Construction continuing in West Bank settlements despite PM's pledge

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"A new neighborhood comprising 27 trailers is currently under construction at the settlement of Eli, north of Ramallah, even though Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed publicly after the Annapolis conference that any such building would cease.

Even though some of the trailers are being set up on land privately owned by Palestinians, the authorities are taking no action.

Similar unauthorized construction has taken place in the settlement of Maskiot in the northern Jordan Valley.

Last December, after the Annapolis conference, Olmert promised to freeze construction in the settlements. But developments in a number of settlements suggest that the settlers are trying to initiate a new wave of construction.

The most notable case is Eli, where work is underway to link the 27 trailers to infrastructure. The construction, which began about a month ago, is expected to be completed in the coming days."

more

[Tom Joad]

1. Pledge? Bush and Olmert gave each other a pledge??

How could they make a pledge!? Unheard of! Unthinkable! Absurd!

Well, what is unheard of is an Israeli leader feeling that a pledge is binding on Israel. How rare it is for Israeli leaders to be bound by things like promises. Not worth any more than a pocket full of mumbles. Olmert was probably jesting.

[subsuelo]

4. They say what they want, then they do as they please

When will it end?

[oberliner]

5. Are you quoting Fiddler on the Roof?

And also Simon and Garfunkel?

[Englander]

2. Israelis Set Up New West Bank Settlement

MASKIOT, West Bank (AP) — Nine Israeli families staked out homesteads in a valley deep in the West Bank on Friday and promised to bring more settlers to the area that the Palestinians want for a future state.

Palestinian charges of bad faith over the move were fueled by reports that the Israeli government has awarded permits for more Jewish housing in an east Jerusalem neighborhood.

The wildcat action at Maskiot, in the northern West Bank, was funded in part by a private American group and is just one of recent Israeli actions to anger Palestinians as peace negotiators try to reach a final treaty.

President Bush hopes to get the sides to complete a deal by year's end, but Israeli settlement activity and Palestinian failure to rein in militant violence are widely seen as stumbling blocks.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the government has issued permits for construction of 307 Jewish homes in the Har Homa area of east Jerusalem. That drew sharp comment from a leading Palestinian peace negotiator.

"In the morning there are new violations at Har Homa and then in the afternoon we hear of caravans in the northern West Bank," Saeb Erekat said.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gTWnx5VhH4YbbCQvNvdnHw6XUg7gD8UQTKQO1

First Settlement in 10 Years Fuels Mideast Tension

By STEVEN ERLANGER
Published: December 27, 2006

JERUSALEM, Dec. 26 — Israel announced plans on Tuesday to construct a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank for the first time in 10 years, prompting Palestinian anger and American concern.

>snip

The planned new settlement will be called Maskiot, and approval was given for the construction of some 30 houses. The Israeli official insisted that all construction would be privately financed.

The housing will be used by the 20 families of the hawkish Gaza settlement Shirat Hayam, which resisted evacuation. To get them to leave Gaza peacefully, the army promised to keep them together.

The decision, the official said, “sort of went through and now it’s done and would be very hard to undo.”

Israel essentially decided to stop the building of settlements in 1992 when Yitzhak Rabin became prime minister, although it has allowed existing settlements to grow, even as it has publicly promised to freeze settlement activity under the so-called road map for peace.

Emily Amrusy, a spokeswoman for the settlers’ council known as Yesha, said that the families would move into trailers on the site while construction began on more permanent housing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/27/world/middleeast/27mideast.html?sq=Maskiot&st=nyt&scp=4&pagewanted=print

[subsuelo]

3. according to one Haaretz writer it would be racism to protest this

(sorry I still cant get over that article)