E1 Plan Will Isolate East Jerusalem

Displacement, isolation of Palestinians - cont'd:

Relatd News:
Israelis and Palestinians Protest Together Against Settlements
Source: Palestine Monitor
14 September 2009
Hundreds of demonstrators, both Israeli and Palestinian, gathered to protest in front of Jaffa Gate in Jeruslalem last Thursday.

The protest, with its keynote ''Give Peace A Chance: No To The Settlements In East Jerusalem'' was called by various human rights groups, including Rabbis for Human Rights, Gush Shalom, Coalition of Women for Peace, Combatants for Peace and the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.

It was a demonstration against expanding Israeli settlements, and called on the Israeli government to end its policy of Judaizing East Jerusalem and to respect the rights of Palestinian residents. It took place exactly on the Green Line, which divides the city of Jerusalem in half.

Protesters were holding emblems of two flags, Palestinian and Israeli together, and posters saying ''Jerusalem – a city of all its inhabitants''. The protest was accompanied by songs and a group of drummers.In between speakers they interjected with drum rolls and chanting of "A city for all! A city for all!". During the demonstration large group of religious Jewish teenagers, supporting settlers, tried to disturb the event by singing and dancing, although since nobody was concerned by their provocations, they went away.

The representatives of Palestinian families expelled from their houses in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood were also present, calling on the Jewish public to act for justice and reconciliation between the two communities in Jerusalem.

One of the speakers, Orly Noy of the Ir Amim organization said "Sometimes the media coverage of settler activity in East Jerusalem gives the impression of rampaging nationalist-religious fanatics which the authorities are somehow unable to control. The reality is far from that. The state and municipal authorities, the government ministries, the officials, the jurists, the police, are all directly and actively involved in a ceaseless campaign to get as many houses and as much land out of Palestinian hands, to let settlers become established by all kinds of shady legal tricks, to let them keep possession, protected by police and a private army of security guards paid by the state, to give into their hands enormous public properties such as the so-called ‘City of David National Park' in Silwan Village. It is not private enterprise, it is very much a state enterprise run by the government of Israel".

According to Ir Amim, at the start of 2009 approximately 2000 Israeli settlers were living in Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. In the first half of 2009, plans were being advanced for the building of an additional 150 housing units that could settle another 750 people in strategic areas of occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem. In addition, plans were advanced for Jewish community facilities (e.g., synagogues, community centers, ritual baths, etc.) in these areas.

*Video News Report by Al-Arabiya 090911 [LinkTV/Mosaic]



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