Secret British document accuses Israel
November 25, 2005Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
Friday November 25, 2005
A confidential Foreign Office document accuses Israel of rushing to annex the Arab area of Jerusalem, using illegal Jewish settlement construction and the vast West Bank barrier, in a move to prevent it becoming a Palestinian capital.
In an unusually frank insight into British assessments of Israeli intentions, the document says that Ariel Sharon’s government is jeopardising the prospect of a peace agreement by trying to put the future of Arab East Jerusalem beyond negotiation and risks driving Palestinians living in the city into radical groups.The document, obtained by the Guardian, was presented to an EU council of ministers meeting chaired by the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, on Monday with recommendations to counter the Israeli policy, including recognition of Palestinian political activities in East Jerusalem.
But the council put the issue on hold until next month under pressure from Italy, according to sources, which Israel considers its most reliable EU ally.
Israel has described a recommendation for moving EU meetings with the Palestinian Authority from Ramallah to East Jerusalem in recognition of the Arab claim as “negative occurrence”. It claims the eastern part of Jerusalem it occupied in the 1967 war is part of its “indivisible capital”. Almost all governments maintain embassies in Tel Aviv because they do not recognise the Israeli claim.
The document, drawn up by the British consulate in East Jerusalem as part of the UK’s presidency of the EU, says Israeli policies are designed to prevent Jerusalem from becoming a Palestinian capital, particularly settlement expansion in and around the city. It says Mr Sharon’s plan to link Jerusalem with the large Ma’ale Adumim settlement in the West Bank by building thousands of new homes “threatens to complete the encircling of the city by Jewish settlements, dividing the West Bank into two separate geographical areas”.
It adds: “Israeli activities in Jerusalem are in violation of both its Roadmap (peace plan) obligations and international law.”
They are quiet slow with this conclusion aren’t they?
When I went 2000 before the current Intifada it was already happening. Many homes were already then occupied by settlers within the old city of Jerusalem.
I don’t know about you but politicians can lick my hairy filthy butt. I will found my own country….with black jack, and hookers
(if anybody didn’t get it. the last one was a quote from Bender in the series Futurama)
Comment by Mozzy — November 25, 2005 @ 1:46 PM
guess its not that they invented rockets here but the fact that they documented what happened gives some hope, not that we’ll have palestine back soon but that everybody is sick and fed up.
Comment by SugarCubes — November 25, 2005 @ 1:54 PM
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