East Jerusalem | ICT magazine

Posts Tagged ‘East Jerusalem’

US envoy in Mid-East peace push

July 26th, 2009 | No Comments

The US has launched a new drive to kick-start Middle East peace talks, with visits to Israel, Syria and Egypt by special envoy George Mitchell.

In Damascus, Mr Mitchell met Syria’s President Bashar Assad for what the envoy called candid and positive talks.

Mr Mitchell later flew to Tel Aviv for talks with Israeli defence minister Ehud Barack and then made an unscheduled trip to Egypt.

More senior US officials are due to visit the region this week.

The heightened activity comes at a time of strained relations between the US and Israel.

The BBC’s Middle East correspondent Katya Adler says the visits are part of a week-long high level diplomatic push by Washington to re-start peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians which have been frozen for six months.

Talks in Syria

Mr Mitchell’s visit to Damascus was his second since June.

Speaking after meeting President Assad, the envoy said restarting peace talks between Syria and Israel – stalled since 2000 – was a "near-term goal".

George Mitchell and President Assad of Syria (26.7.09)

He said he had told the Syrian leader that US President Barack Obama was "determined to facilitate a truly comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace".

"If we are to succeed, we will need Arabs and Israelis alike to work with us to bring about comprehensive peace. We will welcome the full co-operation of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic in this historic endeavour," he said.

The BBC’s Lina Sinjab, in Damascus, says President Obama’s commitment to talks with all parties is welcomed in Syria but not with much enthusiasm.

Getting back the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights is a priority in Damascus, our correspondent says.

The Heights are a strategic mountainous area seized by Israel in 1967.

Syria’s official news agency quoted President Assad as stressing to Mr Mitchell "the Arab right to recover occupied lands through achieving a just and comprehensive peace."

Direct talks between Israel and Syria broke down nine years ago over the scale of a potential Israeli pull-back on the Golan Heights.

‘Vital interests’

Mr Mitchell later arrived in Tel Aviv where he held talks with Israel’s defence minister.

Afterwards he described the differences with Israel as "discussions among friends… not disputes among adversaries".

"We are ready to take whatever reasonable effort to make it [the peace process] happen"

Ehud Barak
Israeli defence minister

Ehud Barak promised the full co-operation of his government in the search for peace.

"We are ready to take whatever reasonable effort to make it [the peace process] happen," he said.

"Of course we bear in mind our vital interests but we understand the needs of the other partners as well and we clearly need the leadership of the United States – as well as your experience and wisdom – in the attempt to achieve it.".

Relations between the US and Israel have been strained, largely due to differences over the future of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.

Washington says continued Israeli construction in the Palestinian territories threatens to undermine future peace talks.

Palestinians say there will be no new talks until the construction stops.

Israel says some expansion must be allowed to accommodate the "natural growth" of settler families.

Mr Mitchell also made an unscheduled trip to Egypt late on Sunday.

A spokesman for the US embassy in Tel Aviv said the trip to Cairo came at the request of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

It was not immediately clear why Mr Mubarak asked the envoy to bring forward his visit, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday.

Mr Mitchell is also due to meet Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Monday and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

As well as Mr Mitchell, US defence secretary Robert Gates and National Security Advisor James Jones are due in the region for talks.

Mr Gates will first meet his Israeli counterpart in Jerusalem before travelling to Jordan for discussions with King Abdullah.

Iran and its nuclear programme are expected to be on the agenda in talks with Israel.</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

George Mitchell In Syria: Obama Determined To See “Truly Comprehensive” Mideast Peace

July 26th, 2009 | No Comments

JERUSALEM — President Barack Obama’s Mideast envoy on Sunday called on the Arab world to take steps toward normalizing relations with Israel, and Israel’s prime minister said he hoped his country’s disputes with the U.S. over West Bank s…

Abraham H. Foxman: Unsettling Signs: The U.S. Takes on Israel on Settlements

July 24th, 2009 | No Comments

While some may believe America has acknowledged a special relationship with Israel, the record of U.S. policy toward many significant issues in the conflict shows something entirely different.

Israel to use Hitler shot for PR

July 22nd, 2009 | No Comments

Adolf Hitler and Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Amin al-Husseini, 1941

Israeli embassies are being instructed to use for public relations purposes an infamous photograph of Adolf Hitler meeting a top Palestinian cleric.

