Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Friday 13 September 2019
New data shows Israeli settlement surge in east Jerusalem

By JOSEPH KRAUSS and his extended family of
MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH 15 people enough time to
Associated Press salvage some personal be-
JERUSALEM (AP) — Jewish longings before demolish-
settlement construction in ing the 200-square-meter
Israeli-annexed east Jeru- (2,150-square-foot) home.
salem has spiked since Pres- A broken coffee mug, toys
ident Donald Trump took and parts of a bedframe
office in 2017, according to poke out from the drift of
official data obtained by rubble left behind.
The Associated Press. “They are trying to drive us
The data also showed out of Jerusalem,” he said.
strong evidence of de- “They fine us, they try to
cades of systematic dis- drive us out, but we’re go-
crimination, illustrated by a ing to stay here.”
huge gap in the number of Every Israeli government
construction permits grant- since 1967 has actively
ed to Jewish and Palestin- promoted settlement con-
ian residents. struction, including during
The expansion of the settle- the peace process with the
ments in east Jerusalem, Palestinians.
which Israel seized along But settlement approv-
with the West Bank and als have accelerated in
Gaza in the 1967 Mideast This Monday, Sept. 9, 2019 photo, shows a view of the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. east Jerusalem and the
war, threatens to further Associated Press West Bank since Trump
complicate one of the thorities approved 1,861 ies to take in large areas rusalem were demolished took office, as Israel has
thorniest issues in the con- housing units in east Jeru- of open land that were in the first seven months of encountered little if any
flict. salem settlements, a 60% then earmarked for Jewish 2019 — more than in any resistance from a friendly
The refusal to grant permits increase from the 1,162 settlements. At the same full year since at least 2004. White House. On Tuesday,
to Palestinian residents has approved in the previous time, city planners set the On a hot, sunny day earlier Prime Minister Benjamin Ne-
confined them to crowd- two years. The figures show boundaries of Palestinian this week, Jamil Masalmeh, tanyahu vowed to annex
ed, poorly served neigh- that 1,081 permits for settler neighborhoods, preventing 59, used a crowbar and the Jordan Valley, which
borhoods, with around half housing were issued in 2017 them from expanding. power tools to destroy an makes up about a quarter
the population believed alone, the highest annual “In the planning vision of apartment he had added of the West Bank, and other
to be at risk of having their number since 2000. A total Jerusalem, there was no to his home in the Silwan settlements there if his party
homes demolished. of 1,233 housing units were planning for the expansion neighborhood years earlier. wins next week’s elections.
The data was acquired approved for Palestinians in of Palestinian neighbor- When he failed to secure a The Palestinians cut off all
and analyzed by the Is- 2017 and 2018, according hoods,” she said, adding permit, municipal authori- ties with the Trump admin-
raeli settlement watchdog to Peace Now. that the government has ties gave him the option istration after the Jerusalem
Peace Now, which says it The data did not include initiated almost no con- of demolishing it himself or decision and have already
only obtained the figures the number of Jewish and struction in those neighbor- paying more than $20,000 rejected a peace plan the
after a two-year battle with Palestinian applications, hoods, placing the burden for the city to do it. president has promised
the municipality. It says the or the rates of approval, of planning and permits He says he began trying to to release, saying the ad-
numbers show that while though many Palestinians entirely on the residents get a permit 20 years ago, ministration is marching in
Palestinians make up more acknowledge not apply- themselves. Today, around when he built the exten- lockstep with Israel’s right-
than 60% of the popula- ing because they say it is 215,000 Jews live in east Je- sion, which consisted of two wing government. The Pal-
tion in east Jerusalem, they nearly impossible to get a rusalem, mostly in built-up bedrooms and a kitchen, estinians and much of the
have received only 30% of permit. areas that Israel considers for his growing family. Eight international community
the building permits issued Spokesmen for the Israeli to be neighborhoods of its years ago, the authorities have long seen settlements
since 1991. government and the mu- capital. Most of east Jeru- forced him to dismantle it, as illegal and a major ob-
The fate of the city, which nicipality did not respond salem’s 340,000 Palestinian but he built it again, hoping stacle to peace. Israel says
is home to holy sites sacred to requests for comment. residents are crammed into to eventually get a permit. the settlement issue should
to Jews, Muslims and Chris- The figures are for construc- increasingly overcrowd- “Every time they tell me to be resolved in negotiations
tians, is at the heart of the tion permits issued by the ed neighborhoods where get something different. and blames the lack of
decades-old conflict. The municipality, the final step there is little room to build. Get this document or that progress on Palestinian in-
Palestinians want east Jeru- of a costly bureaucratic Palestinians say the ex- document, get whatever transigence.
salem to be the capital of process that can take pense and difficulty of ob- we tell you to, and then in With peace efforts stalled
their future state, while Is- years to complete. The fig- taining permits forces them the end, they say you can’t and little hope for an in-
rael views the entire city as ures show that since 1991, to build illegally. Peace build on this land. Why? dependent state anytime
its unified capital. Tensions the municipality has issued Now estimates that of the There’s no answer,” he soon, the Palestinians who
have soared since Trump 21,834 permits for housing 40,000 housing units in Pal- said. “I’ll die before I ever remain in east Jerusalem
recognized Jerusalem as units in Jewish settlements estinian neighborhoods of get a permit.” are left to endure its crowd-
Israel’s capital in 2017 and in east Jerusalem and just east Jerusalem, half have Jihad Rajabi, who lives in ed conditions and an un-
moved the U.S. Embassy 9,536 for Palestinian neigh- been built without permits. the Palestinian neighbor- certain future.
there, breaking with a long- borhoods. “When you build illegally, hood of Beit Hanina, says “If you want to travel, it’s
standing international con- Hagit Ofran, an expert without a permit, there’s al- he wasn’t given the op- a problem. If you want to
sensus that the city’s fate on settlements who col- ways a chance your house tion of destroying his own stay home, it’s a problem.
should be decided in ne- lected and analyzed the will be demolished,” Ofran home. If you want to work, it’s a
gotiations. data, says the discrepancy said. Authorities showed up one problem. If you want to
Peace Now found that in permits dates to 1967, B’Tselem, another Israeli morning last month with build, it’s a problem,” Ma-
in the first two years of when Israel expanded the rights group, says at least police and heavy equip- salmeh said. “Everything’s
Trump’s presidency, au- city’s municipal boundar- 112 housing units in east Je- ment. They only gave him a problem.”q