[wvns] Palestinian villagers torn from neighbours

Palestinian village torn from Jerusalem neighbours
By Alistair Lyon
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/B225011.htm

SHEIKH SAAD, West Bank (Reuters) - Sheikh Saad, a small Palestinian
village perched on Jerusalem's southeastern extremity has the
misfortune to lie just inside the West Bank.

Its people have few links with the occupied territory. Their close
relatives, their school and even their cemetery are in the Jerusalem
neighbourhood of Jebel Mukabbir, from which they are now separated by
a steel fence and coils of barbed wire.

"Where is the difference between here and Jebel Mukabbir?" asked
Bassam Mashahri, standing on the Sheikh Saad side of an Israeli
checkpoint that villagers say has blighted their lives.

"My brother, my sister and two of my uncles have Jerusalem identity
papers. Mine's West Bank, but my life is in Jerusalem."

Sheikh Saad was divided from Jebel Mukabbir after the 1967 Middle East
war in which Israel captured Jerusalem's mainly Arab eastern part,
along with the West Bank, from Jordan.

The world has refused to recognise Israel's annexation of East
Jerusalem. Palestinians want it to serve as the capital of a state
they seek in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Patterns of daily life in Sheikh Saad were not badly disrupted until
Israeli-Palestinian violence erupted in 2000.

Determined to defeat suicide bombers, Israel began building giant
walls and fences in 2001, cutting deep into the West Bank in some
places in what Palestinians say is a land grab.

West Bankers are hemmed in by checkpoints, closures and walls, while
Palestinians with coveted Jerusalem residence cards can get permits to
travel between the city and the West Bank.

"Every day we have problems," said Jalal Mashahri, 55, who owns a
small grocery store in Sheikh Saad. "I can't send anything to the
other side or bring anything here. It's not allowed."

He said he last managed to visit Jerusalem about a year ago and now
gets his goods from the West Bank, at greater cost.

END OF THE ROAD

Sheikh Saad lies at the end of a pot-holed road from Jebel Mukabbir.
There was no other exit until a rough dirt track was dug last year,
winding down to a river bed and up the other side of the valley to the
West Bank town of al-Azariyeh.

"Nobody can use this back road. It doesn't serve the people here,"
said Bassam Mashahri, 40, an unemployed father of four with kidney
problems. "We have nothing to do with al-Azariyeh."

Villagers say the checkpoint, for pedestrians only, has become
noticeably harder to cross since the back road was opened. Now they
wonder if a high concrete wall, like one along a West Bank ridge to
the west, will replace the steel fence.

"My aunt in Sheikh Saad died last week and we had to beg the soldiers
to let us bury her in the cemetery in Jebel Mukabbir," said Mahmoud
Mansour, a 48-year-old taxi driver. "You need permission to put your
own relative in the ground."

On that occasion, the Israelis at the checkpoint relented after
lengthy negotiations and Mansour acknowledged that they apply the
rules with some discretion -- but not predictably.

An eight-year-old girl skipped past soldiers unhindered with eggs for
an uncle in Jebel Mukabbir. An old woman trudged back into Sheikh Saad
after delivering cheese to her brother.

"I'm a West Banker, but they let me pass after an officer intervened.
He said I must be back in an hour," said Miriam Mashahri, 62, a white
scarf around her wrinkled face.

Working-age men are routinely turned back, except for the few with
Israeli employers who procure entry permits for them.

Even those with medical appointments are told to get a military pass,
often valid only for a day. Residents say this is a difficult,
time-consuming process whose outcome is uncertain.

"They won't let me go," said 37-year-old labourer Ibrahim Aweisat,
clutching a paper from a physiotherapy centre with an appointment for
the previous day. "I tried yesterday too."

A sergeant at the Sheikh Saad checkpoint, who said he had migrated to
Israel from Ethiopia in 1982, told Reuters the paper had expired and
anyway the man needed to get a pass.

"Sometimes we let the old people go, but not the young men. I
understand it's a problem for them, but I'm doing my job."

