issued shows that Israel is persisting in its rejection of a serious peace process," AFP quoted Chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erakat, as saying on Monday.
Erakat said the announcement "clearly proved" that the Israeli regime was pursuing "other interests besides peace and stability in the region."
The Quartet -- made up of Russia, the European Union the United Nations and the United States -- is expected to issue the statement to encourage the Palestinian Authority to return to direct talks.
Palestinians said the statement would resemble the Quartet's March communique which called for Israel to halt settlements and urged a peace deal in two years.
Erakat also criticized Israel's decision "to continue settlement activity in the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem)," and charged Tel Aviv of further hindering the Mideast peace process.
Israel has vowed to resume its West Bank settlement activity after a partial 10-month freeze expires in September -- a moratorium which the Palestinians viewed as insufficient as it excludes East al-Quds, which they see as the capital of their future state.
Israel occupied East al-Quds during the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=138933§ionid=351020202
BETHLEHEM: Erekat condemns settlement expansion
(Ma'an) -- Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat denounced Sunday evening the installation of several mobile homes in eight West Bank settlement, as the Ramallah-based leadership mulls reentering into direct talks with Israel.
Condemning settlement activity, Erekat said "While huge efforts are been made internationally, especially by the US, to lay the grounds for launching direct negotiations, the Israeli government adds more obstacles by building constructions in eight West Bank settlements," a statement read.
Erekat further criticized the Israeli government for opposing the Quartet's statement before its issuance, saying Israel was "going to extremes with the refusal of a serious peace process. This indicates very clearly that this Israeli government has a different agenda far from seeking peace and stability in the region."
The Palestinian Authority and PLO have repeatedly called for a halt to settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as a basis for returning to negotiations.
Meanwhile, President Mahmoud Abbas met with US official David Hale in Ramallah on Sunday evening to discuss the Mideast Quartet statement pushing for a resumption of direct talks.
Abbas has also insisted that Israel stop constructing settlements on land which would be a Palestinian state before negotiations can resume.
A partial 10-month freeze on settlement construction, imposed under US pressure, expires in September, and on Sunday Israeli officials announced construction of a new settlement in the northern West Bank, the Hebrew-language daily Maariv reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=308350
6 jan 2012, 17:21 , Respect -
Maria 21 aug 2010
Canadian court dismisses Bil'in claim
RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- A Quebec Court of Appeal dismissed a case brought by Bil’in against Canadian companies involved in illegal settlement construction on the West Bank village’s land, legal rights group Al-Haq reported.
The claim was based on Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention which prohibits an occupying power from "transfer[ing] parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies."
The case against Green Park International Inc and Green Mountain Inc - which marketed, constructed and sold houses on the Modi’in Illit settlement - was dismissed on 11 August when the court ruled "the authorities of another country [Israel] are in a better position to judge the claim."
Bil’in’s lawyers claimed that as Israeli courts refuse to rule on the issue of legality of settlements in occupied territory they could not decide the case.
The Quebec court responded that insufficient evidence was presented to demonstrate that claim.
Al-Haq said the court failed to grasp that this was not a dispute over private land, but over the legality of settlements in occupied territory.
The legal rights group added that “The Bil’in case is a glaring example of the importance of upholding the principle that domestic courts must hold their companies to account for actions which violate international law.”
The separation wall, which cuts through Bil'in, separates villagers from around 60 percent of their land, on which Modi'in Illit has been built.
Bil'in is well known for its non-violent resistance, organizing creative, peaceful rallies against the wall every Friday for more than five years.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=309402
23 aug 2010
Norwegian gov’t divests from 2 companies that build settlements
Last year, Norwatch revealed that the Norwegian government pension fund had invested Africa Israel Investments and in its subsidiary Danya Cebus Ltd, which build settlement on occupied West Bank. Today, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance announced that the Pension Fund has divested from both firms, as well as a Malaysian forest company.
The two Israeli firms were excluded from the portfolios of the Norwegian governments pension fund due to their construction work on West Bank, since they contribute in “grossly unethical activity”, according to a press release from the Minister of Finances, Sigbjørn Johnsen today.
Norwatch revealed last year that the Pension Fund had invested in Africa Israel and Danya Cebus, which constructs and finances settlements on occupied Palestinian land. 31 December 2008, the investment in Africa Israel Investments was 5,5 million Norwegian kroners. One year later, the value of the investment was 7,1 million. But now, the shares are sold, according to the press release.
Africa Israel Investments Ltd. is the parent company of several subsidiaries with interests in property development, infrastructure and energy. The company holds a majority stake in Danya Cebus, a construction company involved in developing settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.
The Fund's Council on Ethics emphasises that the construction of settlements in occupied areas is a violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (the fourth Geneva Convention) and that the Pension Fund runs an unacceptable risk of contributing to serious violations of individual rights in situations of war and conflict by investing in these two companies.
