Rice condemns Israeli settlements
15/6/08
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, has voiced dissatisfaction at Israel’s continued building of settlements in occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank.
On her 17th official visit to region, Rice said on Sunday that the expanision of settlements hurt Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. srael announced last week it would build 1900 new housing units in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of a future Palestinian state. The announcement took to nearly 8,000 the number of homes Israel has approved for construction in east Jerusalem and the West Bank after the renewal of peace talks late last year in the US city of Annapolis.
See http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B30B1378-B1CB-4976-8A0B-2889C0894807.htm
UN: Israel restricting our Palestinian staff in West Bank
15/6/08
Israel has tightened rules for Palestinian staff of the United Nations who travel in and out of the occupied West Bank, increasing tensions with the world body, internal UN emails and aid workers said on Sunday. The Israel Defense Forces informed UN officials in Jerusalem that Palestinians using the main checkpoint for the West Bank city of Ramallah were required to cross on foot through a terminal for inspection rather than drive through in their UN vehicles, a UN email said. The message, sent to employees last week and obtained by Reuters on Sunday, directed Palestinian staff members to use another crossing.UN Palestinian staff have also been asked at three checkpoints to sign a form used by police in conducting searches and making arrests.
See; http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/992928.html
Need for strategy
15/6/08
In another dramatic gesture of Israel’s peaceful intentions, the Israeli government yesterday announced that it was building 1,300 new settlements in occupied East Jerusalem. This is to add to the over 6,000 settlements Israel has built or announced plans to build since the Annapolis Conference in 2007 that we were told would usher in the final stretch of the peace process. Moreover, that conference saw Israel commit to not building new settlements or expanding existing ones. That commitment was given under the auspices of US President George W. Bush who must feel somewhat slighted now.
See: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=8605
Rightists held over Homesh shooting
Nadav Shragai; 15/6/08
Police arrested two right-wing activists at the ruins of the West Bank settlement of Homesh on Friday, on suspicion of shooting at a Palestinian man. The two, who deny the allegations, were released with slight restrictions by the Petah Tikva District Court. The right-wing organization Homesh Tehila said the police had “failed utterly to strike out the Jewish presence at Homesh,” and said the police had encouraged “ridiculous false complaints by Arabs,” adding “the return to Homesh will only grow stronger from all the persecution.”
See: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/992680.html
Tags: Human Rights, Israel Terrorism, Settlers, UN, USA