- 27 aug 2009
Carter urges halt to Israeli settlement building
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmUnqXGzs7g - 27 Aug 09
4 sept 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34jPNN0qdF8 16 nov 2010, 03:17 , Respect -
Maria 19 nov 2009
Israel building Jewish homes with one hand, destroying Arab homes with the other
Palestinians attending a rally against the building of Israeli settlements in the West Bank on Wednesday
Palestinian homes razed in East Jerusalem, as state plans to expand Jewish Nof Zion neighborhood.
The World Likud movement held a cornerstone-laying ceremony yesterday for the expansion of the neighborhood of Nof Zion, despite - or possibly because of - American pressure against building in East Jerusalem. The Jewish settlement is in the middle of the Arab village of Jabal Mukkaber. Meanwhile, the Jerusalem municipality razed two Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem yesterday.
The plan is to add to Nof Zion 105 new apartments to the 90 ones that are already there, most of which are already occupied. The neighborhood is considered "prestigious," but the developers ran into trouble a few years ago after they failed to sell the apartments to Jews from overseas. About a year ago the developers changed their marketing strategy to target the local national-religious market - and the apartments began selling quickly. The developers expect the same for the new part of the neighborhood.
The World Likud's announcement of the ceremony said the neighborhood was near Jabal Mukkaber, "bounded by terraces and with olive trees and grapevines."
In fact, however, Nof Zion is in the middle of the village, near Palestinian homes. In September Haaretz reported that the family of the late actor-comedian Shaike Ophir criticized the municipality's decision to name a street in Nof Zion after him.
A group of American Jews interested in buying apartments in Nof Zion attended yesterday's ceremony. New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who is considered a staunch supporter of the settlers, headed the group.
Addressing the ceremony, MK Danny Danon (Likud) said that Jerusalem will never be a part of negotiations with the Palestinians. He called Barack Obama "naive" and said the U.S. president still does not seem to understand who are the good guys and who are the bad guys in the conflict.
Yesterday the Jerusalem municipality razed two Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, one in Isawiyah and one in Silwan. In both cases, local residents battled security forces.
In Isawiyah villagers tried to block the entrance to the village with cars, while in Silwan local residents threw rocks at police officers after the house was destroyed.
http://fwd4.me/0xiY
16 nov 2010, 11:49 , Respect -
Maria 25 nov 2009
Netanyahu declares 10-month settlement freeze 'to restart peace talks'
After cabinet approves freeze, PM calls move 'painful,' urges Palestinians to renew peace talks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday evening that Israel would impose a 10-month freeze on construction in West Bank settlements, saying the move was a bid to restart stalled peace talks with the Palestinians.
"I hope that this decision will help launch meaningful negotiations to reach a historic peace agreement that would finally end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians," Netanyahu said at a special press conference he held shortly after the security cabinet approved the moratorium.
He added: "We have been told by many of our friends that once Israel takes the first meaningful steps toward peace, the Palestinians and Arab states would respond."
Settlement building has been a key sticking point in U.S. efforts to restart Middle East peace talks; the Palestinians say they will not return to the negotiating table without a complete halt to construction.
During the press conference, Netanyahu said the "far-reaching and painful" move would not be implemented in predominantly Arab East Jerusalem, which is viewed by Israel as a separate issue to be discussed in a final status agreement with the Palestinians.
"We do not put any restrictions on building in our sovereign capital," the premier said.
The freeze applies only to new construction, meaning housing already underway will continue. Also, Netanyahu said, only new homes are included.
"We will not halt existing construction and we will continue to build synagogues, schools, kindergartens and public buildings essential for normal life in the settlements," he said.
Netanyahu concluded with an appeal to the Palestinians to enter into a new round of peace talks.
"Now is the time to begin negotiations, now is the time to move forward towards peace," he said. "Israel today has taken a far-reaching step toward peace, it is time for the Palestinians to do the same."
He added: "Israel's government has made an important step toward peace today, let us make peace together."
