US Closes Eye to Al-Quds Settlement

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Posted by realistic bird under Caricature, Politics Tags: al qudus, Caricature, Israeli crimes, Israeli policies, Jerusalem, land theft, news, peace process, Politics, settlements, US, West Bank

{"Israel" must stop settling immediately!! - below to Netanyahu: Don't believe what you hear!!} by Jalal Al Rifa'i-Al Dustour newspaper-Jordan

When I read news like this I think I have been living in an alternate world where laws are followed, where intermediaries are not bias, where there is an ounce of justice left, where the oppressors are judged and punished, where the oppressed are helped, and where human life and dignity are still valued but alas I then notice I’m still on Earth ruled by greedy killers who know no satisfaction and where everything is upside down!

by IslamOnline.net & Newspapers

CAIRO — The United States has reportedly agreed to stop asking Israel to freeze settlement construction in Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem) and turn a close eye to ongoing building projects.

“The Obama administration has agreed to Israel’s request to remove East Jerusalem from negotiations on the impending settlement freeze,” Haaretz reported on Thursday, August 27, quoting Israeli officials and Western diplomats.

Israeli officials and western diplomats said US Middle East envoy George Mitchell has recognized that Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu can’t announce a settlement freeze in Al-Quds.

They added that Washington would no longer demand Israel publicly to announce a settlement freeze in the occupied holy city.

Israel occupied Al-Quds in the 1967 Middle East war and then annexed the city in a move not recognized by the world community or UN resolutions.

The holy city is home to Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which includes Islam’s third holiest shrine Al-Aqsa Mosque, and represents the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Palestinians insist the holy city will be the capital of their future independent.

Israeli group Ir Amim warned Thursday that Israeli plans to build housing units for Jewish settlers in Arab neighbourhoods of Al–Quds were in full swing.

“These settlements create a continuity of Jewish population in the neighbourhoods surrounding the Old City and settles settlers in the area that is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Israel plans to build 104 units in Ras al-Amud neighbourhood, 20 units in the Silwan neighbourhood and thirty units in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.

“This activity is part of an organized strategic move, coordinated with and advanced by various government authorities and Jerusalem Municipality,” said Ir Amim.

“Adding 150 housing units to the settlers in the area that is the cornerstone of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is likely to thwart any future possibility for a consensual political solution to the conflict.”

Exit Plan

A government source told Haaretz Netanyahu tabled during his meeting with Mitchell in Berlin Wednesday a proposal for resolving the Israeli-US dispute over settlement freeze.

He reportedly suggested a temporary freeze for nine months on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.

The proposal excludes 2,5000 housing units already being built and allows what Israel describes as necessary to keep “normal life” in settlements such as public buildings, schools and kindergartens.

Netanyahu outlined an “exit plan”, under which Israel would be allowed to resume settlement building if the Palestinians and Arabs did not take reciprocal steps.

The Obama administration will respond to the Israeli proposal next week during a meeting in Washington between Mitchell and Israeli officials.

“All sides need to take concrete steps toward peace,” said a joint statement issued after the Netanyahu-Mitchell Berlin meeting.

It avoided, however, any direct reference to the US demand for Israel to freeze all settlement construction in the West Bank and Al-Quds ahead of the renewal of peace talks.