JERUSALEM, 9 December 2007 — An Israeli minister yesterday rebuffed criticism by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of Israel’s plan to build new homes on occupied land in the Jerusalem area, saying nothing should prevent the project. Rice, who masterminded last week’s Annapolis conference to press for an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord before the Bush administration leaves office, on Friday criticized the planned construction, saying it “doesn’t help to build confidence.”
Responding to the rare public US censure, Israeli Construction and Housing Minister Zeev Boim reiterated Israel’s position that it can build anywhere in Jerusalem, the Arab east sector of which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War.
“Secretary of State Rice should be congratulated for her efforts in relaunching the peace process,” Boim said in a statement. “But this cannot constantly be linked to the cessation of construction in Jerusalem.”
Boim said the controversial project, known to Israelis as Har Homa and to Palestinians as Abu Ghneim, “is within Jerusalem’s municipal borders, where Israeli law applies. There is thus nothing to prevent the construction there, just as there is nothing to prevent construction anywhere else in Israel.” Israel announced earlier this week that it was seeking bids from construction firms to build over 300 homes and other units at the site, which is south of East Jerusalem. A government spokesman said the tender was part of a 7-year-old plan.
Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem and incorporation of surrounding West Bank areas within much expanded Jerusalem city limits is not recognized internationally. Israel has settled Jews on much of that land, effectively isolating East Jerusalem.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Israeli building project was “not helpful,” and Palestinian presidential aide Nabil Abu Rudeina said the Americans “must pressure the Israeli government to stop settlement activities.” Negotiators from the two sides will meet in Jerusalem on Wednesday for the first round of talks since Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in Annapolis.
Activists built a mock Palestinian “settlement” in the West Bank yesterday. The 20-40 activists gathered in the hotly contested E-1 corridor early yesterday morning to erect a small shanty-style house near the massive Maale Adumim settlement in the West Bank outside of Jerusalem.
The Israeli government has plans for a vast project there aimed at linking Jerusalem to Maale Adumim, home to 30,000 Jewish settlers. “We have built the first house of a Palestinian town. This land is Palestinian and should be dedicated to a Palestinian expansion and not an Israeli expansion,” said Jonathan Polak, an Israeli pacifist.
“The construction of this house is an answer to the Israeli settlements who intend to separate Jerusalem from the Palestinian territories,” Abdullah Abu Rahmeh, a Palestinian pacifist said. Police broke up the demonstration and removed the house hours later. The E-1 corridor, stretching from the eastern edge of Jerusalem east to the barbed wire walls of Maale Adumim, is mostly uninhabited but part of the West Bank.
US President George W. Bush will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories from Jan. 9 to 11, a senior Palestinian official said yesterday. The White House said he would travel to the Middle East in early January. No venues or dates were given. Senior Abbas aide Saeb Erekat told Voice of Palestine radio that Bush’s visit would take place between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, following a trip to the region by Rice on Dec. 19.
