US: East Jerusalem subject to negotiation

Published today (updated) 21/07/2009 10:42  – Ma’an –

The status of East Jerusalem should be a final status issue in Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, the State Department said on Monday, responding to Israel in an ongoing dispute.

“We have made our views known to Israel,” State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said at a Washington press briefing. “Our views are not new either, that this kind of construction is the type … of issue that should be subject to permanent status negotiations, and that we are concerned that unilateral actions taken by the Israelis or the Palestinians cannot prejudge the outcome of these negotiations.”

On Sunday, the Israeli occupation government prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, publicly rejected a US call to halt construction of illegal settlements in East Jerusalem, the occupied Palestinian capital. US officials had summoned Israeli ambassador Michael Oren to the State Department to demand that construction be halted.

The particular settlement site reportedly at the center of the dispute is an East Jerusalem hotel planned by right-wing American millionaire Irving Moskowitz, on the existing site of the historic pre-Israel Shepherd Hotel.

Crowley also said that US Special Envoy for Mideast peacemaking George Mitchell will hold talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials during a trip to the region later this week.

This comes after Israeli officials canceled their last meeting with Mitchell on Sunday. An earlier meeting with Netanyahu scheduled to take place in Paris was also cancelled.

US Policy under Obama: East Jerusalem settlements not immune to building freeze

Monday July 20, 2009 09:58 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

The Obama administration in the US clarified its position on the illegal Israeli settlement activities in East Jerusalem on Sunday, stating that these (illegal) settlements are considered to be settlements, and the US will require Israeli authorities to adhere to signed agreements regarding East Jerusalem, and not expand them as planned.

The Israeli occupation government prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, responded to the policy by equating it to a 'ban on Jews' in certain areas of the city, while failing to mention the illegal takeover of East Jerusalem by Israeli forces in 1967 by force of war, and the ongoing occupation and settlement expansion since that time.

Netanyahu stated in Sunday's Cabinet meeting, "United Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people in the State of Israel, and our sovereignty over the city is not subject to appeal. I can imagine what would happen if someone proposed that Jews could not live or buy in certain neighborhoods of London, New York, Paris or Rome. A huge international outcry would surely ensue. It is even more impossible to agree to such an edict in East Jerusalem.”

Hundreds of Palestinians whose families have lived on property they own in Jerusalem for hundreds of years have been issued 'demolition orders' by the Israeli authorities, particularly in the Silwan and Shaikh Jarrah neighborhoods, where Israel plans to demolish the indigenous Palestinian neighborhoods and replace them with a biblical theme park to attract tourists.

The US government representatives told Israeli officials that they were particularly concerned with the planned settlement project funded by US Zionist Irving Moskowitz, who is planning to construct a settlement in place of the Shepherd Hotel in East Jerusalem. In response to this issue, Netanyahu replied, "In my previous term [as premier], I built thousands of apartments in the Har Homa neighborhood of Jerusalem, defying the entire world. Therefore, it is clear that I will not capitulate in this case - especially when we are talking about a mere 20 apartments."

Netanyahu's mention of the 'neighborhood' of Har Homa refers to a mountain known as Abu Ghneim, located in the town of Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem. The mountain was taken by Israeli military force, despite the ownership documents presented by Palestinians in Beit Sahour. For eight years, the Palestinian Christians and Muslims of Beit Sahour organized non-violent demonstrations to try to protect their land, including lawsuits in Israeli courts, weekly sit-ins and marches, and even civil disobedience. But the construction of the settlement continued despite these efforts, and now Har Homa sits atop the mountain of Abu Ghneim, while the Palestinians who still own the deeds to the land there remain across the series of electrified fences that Israeli forces have constructed to keep them out.

Barhoum doubts seriousness of American pressures on Israel

[ 21/07/2009 - 10:17 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The Hamas spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, has doubted the seriousness of the US reported pressures on Israel to halt settlement activity in the West Bank.

