RAMALLAH, West Bank: Israel has approved the construction of four new apartment buildings in disputed East Jerusalem, fueling tensions with the Palestinians. The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem for a future capital and demand all construction there stop before negotiations resume.
The 24-unit project is being developed in an Arab neighborhood by Irving Moskowitz, an American Jew who has generously funded Jewish occupiers determined to cement Israel’s hold on the holy city.
Jerusalem is the most explosive issue between Israel and the Palestinians, and the new buildings would be located in one of its most volatile sites, just outside the walled Old City with its Christian, Muslim and Jewish sites.
Stephan Miller, spokesman for Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, confirmed that Jerusalem’s local planning committee approved the project on Monday, clearing the way for construction to begin.
Nabil Abu Rudainah, spokesman for the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, slammed the Israeli decision. “Building in Jerusalem is in defiance of the international community and international and Arab efforts to restore the peace process,” he said.
Abu Rudainah said the move is clear proof that Israel is not interested in peace. “The US and the international community must know that the continuation of settlement activity will not create a conducive atmosphere for reviving the peace process,” he added.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the move “in the strongest possible terms.” He said if Israel wants to resume peace talks, “it must announce a total cessation of settlement activities” in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Jerusalem councilor Meir Margalit of Meretz party said the move was a provocation meant to compromise efforts for renewal of the peace process. “The timing is significant. It was probably meant on one hand to cause provocation to the Americans, and on the other embarrass (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu who is trying to advance the negotiations. This is a pill which would be very hard for Abu Mazen (Abbas) to swallow,” he said.
Anti-settlement Israeli watchdog Peace Now and leftist Israelis were also quick to attack Mayor Barkat, saying he was creating a situation in Jerusalem similar to that in the troubled West Bank city of Hebron.
Israel captured East Jerusalem, along with the West Bank, from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war. It does not consider construction in East Jerusalem to be settlement activity because it annexed the area immediately after its capture. In November, it announced plans to build hundreds of new homes in Gilo, a sprawling Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
The international community, like the Palestinians, does not recognize the annexation and views the Jewish neighborhoods built in East Jerusalem as settlements. Some 180,000 Jews live in those neighborhoods alongside an estimated 250,000 Palestinians.
— With input from agencies