Idle Palestinians linger near the checkpoint. Few in Sheikh Saad have
work, although their modern-looking houses testify to the money they
had once earned from jobs in Jerusalem.

"These people stay at home all day, hopeless, with nothing to do and
no money," said Mansour, the taxi driver. "Even if you open a grocery,
who is going to buy from you?"

He said Sheikh Saad's population had dwindled to around 2,000, with
about 25 houses closed and empty. Anyone with a Jerusalem identity
card had moved to Jebel Mukabbir, as he had.

Nobody wants to lose that card, or the residence rights and social
benefits, including health insurance, that go with it.

"If somebody is sick here without health insurance, he's better off
dying before he gets to the hospital. If he recovers he will never be
able to pay the bill," Mansour joked.

===

Yet Another Illegal Israeli Response To Arab Peace Plan
From JC
5-15-7
http://www.rense.com/general76/pccu.htm

As always, Israel responds to Arab Peace Initiatives by doing
something that is more provocative not to mention illegal: 20 Thousand
additional Settlement Units on Occupied Palestinian Land in East
Jerusalem.

Then the Israelis will habitually go to the millions of Americans who
are in front of Fox, abc, CBS, NBC, etc... and start their victimhood
act, crying that they need "help" against those "Palestinian
terrorists". "We need more money because we don't feel secure with
those nasty "terrorists" and their Qassam rockets" (as though they
were accurate ballistic missiles).

They, of course, forget telling the American people that they chose to
build their new settlements on lands that legally and per UN
resolutions and International Law do not belong to Israel but belong
to the Palestinians. The Israelis simply stole and annexed the piece
of land by force... but neither is explained to the Americans or shown
them in video footage since US media is largely controlled by Zionist
power brokers.

This is all illegal and it is criminal... and it is done solely
because the American taxpayers finance it. No money = no additional
illegal settlements = no additional conflict.

If we honestly look at the broader picture of the Arab/Israeli
conflict, we might actually be able to say that the American taxpayer
is financing our own downfall... because the Israeli/Palestinian
conflict is now having repercussions directly on the US. Afghanistan,
Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Iran - it is ALL related to the Palestinian
problem and thus to Israel. The Zionist lobby will, however, do its
utmost to always convince the Americans of otherwise... until the
Middle East and United States are finally both destroyed as we knew
them and are firmly Zionist properties.

Jerusalem is divided into 2 parts: East Jerusalem is Arab and West
Jerusalem is Israeli. Israel wants the whole of Jerusalem...so it is
kicking the inhabitants out to build for the new settlers coming in
from Russia or Ethiopia...while native Palestinians are asked to
leave. Such behavior is a clear message to the Arabs saying: We are
not interested in peace with you. This message is one we have known
for a long time. We would just like the American taxpayer to realize
what game Israel is playing and has played all along at the America's
expense.

===

PLO Calls International Community to Stop Israeli Plan to Build new
Illegal Neighbourhoods in Jerusalem
http://www.wafa.ps/english/body.asp?id=10033

RAMALLAH, May 11, 2007, (WAFA)- Head of Negotiation Department at PLO,
Dr Saeb Erikat, called on the international community to immediately
intervene to curb an Israeli decision to build new three colonial
neighbourhoods in the occupied East Jerusalem.

In separate letters to the EU envoy Mark Otté, Assistant US Secretary
for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch, UN Secretary General Special
Representative and ninety six representatives and ambassadors, Urikat
a\called them to end the Israeli plan of building new (illegal)
neighborhoods in the holy city.

Israeli colony plan, on building 20, 000 housing units on lands
occupied in 1967, was approved by Jerusalem's municipality.

Israeli Haaretz newspaper quoted head of the municipality's planning
committee Yehosua Pollak as saying the aim of establishing the new
Jewish neighbourhoods was to form a geographical connection between
Jerusalem and southern districts and Tel Aviv's colonies.

The plan was approved ten days ago, the paper added. The new plan will
isolate Jerusalem from all Palestinian cities, including Ramallah,
Bethlehem, and Jericho.

===

Israel To Build Huge Jerusalem Settlement
5/11/2007

http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=13375

The Israeli government plans to build three new Jewish neighborhoods
in Arab East Jerusalem, an area considered occupied under
international law.

