Hisham Abu Taha; 13/8/08
Israel has offered a peace deal to the Palestinians under which it would annex 7.3 percent of the West Bank and keep the largest settlements. In compensation, the Palestinians would be given land equivalent to 5.4 percent of the West Bank in the Negev Desert but it is not specified where. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has presented Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with the proposal for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, to take place after Abbas’ forces have retaken Gaza, as part of an agreement in principle on borders, refugees and security arrangements between Israel and a future Palestinian state, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
See: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=112757&d=13&m=8&y=2008
Call it the Safdie plan or call it Sam
Zafrir Rinat; 13/8/08
Yet again, plans are popping up to develop the land west of Jerusalem. Is the great Safdie plan, which would build dense housing on terrain spanning dozens of square kilometers of natural and planted forests, staging a comeback through the back door? When the National Planning and Building Committee canceled the Safdie plan to massively develop the land to Jerusalem’s west, environmental organizations and the city of Jerusalem thought that was it: Now development efforts for the city could be diverted to other areas. The greens and the city itself had opposed the Safdie plan, named for architect Moshe Safdie, in part for the sake of leaving open land and green lungs in the Jerusalem environs, and also because other areas are available for construction. But Jerusalem is a uniquely difficult case. Planning authorities at the Prime Minister’s Office and the Interior Ministry argue that for diplomatic reasons, developing the neighborhoods beyond the Green Line would be too tricky.
See: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1010956.html
Tags: Human Rights, Israel, UN, USA