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Historical Documents
EU report on East
Jerusalem (24 November 2005)
European Union diplomats slammed Israel’s policies in occupied Arab East
Jerusalem, saying that they are hurting the prospects of a final peace
deal with the Palestinians, according to a leaked copy of a classified EU
report. (Added 24 November 2005)
http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/historicaldocuments/printer413.shtml
JERUSALEM AND RAMALLAH HEADS OF MISSION
REPORT ON EAST JERUSALEM
SUMMARY
1. East Jerusalem is of central importance to the Palestinians in
political, economic, social and religious terms. Several inter-linked
Israeli policies are reducing the possibility of reaching a final status
agreement on Jerusalem, and demonstrate a clear Israeli intention to turn
the annexation of East Jerusalem into a concrete fact:
the near-completion of the barrier around
east Jerusalem, far from the Green Line;
the construction and expansion of illegal
settlements, by private entities and the Israeli government, in and around
East Jerusalem;
the demolition of Palestinian homes built
without permits (which are all but unobtainable);
stricter enforcement of rules separating
Palestinians resident in East Jerusalem from those resident in the West
Bank, including a reduction of working permits;
and discriminatory taxation, expenditure and
building permit policy by the Jerusalem municipality.
2. The plan to expand the settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim into the so-called
"E1" area, east of Jerusalem, threatens to complete the encircling of the
city by Jewish settlements, dividing the West Bank into two separate
geographical areas. The proposed extension of the barrier from East
Jerusalem to form a bubble around the settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim would
have the same effect. 2004 saw a near tripling of the number of
Palestinian buildings demolished in East Jerusalem. We expect a similar
number of demolitions in 2005. 88 homes in the Silwan neighbourhood with
demolition orders outstanding against them attracted much attention in
June.
3. When the barrier has been completed, Israel will control access
to and from East Jerusalem, cutting off its Palestinian satellite cities
of Bethlehem and Ramallah, and the rest of the West Bank beyond. This will
have serious economic, social and humanitarian consequences for the
Palestinians. By vigorously applying policies on residency and ID status,
Israel will be able finally to complete the isolation of East Jerusalem -
the political, social, commercial and infrastructural centre of
Palestinian life.
4. Israel's activities in Jerusalem are in violation of both its Roadmap
obligations and international law. We and others in the international
community have made our concerns clear on numerous occasions, to varying
effect.
Palestinians are, without exception, deeply alarmed about East
Jerusalem. They fear that Israel will "get away with it", under the cover
of disengagement. Israeli actions also risk radicalising the hitherto
relatively quiescent Palestinian population in East Jerusalem. Clear
statements by the European Union and the Quartet that Jerusalem remains an
issue for negotiation by the two sides, and that Israel should desist from
all measures designed to pre-empt such negotiations, would be timely. We
should also support Palestinian cultural, political and economic
activities in East Jerusalem.
RECOMMENDATIONS
On the political level
Clear statements by the European Union and
the Quartet that Jerusalem remains an issue for negotiation by the two
sides, and that Israel should desist from all measures designed to
pre-empt such negotiations.
We might consider issuing a statement focused
on the issue of Jerusalem at the GAERC in November. We could also press
for a similar statement to issue from the Quartet.
Phase One of the Roadmap calls for the
re-opening of Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem, and in
particular the Chamber of Commerce. The re-opening of these institutions
would send a signal to the Palestinians that the international community
takes their concerns seriously, and is taking action. We might include a
call for their re-opening in the statements referred to above, and explore
with the two parties how and when their re-opening might be accomplished.
Request the Israeli Government to halt
discriminatory treatment of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, especially
concerning working permits, building permits, house demolitions, taxation
and expenditure.
The EU might consider and assess the
implications and feasibility of excluding East Jerusalem from certain
EU/Israel co-operation activities.
On an operational level
Organise political meetings with the PA in
East Jerusalem, including meetings at ministerial level.