Far-right Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has personally requested that the photo be sent to missions around the world, a senior official said.

The 1941 shot shows the Nazi leader meeting the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.

The US is pressuring Israel to end a Jewish building project at a hotel once owned by the cleric, Amin al-Husseini.

AFP news agency quoted an Israeli official as saying the move by Mr Lieberman was linked to the row over the Shepherd Hotel.

"It is important that the world know the facts," a spokesperson for Mr Lieberman told the BBC, without giving further detail.

Obstacles to peace: Jerusalem

Shepherd Hotel, East Jerusalem

Haj Amin al-Husseini was a Palestinian nationalist leader who led violent campaigns against Jewish immigrants and the British authorities in what was then British-ruled Palestine in the 1920s and 1930s.

He fled the territory in 1937, but continued his campaign to oppose British plans to set up a Jewish State in Palestine, allying himself with the Nazis during World War II.

The meeting with Hitler took place in November 1941 in Berlin, during which Husseini asked Hitler unsuccessfully to back Arab independence and public oppose the future creation of Israel.

Last week US officials reportedly summoned Israel’s ambassador to Washington and requested a stop to the project to build 20 apartments at the Shepherd Hotel site in Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.

It was bought in 1985 by American Jewish millionaire Irving Moskowitz.

The site is in East Jerusalem, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

It has annexed the occupied territory and declared all Jerusalem Israel’s eternal capital in a move that has not been recognised by the international community.

Palestinians hope to establish their capital in East Jerusalem, as part of a two-state peace deal with the Israelis.

They say Israel uses settlement and demolition orders to try to force them from the area.</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Israel to demolish 23 illegal settlements

July 22nd, 2009 | No Comments

Israel is planning to remove 23 “illegal outposts” from the West Bank in the course of a single day in response to mounting US demands that it halt all settlement activity, it was reported today.

These outposts are defined as illegal by the Israeli government because they have not received planning permission. But under international law all settlements built on occupied territory are illegal. According to the Ha’aretz newspaper the outposts, housing 1,200 people, will all be evacuated and dismantled simultaneously following a decision by the Likud prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Israeli army denied receiving any orders for a “lightning evacuation”. Settler spokesmen warned of a furious response if any such move took place.

Israel has only twice evacuated Jewish settlements since the 1967 war: in 1981 when the Sinai desert was returned to Egypt, and in 2005, when Israel unilaterally withdrew troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip. Removing settlers from the West Bank will be far more controversial.

Israel has told the US it would remove “illegal” outposts built after March 2001. The current activity is in response to unprecedented pressure from Washington, where President Barack Obama has departed sharply from the informal acquiescence of the Bush administration.

Dan Meridor, a deputy prime minister with a reputation for moderation, insisted that tacit “understandings” with Bush still bound the Obama administration.

Netanyahu has insisted that construction must be permitted in existing settlements to accommodate what he calls “natural growth” in their populations. In all, nearly 500,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, both claimed by the Palestinians as part of their future independent state.

Tensions have flared in recent days since Netanyahu said the US had no right to demand that Israel halt plans to develop 20 apartments in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah. On Monday, campaigners protesting at the planned eviction of Palestinian families to make way for it appealed to Obama to stop the settlement.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said today: “What is required from Israel is to freeze all settlement activity. When Israel meets these demands, we will be ready to go to the final negotiations.”

France’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, meanwhile summoned the Israeli ambassador to Paris to complain about Jewish settlements. “These activities must be stopped,” warned Kouchner, “otherwise there will be no chance to found an independent Palestinian state that administers itself and also guarantees Israel’s security.”

Britain’s foreign office minister, Ivan Lewis, told MPs: “Israel should freeze all settlement activity, including the natural growth of existing settlements, and dismantle all outposts erected since March 2001.”

Sweden, current president of the EU, also urged Israel “to refrain from provocative actions in East Jerusalem, including home demolitions and evictions.” It added: “Such actions are illegal under international law.”

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Amjad Atallah: The Obama-Likud Staredown: Who’s Going to Blink?

July 21st, 2009 | No Comments

Let’s hope that the US does a better job in earning Israel’s respect than the Palestinians have in their negotiations thus far.