He told Al-Alam TV network on Monday that many factors affect the American-Israeli relations.

The spokesman said that he did not believe that the American administration was on a collision course with the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) despite owning all necessary pressure tools to force the IOA to respect the international resolutions and the Palestinian people's rights.

An Israeli financial newspaper had earlier Monday said that the US might reduce by one billion dollars the value of American treasury's banking credits to the IOA.

Calcalist newspaper said that the American Congress had allocated nine billion dollars worth of banking credits to Israel allowing it to obtain loans with preferential conditions in the American money markets.

Netanyahu: Jerusalem not included in debate over settlement activity

[ 21/07/2009 - 08:29 AM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--

Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed surprise at the US request for an end to construction works in Sheikh Jarrah suburb in occupied Jerusalem.

Netanyahu told a closed consultative council session for his cabinet that he explained to US president Barack Obama during a recent meeting in Washington that Israel considers Jerusalem as not included in the debate over settlement activity.

He said that Jewish inhabitants of Jerusalem could buy apartments in any place in the holy city.

Israel cancels second meeting in a row with US envoy Mitchell

Published Sunday 19/07/2009 (updated) 20/07/2009 11:03

Israeli officials have cancelled another meeting with US envoy George Mitchell on Sunday, the Hebrew-language Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

The meeting was postponed to at least the end of the month, the newspaper added. A previously scheduled meeting in Paris for last month was cancelled altogether.

Mitchell was to arrive in Israel on Sunday before the cancellation was announced, with some sources telling the paper they speculated it was because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not managed to seal a deal with the Americans on illegal settlements.

The prior meeting was supposed to be between Mitchell and Ehud Barak, Israel's defense minister. Barak has lately been handling such responsibilities due to the perception that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman would be biased in favor of the colonies, one of which he calls home near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

Meanwhile on Sunday, Hebrew press reported that Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren was summoned by the State Department, where he was urged to stop building in occupied Palestinian territory.

World Zionist Organization Investigated for selling Palestinian Private Land to Illegal Israeli Settlers

Published Sunday 19/07/2009 (updated) 20/07/2009 14:37

Israel’s Attorney General has ordered police to investigate whether the World Zionist Organization (WZO) allocated private Palestinian land for construction in the illegal Israeli settlement of Ofra, north of Ramallah.

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Attorney General Menahem Mazuz ordered the probe after five Palestinian landowners filed a petition with the Court of Justice to stop construction of five illegal settler houses.

The newspaper said construction was well underway when the petition was submitted, with the help of two Israeli human rights groups, Yesh Din and B'Tselem. By the time of the hearing, the houses were already inhabited.

During the hearing, the Israeli state's lawyers conceded that the buildings were on private Palestinian land, the newspaper said, citing a Channel Two television report.

Israel’s Justice Ministry wrote a letter to Yesh Din stating that it was launching an investigation.

The expropriation of Palestinian land in the West Bank for settlements often takes place through a series of bureaucratic transactions that obscure the overall project of settlement expansion.

The newspaper also said the settlers who purchased the land showed the court their contracts with the settlement division of the WZO. These documents stated that the land was transferred to the WZO by the Civil Administration official in charge of “abandoned property” in the West Bank.

The WZO’s settlement division in turn transferred the property to Ofra's “partnership organization,” which sold it to the settlers, the report said.

Israel weighing confiscating private Palestinian land

Published today (updated) 21/07/2009 12:14 [Ma'anImages] Bethlehem – Ma’an –

The Israeli occupation government is considering confiscating more privately-owned Palestinian land near the illegal Israeli settlement of Ofra, according to an Israeli newspaper.

The confiscation would go against a pledge made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his policy address at Bar-Ilan University in June.

The Haaretz daily reported on Tuesday that Israel’s state prosecutor made this announcement in response to a High Court petition filed by a resident of the West Bank town of Ein Yabrud and the human rights organization Yesh Din.

