RAMALLAH: US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday promised vigorous and personal involvement in stalled Mideast peace efforts and criticized Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem as “unhelpful.” Clinton also displayed strong public support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinian Authority is the “only legitimate government of the Palestinian people,” she told a news conference, standing next to Abbas.
The Palestinian president has steadily lost support at home, particularly after a year of inconclusive peace talks with Israel. At the same time, his Hamas rivals, who seized Gaza from him in 2007, are widely seen as emerging stronger from Israel’s recent military offensive against them.
Talking to reporters after meeting Clinton, Abbas criticized Iran, one of the main backers of Hamas. He charged that Iran is trying to “deepen the Palestinian split” and said, “Iran needs to take care of its own issues and stay away from intervening in Palestinian affairs.”
On Tuesday, Clinton met with Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu. The hard-line leader opposes the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel and supports the expansion of Israeli settlements on war-won land claimed by the Palestinians, including the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
In recent days, Israel has issued orders for the demolition of dozens of Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem, saying the homes were built illegally.
Palestinians say they cannot receive proper building permits from Israeli authorities, and the planned demolitions are means to assert Israel’s control over the disputed city.
“Clearly, this kind of activity is unhelpful,” Clinton said, adding that she would raise it with the Israeli government as well as municipal officials in Jerusalem. She said such actions violate the “road map,” a US-backed peace plan.
Clinton spoke shortly after Israel issued a new order to demolish five residential buildings containing 55 apartments, said Hatem Abdul Qader, a Palestinian official on Jerusalem affairs.
“It’s an open demographic war,” he said. He said lawyers have challenged the orders, halting the demolitions until March 10.
Stephan Miller, a spokesman for city hall, said the buildings under demolition notice were empty and had been built illegally. Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed the area. But the annexation is not internationally recognized, and the Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as capital of a future independent state.
Palestinian leaders are watching closely for signs of change in US policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians were disappointed with the previous US administration’s failure to take Israel to task for accelerated settlement construction in 2008, at a time when the two sides were holding US-backed peace talks.
Settlement expansion makes it increasingly difficult to establish an independent Palestinian state.
Abbas said Israel cannot be considered a peace partner if it keeps expanding settlements and demolishes homes in east Jerusalem. “The Israeli government has to respect its obligations under the road map and the two-state solution and completely stop all that is related to settlement and demolitions,” he said.
Clinton signaled that she’d be heavily involved in the region, and said her special envoy, George Mitchell, would return soon.
“The Obama administration will be vigorously engaged in efforts to forge a lasting peace between Israel, Palestinians and all of the Arab neighbors. I will remain personally engaged,” she said. “This is a commitment that I carry in my heart, not just in my portfolio.”