“The Council on Ethics bases its recommendation on the fact that the international community is united in the view that the area east of the 1967 line is occupied territory and as such comes under the purview of the fourth Geneva Convention. Several United Nations Security Council resolutions and an International Court of Justice advisory opinion have concluded that the construction of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory is prohibited under this Convention. I have therefore accepted the recommendation of the Council on Ethics and am excluding Africa Israel Investments and Danya Cebus from the fund’s investment portfolio,” says Minister of Finance Sigbjørn Johnsen in the press release.
The Malaysian firm Samling Global was thrown out because the fund’s Council on Ethics finds that the company has contributed to illegal logging and severe environmental damage. 31 December 2009, the investment of the Norwegian governmetn in Samling amounted to 8,1 million Norwegian kroners.
Also Danske Bank sold Africa Israel-shares earlier this year following the revelations by Norwatch.
The press release of the Norwegian Ministry of Finances, says nothing of the investment in Africa Israel Investment’s sister firm Africa Israel Properties. By 31 December 2009, the Norwegian government owned 2,2 million kroners in Africa Israel Properties.
Regarding Africa Israel Properties Ltd
Africa Israel Investments Ltd., which is now thrown out of the fund, owns also 68% of the shares in another company, called Africa Israel Properites Ltd. The fund keeps the investment in this company.
Africa Israel Properties Ltd. is a real estate company which owns and leases office buildings and other commercial properties in Israel and Europe.
"There is no indication that the company has properties or other activities in the occupied territories", states the Council on Ethics in its recommendation.
http://fwd4.me/0jT7
Security wall to encircle Palestinian village Walajeh
Community of about 2,000 will be cut off to most of its land.
Construction has begun on a new section of the West Bank security barrier that Palestinians say could sound a death knell for their hamlet.
The barrier threatens to outright smother Walajeh: The community of about 2,000 on the southwest edge of Jerusalem is to be completely encircled by a fence cutting it off from most of its open land, according to a Defense Ministry map.
Walajeh old-timers are determined to stay, but doubt their children will feel the same way.
“We will cling to the village by our teeth,” said Adel Atrash, a village council member. “But we don’t know how the next generation will look at things. Maybe they won’t be able to live with all the difficulties and decide to leave.”
Israel began building the barrier in 2002, as a bulwark against Palestinian suicide bombers and gunmen who have killed hundreds of Israelis. However, the barrier’s zigzag through the West Bank brought allegations that Israel is drawing a border and grabbing land by putting dozens of settlements on the “Israeli side” of the barrier.
Six years ago on Friday, the International Court of Justice said in a nonbinding ruling that the barrier’s path through “occupied territory” violates international law and that Israel should tear down what it has built.
Israel rejected the decision, saying the barrier is crucial for keeping Israelis safe, and denies it is drawing a border.
“In future negotiations [with the Palestinian Authority], the route of the security barrier will not constitute a political factor,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said.
Today, the barrier, almost two-thirds complete, runs for more than 400 kilometers through the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Once finished, the barrier would put 9.4 percent of the West Bank on the Israeli side, along with 85% of half a million Israeli settlers, according to a UN report.
The barrier – walls of cement slabs in urban areas and wire fences in the countryside – has made it harder for tens of thousands of Palestinians to reach farm land, schools and medical care.
Those who live in the “seam zone” between Israel and the barrier or have farm land there need permits they can’t always obtain and cross through gates that aren’t always open, according to the UN report, issued on the anniversary of the world court ruling.
Walajeh’s fate appears to be because it is almost surrounded by settlements.
The barrier will make a large dip into the West Bank to keep the settlements, including Har Gilo and the Gush Etzion bloc, on the Israeli side. Within that pocket, an extra loop of barrier is to surround Walajeh on three sides, with a fenced road off limits to Palestinians to Har Gilo closing off the fourth side, according to the Defense Ministry map of the projected route.
Moreover, the loop runs tightly around Walajeh’s builtup area, penning it within less than a square mile and isolating it from almost all its farmlands. Of 36 Palestinian villages that are or will be caught in the seam zone, none are as closely encircled as Walajeh, said Ray Dolphin, a UN barrier expert in Jerusalem.
Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror said on Friday he could not comment on the details of construction around Walajeh, but noted the route withstood a challenge in an Israeli court four years ago.
The IDF would not comment on how villagers are to get in and out of their enclave.
Israel has raised the possibility of an access road with a checkpoint, Atrash said, as well as gates so farmers could reach their lands. Residents are skeptical, considering the difficulties farmers elsewhere have had.
In recent weeks, bulldozers began leveling land and uprooting trees near Walajeh in the run-up to construction.