The petitioners sought the demolition of a sewage treatment plant built illegally by settlers on the town's land.

The prosecutor’s announcement says the Israeli state is considering turning the site into a sewage treatment plant that would serve both the settlement and nearby Palestinian communities, according to the newspaper.

The news comes just two days after Israel’s Attorney General ordered an investigation into the World Zionist Organization (WZO) for allegedly allocating private Palestinian land for sale to settlers, also near Ofra.

Abbas says Israel wants Jewish-only Jerusalem

Published yesterday (updated) 21/07/2009 09:47

 Bethlehem – Ma’an –

 The Israeli occupation government intends to eliminate Jerusalem's Islamic and Christian character, President Mahmoud Abbas insisted in a speech in the central West Bank on Sunday evening.

Abbas' remarks came while commemorating the Isra and Mi’raj (the prophet Muhammad's night journey from Makkah to Jerusalem, then to heavens), mentioned in the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah, emphasizing the importance of East Jerusalem, Palestine's capital, for all Muslims.

"Israeli excavations across the holy city endanger its historical buildings and holy places, especially the Al-Aqsa Mosque," Abbas said in Bethlehem, a city among the closest to Jerusalem that Palestinians can visit. While in the city, Abbas also visited a home for the elderly and the Terasanta College, which is planned venue for the upcoming Fatah summit.

"Demolishing houses owned by Muslims and Christians in the city, as well as levying high taxes on Muslims and Christians there, are aimed only at forcing them to leave," the president said, stressing recognition of Palestinian rights in the city holy to three faiths as the "key to peace."

Israel captured Palestinian East Jerusalem in 1967, declaring it the "eternal, undivided capital of Israel." The international community has never signed on to Israel's claims, and thus maintain embassies in Tel Aviv.

"Creating a just and comprehensive peace needs honest will, however, peace can never be made by one side," added Abbas, who has in the past accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of dictating terms to the Palestinians.

Abbas insisted that the Israelis would have to withdraw from all occupied Palestinian lands and end all settlement activities if the country ever wants to achieve a lasting peace in the region.

Negotiations between Palestine and the former Israeli government led by Ehud Olmert were suspended in the wake of Israel's assault on Gaza, which killed more than 1,500 Palestinians last winter. Abbas and his negotiators have refused to continue negotiating with the new right-wing government until it agrees to begin fulfilling its prior commitments.

Abbas' remarks came amid escalations between Israel and its strong ally, the United States, which on Sunday demanded that Israel stop settlement activities in East Jerusalem. Netanyahu refused in no uncertain terms, reiterating his assertion that the occupied half belongs to Israel.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian presidency condemned Netanyahu's Sunday remarks. Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeina said that "East Jerusalem is a red line that should not be compromised," according to AFP.

Bethlehem tour

On Monday donated a plot of land and $50,000 to an elderly people’s organization in the Beit Sahour, just outside of Bethlehem.

Abbas was accompanied by the governor of Bethlehem Abdul-Fattah Hamayil, secretary-general of the Palestinian presidency At-Tayyib Abdul-Rahim, an aide on settlement affairs, Salah Ta’mari, the former Bethlehem governor, Rafiq Al-Huseini, the director of the president’s bureau. Abbas shook hands with elderly people in Elderly People Club in Beit Sahour while he announced his donation. Salah Ta’mari asserted he would follow on with allocating the piece of land which the president promised.

The director of the elderly people club Elaine Qassees welcomed the president and his delegation and thanked him for caring about elderly people, and demanded that the Palestinian Authority provide social benfits for them.

“What is special about the Palestinian people is that the young love the old, and the old have compassion for the young. This is the typical family which the Palestinian people like where everyone sympathizes with the other and loves the other,” Abbas said.

After visiting the elderly people club, Abbas visited Terasanta College to inspect its conference hall where the sixth Fatah conference will be held on 4 August.