East Jerusalem Settlements: Mike Huckabee Joins The Fray, Will Broadcast From Disputed Site

July 21st, 2009 | No Comments

The dispute over a highly controversial East Jerusalem Israeli settlement project on Arab land came to a head Tuesday when direct, public statements from France and Russia joined statements made by the United States demanding that all construc…

Israel to demolish 23 illegal settlements

July 21st, 2009 | No Comments

Israel is planning to remove 23 “illegal outposts” from the West Bank in the course of a single day in response to mounting US demands that it halt all settlement activity, it was reported today.

These outposts are defined as “illegal” by the Israeli government because they have not received planning permission. But under international law all settlements built on occupied territory are illegal. According to the Ha’aretz newspaper the outposts, housing 1,200 people, will all be evacuated and dismantled simultaneously following a decision by the Likud prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Israeli army later denied receiving any orders for a “lightning evacuation.” Settler spokesmen warned of a furious response if any such move took place.

Israel has told the US it would remove “illegal” outposts built after March 2001. The current activity is in response to unprecedented pressure from Washington, where President Obama has departed sharply from the informal acquiescence of the Bush administration.

Dan Meridor, a deputy prime minister with a reputation for moderation, insisted that tacit “understandings” with Bush still bound the Obama administration.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Israel settlers burn olive trees

July 21st, 2009 | No Comments

A settler is arrested during an incident at Hawarra checkpoint, near Nablus (20.07.09)

Ten people have been arrested during a series of disturbances caused by Jewish settlers in the West Bank after Israeli authorities removed an illegal caravan.

Two Palestinians were taken to hospital after settlers threw stones at cars and tried to block a road near Nablus in the northern West Bank on Monday night.

Settlers also set fire to a Palestinian olive grove in the area.

The caravan was part of an "outpost", a settlement illegal under Israeli law, which Israel has agreed to remove.

Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law.

Israeli outposters vow to stay

Settler vineyards take root

Settlers after structure at Adei Ad is demolished (20.07.09)

Right-leaning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under US pressure to halt all settlement building and carry out previous Israeli pledges to remove the outposts.

But the settlers, many of whom say they have a God-given right to live in the West Bank, have threatened to impose what they call a "price tag" on such evacuations.

The Human Rights Group Yesh Din said this can include attacking Palestinians and their property "to create a price for each evacuation, causing Israeli authorities to think twice about carrying them out".

Police did not give details of the incidents in which the 10 arrests were made, but said they were from a series of "disturbances" across the West Bank.

At least 280,000 Jews live in settlements (with a further 180,000 living in East Jerusalem), established in the occupied West Bank with Israeli government backing, in contravention of international law.

Israeli activist groups say there are, in addition, about 100 unauthorised outposts in the West Bank, where Palestinians want to locate their future state.

On Tuesday, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israeli forces were drafting a plan to remove 23 such outposts in one day.</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Israeli PM defiant on Jerusalem

July 19th, 2009 | No Comments

Benjamin Netanyahu, pictured on 12 July 2009

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a reported US request that a building project in Jerusalem be halted.

The project involves building 20 apartments in the mainly Arab East Jerusalem area, which was captured by Israel in 1967.

Last week US officials told the Israeli ambassador that the project should be suspended, Israeli media said.

But Mr Netanyahu rejected this in comments at his weekly Cabinet meeting.

"We cannot accept the idea that Jews will not have the right to live and buy (homes) anywhere in Jerusalem," he said.

"Unified Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people and the state of Israel. Our sovereignty over it is unquestionable."

Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since 1967. It has annexed the city and declared its east and west Israel’s eternal capital.

"This undermines the efforts being exerted to revive the peace process"

Saeb Erekat,
Palestinian negotiator

Demolitions build Jerusalem tension

Obstacles to peace: Jerusalem

This is not recognised by the international community, with the east of the city considered occupied territory.

Palestinians hope to establish their capital in East Jerusalem, as part of a two-state peace deal with the Israelis.

They say Israel uses settlement and demolition orders to try to force them from the area.

‘No credibility’

The project in question concerns a block of 20 apartments in the Sheikh Jarrah district of the city.

Israeli officials said the US State Department summoned Ambassador Michael Oren last week and told him that the construction should not go ahead.

There was no immediate comment from the US.

But Israel has come under pressure from the Obama administration to freeze settlement activity on land that Palestinians want for a future state.

