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Israel to build in East Jerusalem |
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Written by Bill Stone
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Wednesday, 19 December 2007 |
Differences on Jerusalem status likely to doom talks
New building site planned in East Jerusalem
Israeli news sources are reporting that the Israel housing ministry is moving forward with plans to build a new neighborhood in the northern section of East Jerusalem. This new neighborhood will have over 10,000 units and become the biggest housing project in disputed East Jerusalem since the six-day war in 1967. If this item is true there will be significant political repercussions to peace talks that have started in the wake of the Annapolis conference. The Palestinian side claims the entire west bank which Israel refers to as Judea and Samaria and all of East Jerusalem for its future state. Israel has been slightly ambiguous with regard to how much territory it was willing to cede but has consistently said Jerusalem was not on the negotiating table. Another housing project which caused a furor about 8 years ago was being expanded despite protests from just about everybody in the international community.
It seems a little unclear how peace talks will go forward if both sides seem so diametrically opposed on only one of the issues, the status of Jerusalem. There are other issues that also seem unsolvable but the Jerusalem issue is by far the most emotional.No one has come up with any real solution to this problem and it will likely doom all negotiations before they begin.
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