Illegal Israeli settlers attack Palestinians after outpost evacuations, set fire to olive groves in the northern West Bank villages

Published yesterday (updated) 21/07/2009 11:33
Nablus – Ma’an –

Illegal Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian olive groves in the northern West Bank villages of Tell and Madma south of Nablus protesting evacuation of an illegal settlement outpost on Monday.

According to Ghassan Dughlus, a Palestinian Authority official in charge of settlement activity in the northern West Bank, Israeli forces evacuated an illegal outpost near the village of Sinjil on Monday morning. Angered about the evacuation, the illegal Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian fields near Yizhar settlement south of Nablus.

Dughlus was also quoted by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz saying that 10 settlers riding horses and carrying torches set fire to between 1,500 and 2,000 olive trees.

Firefighters were sent to the fields in an attempt to put out the flames. A Palestinian photojournalist also said he was assaulted by settlers when he attempted to cover the incident.

Settlers also threw stones at Palestinian cars and blocked the road near the Huwwara checkpoint on the outskirts of Nablus. Two Palestinian motorists were lightly injured and five cars damaged, according to Dughlus. Israeli soldiers clashed with the settlers, ultimately arresting two, and escorting the others away from the scene. Palestinian cars were also attacked in the city of Hebron.

The settlers’ attacks on Palestinians were a continuation of what they call a “price tag” campaign, in which they respond violently whenever outposts are removed by the Israeli government.

Jerusalem protesters decry eviction orders

Published Sunday 19/07/2009 (updated) 20/07/2009 09:53 Jerusalem – Ma’an –

Palestinian lawmaker Hatem Abdul Qader led a demonstration against the Israeli occupation government planned eviction of two families in the Shaikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Sunday.

Dozens of young children from summer camps in Jerusalem participated in the demonstrations as well as representatives of civic organizations, local human rights groups, and foreign solidarity activists.

Abdul Qader said the sit-in coincides with an Israeli court hearing to decide on evacuation of two homes owned by Al-Ghawi and Hanoun families. Last month the cout gave the two families until 19 August before to evacuate their homes, in addition to a fine of 50,000 US dollars and 50,000 Israeli shekels if they defy the order.

Islamic-Christian Front to Compose Jerusalem Dictionary, in Reaction to Israeli Attempt to Change Arab Street Names

Published Sunday 19/07/2009 (updated) 20/07/2009 19:19

 The Islamic-Christian Front in Jerusalem will compose a dictionary including all the names of archeological sites and streets of the holy city in Arabic, officials said Sunday.

The campaign was announced as a response to Israel's decision to Hebraize Arabic and English road signs and sites throughout Israel.

The dictionary project was announced by Islamic-Christian Front Secretary-General Dr. Hassan Khatir during a news conference at Ramatan news agency in the central West Bank city of Ramallah.

Palestine's chief Islamic judge, Shaikh Tayseer Al-Tamimi, participated in the conference along with Father Manuel Mussallam, and both commemorated the holiday that marks Prophet Muhammad’s journey to heaven.

Other speakers addressed the latest developments in Jerusalem, especially Israeli policies they said aimed at desecrating the city, among them the inauguration of a dance club near the Al-Aqsa Mosque and ads for bars featuring the Dome of the Rock. Alcohol is generally forbidden in Islam.

The city's annual gay pride events, which tend to draw the ire of conservative Muslim, Christian and Jewish officials each year, were also noted among the complaints.

The Muslim and Christian speakers called on other Arab countries to name major streets and squares in their capitals after Jerusalem's roads and archeological sites.

Last week, the Israeli occupation government so-called transportation minister announced a plan to change English and Arabic street signs to reflect just their Hebrew names.

"This government, and certainly this minister, will not allow anyone to turn Jewish Jerusalem to Palestinian Al-Quds," said Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported.

The daily Hebrew-language paper, Israel's largest, reported last Monday that the plan had been in the works for the past year.