RAMALLAH, February 7, 2017 (WAFA) – The new Israeli so-called settlements’ regularization bill which was approved by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, late Monday received strong condemnation from many Palestinian and Arab politicians.
The bill, passed by 60 votes in favor to 52 opposed, gave Israeli legitimacy to a number of settlement outposts built on private Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank that did not have Israeli government permission.
International law and the international community consider all Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, to be illegal and illegitimate.
Jordan’s King Abdullah said in a press conference that the events taking place in Palestine and Jerusalem strengthen terrorists’ ability to recruit members and fuel Muslim sentiments.
Ahmed Aboul Gheit, secretary general of the Arab League, said the bill exposes Israel’s real intentions and emphasizes its illegal and anti-peace stance.
Mahmoud Afifi, the official spokesperson of the Arab League, said the international community has already expressed its disapproval of these policies through the United Nations’ Security Council resolution 2334, passed in December which condemned settlement expansion and considered settlements an obstacle to peace.
“The Paris Peace Conference, which was held last month, affirmed the international community’s rejection of changes on the ground by Israel,” he said.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry along with several other Palestinian officials were quick to respond to the passing of the bill.
The Foreign Ministry harshly condemned the bill in a statement on Tuesday, saying it “legalized” the construction of 4,000 settler homes built on private Palestinian lands and permitted the Israeli occupation to take over and steal what remains of Palestinian land.
Hanan Ashrawi, member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said the bill “white-washes the settlements” and legalizes stealing Palestinian land.
“In a qualitative and serious challenge, Israel’s right and extremist government proceeded to pass a law that ‘white-washes’ the settlements in the West Bank and East of Jerusalem,” Ashrawi said in a statement released on Monday. “Israel has definitely ruled on any possibility of a Palestinian state on the lands occupied in 1967, challenging international law and resolutions, including the UNSC’s 2334 resolution, and the Charter of the Rome Statute, which considers settlements to be a war crime a direct violation of the international law and agreement.”
“With this bill, Israel approves of the legalization of outposts and settlements built on private Palestinian lands retroactively, and permits settlers to take over lands in the occupied West Bank, and east Jerusalem, without accountability or punishment,” she said.
Ashrawi also talked about Israel’s intention to annex the West Bank.
“Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition extremist government implement these dangerous and disastrous steps to destroy all the foundations of the two-state solution and the possibilities of peace, and work hard to impose a ‘Great Israel’ project upon the historical Palestine,” she said. “This project aims to annex the West Bank and end the possibilities of a Palestinian state, which without its existence, there won’t peace or stability in the region, and the world.”
Mohammad Shtayyeh, member of the Central Committee of President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement, said that Knesset’s approval of a law that permits taking over Palestinian-owned lands for the benefit of settlements is a great escalation that calls to re-examine all the paths taken by the Palestinian leadership.
He said that these developments demand holding an urgent meeting of the Palestinian leadership to deeply study the new changes and take decisions on how to confront them.
The Joint Arab List in the Israeli Knesset also condemned the bill in a statement saying that the bill is a “clear message to the world that Israel is moving ahead with its occupation, settlements and war policies.”
Palestinian religious figures also spoke against the bill.
The Islamic-Christian Commission considered on Tuesday the Knesset’s approval of the bill a clear support of the Israeli settlers at the expense of the original inhabitants of the land, the Palestinians.
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and a preacher at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, condemned the bill in a statement on Tuesday saying that the racist law aims to take over more Palestinian lands. He stressed that the Israeli government is moving forward with its schemes, ignoring all the international calls to stop settlement activities.
The new provocative law comes amidst an escalation of settlements activities in recent weeks in the occupied West Bank.
Hundreds of thousands of Jews live in about 140 settlements built on land which the Palestinians claim for a future state.
Despite the illegality and the international community’s disapproval of the settlements, Israel announced recently more plans to build thousands of new houses in the West Bank settlements.
K.T./M.K.