Initiatives (statement letters, contacts,
meetings etc.) focused on issues like access, building permits, the
consequences of the barrier etc.
In view of the Palestinian legislative
elections scheduled for 25 January 2006, encourage the parties to agree on
the terms and substance of their co-ordination to allow for satisfactory
elections to take place in East Jerusalem, referring to the parties'
obligations under the interim agreements and the Roadmap (PA to hold
elections and Israel to facilitate them) and taking into account the
recommendations formulated in the Rocard EUEOM report. Offer 3rd party
technical assistance and monitoring capacity if required and adequate.
The Jerusalem Masterplan that is currently in
the approval process should undergo a technical assessment followed by a
decision as to how to evaluate the plan in terms of legal implications,
public awareness etc. The plan currently exists only in Hebrew (the plan
should be translated into Arabic and English).
All MS and EC to increase project activity in
East Jerusalem with a balance between service provision, relief,
development and political projects (taking into consideration the Multi
Sector Review). Support for civil society is important. An inventory of
current EC and MS activity in East Jerusalem would be a useful first step.
Regarding house demolitions for lack of
building permits in East Jerusalem, the EU could pursue various options:
- support legal projects designed to support Palestinians
threatened by house demolitions and those who have been victims thereof -
promote initiatives to legalise "illegal" houses (e.g. through introducing
retroactively alternative town planning schemes) - facilitate a solution
for obtaining building permits
- EU projects with a Palestinian NGO on legal counselling
concerning building permits and house demolitions - EU project on the
development of a master plan for urban planning and legal housing for
Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem.
Facilitate a solution of the access issue.
This would comprise a range of political and operational measures, both
short and long term.
Support local and international organisations
in their information efforts on East Jerusalem.
Enhance EU assistance to Palestinian
institutions in East Jerusalem, including cultural activities and
community empowerment.
DETAIL
1. Jerusalem is already one of the trickiest issues on the road to
reaching a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. But
several inter-linked Israeli policies are reducing the possibility of
reaching a final status agreement on Jerusalem that any Palestinian could
accept. We judge that this is a deliberate Israeli policy - the completion
of the annexation of East Jerusalem. Israeli measures also risk
radicalising the hitherto relatively quiescent Palestinian population of
East Jerusalem.
EU POLICY ON EAST JERUSALEM
2. The EU policy on Jerusalem is based on the principles set out in UN
Security Council Resolution 242, notably the impossibility of acquisition
of territory by force. In consequence the EU has never recognised the
annexation of East Jerusalem under the Israeli 1980 Basic Law (Basic Law
Jerusalem Capital of Israel) which made Jerusalem the "complete and
united" capital of Israel. EU Member States have therefore placed their
accredited missions in Tel Aviv. The EU opposes measures that would
prejudge the outcome of Permanent Status Negotiations, consigned to the
third phase of the Road Map, such as actions aimed at changing the status
of East Jerusalem.
3. In conferences held in 1999 and 2001, the High Contracting Parties
reaffirmed the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and reiterated
the need for full respect for the provisions of the said Convention in
that territory.
4. In July 2004 the EU acknowledged the Advisory Opinion of the
International Court of Justice on the "legal consequences of the
construction of a Wall in the occupied Palestinian territories including
in and around East Jerusalem" and voted in favour of the General Assembly
Resolution that recognised it. While the EU recognises Israel's security
concerns and its right to act in self-defence, the EU position on the
legality of the separation barrier largely coincides with the ICJ Advisory
Opinion.