The plan, under which 20,000 new homes would be built for Jewish
settlers, is aimed at creating a contiguous Jewish residential area
linking East Jerusalem with major West Bank settlement blocs, said
Yehoshua Pollak, Jerusalem's deputy mayor.

Several months ago, the Jerusalem municipality canceled a similar plan
to construct 20,000 homes on hills in the western part of Jerusalem
following opposition by environmentalists.

"After (that) plan was scrapped, the city had to look for other
alternatives to provide housing for its growing population," Pollak said.

According to Israel?s Haaretz newspaper, the plan still needs approval
from other authorities; a process that could take several months.

Israel seized East Jerusalem in 1967, and annexed the area is 1981 in
a move not recognized by the international community.

About 260,000 Jewish settlers and 2.5 million Palestinians live in the
West Bank. The World Court has branded all Israeli settlements as illegal.

Moreover, settlement expansion and construction in the occupied West
Bank violate a U.S.-backed Israeli-Palestinian peace plan known as the
"road map", which calls for an independent state for the Palestinians.

Peace or settlements?

Denouncing the new Israeli plan, Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb
Erekat, said the move destroys efforts to resume the stalled peace
process.

?The Israeli government must choose between settlements and peace.
They can not have both,? Erekat said.

Jerusalem is one of the most obstacles to reaching a final peace
agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Israel considers all of Jerusalem its eternal capital.

The Jewish state built its major settlement blocs on West Bank land
just outside east Jerusalem, and says it would hold on to it in any
final peace deal.

On the other hand, the Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital
of any future Palestinian state. They fear the territory would never
be split between them and the Israelis, making peace impossible.

===

UN 'Concerned' About Reported Plans For Israeli Settlement Expansion
http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/administration/afp-news.html?i...

(AFP) -- UN chief Ban Ki-moon is "concerned" about reports of plans
for Israeli settlement expansion in East Jerusalem, his spokeswoman
said here Friday.

"The Secretary General is concerned about the media reports of plans
for new settlement construction in East Jerusalem," spokeswoman
Michele Montas told a press briefing.

She said that Ban and his top advisers planned to raise the issue with
"appropriate Israeli officials" and with the UN's partners in the
diplomatic Quartet on Middle East peace -- the United States, the
European Union and Russia.

"A halt to settlement expansion is one of the basic obligations" in
the Quartet's so-called roadmap for peace, Montas added. The
three-stage plan was issued by the Quartet in 2003 with the goal of
creating a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel.

"Furthermore East Jerusalem is occupied territory, and its ultimate
status is subject to negotiations between the parties," Montas noted.

Thursday, Israel's Haaretz daily disclosed plans to build three new
Jewish neighborhoods around Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank
sparking Palestinian condemnation.

The plan which foresees the construction of more than 20,000 housing
units has been drawn up by a municipal committee and must still be
approved by national authorities, the paper said.

Israel conquered east Jerusalem in the 1967 war and later annexed it.
A dozen new neighborhoods have since been built there and house more
than 200,000 Israelis. Another 245,000 Palestinians live in that part
of the city.

News of the project follows a report that Israel is concerned by
figures showing that, over the past decade, the number of Arabs living
in Jerusalem has grown twice as fast as the city's Jewish population.

===

Hamas leader Khaled Meshal gesturing during a joint press conference
with Arab League Chief Amr Moussa in Cairo on Thursday. (AP)

Hamas: U.S. blocking European efforts to end economic boycott
By News Agencies
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/829245.html

Hamas accused the United States on Thursday of trying to thwart
European efforts to ease an economic blockade of a new Palestinian
unity government.

The Quartet, comprising the United States, the European Union, Russia
and the United Nations, repeated a demand on Wednesday that any
Palestinian government renounce violence, recognize Israel and respect
interim peace deals.

The United States wants to continue to shun the government if it does
not meet the three conditions, whereas Russia and other European
governments favor a softer line.

Hamas said Thursday it was encouraged by what it called a "wait and
see" approach by the Quartet of Middle East mediators towards the
unity government.

