East Jerusalem construction scuttling two-state solution

[Jefferson23]

Givat Hamatos is the keystone of a plan that quietly, piece by piece, with no Israeli public debate, is unilaterally sealing the southern border of annexed East Jerusalem with Israeli construction.

By Sarah Kreimer

We’re in the midst of a housing crisis, and our government has promised to build tens of thousands of new homes all over the country. So what’s wrong with the recent government decision to advance the construction of 2,610 apartments in Givat Hamatos in Jerusalem?

What’s wrong is that whether you call it a “neighborhood” (as most Israelis) or a “settlement” (as all other nations of the world do), Givat Hamatos is the first new Jewish neighborhood to be built over the Green Line in East Jerusalem since Har Homa in 1997. Har Homa, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initiated during his first term as a kind of “price tag” for Israel’s withdrawal from parts of Hebron, has embroiled Israel in international controversy ever since. Is Givat Hamatos Netanyahu’s “price tag” for the Palestinian decision to apply for UN membership?

What’s clear is that Givat Hamatos is the keystone of a plan that quietly, piece by piece, with no Israeli public debate, is unilaterally sealing the southern border of annexed East Jerusalem with Israeli construction. In the last year, plans for building more than 5,000 homes in this southern area have been approved or advanced 2,000 to expand Gilo toward Wallajeh and Beit Jala, almost 1,000 to expand Har Homa toward Beit Sahur, and now more than 2,000 units to link Har Homa with Gilo. These plans are presented under many guises as an answer to the social protest, as an expression of Israel’s right to build in its capital. But never is the Israeli public allowed to see the full picture: that, despite its rhetoric, the Israeli government is working on the ground to scuttle a two-state solution.

Taken together, these expansion plans in southern East Jerusalem wreak havoc with the one set of principles agreed upon by most Israeli and Palestinian negotiators(including former prime ministers Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak) the “Clinton Parameters.” Under these guidelines, Gilo would have been recognized as Israeli swapped for a commensurate piece of land from within the Green Line and the rest of the land on Jerusalem’s southern borders would become part of a Palestinian capital. Thus, through this construction, we are doing no less foreclosing on the option of a two-state solution. For, without an agreement on Jerusalem’s borders, there will be no Palestinian-Israeli peace.

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/east-jerusalem-construction-scuttling-two-state-solution-1.391229

on edit to remove attack of the smilie faces, or whatever the hell that was.

[Ken Burch]

1. No surprise. Neither Bibi NOR Tzipi ever really supported a two-state solution

BOTH of those parties are still committed, effectively, to forcing Palestinians to choose between exile, or statelessness on their own land.

And they STILL think they have the right to demand peace from the Arab world WITHOUT letting the Palestinians have a state. The arrogance.

[PDJane]

2. Illegal settlements at that......

but with the misplaced support of the US, it will continue.......until the US can no longer support the state in the manner to which it is accustomed, or until the rest of the world tires of the charade.

[dtexdem]

3. Just a furthering of an Israeli death wish.

The radical settlers and their crony, the government, are making a two-state solution impossible -- and that will ultimately mean that a continuing Israeli Jewish-majority state will be impossible.

[azurnoir]

4. some in Israel's growing right wing seem to think

that a 2 state solution is unnecessary and that the occupation can continue and with the unending help and support of US politicians perhaps that will be possible - for awhile, however the world is changing the US's star could be falling while others are rising

[Crunchy Frog]

5. Yes, I doubt that China will have the same sympathies that the U.S. does

in the Middle East.

I think a single state is pretty much a fait accompli at this point. It will only be a matter of time before all the occupants of the West Bank will be recognized as citizens of the same state.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

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[Violet_Crumble]

7. No, if you read the OP you'll see that it's settlement construction that's scuttling it...

Do you need some help in understanding why? I'm happy to explain if you can't see what the problem is...