SETTLEMENTS
5. Israel is increasing settlement activity in three east-facing
horseshoe shaped bands in and around East Jerusalem, linked by new roads:
first through new settlements in the old city
itself and in the Palestinian neighbourhoods immediately surrounding the
old city (Silwan, Ras al Amud, At Tur, Wadi al Joz, Sheikh Jarrah);
then in the existing major East Jerusalem
settlement blocs (running clockwise from Ramot, Rekhes Shu'afat, French
Hill, through the new settlements in the first band, above, to East
Talpiot, Har Homa and Gilo);
and finally in "Greater Jerusalem" - linking
the city of Jerusalem to the settlement blocs of Givat Ze'ev to the north,
Ma'aleh Adumim to the east (including the E1 area, see below), and the
Etzion bloc to the south.
Settlement activity and construction is ongoing in each of these
three bands, contrary to Israel's obligations under international law and
the Roadmap.
"E1" and Ma'aleh Adumim
6. E1 (derived from 'East 1') is the term applied by the Israeli Ministry
of Housing to a planned new neighbourhood within the municipal borders of
the large Israeli settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim (30,000+ residents),
linking it to the municipal boundary of Jerusalem (a unilateral Israeli
line well east of the Green Line). E1, along with a maximalist barrier
around Ma'ale Adumim, would complete the encircling of East Jerusalem and
cut the West Bank into two parts, and further restrict access into and out
of Jerusalem. The economic prospects of the Wset Bank (where GDP is under
$1000 a year) are highly dependent on access to East Jerusalem (where GDP
is around $3500 a year). Estimates of the contribution made by East
Jerusalem to the Palestinian economy as a whole vary between a quarter and
a third. From an economic perspective, the viability of a Palestinian
state depends to a great extent on the preservation of organic links
between East Jerusalem, Ramallah and Bethlehem.
7. E1 is an old plan which was drawn up by Rabin's government in 1994 but
never implemented. The plan was revived by the housing Ministry in 2003,
and preliminary construction in the E1 area began in 2004. Since his
resignation from the Cabinet Netanyahu has tried to make E1 a campaign
issue.
The development plans for E1 include: the erection of at least 3,500
housing units (for approx. 15,000 residents); an economic development
zone; construction of the police headquarters for the West Bank that shall
be relocated from Raz el-Amud; commercial areas, hotels and "special
housing", universities and "special projects", a cemetery and a waste
disposal site. * About 75% of the plan's total area is earmarked for a
park that will surround all these components. So far only the plans for
the economic development zone have received the necessary authorisations
for building to commence. The plans related to residential areas and the
building of the Police Headquarters have been approved by the Ma'aleh
Adumim Municipality but not yet by the Civil Administration's Planning
Council.
8. The current built-up area of Ma'aleh Adumim covers only 15% of
the planned area. The overall plan for Ma'aleh Adumim, including
E1, covers an area of at least 53 square kilometres (larger than Tel Aviv)
stretching from Jerusalem to Jericho (comment: Israel's defence of
settlement expansion "within existing settlement boundaries" therefore
covers a potentially huge area). In August 2005 Israel published land
requisition orders for construction of the barrier around the southern
edge of the Adumim bloc, following the route approved by the Israeli
cabinet on 20 February 2005 (including most of the municipal area of
Ma'aleh Adumim).
9. The E1 project would cut across the main central traffic route for
Palestinians travelling from Bethlehem to Ramallah. This route is actually
an alternative to route 60, which until 2001 was the main north-south
highway connecting the major Palestinian cities (Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah,
Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Hebron) on the ridge of mountains in the West
Bank. And Palestinians currently have only restricted access to route 60
(either permits are required for certain segments or roads are blocked),
especially from/to the Jerusalem area.
10. Since 2003, some preparatory work has taken place. In the northern
sector of E-1, where residential housing is planned, the top of a hill has
been levelled in order to allow construction. In the southern section,
where a police station and hotels are planned, an unpaved road has been
constructed. But no further work has been carried out for over a year. On
25 August 2005 Israel announced plans to build the new police headquarters
for the West Bank in E1, transferring it from its present location in East
Jerusalem. Many previous settlements have started with a police station,
and we are aware from Israeli NGOs that Israel has plans to convert the
existing West Bank police headquarters, in Ras Al-Amud, into further
settlement housing.
