[ 09/11/2010 - 07:05 PM ]
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli media sources said plans for a new settlement neighborhood in the Jewish Ariel settlement in Nablus, West Bank were under way as part of a future plan to expand the settlement until it surrounds the neighboring city of Salfit.
The plan will be launched if approved by the Ariel municipality planning and housing committee, the paper added, claiming that it does not require approval by the war ministry as the land was "owned by the state and other private Jewish owners."
In separate incidents, Israeli soldiers detained four farmers for four hours under the hot sun in the northern Al-Khalil village of Beit Ummar, witnesses told the PIC.
The detainees were released after they were informed that they would be jailed if they returned to the land amid claims that the territory was Israeli-owned.
The area located along the Jewish Beit Ain settlement is a hotspot for the expulsion of farmers.
On a similar note, a gang of Jewish settlers began Tuesday hewing a settlement road in the Wadi Al Hussein area of Al-Khalil’s old town.
The land of two Palestinian families were affected and one Palestinian man assaulted during the operation.
In other developments, Israeli troops alongside Jews from the Maskiot settlement in the northern Jordan Valley annexed Tuesday to the nearby settlement around 200 dunums of land privately owned by Palestinians in the Ain Al Halwa area.
Locals said the Israeli army has placed a long-time blockade on the Ain al Halwa area, declaring it a closed military zone.
Residents have been deported from their land and their tin homes destroyed several times during attempts by Israeli forces to take full control of the area.
UN, EU concerned over Israeli settlement activity as more settlers pour in OJ
[ 09/11/2010 - 06:25 PM ]
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| The Lier is Concerned |
Ban's spokesman said that the UN chief was speaking during a meeting with Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu in New York on Monday.
Ban also pointed to the importance of resuming negotiations with the Palestinians and hoped the IOA would facilitate the movement of inhabitants and goods in and out of the Gaza Strip.
For her part, the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs Catherine Ashton asked the IOA on Tuesday to reverse its decision to build new housing units in occupied Jerusalem.
In a similar context, the Israeli TV channel 10 disclosed on Tuesday that 66 Jewish families have recently moved into Ras Al-Amod suburb in eastern occupied Jerusalem.
It noted that the secret and unpublicized step coincided with the project of housing more Jewish settlers in the suburb, who reached 250 families currently housed in seven areas in the suburb.
The TV report noted that the settlement activity in that suburb, which overlooks the holy Aqsa Mosque, has been ongoing for the past three years and that tens of housing units were built in the process.
09/11/2010 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement Tuesday responding to the criticism by the United States on Israel's plan to construct 1,300 new homes in occupied Jerusalem.
Claiming that Israel is doing nothing to harm the peace process, the statement went on to say that Jerusalem isn’t a settlement, but rather the “capital of Israel.”
“Israel has never put any sort of limits on construction in Jerusalem, where some eight hundred thousand people reside, and didn't do so during the 10-month settlement freeze in the West Bank either,” the statement read.
Earlier Tuesday, US President Barack Obama warned that Israel's new building plan could obstruct the so-called peace process. "This kind of activity is never helpful when it comes to peace negotiations," Obama said, adding that he was concerned both sides were not making enough of an effort to advance peace negotiations.
But Netanyahu said that building in occupied Jerusalem has never impeded the peace process so there is no reason it would now. "Israel does not see any connection between the peace process and the building and planning policy in Jerusalem, which hasn't changed for 40 years," Netanyahu's statement claimed. "Every Israeli government in the last 40 years has built in all parts of the city. During this period, peace agreements were signed with Egypt and Jordan and for 17 years peace negotiations with the Palestinians were carried out. These are historical facts. Construction in Jerusalem has never disrupted the peace process."
"Our difference of opinion with the United States regarding Jerusalem is well-known. This, also, isn't a new development and is something that has been going on for 40 years. We hope to overcome this and continue moving forward with the peace process. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is looking forward to his meeting on Thursday with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in order to push peace talks forward."
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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