Plateforme des ONG Françaises pour la Palestine

« Major settlement building won`t stop »

11 janvier 2008 - Etgar Letftkovits - Jerusalem Post - 10/12/07

Israel will continue building in Jerusalem as well as in major settlement blocs in the West Bank, even as a construction freeze continues elsewhere in the territories, a senior Israeli official said Thursday.

The remarks come days after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told The Jerusalem Post that the US opposes any new construction in the southeastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa, and does not distinguish between Israeli building in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.

It is very clear that we are committed not to build new settlements, and Israel has taken action to curtail settlement activity over the last years, the Israeli official said. [But] it is well understood that there are some areas, [the] most populated areas [where] some activity will continue, he added.

Israel plans to keep several major West Bank settlement blocs as part of any final peace treaty with the Palestinians.

The official added that Israel was determined to continue building in Jerusalem, and that there was no change in its position on the issue despite the rare criticism by Americas top diplomat.Nobody... could expect Israel to interpret this matter [of a building freeze] to be relevant to our capital,he said. The Palestinians have demanded that Israel freeze all settlement activity in the West Bank as well as in east Jerusalem. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday that despite a moratorium on new settlements and land expropriation in the West Bank, building in Jerusalem and West Bank population centers arenot [of] the same status.Recent plans to construct more than 300 new homes in Har Homa, which overlooks Bethlehem and lies just inside the expanded city limits on Jerusalems southern border with the West Bank, prompted international condemnation. While being built in the 1990s, the disputed neighborhood, home to a population of 7,000, was also the subject of international criticism.

While Israel differentiates between building in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, Rice said that the US did not make such a distinction. Her remarks were the strongest criticism to date of Israeli policies in east Jerusalem.

Rices definition of Har Homa as a settlement and her repeated criticism of the expansion plan on the eve of US President George W. Bushs trip to Israel set off alarm bells in Jerusalem amid concern that the US was adopting the Palestinian position against any Israeli construction in east Jerusalem.



Partager / imprimer
Bouton Facebook Bouton Twitter Bouton PDF Bouton imprimer

Campagne en cours


L’agenda

Dernières publications

18 avril 2024 Hôpital Al-Shifa, ventes militaires françaises et demande de cessez-le-feu Analyses politiques et géopolitiques Colonisation Eau Bande de Gaza Développement UE/Israël Politique française Jérusalem Autorité palestinienne Nations unies Torture et mauvais traitements Agriculture Etat de Palestine Droit international Solidarité internationale Enfance/jeunesse Histoire/analyse politique Santé Prisonniers palestiniens Vallée du Jourdain Destructions Aide internationale La question palestinienne en France Société (Palestine/Israël) Occupation/annexion Hamas Société civile Crime de guerre UE/Palestine Liberté d’expression Armement Violence des colons Climat/environnement Apartheid Guerre

11 avril 2024 « La France doit interdire le commerce avec les colonies israéliennes » Produits des colonies Droit international Colonisation

8 avril 2024 Offre de stage - assistant.e recherche et communication


> Toutes les publications