The Israeli government has announced that it is pushing ahead with plans to build
1,300 new apartments for Jewish families in Arab East Jerusalem, despite fierce opposition
from Palestinians.
The announcement came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
is in the United States to speak to leaders about reviving Middle East Peace Talks
that stalled in September, when Israel ended a moratorium on settlement building in
the West Bank.
Speaking to Vatican Radio, director of the Israeli-Palestinian
Centre for Research and Information, Gershon Baskin, says that the Israelis and Palestinians
view these settlements differently.
“These are considered by Israel not to
be settlements but neighbourhoods of Jerusalem in the areas of east Jerusalem that
we annexed by Israel in 1967 by international law, and of course, as the Palestinians
see it, there is no difference between these settlements and any other settlement
anywhere in the West bank”
“The Israelis are saying that it won’t make any
difference to the permanent status agreement if Israel builds these additional houses
in these two neighbourhoods in Jerusalem because from Israel’s point of view, these
houses will remain under Israel’s sovereignty.”