Settlement building inside East Jerusalem
11. Settlement building inside East Jerusalem continues at a rapid pace.
There are currently around 190,000 Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem, the
majority in large settlement blocks such as Pisgat Ze'ev. The mainstream
Israeli view is that the so-called Israeli "neighbourhoods" of East
Jerusalem are not settlements because they are within the borders of the
Jerusalem Municipality. The EU, along with the most of the rest of the
international community, does not recognise Israel's unilateral annexation
of East Jerusalem and regards the East Jerusalem "neighbourhoods" as
illegal settlements like any others - but this does not deter Israel from
expanding them. Some of these settlements are now expanding beyond even
the Israeli-defined municipal boundary of Jerusalem, further into the West
Bank. The Jerusalem municipality has also been active around Rachel's
Tomb, outside the municipal boundaries.
12. Smaller in number but of equal concern are settlements being implanted
in the heart of existing Palestinian neighbourhoods, with covert and overt
government assistance. Extremist Jewish settler groups, often with foreign
funding, use a variety of means to take over Palestinian properties and
land. They either prey on Palestinians suffering financial hardship or
simply occupy properties by force and rely on the occasional tardiness
and/or connivance of the Israeli courts. Such groups have told us that
they also press the Israeli authorities to demolish Palestinian homes
built without permits. Israel has previously used the "Absentee Property
Law"1 (generally applied only inside Green Line Israel) to seize property
and land. The Attorney General declared that this was "legally
indefensible" in the Bethlehem area earlier this year and the practise has
stopped, but the law remains applicable to East Jerusalem and can be
resurrected any time the Israeli Government sees fit.
13. Some of the Jewish settlements lack building permits, but not one has
been demolished - in marked contrast to the situation for Palestinians.
There are also plans to build a large new Jewish settlement within the
Muslim Quarter of the Old City, a step that would be particularly
inflammatory and could lead to the further "Hebronisation" of Jerusalem.
The aim of these settlers, and settlements, is to extent the Jewish
Israeli presence into new areas. As a result, President Clinton's formula
for Jerusalem ("what's Jewish becomes Israel and what's Palestinian
becomes Palestine") either cannot be applied - or Israel gets more.
SEPARATION BARRIER/WALL
14. Israel has largely ignored the Advisory Opinion of 9 July 2004 of the
International Court of Justice regarding the barrier. On 20 February 2005,
the Israeli Government approved the revised route of the separation
barrier2. This route seals off most of East Jerusalem, with its 230,000
Palestinian residents, from the West Bank (i.e. it divides Palestinians
from Palestinians, rather than Palestinians from Israelis). The Barrier is
not only motivated by security considerations. On 21 June 2005, the
Israeli High Court ruled that it was legal to take into account political
considerations, in addition to security considerations, for the routing of
the barrier in East Jerusalem because East Jerusalem had been Israeli
territory since its annexation in 1967 (i.e. political considerations are
not legal in the West Bank, which has not been annexed to Israel). On 10
July the Israeli Cabinet decided to route the Jerusalem barrier so as to
keep around 55,000 East Jerusalemite Palestinians, mainly in the Shu'afat
refugee camp, outside the barrier. The fact that the Cabinet decision not
only included short-term but also long-term measures designed to
accommodate the new situation created by the Barrier - e.g. constructing
new educational institutions and encouraging hospitals to open branches
"beyond the fence" - appears to contradict the notion of the Barrier being
a temporary rather than a permanent structure. And if Israel were to
provide adequate municipal services to the areas excluded (as it is
promising to do) this would be in contrast to hitherto poor service
provision in the rest of East Jerusalem. Israeli NGOs working on the
Jerusalem issue have looked at Israeli proposals to ensure that the people
affected are not "cut off" from the city, and judged them deficient.
