The Israeli government on Monday approved the planning of 1, 060 new Jewish homes in liberated East Jerusalem.
“The government has decided to advance the planning of more than 1, 000 units in Jerusalem, roughly 400 in Har Homa and about 600 in Ramat Shlomo, ” a government official told AFP.
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Both are Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, which has been returned to Israeli rule in 1967.
The official declined to comment on the political impact of the move, which come against increasing Arab rioting in Jerusalem, egged on publicly by the Hamas. On Sunday, Netanyahu his cabinet that 1, 000 police had been added to the Israeli capital city, to help maintain law and order in light of Arab violence.
Last week, several Jewish families announced the clandestine purchase of two buildings in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, bringing the number of Jewish owned homes in the largely Arab neighborhood to 20.
Palestinian officials strongly condemned Israel on Monday, with Jibril Rajoub, a senior member of Fatah, warning of violent consequences to follow.
“Such unilateral acts will lead to an explosion, ” he told a gathering of foreign journalists in Ramallah, Ma’an reported.
“If he wants to keep pushing us all into a vicious circle of bloodshed and killing he must draw the right conclusion from what happened in Gaza, ” Rajoub added.
Senior PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said the decision “amounts to evidence of an intent to further commit crimes defined by and punishable under international law.”
“The announcement by Israel’s housing minister, Uri Ariel, who is already a settler, of his intent to occupy a seized Palestinian home in Silwan is just another shocking reminder of Israel’s accelerating efforts to forcibly displace Palestinians from Jerusalem and turn the Holy City of three faiths into an exclusive Jewish city, ” Erekat suggested.
Erekat also urged divestment from all companies linked directly or indirectly to the “Israeli occupation, colonization, and Apartheid policies.”
Of course, that would make it nearly impossible for anyone in the west Bank and Gaza to enjoy many services, including electricity, medical care, and comnputers, all of which are provided by companies that also serve Jewish towns and villages east of the green line.