"They [the Quartet] have decided to wait and see until the new
government is formed and they have not rushed to reiterate the
continuation of the siege and sanctions," Hamas cabinet spokesman
Ghazi Hamad said. "They have left the door open for the possibility of
opening a dialogue."

But Palestinian Information Minister Youssef Rizqa of Hamas said: "It
[the United States] aims to undermine the European and Russian efforts
in order to continue the siege imposed on our people."

Hamas political chief Khaled Meshal said Thursday that the world
should lift the financial embargo on the Palestinian Authority,
despite the opposition of the U.S. and Israel.

Mashaal was speaking to reporters in Cairo about the implications of
the agreement signed in Mecca this month.

"This [Mecca] deal should lead to the lifting of the blockade," Meshal
told reporters after talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul
Gheit. "There is no other option."

Asked if he thought the United States would agree to lift the
blockade, Meshal said: "That is not important, because there is an
international will that is being formed despite the American position.

Israel: Quartet holding firm to its three demands
The Foreign Ministry on Thursday said that a Quartet statement issued
Wednesday was a sign that the group of international Middle East peace
negotiators are holding firm on their three conditions.

Israel pointed to statements by the Quartet after a meeting in Berlin
as a sign that the group would hold the new government to the three
conditions. "They're not obstacles to peace, they are prerequisites
for a successful peace process," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev
said.

The unity government deal between the ruling Hamas movement and
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction has
widened divisions within the Quartet.

Citing the divisions, Hamas' Hamad said: "I believe there is a
possibility to change the Quartet's position in a more positive manner
to deal with the government."

Abbas political adviser Ahmed Abdel-Rahman said the Quartet "will open
the door" to restoring ties with the Palestinian government once it
fully understands the unity government deal.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas has said he hopes
to announce a new government within three weeks.

Hamad said progress was being made and key decisions would be taken
next week.

The unity agreement contained a vague promise to "respect" previous
Israeli-Palestinian agreements but did not directly commit the new
government to renouncing violence or recognizing Israel.

"In the unity government, we have adopted a political agenda that
leaves a large amount of room for political movement that could be
developed. The political agenda can be used by the international
community to make a serious political process," Hamad said, though he
gave no details.

Former Palestinian FM leading candidate for vice premier
Former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa is currently the
leading candidate for the position of Palestinian vice premier,
Fatah's spokesman in the Gaza Strip, Abed al-Hakim Awad, told the al
-Quds al-Arabi daily on Thursday.

Al-Kidwa is the nephew of Yasser Arafat and the former Palestinian
ambassador to the United Nations.

Hamas is striving to gain on the Palestinian security forces ?
currently under the exclusive command of Fatah ? and to influence
matters of national defense.

Awad said that he hopes the negotiations between Hamas and Fatah over
these matters won't strain the national unity government between the
two sides.

Abbas asks EU to support new gov't
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday brought his
struggle for Western support of the incoming coalition government to
Germany, which holds the European Union presidency.

Abbas, who is seeking an end to the crippling international boycott of
the Palestinian Authority, arrived in Berlin after meeting British
Prime Minister Tony Blair.

He says the Palestinians are committed to rejecting violence, to
international law and to meeting all agreements reached previously
with Israel - even though the power-sharing agreement between his
Fatah faction and Hamas largely skirts these demands.

Abbas was holding talks with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier on Thursday before meeting Friday with Chancellor Angela
Merkel.

Meanwhile, Hamas political chief Meshal will travel next week to
Moscow for talks, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

During Meshal's visit, Russia planned to continue its efforts toward
stabilizing the situation in the Palestinian territories and
overcoming the inter-Palestinian discord that followed the Mecca
agreement between Hamas and Fatah, the ministry said in a statement.

Russia also wanted to help in the forming of the unity government that
takes into consideration the well-known criteria of the Quartet, and
also the resumption of the Palestinian-Israeli dialogue, the ministry
said.

Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, confirmed the upcoming trip,
saying it aim was to market the Mecca agreement and garner support for
the new government.

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