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UN chief says Israeli plan for east Jerusalem is illegal
06.23.2010 | AFP

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday voiced concern that an Israeli plan to raze 22 Arab homes to make way for an archaeological park in annexed east Jerusalem is “unhelpful” and against international law.

Ban “is deeply concerned about the decision by the Jerusalem Municipality to advance planning for house demolitions and further settlement activity in the area of Silwan in East Jerusalem,” the secretary general’s spokesman Martin Nesirky said in a statement.

“The planned moves are contrary to international law, and to the wishes of Palestinian residents,” the statement said.

Ban “reminds the Israeli Government of its responsibility to ensure provocative steps are not taken which would heighten tensions in the city. The current moves are unhelpful, coming at a time when the goal must be to build trust to support political negotiations,” the statement added.

The park, which is planned for a crumbling Arab neighborhood just outside the walls of the Old City, was approved by Jerusalem city council on Monday in a move that drew criticism both at home and abroad.

The plan was put before the city’s planning and building committee on Monday, which approved Gan Hamelech, the Hebrew name for an area outside the Old City known as Al-Bustan to its mostly Arab residents.

Under the plan, 22 homes would be razed, while another 66 would be legalized. The 88 homes all had been slated for demolition because they were built without Israeli permits.

The issue is all the more sensitive as most of the international community does not recognize Israel’s annexation of east Jerusalem since June 1967.

The park, which is planned for a crumbling Arab neighborhood just outside the walls of the Old City, was approved by Jerusalem city council on Monday in a move that drew criticism both at home and abroad.

The plan was put before the city’s planning and building committee on Monday, which approved Gan Hamelech, the Hebrew name for an area outside the Old City known as Al-Bustan to its mostly Arab residents.

The Orthodox Jews fighting the Judaization of East Jerusalem

Leading the demonstrations of solidarity with Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah are some young Israelis with a religious background. They explain their activism and how it correlates to their conception of the true meaning of the Torah
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UN chief says Israeli plan for east Jerusalem is illegal
06.23.2010 | AFP

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday voiced concern that an Israeli plan to raze 22 Arab homes to make way for an archaeological park in annexed east Jerusalem is “unhelpful” and against international law.

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“The planned moves are contrary to international law, and to the wishes of Palestinian residents,” the statement said.

This brief review of Israel's record over the past four decades makes it difficult to resist the conclusion that it has become a rogue state with "an utterly unscrupulous set of leaders". A rogue state habitually violates international law, possesses weapons of mass destruction and practises terrorism - the use of violence against civilians for political purposes. Israel fulfils all of these three criteria; the cap fits and it must wear it. Israel's real aim is not peaceful coexistence with its Palestinian neighbours but military domination. It keeps compounding the mistakes of the past with new and more disastrous ones. Politicians, like everyone else, are of course free to repeat the lies and mistakes of the past. But it is not mandatory to do so.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton says 'settlements and demolitions of homes are illegal under international law.'
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Ashton added that the European Union has never recognized Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem, saying that "if there is to be genuine peace, a way must be found through negotiations to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of two states."