15. The barrier extends like a cloverleaf to the northwest, southwest and
east, beyond even the (Israeli defined) municipal boundary of Jerusalem,
leaving 164 square kilometres of West Bank land on the "Israeli" (western)
side. Combined with settlement activity in these areas this de-facto
annexation of Palestinian land will be irreversible without very large
scale forced evacuations of settlers and the re-routing of the barrier -
which reportedly cost 800,000 euros per kilometre. It will also block the
alternative Bethlehem-Ramallah route for Palestinians, forcing them to
travel via tunnels or Jericho.
16. We should ensure that any support we provide to East Jerusalem is not
simply an attempt to reduce the negative consequences of the construction
of the separation barrier. The ICJ ruling on the barrier, accepted by the
EU with limited reservations, states: "all States are under an obligation
not to recognise the illegal situation resulting from the construction of
the wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around
East Jerusalem. They are also under an obligation not to render aid or
assistance in maintaining the situation created by such construction".
RESTRICTIONS ON/DEMOLITIONS OF PALESTINIAN HOUSING
17. The Israeli authorities place severe restrictions on the building of
Palestinian housing in East Jerusalem. The Israeli authorities will only
issue building permits for areas that have zoned "master plans". The
municipality produces such plans for areas marked for settlement
development, but not for Palestinian areas - only Palsetinians are
expected to draw up their own plans, at great (generally unaffordable)
expense. So each year Palestinians receive less than 100 building permits,
and even these require a wait of several years. At the same time, rules
requiring Palestinians with Jerusalem residency status either to reside in
the city or risk forfeiting that status have forced thousands of
Palestinians in this situation to move from other areas of the West Bank
back to Jerusalem, adding to the severe pressure on housing. As a result,
most new Palestinian housing is built without permits and is therefore
considered "illegal" by the Israeli authorities (although under the 4th
Geneva Convention occupying powers may not extend their jurisdiction to
occupied territory). The restrictions and demolitions also leave
undeveloped (but Palestinian-owned) land available for new settlements or
the expansion of existing settlements.
18. In 2004, at least 152 buildings (most of them residential) were
demolished in East Jerusalem, a sharp increase over previous years (66 in
2003, 36 in 2002, 32 in 2001 and 9 in 2000). In May 2005 the Jerusalem
municipality's intention to destroy 88 houses in the Silwan neighbourhood
became public. Following media scrutiny and international pressure, they
have put these demolitions on hold, but the future of Silwan remains
uncertain, with demolition orders remaining in place. In the meantime,
elsewhere in Palestinian neighbourhoods, homes continue to be demolished
on a regular basis. According to the Israeli Committee Against House
Demolitions 52 buildings (including a seven-storey building and eight
petrol stations) have been demolished in East Jerusalem so far this year.
The municipality's budget for house demolitions (approved late, in March)
stands at NIS 4m (approximately 800k euros), a figure slightly higher than
last year. Our contacts estimate that this will allow the municipality to
demolish 150-170 buildings. In cases where the municipality is deemed not
to be carrying out its duty to demolish illegal buildings (whether through
lack of will or budget constraints), the Ministry of Interior can and does
demolish buildings (fourteen in 2004, six so far in 2005). House
demolitions are illegal under international law (see above), serve no
obvious security purpose (but rather relate to settlement expansion), have
a catastrophic humanitarian effect, and fuel bitterness and extremism.
Palestinians continue to build illegally because they have no alternative,
and because the municipality and Interior Ministry together can only
demolish a fraction of the approximately 12,000 "illegal" homes in
existence. Palestinians describe it to us as "a lottery".
