Jerusalem committee approves housing construction in Palestinian neighborhood

Jerusalem committee approves housing construction in Palestinian neighborhood

2011-02-08 01:26:51 GMT+7 (ICT)

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (BNO NEWS) -- The Jerusalem Municipal Committee for Planning and Building on Monday approved a plan for the construction of Jewish housing in the Palestinian Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

According to the Haaretz newspaper, the committee approved the plan from private developers for the construction of two buildings that will have 13 apartments combined. As a result, it will be necessary to evict a number of Palestinian families living on the site.

According to the plan, two buildings will be constructed in the western part of the neighborhood. One will have 10 apartments and the other three. After the committee approval, the project has to be reviewed by an interior ministry committee.

The Palestinian Authority expressed its anger after the decision and claimed that the move was another example of the continuing policy of ethnic cleansing and remarked that it will further harm the peace negotiations.

Palestine demanded a stop to settlement construction in the disputed East Jerusalem as a key element for continuing peace talks with Israel. However, the Jewish country continued construction despite the condemnation from the international community, including the U.S.

The Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood has witnessed a dispute between Arabs and Jews for the last 18 months. A court recognized the right of Jews who inherited properties to reclaim their properties as prior to 1948 there was a Jewish neighborhood in Sheikh Jarrah.

Since the court's ruling, settlers have tried to convince owners to sell their properties in order to evict Palestinian families and populate the area with Jewish families in order to expand their hold in the neighborhood.

In mid-January, the historic Shepherd Hotel was demolished in order to construct Jewish settlements in the eastern region of Jerusalem. Eastern Jerusalem has been under dispute as Palestinians intend to establish the region as its future capital city.

In September 2010, the settlement freeze moratorium expired, ending the 10-month construction halt in the disputed territories. An agreement could not be reached as Israel rejected Palestinian President Abbas' conditions over the settlement moratorium.

The U.S., as part of the efforts to resume Israel-Palestine peace talks, offered a set of incentives in exchange for extending the settlement freeze moratorium for three months.

In December, the U.S. announced that it ended negotiations attempting to reach an extension from Israel. The U.S. said that it was unable to met Israel's demands. Israel's PM Netanyahu blamed Palestine for the lack of agreement.

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