Israel to Continue With Illegal Settlements

[Solid Beast]

Israel plans to build more homes in E Jerusalem






Monday December 28 2009
BBC



Israel announces plans for nearly 700 homes in mainly Arab East Jerusalem, despite Palestinian and international demands that it freeze building there.





The move follows plans announced last month for 900 homes on occupied land in Gilo, south of Jerusalem, last month.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it, in a move not recognised internationally.

The Palestinians, who want to locate their future capital in East Jerusalem, condemned the move.

They said the plans showed Israel was "not ready for peace".

Israel's housing ministry announced on Monday that it has invited contractors to bid on the construction of 198 housing units in Pisgat Zeev, 377 homes in Neve Yaakov and 117 dwellings in Har Homa, which are built on land captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

It is part of an invitation to bid for contracts on 6,500 housing units across the country.

The new buildings will make apartments cheaper and more affordable for young families, the Israeli Housing Ministry said.

Last month, Israel announced a 10-month suspension of new building in settlements in the occupied West Bank, under heavy pressure from the US.

But the right-leaning government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made is clear that it does not regard Jewish areas in Jerusalem as settlements and the restrictions do not apply there.

The Palestinians have refused to resume peace talks without a complete halt to settlement building in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

'Eternal capital'

In November, US President Barack Obama warned that Israel's plans to build 900 new homes in Gilo, to the south of Jerusalem, would create a "dangerous situation".

Mr Obama told Fox News that additional settlement construction made it harder for Israel to make peace in the region and "embitters the Palestinians".

"The Israeli government proves every day that it is not ready for peace," said Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

But Israel says that East Jerusalem is part of the "indivisible and eternal" Israeli capital.

Israel's annexation of the east of the city has never been recognised by the international community.

About 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in settlements illegal under international law.

[ajpirzada]

and yet the whole world is silent. they dont consider this terrorism rather i should say state terrorism. feel sorry when i hear some pakistanis sayin that we should accept israel as a state.

[Selma Shirazi]

Originally Posted by ajpirzada

and yet the whole world is silent. they dont consider this terrorism rather i should say state terrorism. feel sorry when i hear some pakistanis sayin that we should accept israel as a state.

Ofcourse they are silent, it only affects muslims lives. :rolleyes:
It not like Palestinian Christians are suffering..

[vinod2070]

Originally Posted by Selma Shirazi

Ofcourse they are silent, it only affects muslims lives. :rolleyes:
It not like Palestinian Christians are suffering..

I hope that was not an "ishaara" to me!

I have nothing to do with these settlements. I want these two warring parties to solve their disputes and let the Palestinians have a viable state, not a hotch potch of separated areas.

[ajpirzada]

Originally Posted by Selma Shirazi

Ofcourse they are silent, it only affects muslims lives. :rolleyes:
It not like Palestinian Christians are suffering..

ah! y not tell some of palestanians to convert to christianity. that might make west speak of human rights violation by israel

[vinod2070]

Originally Posted by ajpirzada

ah! y not tell some of palestanians to convert to christianity. that might make west speak of human rights violation by israel

But some are already Christians! Check their plight:

http://pakistandefence.net/forums/mi...-refugees.html

[DarkStar]

Actually, a lot of Palestinians are christians, as well as some famous freedom fighters from the 70's. For example, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palastine, is George Habbash, a christian palestinian.

The christian priests in Palestine are very vocal against the occupation of the Israelis, as many important christian holy places come within the occupied territories, such as Bethlehem, East Jerusalem, Nazreth, etc.

[vinod2070]

Yes but many of the same Christians are being persecuted by Muslim Palestinians. As mentioned in the thread I shared.

[Neo]

Palestinians demand full settlement freeze

* Snub US calls for new unconditional Mideast negotiations

RAMALLAH: The Palestinians on Saturday insisted on a full Israeli settlement freeze before renewing peace efforts, putting a damper on a US call to revive talks with no preconditions.

“A resumption of peace talks requires the complete halt of settlements” in the occupied West Bank, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.

Erakat also demanded that Israel comply with its commitment under the 2003 peace roadmap, which calls for a “halt to all settlement activity including natural growth and Jerusalem.”

Erakat also said negotiations should be picked up from the point they were left when they broke down in December 2008.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Israelis and Palestinians to resume the peace talks without preconditions, in Washington’s latest bid to return the sides to the negotiations table. Hillary backed the key Palestinian aim of creating a state along the borders that existed before the 1967 Israeli-Arab war, but said the lines would be modified through mutually agreed land swaps, presumably to account for some Israeli settlements that would remain.

The Palestinians have insisted the borders of their promised state encompass all of their land Israel occupied in 1967, including mostly Arab east Jerusalem — which Israel later annexed in a move not recognised by the international community — as their capital.

“Resolving borders resolves settlements. Resolving Jerusalem resolves settlements,” the chief US diplomat told reporters after meeting Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Washington.

Saudi Arabia also said on Saturday that Israel’s settlements policy remained a “major obstacle” to Middle East peace efforts and a freeze on settlement growth was an internationally agreed requirement. “The illegal settlements... constitute a major obstacle to peace talks,” Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said in a joint news conference with Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. afp

[Selma Shirazi]

Originally Posted by vinod2070

I hope that was not an "ishaara" to me!

Excuse my ignorance but I am not familiar with this term.