ID CARDS AND RESIDENCY STATUS
19. Some Palestinians have blue Israeli ID cards, that give them the
"right" to live in Israel (in practice, in East Jerusalem), but not to
vote in Israeli national elections or take an Israeli passport. The
renewal of these Blue ID cards is a lengthy, cumbersome and at times
humiliating process to be carried out every year at the East Jerusalem
office of the Israeli Ministry of Interior. The remainder have green West
Bank ID cards or orange Gaza ID cards, and must apply for a permit to
enter East Jerusalem. Eevn for those West Bankers and Gazans regularly
employed in East Jerusalem, these entry permits have to be renewed every
three months. Between 1996-1999 Israel implemented a "centre of life"
policy meaning that those with blue ID found living or working outside
East Jerusalem, for example in Ramallah, would lose their ID. A wave of
blue ID cardholders therefore quickly moved back to East Jerusalem. The
residency of hundreds of Palestinians that lived for a prolonged period
outside of Israel and the OTs was revoked, a policy that continues.
Renewed application of this rule and the construction of the barrier
around Jerusalem has led to a second wave of "immigration" of blue ID
card-holders to the city. Israel has also announced that it plans to
introduce biometric, machine-readable ID cards. This is of great concern
to Palestinians because it would enable Israel to check if blue ID
cardholders really do live and work in the city, and if not, to expel more
of them.
20. Israel's main motivation is almost certainly demographic - to reduce
the Palestinian population of Jerusalem, while exerting efforts to boost
the number of Jewish Israelis living in the city - East and West. The
Jerusalem master plan has an explicit goal to keep the proportion of
Palestinian Jerusalemites at no more than 30% of the total. But the policy
has severe humanitarian consequences - couples in which one spouse has a
Blue ID and the other a Green ID will be forced to leave Jerusalem (Israel
permits the transfer of blue ID status to spouses and children in theory
but very rarely in practice). Palestinians with Israeli IDs already live
in something of an identity limbo - neither Israeli Arabs, nor linked to
the Palestinian Authority - and these measures can only worsen their
situation. The separation of East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank
is crippling both areas economically, and the influx of returning blue ID
card-holders is exacerbating the housing crisis - property prices and
rents are soaring.
MUNICIPALITY POLICIES
21. The Jerusalem municipality is responsible for the majority of the
house demolitions carried out in East Jerusalem (see above). It also
contributes to the economic and social stagnation of East Jerusalem
through other policies. The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
claims that while Palestinians contribute 33% of the municipality's taxes,
in return it spends only 8% of its budget in Palestinian areas. The exact
figures are hard to assess, but discrimination in expenditure is obvious.
Palestinian areas of the city are characterised by poor roads, little or
no street cleaning, and an absence of well-maintained public spaces, in
sharp contrast to areas where Israelis live (in both West Jerusalem and
East Jerusalem settlements). Even Jewish ultra-orthodox neighbourhoods
(which contribute very little in taxes, for various reasons) are far
better provided for by the municipality. The provision of services in what
is, according to Israeli definitions, a single municipality, is therefore
subject to discriminatory practices. Palestinians regard municipal taxes
as a tax on their residency rights, rather than a quid pro quo for
municipal services. The high level of taxation (given that Palestinian
incomes are typically much lower) and discriminatory law enforcement that
appears to target Palestinians for fines for a variety of offences
(traffic violations, parking offences, no TV licence etc) further worsen
the economic situation of Palestinians. This makes it harder for them to
maintain their residency in the city, and more vulnerable to settler
groups or Palestinian collaborators offering them good money for their
property or land.
HUMANITARIAN AND POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES
22. Cutting the link between East Jerusalem and the West Bank: Palestinian
East Jerusalem has traditionally been the centre of political, commercial,
religious and cultural activities for the West Bank, with Palestinians
operating as one cohesive social and economic unit. Separation from the
rest of the West Bank is affecting the economy and weakening the social
fabric. Since Israel's occupation of the eastern part of Jerusalem in
1967, Palestinian access to Jerusalem from the West Bank has been
increasingly restricted. During the Oslo Process, in 1993, the Israeli
government banned entry for all Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza
without a permit. Settlements together with by-pass roads have further
restricted access in Jerusalem. And the Barrier has further aggravated the
situation.
