JERUSALEM, February 22, 2011 (WAFA) – The Israeli human rights organization Ir Amim said in a new report published this week that Israeli government policy in East Jerusalem is turning the occupied city into a battle ground.
“In the last quarter of 2010, we witnessed a salient and significant change in Israeli government policy towards East Jerusalem,” said the report. “This policy is turning Jerusalem into a political battleground, rather than preserving its stability. “
According to Ir Amim, the change began to emerge in the last days of September 2010, when Israel's commitment to refrain from new construction in the West Bank settlements expired.
It said that “although East Jerusalem was not formally included in that commitment, a high level of restraint was evident during that time in all areas of Israeli activity in East Jerusalem: in construction, demolitions, settlement activity and police action.”
It said this restraint was exercised over the West Jerusalem municipality, the District Planning Committee and other parties active in East Jerusalem by the Israeli Prime Minister's office. This became particularly evident after the diplomatic crisis with the US that broke out in March 2010 following the approval of a building plan for the settlement of Ramat Shlomo during US Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel, said Ir Amim.
“The visible restraint disappeared at the end of September, when the building freeze ended, and was replaced by an aggressive policy, not only concerning construction but extending to almost all aspects of policy that affect the lives of the Palestinians of East Jerusalem,” it said.
“Besides the proliferation of construction plans beyond the Green Line that landed on the drawing boards of the planning committees almost weekly, the loosening of restraints has also been clearly evident in the area of home demolitions and in the nature of the activity of the police and other security organizations, who are targeting the Palestinian political and community leadership in East Jerusalem,” it said.
“These developments portray a clear picture: Just as the restraint in the previous period was exercised by the Prime Minister's office, so is the current recklessness the result of a political decision.
M.A.
