By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
EAST JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – Israel began demolition of several Palestinian houses on November 18 in East Jerusalem, making way for new Jewish houses in the neighborhood. Seven Palestinians were reportedly injured, according to Ma’an News Agency, and several more assaulted by Israeli police, who threw tear gas into the crowd of Palestinian protestors.
The protests followed a decision by the Jerusalem municipal planning committee to approve the construction of nine hundred new housing units in the East Jerusalem Arab Gilo neighborhood, which is part of the occupied West Bank. Under international law, any new Israeli settlements in occupied territory are illegal.
There was a rapid outpouring of dismay from international leaders, surrounding the decision to allow new construction. The Swedish EU presidency reiterated its position that it had never recognized Israeli control over East Jerusalem, and that the actions of the Israeli government “contravene repeated calls by the international community, … and run counter to the creation of an atmosphere conducive to achieving a viable and credible solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.”
United States President Barack Obama told Fox News that Israel’s actions do not “contribute to Israel’s security,” and that it “embitters the Palestinians in a way that could end up being very dangerous.”
Although the Jerusalem municipal planning board has approved the new construction, the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported that the Israeli prime minister has the ability to freeze all construction in East Jerusalem, following a precedent set by then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, who froze settlement construction in Sarfat, a neighborhood in northern East Jerusalem. Israel has rejected the characterization of the new construction in Gilo as a settlement, saying it is a neighborhood of Israeli East Jerusalem and therefore available for expansion under international law.
Jackie Rowland, a reporter for Al Jazeera in East Jerusalem, stated that the new construction was part of a larger effort by Israel to differentiate East Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied West Bank:
“We have seen the government repeatedly claim that Jerusalem is its so-called united capital and the government said just today that whereas it planned to exercise what it called maximum restraint in the West Bank, it claimed that Jerusalem was a different case.”
For more information, please see:
Ha’aretz – Rabin Precedent Allows Freeze on Construction in E. Jerusalem – 20 November 2009
Ma’an News Agency – Clashes Erupt as Israeli Forces Raze Two More Homes in Jerusalem – 19 November 2009
Palestinian News Network – EU “Dismayed” By Israel’s Decision to Build New Houses in Gilo – 19 November 2009
Al Jazeera – Israel Defends Settlement Expansion – 18 November 2009
Christian Science Monitor – Obama Raps Israel Over New Jerusalem Settlement Plan – 18 November 2009