Netanyahu: Settlement freeze will prove Israel really wants peace
At the cabinet vote, National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau (Yisrael Beiteinu) was the only minister to oppose the move.
Shortly before the cabinet session, Netanyahu said the freeze would prove that Israel genuinely seeks to reach peace with the Palestinians.
"In the international circumstances that have been created, this step will advance Israel's broad international interests. This is not a simple step, nor an easy one; but it has many more advantages than disadvantages," Netanyahu told his aides.
He added: "It will enable us to show the world this simple truth: The Government of Israel wants to enter into negotiations with the Palestinians, is taking practical steps to enter into negotiations and is very serious in its intention to advance peace."
At least one key Security Cabinet member, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, came out in favor of the proposal. "Its aim is to open a window for renewing negotiations with the Palestinians," he said.
"I hope that the Yesha [council of settlements] leadership, which is patriotic, responsible and serious, will understand the need for the decision at this time," Barak added.
"The understandings with the United States are of the utmost importance with regard to negotiations, and guarantees of security and its military supremacy."
An official statement from the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday said Netanyahu would seek approval for the moratorium from his cabinet in order to boost peace prospects.
"As part of our efforts to give impetus to peace talks with the Palestinian Authority and promote Israel's comprehensive national interests, the prime minister will ask the security cabinet to approve a temporary suspension on construction permits for new residences and the [actual] start of new residential construction for a period of ten months," the statement said.
The move is not unexpected; Netanyahu announced several days ago that he intended to declare a settlement freeze for 10 months. Israel began building in the West Bank in 1967, following the capture of the territory from Jordan during the Six-Day War. Today, more than a quarter of million Israelis live in West Bank settlements.
The freeze will also not apply to construction that has already been authorized or to work on public buildings conducive to normal life in the territories.
http://fwd4.me/0jhV 21 nov 2010, 08:37 , Respect -
Maria 1 dec 2009
Report: Netanyahu okays 25 new settler homes despite ban
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued an order Monday to allow the construction of 25 new homes in a West Bank settlement despite a recently-declared moratorium.
According to the website of the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Netanyahu made the order in a phone call with his Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
The order was in response to an appeal from settlers living in the settlement of Qedar, east of Jerusalem, where the 25 units are to be built, the report states.
Netanyahu’s spokesman, Mark Regev, told Ma’an that the buildings were permitted because their foundations were laid before the moratorium was called.
“We said from the beginning that what was started could be completed,” Regev said.
A spokesperson for Israel’s Civil Administration, the branch of the military responsible for enforcing the ban deferred comment on the issue to Netanyahu’s office.
Qedar is a small settlement on the edge of the Jericho Valley, just to the south of Ma’ale Adumim, one of the largest West Bank settlements.
Netanyahu announced last week a freeze on construction of housing units in settlements in the West Bank outside of what Israel views as annexed territory in Jerusalem.
Israel also recently announced it would expand by 900 units the settlement of Gilo, which falls inside Israel’s unilaterally-drawn boundary of Jerusalem. The redrawn borders are not internationally recognized.
The announcement fell short of US and Palestinian demands for a total freeze as a step toward renewing peace negotiations.
Meanwhile, Yedioth also reported that Netanyahu canceled a meeting with regional settler officials heads scheduled for Tuesday, after his doctor recommended another day of rest after he was diagnosed with a viral infection.
An announcement from Israel’s Government Press Office said Netanyahu would speak at the closing session at 6pm on Tuesday at the closing session of a financial conference near Ben Gurion airport.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=243409
Netanyahu: Settlement freeze 'one-time' move
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that the current 10 month halt to settlement construction in the West Bank is in fact only a "one-time, temporary" standstill, according to Israel media reports.
During a conference held by the financial newspaper Calcalist, Netanyahu reportedly said that following the 10 month stall, Israel "will return to building,"
"The future final-status accord in Judea and Samaria will be determined at the end of negotiations and not a day earlier," he said.