Palestinians say peace talks cannot proceed until settlement activity halts.

A senior Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said Mr Netanyahu’s comments had further undermined efforts to re-start the peace process.

The decision to pursue this project, he said, reflected Israel’s defiance of international calls for a halt to settlement activity.

"This undermines the efforts being exerted to revive the peace process and this undermines the credibility of those involved in making the peace process continue," he said.

About 268,000 Palestinians live in East Jerusalem, alongside 200,000 Israeli Jews.</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Matthew Duss: Olmert’s Settlement Blues

July 17th, 2009 | No Comments

Despite it’s promises not to take actions that would prejudice a final outcome, for years, Israel has gotten away with building and expanding settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

Israel FM queries Abbas authority

July 13th, 2009 | No Comments

President Mahmoud Abbas

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has questioned the authority of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in an escalating Israeli-Palestinian war of words.

Mr Lieberman said Mr Abbas "was not exactly legitimate" and was therefore in no position to make demands on the Israeli leadership.

A day earlier Mr Abbas had called him a bad choice as Israeli foreign minister.

The two sides have been unable to agree terms for restarting peace talks since the Israel government came into office.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been in power since 1 April, on Sunday urged Mr Abbas to restart peace talks immediately.

"There is no reason Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and I should not meet, anywhere in this country, to advance the political process," Mr Netanyahu told the weekly meeting of his cabinet.

Mr Abbas has refused to meet Mr Netanyahu and on Sunday reiterated his stance in a radio interview that, for negotiations on the key issues to resume, there must be "a complete halt" to Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.

Separately in the Egyptian weekly, October, he said that Mr Netanyahu had backed himself into a corner on the Palestinian track, and he would face fierce opposition from Mr Lieberman if he tried to emerge from it.

Mr Abbas said things would be better if the former Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, had been reappointed instead of the current incumbent.

‘Blessing’

The outspoken Mr Lieberman said he took such comments from Mr Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, as a "blessing".

"As Abu Mazen’s authority or legitimacy deteriorates or declines, he raises his demands and toughens his position.

"There are no middle-ground solutions for the settlement issue: either settlement activity stops or it doesn’t"

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat

"Abu Mazen isn’t exactly legitimate, hence neither is his new demand, or suggestion, to replace Lieberman with Tzipi Livni," he said in an interview on Israel radio.

"I see such advice as a blessing. His demand to cease settlement construction is nothing more than an expression of his distress and incompetence."

He said that with Gaza under control of the Hamas militant group, Mr Abbas represented "at best, half of the nation".

Also on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu insisted the Palestinians "must finally abandon" the right of return for Palestinian refugees since 1948, which if realised would facilitate the arrival of millions of displaced Arabs to areas that currently have an Israeli Jewish majority.

He reiterated demands for Palestinians to explicitly recognise Israel as a Jewish state, calling this "the key to peace."

The Palestinians say it is tantamount to legitimising their own displacement in past wars with Israel.

They have also rejected any potential deal between Israel and its main backer, the US, to allow limited Jewish settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.

"There are no middle-ground solutions for the settlement issue: either settlement activity stops or it doesn’t," negotiator Saeb Erekat told Voice of Palestine radio.

Some 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas captured by Israel in 1967. Israel wants to be able to keep building within existing communities there, although all such work is illegal under international law.

"If settlement continues, Israel will be allowed to build 1,000 units here and 2,000 units there, which will lead Arabs and Palestinians to believe the US administration is incapable of swaying Israel to halt its settlement activities," Mr Erekat said.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Posts Tagged ‘East Jerusalem’

US envoy in Mid-East peace push

George Mitchell In Syria: Obama Determined To See “Truly Comprehensive” Mideast Peace

Abraham H. Foxman: Unsettling Signs: The U.S. Takes on Israel on Settlements

Israel to use Hitler shot for PR

Israel to demolish 23 illegal settlements

Amjad Atallah: The Obama-Likud Staredown: Who’s Going to Blink?

East Jerusalem Settlements: Mike Huckabee Joins The Fray, Will Broadcast From Disputed Site

Israel to demolish 23 illegal settlements

Israel settlers burn olive trees

Israeli PM defiant on Jerusalem

Matthew Duss: Olmert’s Settlement Blues

Israel FM queries Abbas authority

Latest Video

Recent Posts