Middle East Post

The situation in East Jerusalem is not stable. More than two thousand Israeli policemen were brought into the city in order to protect the Israeli ceremonies of opening a new temple in the old city. Israeli rightist movements invited Israelis to come and support their demand in putting a cornerstone of the temple inside the Aqsa mosque area.

Muslims are not allowed to enter the old city and the Aqsa mosque while clashes erupt continuously in the city and the towns Read more…

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Recently the Untied States of America, the European Union, the Arab countries, and the International community considered Israel’s decision to permit 1600 new settlement units in Jerusalem a wrong step that will cause damage for the trust needed in order to re-launch the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Although Vice President John Biden considered the relation between Israel and Read more…

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Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu stated tonight that any possible Palestinian state in the future will have to be surrounded from the east and the west by the Israeli army. According to Netanyahu the “Palestinian state” will also have Israeli army soldiers on its borders with Jordan in order to prevent weapons smuggling into the West Bank. In his speech he said nothing about Gaza as a part of the Future Palestinian state but assured that Israel will never make another mistake by leaving the Palestinian state without an Israeli surveillance. Read more…

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By Haaretz Service
In an unusual step, the state announced on Tuesday its plan to promote planning and construction in the northern West Bank settlement of Kiryat Netafim, Army Radio reported Wednesday.

Left wing human rights group Peace Now petitioned the High Court of Justice recently against the construction of 14 structures that were illegally Read more…

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In the last couple of days Jerusalem witnessed several events and clashes between the Israeli police and Palestinian and Peace activists. More than thirty five Palestinians and Peace activists were arrested because they participated in several activities made against the Israeli settlements and the Arab cultural activities in the city.

The Israeli police claimed that none of these activities were authorized and therefore all of those who participate in it were acting against the law. The activities which were made included dancing, peaceful demonstrations, and demands to give the Palestinian residents of the city a chance to live normally without being depressed and prevented from expressing their opinion. Read more…

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By Natasha Mozgovaya and Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondents and Haaretz Service
Shortly after European Union Ministers announced their support for the division of Jerusalem between Israel and a future Palestinian state on Tuesday, the U.S. State Department issued a statement saying that the fate of Jerusalem should only be determined by Israel and the Palestinians in talks. Read more…

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The European Union said it had ‘never recognised the annexation of East Jerusalem’ [AFP]
European Union foreign ministers have agreed that Jerusalem should be the capital of both Israel and a future Palestinian state following two days of talks in Brussels.
The ministers dropped an earlier proposal by the Swedish EU presidency to explicitly support the idea of East Jerusalem as the eventual capital of Palestine. Read more…

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Israel stated yesterday that more than 900 units will be built in one of its settlements in East Jerusalem. Britain, France and the United States criticized the decision and considered it an obstacle in the way of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
President Obama said that such an action will not make Israel safer and may result in a serious and dangerous Palestinian frustration. Read more…

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Clashes broke out at the compound last Sunday after Israeli Jews apparently tried to gain entry [AFP]
Israeli security forces have closed off the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jersualem as more than 200 Palestinians stage a sit-in at the site.Sporadic clashes broke out on Sunday as military and police checkpoints were set up around the site, known as the Haram al-Sharif to Muslims and the Temple Mount to Jews. Read more…

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Evictions and Settlement Plans in Sheikh Jarrah:

The Case of Shimon HaTzadik

Summary

On May 17, two Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem received court orders to vacate their homes by July 19, 2009. At that point,   the houses will be turned over to the landlord: settler organization Nahalat Shimon International, which seeks to demolish the existing Palestinian neighborhood and build a 200-unit settlement in its place.[1] Read more…

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Recently the Israeli abuse in Jerusalem against the Palestinians is becoming harsher. Since Oslo’s agreement the Israeli leadership decided to do everything possible to make any kind of compromise regarding Jerusalem impossible.

The plan is to try to change Jerusalem into a complete Jewish city that holds no other religious or cultural sign even though it used to be in it since hundreds of years. Although Israel knows that any attempt to make a change in the old city and specifically in the Aqsa mosque would be like playing with fire because of its holiness and importance in the Islamic circles, it keeps on. Read more…

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Recently Israel decided to prevent any activity which Palestinians plan to hold in Jerusalem as a part of the “Jerusalem a capital of Arab Culture” in the Palestinian territories. The Israeli government decided to prevent the activities, imprisoned more than twenty two Palestinians in East Jerusalem, and commanded the Police to do anything needed in order to prevent the cultural activities which were planned to be held. Read more…

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Today, Salam Fayyad declared his resignation from the Palestinian Authority government which he established after Hamas took control of Gaza about two years ago. Palestinian analysts said that this step was made to encourage the talks between Fatah and Hamas to end their division. Read more…

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A few days ago two Arab students Ali Bhar and Nasser Odeh that study in the Hebrew university of Jerusalem were punished and humiliated because they refused to shake hands with the Israeli president Shimon Perez. The students were stopped by the security of the president and the university. Two days after the accident Ali’s dorms were searched and he was demanded to leave the dorms. According to the university Ali is to leave the dorms because he kept a nargilah (an Arab traditional smoking pipe) inside it. Read more…

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A couple of days ago, a young nineteen years old Palestinian from East Jerusalem tried to hit about fifteen Israeli soldiers with his car. According to the family of the young Kasem, he was planning to get engaged to his cousin but the family refused and therefore he decided to commit suicide. The Israeli intelligence and police preferred to accuse the young man of terrorism and considered this accident a terrorist attack on innocent Israeli civilians. However the discussion about whether it was an accident of suicide committed by a normal permanent resident or a terrorism action is not important at this moment. Read more…

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