Is Israel ready for peace?
Boston.com | 14.10.2005 05:42
While the media was busy playing PR Agent for Zionism, held in the trance of the "historic" sacrifice of stolen land by Zionist settlers, Israel tightened its grip in further Palestinian land.
Is Israel ready for peace?
10/12/2005 7:10:00 PM GMT
Israel doesn't intend to give up more territories
Israel started building new police station in the heart of the West Bank, in an attempt to strengthen its control over the territory, now covered with Jewish settlements.
It is also part of a bigger Israeli plan to strengthen its control over East Jerusalem.
More Israeli land-grabs took place over the past few weeks, during which the world’s attention was solely directed towards the Gaza withdrawal, described by many analysts as a step towards Israel’s dominion over East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The Jewish state's maneuvers to seize more Palestinian lands in East Jerusalem have stirred outrage, even among senior Israeli officials.
As reported earlier, the Israeli government resurrected a 55-year-old piece of legislation drafted after the 1948 war. Under the 1950 Absentee Property Law, Israel can seize the holdings of any Palestinian landowner it defines as "absent."
And while the Israeli government tries to tighten its grip over Jerusalem and the area surrounding it, the Palestinians say that the future of a Palestinian state will be crippled if it can't follow a natural growth pattern expanding outward from Jerusalem, as it provides nearly half of a future state's economy.
''The metropolitan area is hugely vital," says a cartographer working for an international group working on security and land-planning issues related to Gaza withdrawal.
''They are withdrawing from Gaza Strip, but here they intend to take land," said Hani Issawi, a Palestinian businessman, referring to the hills between his struggling neighborhood in East Jerusalem and the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, 3 miles east into the West Bank.
Moreover, the West Bank Separation Barrier, which Israel claims is designed to protect the Israelis against attackers, adds to the Palestinians sufferings and kills hope for a possible end to the conflict between the two parties in the near future.
Israel plans to extend the barrier around Maale Adumim, dividing the northern and southern halves of the West Bank.
The Israeli Prime Minister himself explained that quitting Gaza, a less-important territory to the Jewish state, would preserve Israel's Jewish majority and help Israel gain control over more West Bank areas.
Last month, a municipal committee approved the construction of new Jewish settlement in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, a crucial site to the Palestinians as it houses Al Aqsa mosque.
Israel started building 3,000 housing blocks in Modi'in Ilit and Betar Ilit settlements, both on the Israeli side of the security barrier.
Israeli defense officials' have previously stated that Israel should keep large blocs east and south of Jerusalem, as well as settlements overlooking the Jordan Valley, which threatens to hamper any economic development in the West Bank.
Source: Boston.com
10/12/2005 7:10:00 PM GMT
Israel doesn't intend to give up more territories
Israel started building new police station in the heart of the West Bank, in an attempt to strengthen its control over the territory, now covered with Jewish settlements.
It is also part of a bigger Israeli plan to strengthen its control over East Jerusalem.
More Israeli land-grabs took place over the past few weeks, during which the world’s attention was solely directed towards the Gaza withdrawal, described by many analysts as a step towards Israel’s dominion over East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The Jewish state's maneuvers to seize more Palestinian lands in East Jerusalem have stirred outrage, even among senior Israeli officials.
As reported earlier, the Israeli government resurrected a 55-year-old piece of legislation drafted after the 1948 war. Under the 1950 Absentee Property Law, Israel can seize the holdings of any Palestinian landowner it defines as "absent."
And while the Israeli government tries to tighten its grip over Jerusalem and the area surrounding it, the Palestinians say that the future of a Palestinian state will be crippled if it can't follow a natural growth pattern expanding outward from Jerusalem, as it provides nearly half of a future state's economy.
''The metropolitan area is hugely vital," says a cartographer working for an international group working on security and land-planning issues related to Gaza withdrawal.
''They are withdrawing from Gaza Strip, but here they intend to take land," said Hani Issawi, a Palestinian businessman, referring to the hills between his struggling neighborhood in East Jerusalem and the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, 3 miles east into the West Bank.
Moreover, the West Bank Separation Barrier, which Israel claims is designed to protect the Israelis against attackers, adds to the Palestinians sufferings and kills hope for a possible end to the conflict between the two parties in the near future.
Israel plans to extend the barrier around Maale Adumim, dividing the northern and southern halves of the West Bank.
The Israeli Prime Minister himself explained that quitting Gaza, a less-important territory to the Jewish state, would preserve Israel's Jewish majority and help Israel gain control over more West Bank areas.
Last month, a municipal committee approved the construction of new Jewish settlement in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, a crucial site to the Palestinians as it houses Al Aqsa mosque.
Israel started building 3,000 housing blocks in Modi'in Ilit and Betar Ilit settlements, both on the Israeli side of the security barrier.
Israeli defense officials' have previously stated that Israel should keep large blocs east and south of Jerusalem, as well as settlements overlooking the Jordan Valley, which threatens to hamper any economic development in the West Bank.
Source: Boston.com
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