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Jerusalem Mayor Revives E. Jerusalem Housing Plan

VOA News
21 June 2010

Jerusalem's mayor pushed ahead Monday with a construction plan that would involve demolishing about 20 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem.

Mayor Nir Barkat has asked the Jerusalem municipal planning board to approve the King's Garden project.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pressured Barkat to put the project on hold in March, expressing concern about Israel's international image.

Palestinian leaders have described the project as another attempt by Israel to cement its claim to all of Jerusalem.

Israel captured East Jerusalem in a 1967 war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally.

Israeli officials say the project is designed to improve the King's Garden area, a section of the neighborhood of Silwan. They say the plan calls for demolishing homes that were built illegally. Palestinians argue that they have a hard time obtaining permits from Israel.

Any step toward home demolitions seems likely to bring more diplomatic pressure on Israel, which was strongly criticized for its deadly raid last month on a flotilla of aid ships seeking to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Cabinet approved measures Sunday to ease its land blockade of Gaza, pledging to allow practically all non-military items into the Palestinian territory.

Israel said it will create a new list of banned items. A list of previously banned dual-use items, such as cement, which Israel fears could be used by Hamas for military purposes, will be restricted to projects approved by the Palestinian Authority or those under international supervision.

Both the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas rulers of Gaza have dismissed the new policy and say the blockade must be lifted entirely.

In Washington Sunday, White House officials welcomed the Israeli decision, saying the new arrangement should significantly improve conditions for Palestinians while preventing the entry of weapons.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will meet U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on July 6, and that another key regional ally, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, will visit the president for talks on June 29.