Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss government Tuesday 11 January took to task the Israeli government for allowing the demolition of the Shepherd’s Hotel in East Jerusalem to go ahead, under the protection of Israeli armed forces. The hotel is being demolished to make way for a new housing settlement, which Switzerland points out is clearly in violation of international law.
“The 4th Geneva Convention, whose applicability extends over the entire occupied Palestinian territory, prohibits the Occupying Power from destroying personal or State-owned properties in the occupied territory with the exception of destruction rendered absolutely necessary by military operations, and it forbids the Occupying Power to transfer parts of its own civilian population into an occupied territory. Moreover, the construction of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory undermines the resumption of negotiations in view of realizing a two-state solution.”
The Swiss government says it is appealing to Israeli authorities to “respect International Law and to avoid any actions which might jeopardize the resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.”
Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, in Washington for meetings, is seeing US following sharp criticism from the US and increased tensions over Israel’s decision to build new settlements in East Jerusalem, but he came out forcefully on Israel’s right to build on land that is part of disputed territory taken during the 1967 Middle East War. “”The Jewish people were building Jerusalem 3,000 year ago and the Jewish people are building Jerusalem today. Jerusalem is not a settlement. It’s our capital,” Netanyahu said at a meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, an American pro-Israel lobby group.
He met Monday with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice-president Joe Biden and he meets Tuesday with President Barack Obama.
Links to other sites: BBC, Jerusalem Post, New York Times, Xinhua
The diplomatic Middle East Quartet, which met in Moscow Friday 19 March, has issued a strongly worded reaction to Israel’s recent announcement it intends to build 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem. The group of four (the UN, US, Russia and the EU) are calling for Israel to remove settlement homes within 24 months. and for Palestinians and Israelis to negotiate an agreement in the same time period that provides for an independent Palestinian state living next to Israel in peace. “The quartet condemns the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem, “UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon said unequivocally.
The New York Times had earlier reported that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared anxious to lower the temperature after Israel came in for heavy criticism over the housing. “We all condemned the announcement, and we all are expecting both parties to move toward the proximity talks and to help create an atmosphere in which those talks can be constructive,” Clinton said before the Quartet’s statement.
Links to other sites: Guardian, UK, Jerusalem Post, Moscow Times, New York Times
Settlement-building in the occupied West Bank will be halted for 10 months, but not in East Jerusalem, and the construction of schools, synagogues and community centres will continue as part of its “natural growth” doctrine, the government of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced 26 November. The news was welcomed by former US Senator George Mitchell, the US special envoy for the Middle East, who called it “significant.” President Barack Obama’s administration has urged Israel to respect its commitments under the 2003 roadmap to peace in the Middle East.
Palestine’s chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, dismissed the Israeli move as “mere propaganda” and said that it had more to do with appeasing the USA than making peace with the Palestinians.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, Jerusalem Post, New York Times, US State Department briefing
US President Barack Obama will hold separate meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu in New York, USA, before meeting them together Tuesday 22 September, in an effort to jump-start talks that have stalled largely because of Palestinian intransigence in the face of continued Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
None of the three sides expect much to come out of the meetings, say observers, who note that Obama is keen to have something to show leading up to the UN General Assembly meetings and the subsequent G-20 meetings in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Al-Jazeera, Jerusalem Post, New York Times
Israel’s eviction of two families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah district of occupied East Jerusalem early 2 August was criticized by the US, which led international condemnation of the move. The two families’ possessions were loaded onto moving vans, as armoured riot police surrounded the area. Israeli families moved in immediately. The evictions come at a tense moment in US-Israeli relations, as the US has pushed Israel to curb illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. The UN and the British consulate in East Jerusalem also condemned the move. The ownership of the land is disputed, but an Israeli court ruled in May that the Palestinian occupants had to leave. Plans are underway to build a 200-room hotel on the site. Al-Jazeera, BBC, Ir-Amim, Jerusalem Post
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu said on Sunday 19 July that Israel could not accept US demands for a halt in the building of an appartment block in East Jerusalem, saying: “We cannot accept the idea that Jews will not have the right to live or to build anywhere in east Jerusalem. We cannot accept such restrictions”. In Washington, the US State Department earlier informed Israeli ambassador Michael Oren of its concerns about the projected building. East Jerusalem was captured by Israel in 1967 and is considered by Israel to be an undivided part of its capital. The international community, including the US, regards East Jerusalem as occupied territory and its status subject to a comprehensive peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians. The differences come as the US and Israel are trying to find a way to freeze illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. Al-Jazeera, Jerusalem Post, Reuters