Ahmed Barghouti, 63, who lives close to the fence’s path, says he lost 88 olive trees last month and now fears for a nearby family burial plot. The village’s lawyer, Ghiath Nasser, says he won a temporary order to stop work on that section until the High Court of Justice decides what should be done with the graves of Barghouti’s parents and grandmother.
The house of a neighbor, Omar Hajajla, lies just outside Walajeh’s barrier loop.
Hajajla said Israeli officials last week informed him his home would be surrounded by its own electric fence.
“This is like putting my entire family in jail,” the father of three young boys said. “My children need to cross four gates to go school. We don’t know how it will work out, but I’m sure it will be hell for my entire family.”
The barrier is just the latest blow for Walajeh, which has lost most of its land to Israel in decades of conflict.
Israeli forces took control of the village in the 1948-9 War of Independence, and residents fled, some resettling on parts of its lands that ended up in the Jordanian-controlled West Bank.
After 1967, Israel expanded east Jerusalem’s boundaries and absorbed half of Walajeh.
But residents were still classified as West Bankers, not Jerusalemites, limiting their rights and freedom of movement.
Since then, Walajeh has lost more land to expanding settlements and roads, said Matteo Benatti, a UN official. From its pre-1948 size of 18,000 dunams (1,800 hectares), Walajeh now has around 4,500 dunams, nearly half of which will be cut off by the barrier if built as projected, he said.
Plans have been floated to build more homes for Israelis in the area. In November, the government gave preliminary approval to expand east Jerusalem’s nearby Gilo neighborhood.
Private developers propose building apartments for Israelis on the lands surrounding Walajeh and have been lobbying to include the village on the Israeli side of the barrier, so far to no avail. Dror, the Defense Ministry spokesman, said he did not believe the developers would get their plan approved.
Also, more than two dozen houses in Walajeh have been demolished over the years and 41 out of about 200 remaining homes face Israeli demolition orders on grounds they were built without permits, said Meir Margalit, a Jerusalem city council member from Meretz. Margalit says permits are impossible to obtain.
Walajeh faces an uphill battle for survival, said Margalit.
“In any scenario, my feeling is that Walajeh will disappear,” he said.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=181252 6 jan 2012, 17:21 , Respect -
Maria 24 aug 2010
Essential Palestine Israel-Noam Chomsky
(14:27) Essential Palestine Israel (1) Noam Chomsky
'Illegal' settlements squeeze borders
By Jonathan Cook
Migron, West Bank // Yehudit Genud hardly feels she is on the frontier of Israel's settlement project, although the huddle of mobile homes on a wind-swept West Bank hilltop she calls home is controversial even by Israeli standards.
Despite the size and isolation of Migron, a settlement of about 45 religious families on a ridge next to the Palestinian city of Ramallah, Mrs Genud's job as a social worker is 25-minute drive away on a well-paved, West Jerusalem road. Mrs Genud, 28, pregnant with her first child, points out that Migron has parks, children's playgrounds, a kindergarten, a daycare centre and a synagogue, all paid for by the government - even if the buildings are enclosed by a razor-wire fence, and her husband, Roni, has to put in overtime as the settlement's security guard.
From her trailer, she also has panoramic views not only of Ramallah but of the many communities hugging the slopes that gently fall away to the Jordan Valley. Long-established Palestinian villages are instantly identifiable by their homes' flat roofs and the prominence of the tall minarets of the local mosques.
Interspersed among them, however, are a growing number of much newer, fortified communities of luxury villas topped by distinctive red-tiled roofs. These are the Jewish settlements that now form an almost complete ring around Palestinian East Jerusalem, cutting it off from the rest of the West Bank and destroying any hope that the city will one day become the capital of a Palestinian state.
"These settlements are supposed to be the nail in the coffin of any future peace agreement with the Palestinians," said Dror Etkes, a veteran observer of the settlements who works for the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din. "Their purpose is to make a Palestinian state unviable."
The majority of the half a million settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to Mr Etkes, are "economic opportunists", drawn to life in the occupied territories less by ideological or religious convictions than economic incentives. The homes, municipal services and schools there are heavily subsidised by the government. In addition, the settlements - though illegal under international law - are integrated into Israel through a sophisticated system of roads that make it easy for the settlers to forget they are in occupied territory surrounded by Palestinians.
But Migron, with its supposed links to the Biblical site where King Saul based himself during his fight against the Philistines, attracts a different kind of inhabitant. "This place is holy to the Jewish people and we have a duty to be here," Mrs Genud said "The whole land of Israel belongs to us and we should not be afraid to live wherever we want to.
The Arabs must accept that." Unlike the 150 or so official settlements dotted across the West Bank, Migron is an example of what the Israeli government refers to as an "illegal outpost", often an unauthorised outgrowth from one of the main settlements. Today there are more than 100 such outposts, housing several thousand extremist settlers.
Mrs Genud, however, argues that Israel's refusal to turn Migron into an authorised settlement, as it has done with many other established outposts, reflects pressure from Washington.
