20,000 Palestinian homes under demolition threat

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121861&sectionid=351020202



Palestinian officials warn that more than 20,000 Palestinian homes in Jerusalem al-Quds could soon face demolition orders from Israeli municipal authorities.

Ahmad Ruweidi, the Palestinian Authority's legal advisor on al-Quds affairs, said Israeli courts will soon hand demolition orders to Palestinian homeowners over what Tel Aviv calls violation of construction rules over the past 10 years and the requirement of renewable licenses.

The figure does not include homes whose owners have already received final demolition orders from Israeli courts or the Israeli municipality in al-Quds, Ruweidi noted.

This means that all owners will live in a state of fear that at any moment their homes could be demolished or a family member may be found homeless on the street, he cautioned.

Ruweidi said Israel's policy was intended to force Palestinians in al-Quds to pay large sums to engineers and lawyers in addition to significant fines for the so-called 'violations of construction restrictions.'

Major differences between the Palestinians and Israelis are growing deeper over Tel Aviv's continued demolition of Palestinian houses in al-Quds and its efforts to create a demographic wedge in the region.

On Saturday, acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas told delegates at the Arab League summit in Libya that Israeli settlements in the West Bank, in annexed East al-Quds in particular, remained the main obstacle to the resumption of the 'peace' talks.

Abbas described al-Quds, which Palestinians have long been demanding as the capital of their future Palestinian state, as "the jewel in the crown as well as the door and the key to peace."

"We emphasize that we hold onto every grain of soil and stone in Jerusalem (al-Quds). We are determined to defend Palestine's capital," he stressed.

Israel to build 112 new homes in occupied West Bank

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120334&sectionid=351020202


Israel has given the green light for the construction of 112 new homes in a settlement in the occupied West Bank despite a moratorium on the expansion of settlements.

Israeli Environment Minister Gilad Erdan has declared that the new homes will be constructed in the Beitar Ilit settlement near Bethlehem, AFP reported.

In November, Israel announced a 10-month moratorium on new building permits for settlers' homes in the occupied West Bank but Tel Aviv has repeatedly disregarded it by approving plans for the expansion of settlements.

The international community considers all Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian lands as illegal.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has put the renewal of talks with Israel on a permanent freeze due to Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

However, following an Arab League call to resume US-mediated 'peace talks' between Israel and the Palestinians, some PA officials have expressed interest in resumptions of indirect talks despite reservations about continued Israeli settlement expansion.

Most Palestinians though, are reported to be fiercely against returning to talks with the Israelis citing the regimes flagrant disregard to international demands and even their own commitments on settlements and other relevant issues.

The UN has also repeatedly called on Tel Aviv to stop what it calls "illegal settlement expansion."

Palestinian PM Haniyeh calls for West Bank uprising

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119319§ionid=351020202


The democratically elected Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has called for uprisings in the occupied West Bank over a controversial Israeli plan to confiscate two holy sites in the territory as "national heritage."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that the regime is planning to include Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron in a "national heritage plan".

His remarks drew protests from the Palestinians, the United Nations, Jordan and Egypt.

"The decision requires a real response in the West Bank and for the people to rise up in the face of the Israeli occupation and to break every shackle in confronting it," Haniyeh said Tuesday.

"(The project) aims to erase our identity, alter our Islamic monuments and steal our history," he added.

In Hebron there were sporadic clashes near the Ibrahim Mosque above the Tomb of the Patriarchs but there were no reports of casualties.

Meanwhile, in Bethlehem shops and schools were closed in a day-long general strike, AFP reported.

Israel to raze 200 Palestinian homes in E Jerusalem

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117846§ionid=351020202


Israeli authorities plan to seal 200 Palestinians homes in East Jerusalem Al-Quds to counter what they call "discriminatory enforcement" against Israeli settlers.

The East Jerusalem Al-Quds Mayor Nir Barkat announced the decision after the State Prosecutor Moshe Lador criticized the municipality's refusal to carry out a Supreme Court order to seal the Jewish-owned Beit Yehonatan building in East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

The building, which houses Israeli settlers, was illegally built in the city's neighborhood of Silwan in 2004.

In a letter written to the prosecutor on Wednesday, Barkat agreed to implement the sealing order but added that he would also act to tear down 200 "illegal" Palestinian homes in the area.

"Although the sealing order, in light of the dozens of demolition orders which are not being enforced, constitutes, in my eyes, a selective and discriminatory enforcement, Jerusalem (Al-Quds) Municipality will act according to court orders and implement the sealing orders on Beit Yehonatan as well as other standing orders," Barkat wrote to Lador.

"The municipality will seal Beit Yehonatan and raze all of the illegal structures - more than 200 structures on which the court has issued demolition orders."

The mayor charged the court order came under the influence of "wrongful political intervention" which he said "may cause publicly elected officials to refrain from expressing an opinion on issues that have dire consequences."

The decision to raze Palestinian houses received condemnation from civil rights organizations and human rights groups in Israel.

The Ir Amim (City of Nations) organization denounced the move, saying Barkat was adopting a policy similar to the settlers' "price tag policy", by which settlers seek revenge by attacking Palestinians for every illegal outpost that is evacuated.

"We hope Barkat is considering the local and international significance of such an extreme act," the organization said in a statement.

The Peace Now Movement said that "the Jerusalem (Al-Quds) mayor has turned into a collaborator with Israel's most extreme right-wing organizations."