The prime minister's comments follow reports on Tuesday that settlers in the West Bank prevented Israel's Ministry of Defense inpsectors from implementing a halt to settlement construction in the illegal settlements, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.
Residents from numerous illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank amassed to prevent the newly appointed settlement-freeze inspectors from carrying out Netanyahu’s cabinet-backed 10 month halt on settlement construction in the West Bank by blocking roads and verbally assaulting the inspectors, it was reported.
Settlers have reportedly vowed to defy the decision, with Shin Bet receiving reports that settlers intend to physically harm defense officials attempting to execute the cabinet’s decision, Haaretz reported.
During his visit to the West Bank on Tuesday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak reiterated the government’s stance and commitment to implementing the temporary settlement halt, adding however that "The settler leadership in Judea and Samaria is responsible, patriotic and Zionist, and has faced many challenges,"
"I believe and hope that it can face up to this challenge as well, as we carry out the decision of the government," the defense minister was quoted as saying in Haaretz.
On Thursday, senior Palestinian officials condemned Netanyahu’s initiative to exclude east Jerusalem from the 10 month halt on settlement construction in the West Bank, as Secretary of the PLO Executive Committee Yasser Abed Rabbo announced it is considered as nothing more than theatrics.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=243563 21 nov 2010, 08:39 , Respect -
Maria 2 dec 2009
Settlers march on Nablus amid construction slowdown
Nablus – Ma’an – Angry at their government’s decision to curb construction in illegal West Bank settlements, Israeli settlers marched from their colonies toward the city of Nablus on Wednesday, hurling stones at Palestinian cars.
Witnesses at the Huwwara military checkpoint south of Nablus said Israeli soldiers stopped all traffic in and out of the city when demonstrating settlers began to arrive. Two settlers were reportedly arrested by Israeli forces. No injuries were reported.
An Israeli security source said “there had been incidents” when military inspectors went Wednesday to enforce the recently-declared construction slowdown.
Israeli military inspectors visited at least two settlements on Wednesday, including Beit Aryeh near Ramallah and Elon Moreh north of Nablus. In the latter they issued six stop-work orders on planned buildings.
In Beit Arye, two settler officials were arrested when they tried to block military inspectors from entering.
Avi Naim, the head of the Beit Arye Regional Council, the local settler government, was one of those arrested, according to the website of the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth. Naim was arrested and later attended to by medics when he complained of chest pains.
The orders, stopping all construction of residential buildings in settlements in the West Bank, was okayed by the Israeli Security Cabinet on 25 November after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed the move through. The freeze applies to only those settlements in the West Bank, which house 60% of Israeli settlers, and will only last ten months. The freeze does not include some 3,000 buildings that are currently underway, and will permit the construction of public buildings.
On Monday, the Yesha Council settler group dubbed the new policy, "illegitimate, immoral, anti-Zionist and inhuman", and said the settlers would "continue building the country with the government or without it."
The Israeli army faced opposition enforcing the freeze on Monday and Tuesday. In some cases settlers blocked roads.
According to the government, Israeli military inspectors accompanied by armed forces visited 30 settlements on Monday, issued approximately 50 stop-work orders and impounded four pieces of mechanical engineering equipment that were used in ground preparation work, including the drilling of foundations.
On Tuesday the inspectors toured 40 settlements, issuing another 14 stop-work orders, according to the government.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=243747
Palestinian MK: Settlers crying over trick freeze
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli Knesset Member Muhammad Barakah accused settler leaders of crying over nothing, calling the recent construction-ban in the settlements a "temporary trick" and settler reactions a lot of posturing, during the Knesset meeting Wednesday.
“Your tears are adulterous and your settlement plans are only temporary, [the freeze] will pass by quickly; the freeze announcement is only a trick," Barakah told the assembled leaders in the Knesset.
The MK delivered a speech at a session dominated by discussion of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent bill that launched orders to halt some settlement construction in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, for ten months.