Back in 2003, Israel committed itself to dismantling the more recent outposts under the terms of the Road Map, a US-sponsored plan for reviving the peace process and creating a Palestinian state. Two years later the cabinet approved the removal of 24 outposts, although barely any progress has been made on dismantling them. Israel confirmed its pledge again in January when George W Bush, the US president, visited.
Established six years ago by a group from the nearby settlement of Ofra, Migron is now the largest of the outposts. Two residents - Itai Halevi, the community's rabbi, and Itai Harel, the son of Israel Harel, a well-known settler leader - have demonstrated their confidence in Migron's future by each building permanent homes. "We are connected to the water grid, we have phone lines from the national company Bezeq, we have been hooked up by the electricity company and have street lighting," Mrs Genud said. "We also have a kindergarten paid for by the state and a group of soldiers stationed here to protect us. How can we be 'illegal'?"
Daniella Wiess, a leader of the most extreme wing of the settlers, agreed. Like the inhabitants of Migron, she said the outpost was first suggested by Ariel Sharon when he was housing minister in the 1990s. It was also among the first outposts to be set up after he became prime minister in 2002. An official report published in 2005 found that more than US$4 million (Dh14.7m) was invested in Migron in its first years, with the money channelled through at least six different ministries. There is good reason for official complicity in such outposts as Migron. "This place is very strategic," Mrs Genud said. It looks down on Route 60, once the main road serving Palestinians between Jerusalem and Jenin in the northern West Bank.
Today, even those Palestinians who can get a permit to travel the road find regular sections obstructed by checkpoints or closed for the protection of neighbouring settlements. "We can also see all the Arabs from here and keep an eye on what they are doing," she said referring to her Palestinian neighbours. "And in addition, we can see the other settlements and check on their safety."
But despite its significance to the settlement drive, Migron is under threat. Last week, the Israeli government agreed that the outpost must be destroyed, although it was tight-lipped about when. Few are expecting such a reversal to happen soon. The government's decision was largely foisted upon it by a series of unforeseen events. In 2006, several West Bank Palestinians, backed by Israeli peace groups, petitioned Israel's supreme court claiming that Migron had been built on their private land.
Over the past four decades, Israel has declared nearly two-thirds of the West Bank as "state land", seizing it on a variety of pretexts and transferring much of it to the jurisdiction of settler councils. According to the figures of the Israeli group Peace Now, the settlers are in direct control of more than 40 per cent of the West Bank.
Land belonging to Palestinians who hold the title deeds, however, has been harder to confiscate. As a result, a dubious industry of front companies both inside Israel and in the occupied territories has been spawned to transfer private Palestinian land to the settlers. One such company appears to be behind the sale of the land on which Migron was built. A police investigation has revealed that one of the Palestinian owners, Abdel Latif Hassan Sumarin, signed over his power of attorney to an Israeli real estate company in 2004, even though he died in the United States in 1961.
During the court hearings, Israel has been dragging its feet. According to its own figures, there are a dozen outposts built entirely or partially on private Palestinian land - and the true number may be higher still. The settlers believe that the decision to destroy Migron, if carried out, would set a dangerous precedent. "They are very afraid that this will become simply the first of many settlements to fall," Mr Etkes said.
Last week, faced with another hearing before the court, the government finally conceded on Migron - but only after striking a deal with the main settlement lobby group, the Yesha council. Israel promised that the outpost would go, but not before new homes had been built for Migron's settlers and they had been relocated en masse to a newly created - and authorised - settlement. According to reports in the local media, Migron's families may be moved only a few hundred metres from their current location to an area of the West Bank designated as "state land". "The settlers know that preparation of an alternative site could take years," said Yariv Oppenheimer, the head of Peace Now, fearful that this was simply a delaying tactic. Others believe that relocating Migron may, in fact, set back the struggle against the settlements. There is already talk of moving the settlers to the jurisdiction of a neighbouring settlement, Adam. "The danger is that Migron will be destroyed only to be resurrected in 'legalised' form by the government as a new settlement close by Adam," Mr Etkes said.
Such a suspicion is confirmed by the main settler council, Yesha, which issued a statement last week: "We believe it is possible to find a solution for the outposts that will strengthen the settlements." Nonetheless, the residents of Migron, backed by hardline settler groups, are talking and acting tough for the time being. In a show of defiance, they moved another mobile home into the outpost last week. For several months the residents have also been erecting a large stone building close by the outpost that will become a winery. The settlers' rabbinical council denounced the threatened loss of the outpost, as did settler leader Gershon Masika, who warned of a bloody confrontation to save it. Mrs Genud is not sure what she will do if the crunch comes and she has to give up her home and life in Migron.
"All of this land is Jewish," she said. "It would be a big mistake if we give up what is rightfully ours."
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