23. Threats to Residency Status: Palestinian Blue ID holders outside the
barrier are increasingly unable to access East Jerusalem, forcing them to
access educational, medical and religious services in the rest of the West
Bank. This jeopardises their Jerusalem residency rights, according to the
Israeli "centre of life" policy.
24. Impact on the Education and Health Care Sector: West Bankers also face
increasing difficulties in accessing the major Palestinian centres of
health care and education in East Jerusalem. Schools in East Jerusalem
that depend on West Bank staff are at urgent risk of closure. The same
applies to hospitals: in addition to the dwindling numbers of patients
from the West Bank due to access problems, some Israeli insurance
companies are demanding that staff must have Israeli professional
qualifications and registration. According to the PA Ministry for
Jerusalem Affairs, approximately 68% of medical staff working at hospitals
in East Jerusalem reside outside its municipal boundaries. The lack of
patients and staff will cause a decline of the number and range of
services, which often are not available in the West Bank.
25. Restriction of religious freedom: Christians and Muslims living east
of the Barrier already have restricted access to their holy sites. West
Bankers are finding it increasingly difficult to get to the Haram al
Sharif/Temple Mount compound - because of the wider system of permits to
enter Jerusalem, and the barrier. No males under 45 are allowed onto the
compound. The Director of the Awqaf, which controls the mosques, has
complained particularly about increasing Israeli measures to dominate and
control the compound. Police have been regularly patrolling the compound
for a year. The Israelis say this is to ensure good settler behaviour, but
the effect is that it intimidates worshippers. The Israelis have also
introduced new measures over the past few weeks - cameras have been placed
at every gate, outside the Haram but pointing in. Thus every entrance is
tightly controlled. The Israelis have also begun erecting fences on the
buildings surrounding the Haram. Muslim concerns regarding access to (and
threats to) the Haram al-Sharif mosques have both security and political
implications. Perceived "threats" to the mosques by Jewish groups and the
denial of access to Muslims regularly spark confrontations, and motivate
Palestinian extremists.
26. The wider political consequences of the above measures are of even
greater concern. As outlined above, prospects for a two-state solution
with east Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine are receding. The greater
the level of settlement activity in and around East Jerusalem the harder
it will be to say what is Palestinian, and to link this up with the rest
of the West Bank. Israeli activity in E1 and the fencing off of a broad
area around Ma'ale Adumim are of particular concern in this regard.
Israeli policies in East Jerusalem are making proposals for a resolution
of the conflict along the one developed by the Geneva Initiative in 2003,
a civil society initiative which was welcomed by the EU, harder to
achieve.
27. Arrangements to facilitate the PA Presidential Election in East
Jerusalem in January 2005 were unsatisfactory - Israel closed down voter
registration centres, candidates could not campaign freely in the city,
and restrictions on the number of polling stations led to chaos on
election day. The report of former Prime Minister Rocard's Elections
Observation Mission sets out the problems clearly, along with
recommendations for improvements ahead of the PLC elections, scheduled for
25 January 2006.
NOTES
[1] Israel passed the Absentee Property Law in 1950. It states that any
landowner who left her/his permanent residence at any time following
November 29, 1947 to any Arab State, or to any area of the Land of Israel,
which is not part of the State of Israel (i.e. West Bank and Gaza)
automatically forfeited any property within the State of Israel to the
Absenteed Property Custodian - a public body, which subsequently
transferred title to these properties to the State. Most of these lands -
primarily in the Negev and the Galilee - were used to build kibbutzim,
moshavim and development towns for the Jewish population.
[2] Map available at:
http://www.btselem.org/Downloads/Jerusalem_Separation_Barrier_Eng.PDF
Related Links
Original Word-Document of the EU report on Jerusalem
EU diplomats
slam Israel’s policies in occupied Jerusalem, Arjan El Fassed (25
November 2005)
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