WASHINGTON, (PIC)-- Senior advisor to the American president, David Axelrod, said that Washington and Tel Aviv have decided to delay the discussion on Jerusalem at the current stage of indirect talks between Israel and the PA in Ramallah.
He told Israeli journalists in Washington that an understanding was reached between the two governments, adding that president Barack Obama had agreed that the Jerusalem issue could not be discussed at first.
He explained that the question of Jerusalem would be the last thing to be discussed in the negotiations in view of its sensitive nature, adding that the borders issue would gain priority.
An Israeli member of the Knesset (parliament) proposed giving up a number of Arab suburbs in eastern Jerusalem so that the Palestinians would declare their capital in them.
The Islamic Jihad movement lashed out at the indirect negotiations between the Ramallah authority and Israel, adding in a statement on Wednesday that the resumption of those talks did not enjoy Arab or Palestinian unanimity.
Jihad feared that the talks would lead to more concessions and compromises of Arab rights, opining that the talks would be of no benefit to the Palestinian people.
[ 06/05/2010 - 10:16 AM ]
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Former minister of Jerusalem affairs and lawmaker Khaled Arafa warned Wednesday that Israel aims to expel all Palestinians from occupied Jerusalem without even retaining a minority of them, adding that its policy of gradually revoking the residency of Jerusalemites falls within this context.
These remarks were made in response to the orders issued earlier by the Israeli interior ministry to strip him along with Jerusalemite lawmakers of their right to residency in their native city and hometown.
Arafa added that the Israeli occupation has worked since it occupied Jerusalem on securing a Jewish majority in the east and west and it achieved that, where the Jews in east Jerusalem became more than the natives by 20 percent.
He underlined that Israel is embarking on taking different measures to fulfil the ultimate goal represented in the expulsion of all Palestinians within 30 years, the latest of which was the military decision to exile 70,000 Palestinians from Jerusalem and the West Bank at the pretext of illegal residency.
For his part, senior Hamas official Dr. Ismail Radwan strongly denounced the Israeli decision to revoke the residency of Jerusalemite lawmakers, stressing that this decision is a natural outcome of the Palestinian Authority’s frivolous negotiations with Israel.
In a press release on Wednesday, Dr. Radwan said the futile negotiations with Israel gave it a cover-up for its crimes and violations against the Palestinians in Jerusalem.
He added that this decision comes in the context of making demographic changes in favor of the Jews and emptying the city of Jerusalem from its indigenous people.
In another context, the international campaign for the release of lawmakers deplored Israel for tightening its repressive measures against 14 Palestinian lawmakers in its jails and its attempts to undermine their steadfastness.
Head of the campaign MP Mushir Al-Masri said in a press release these Israeli measures would remain failed and desperate attempts that would not succeed in imposing terms of surrender on the lawmakers.
Masri held Israel fully responsible for the lives of Palestinian lawmakers and prisoners in its jails, calling on the world’s parliaments and all international organizations to assume their responsibilities and stop the escalating violations committed against them in Israeli jails.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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