Settlers in the West Bank have staged violent demonstrations and local leaders have publicly ripped up the "stop work" orders delivered by Israeli military personnel over the past week, leading to the arrest of several settlers.
"[Israeli] settlers are taking Palestinian lands and then falsely crying over a trick settlement freeze," Barakah said, "the government is tricking everyone by leaving Jerusalem out of the freeze and constructing whole units."
The 10-month freeze applies only to West Bank settlements, and does not affect the 40% of Israeli settlers who live in occupied East Jerusalem. Shortly before the freeze was announced, Israeli forces announced an additional 900 homes would be constructed in the Israeli settlement of Gilo, considered part of "greater Jerusalem" by Israel since 1967, but in fact built on land from the Bethlehem municipality.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=243858
EU envoys: Israel severing Jerusalem from West Bank
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – EU envoys condemn the Israeli government and the Jerusalem Municipality’s discriminatory policies in East Jerusalem and recommend implementing measures to strengthen the PA’s presence in the city in a classified report leaked in Israeli media on Wednesday.
The EU report, which is updated annually by EU representatives in Jerusalem and Ramallah, was presented to EU institutions in Brussels recently, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz, which stated that the report is never published due to Israeli pressure “for fear the publication would further undermine the European public's already negative view of Israel.”
The report charged both the Israeli government and the Jerusalem Municipality of undertaking premeditated measures to alter the city’s demography in favor of Jewish residents and “sever East Jerusalem from the West Bank” by backing right-wing organizations in buying homes in Palestinian neighborhoods which "attempts to implant further Jewish settlements into the heart of the Muslim Quarter."
"The expansion of Israeli settlements has sparked a trend of settler violence against the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem. Such criminal actions have been witnessed by Israeli police but are not met with adequate intervention."
The report suggests taking action against such settlers by putting into effect "Information sharing on violent settlers in East Jerusalem to assess whether to grant entry to the EU."
Additionally, the report highlighted discriminatory practices enforced by the Jerusalem Municipality with regard to building permits, health services, education, sanitation and more, citing the example of Silwan which has received a total of 20 building permits since 1967. "During the past years, Palestinians have received fewer than 200 building permits per year.”
"Based on the population growth, permits for another 1,500 housing units annually would be necessary to cover the housing needs."
The report further pointed out the “sharp contrast” in the standard of living conditions in Palestinian neighborhoods, compared to West Jerusalem and Israeli settlements, as a result of only 5 to 10% of the budget being allocated to Palestinians, despite 35% of Jerusalem residents being Palestinian.
Furthermore, Israel’s closure of PLO and PA institutions has facilitated the spread of Islamic organizations and their scope of influence, according to the EU envoys, as a result of "The general sense of neglect felt by many East Jerusalemites and the absence of Palestinian state-sponsored institutions and secular organizations."
EU representatives also upbraided Israel’s archaeological excavations in Jerusalem focusing largely on Jewish history, particularly near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, emphasizing that "Archaeology in this case has become an ideologically motivated tool of national and religious struggle carried out in a manner that modifies the identity and character of the city and threatens to undermine its stability," the report said.
As a result of the ongoing Israeli policies aimed at alienating Palestinians in Jerusalem, the EU report concluded that vital measures are to be undertaken to prevent Israel’s harmful actions against Palestinians, including ensuring “EU presence at Israeli court cases on house demolitions or evictions of Palestinian families" and "when there is a risk of demolition or eviction of Palestinian families."
The report significantly proposes that EU envoys should carry out "Refraining from meeting Israeli officials in their East Jerusalem offices," and "Avoid having Israeli security accompany high-ranking officials from member states when visiting the Old City or East Jerusalem."
Additionally, holding European celebrations and national events in east Jerusalem as well as encouraging EU missions with offices in the area to host Palestinian officials for dinners with senior EU visitors.
According to Haaretz, senior Israeli Foreign Ministry officials stated that the EU report “left a harsh impression” in Brussels and bolstered the Swedish decision to formally recognize east Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=243679