Israeli-Palestinian showdown escalates
7 Dec 2012 5:24 AM IST
An Israeli-Palestinian showdown over plans for new Jewish settlements around Jerusalem escalated on Wednesday. Israel pushed the most contentious of the projects further along in the planning pipeline, and the Palestinian president said he would seek UN Security Council help to block the construction.
Israel is moving ahead despite mounting international condemnation of its settlement plans, some of them activated last week in retaliation for the UN General Assembly’s acceptance of a state of Palestine as a non-member observer.
Israel has built dozens of settlements for half a million Israelis since its 1967 capture of the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — the lands the UN now says make up the state of Palestine. The spread and growth of settlements has made an eventual partition, the internationally backed solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, increasingly difficult.
The Palestinians are particularly concerned about plans for more than 7,500 apartments and hundreds of hotel rooms in two future settlements, known as E-1 and Givat Hamatos, on the eastern and southern edges of Jerusalem.
Critics say the settlements would cut off traditionally Arab east Jerusalem from its West Bank hinterland and destroy hopes for a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel, with Jerusalem as a shared capital.
Israel had frozen E-1 plans under pressure from successive US administrations, but it revived them last week after UN recognition of Palestine. Actual construction would be years away.
On Wednesday, an Israeli planning committee in the West Bank decided to “deposit” a plan for 3,400 homes there, meaning the project is moving one step further in the approval pipeline, although the final go-ahead for construction has not been given.
Givat Hamatos, where some 4,000 apartments are planned, is also moving forward. A district planning committee is set to discuss the next approval step in mid-December.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday he is determined to block the settlement building near Jerusalem with all legal and diplomatic means.
CANADA TO CONTINUE AID TO PALESTINIANS
Canada will continue to provide millions of dollars in humanitarian aid to the Palestinians despite saying last week it would assess its whole relationship with the Palestinian Authority after the UN General Assembly voted to recognise the Palestinians as a non-member observer state Canada, a staunch ally of Israel, strongly opposed the Palestinians’ successful effort last week to win elevated status and was one of the few countries to vote against it.
Foreign Minister John Baird recalled diplomats from Israel, the West Bank and the UN to assess the implications of the vote and get advice on Tuesday.
Rick Roth, a Baird spokesman, says Canada’s current five-year, USD 300-million commitment in funding for security and humanitarian aid is important and will remain.
Roth says as a matter of course they will ‘review the path forward’ once the projects are completed.
US lawmakers have threatened to cut off aid if the Palestinians use their newfound status against Israel. Some suggested Canada could do the same.
Israel is moving ahead despite mounting international condemnation of its settlement plans, some of them activated last week in retaliation for the UN General Assembly’s acceptance of a state of Palestine as a non-member observer.
Israel has built dozens of settlements for half a million Israelis since its 1967 capture of the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — the lands the UN now says make up the state of Palestine. The spread and growth of settlements has made an eventual partition, the internationally backed solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, increasingly difficult.
The Palestinians are particularly concerned about plans for more than 7,500 apartments and hundreds of hotel rooms in two future settlements, known as E-1 and Givat Hamatos, on the eastern and southern edges of Jerusalem.
Critics say the settlements would cut off traditionally Arab east Jerusalem from its West Bank hinterland and destroy hopes for a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel, with Jerusalem as a shared capital.
Israel had frozen E-1 plans under pressure from successive US administrations, but it revived them last week after UN recognition of Palestine. Actual construction would be years away.
On Wednesday, an Israeli planning committee in the West Bank decided to “deposit” a plan for 3,400 homes there, meaning the project is moving one step further in the approval pipeline, although the final go-ahead for construction has not been given.
Givat Hamatos, where some 4,000 apartments are planned, is also moving forward. A district planning committee is set to discuss the next approval step in mid-December.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday he is determined to block the settlement building near Jerusalem with all legal and diplomatic means.
CANADA TO CONTINUE AID TO PALESTINIANS
Canada will continue to provide millions of dollars in humanitarian aid to the Palestinians despite saying last week it would assess its whole relationship with the Palestinian Authority after the UN General Assembly voted to recognise the Palestinians as a non-member observer state Canada, a staunch ally of Israel, strongly opposed the Palestinians’ successful effort last week to win elevated status and was one of the few countries to vote against it.
Foreign Minister John Baird recalled diplomats from Israel, the West Bank and the UN to assess the implications of the vote and get advice on Tuesday.
Rick Roth, a Baird spokesman, says Canada’s current five-year, USD 300-million commitment in funding for security and humanitarian aid is important and will remain.
Roth says as a matter of course they will ‘review the path forward’ once the projects are completed.
US lawmakers have threatened to cut off aid if the Palestinians use their newfound status against Israel. Some suggested Canada could do the same.
Next Story
