Israel builds more homes in east Jerusalem
Israel annexed east Jerusalem after the 1967 Six Day War, declaring the city its “eternal, undivided capital.” The move has not been recognised by the international community and all foreign embassies are located in Tel Aviv
Agence France Presse, Apr 27, 2009
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel has begun construction on some 60 new housing units in Jewish settlements in annexed east Jerusalem, the anti-settlement Peace Now group said on Monday.
“The works aim to build 60 housing units for Orthodox religious Jewish families right next to the Palestinian neighbourhood of Arab al-Sawahra,” Peace Now spokeswoman Hagit Ofran told AFP.
“The works began two months ago as part of development of East Talpiot,” one of a dozen Jewish settlements that Israel has built in east Jerusalem since conquering that part of the city in 1967, she said.
“They aim to complete a belt of Jewish neighbourhoods that will surround east Jerusalem and we are against this project, which is harming the hopes for peace,” she said.
The Jerusalem municipality says that the construction in the neighbourhood was approved in 2000 and that the works in question do not amount to a new settlement.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said in a statement on Monday that the continuation of settlement activity “is part of the occupation government’s policy to avoid the two-state solution and the peace process.”
Israeli settlements in east Jerusalem — which Palestinians hope to make the capital of their promised state — are one of the main stumbling blocks in the moribund Middle East peace process.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem after capturing the city in the 1967 Six Day War, declaring the city its “eternal, undivided capital.”
The move has not been recognised by the international community and all foreign embassies are located in the commercial capital of Tel Aviv.
Copyright © 2009 Agence France Presse
