Peace Now: Settlement construction increased since Annapolis

[Scurrilous]

Group publishes report claiming Israeli construction in West Bank, east Jerusalem continues in full swing since US-sponsored peace conference, in which Olmert committed to freeze settlement expansion

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3525589,00.html

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"Despite Israel's commitment to freeze construction in the settlements following the Annapolis peace conference in November 2007, construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem has in fact increased in recent months, a new report published by Peace Now revealed Monday.

According to the Left-wing group, tenders for the construction of some 750 housing units in east Jerusalem have been published after the peace conference, a huge increase compared to the 46 tenders published last year.

All in all, the government is currently promoting the building of 3,648 new housing units in Jerusalem's neighborhoods located east of the Green Line, the report stated."

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"Meanwhile, 101 settlements are currently being expanded, and thousands of housing units are under construction. About 20 of the projects are being carried out east of the separation fence's route.

Peace Now also claims that instead of removing outposts, the government has enabled their ongoing expansion. Construction has been registered in 58 outposts over the last three month; 36 new caravans have been placed in outposts and 16 permanent structures have been erected. The building of an additional eight permanent structures is currently underway."

[ProgressiveMuslim]

1. Measure the gov't of Israel's commitment to peace by their actions!

They speak way louder than the volumes of nonsense that is spoken.

[subsuelo]

2. The only commitment is to the endless land heist

[Scurrilous]

3. Olmert to Shas: Construction in settlement blocs to resume

Haredi party facing tremendous pressure from its electorate over freeze in construction in ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem and Beitar Illit neighborhoods. Prime minister promises Shas' spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, that building will resume

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3525872,00.html

<snip>

"Construction in settlement blocs in the West Bank, which has been suspended by the government, is set to be resumed, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised Shas' spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, on Monday.

The conversation between the two could prove to have a crucial effect on Shas' decision whether or not to stay in the coalition.

The haredi party has been facing tremendous pressure from its electorate over the freeze in construction in the settlement blocs, which constitute an important share of the housing market for the ultra-Orthodox public.

Some 5,000 housing units are required every year for the haredi public, most of them located in the settlement blocs in Beitar Illit and in neighborhoods like Givat Ze'ev and Neveh Ya'akov in Jerusalem."

[Scurrilous]

4. The Death of the Settlement Freeze - 4 Months to Annapolis:

http://www.peacenow.org.il/data/SIP_STORAGE/files/7/3577.pdf

[Scurrilous]

5. Fooling ourselves

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"Had Peace Now not published reports from time to time, it is doubtful anyone would have been aware of the continuing construction in the settlements. One might have assumed from the declarations by Ehud Olmert's government that construction had been suspended and that efforts were being made to reach a peace agreement to include withdrawal from most of the West Bank. From the complaints by the settlers' leadership as well, one might have concluded that there was a freeze on building and that the settler youth were really and truly homeless.

But quite different things are happening in the territories. The dynamic of deception is continuing. Deception of the Americans, deception of the voters for parties that etched peace on their standard, deception of the Palestinians and above all self-deception. Our top leaders have joined together on a course that has no objective. These include Defense Minister Ehud Barak, whose political path no one understands and which he himself is not bothering to clarify, the prime minister, who serves as a commentator on reality instead of shaping it, and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who is conducting negotiations on evacuation while the government is continuing to build.

The Labor Party is indeed "not ripe for elections," as Education Minister Yuli Tamir said yesterday, and it is very doubtful it will ever be so. Instead of putting all its energy into furthering legislation of an evacuation-compensation law, which would enable whomever is interested to leave the West Bank immediately (and it is estimated that thousands are interested), petitions are arriving at the High Court of Justice on the positioning of mobile homes at the edges of outposts that have not been evacuated.It is difficult to understand the point of the High Court's order to remove one mobile home at Har Bracha when the defense minister is approving the construction of 48 new homes in Ariel for settlers evacuated from Gush Katif. These evacuees were not supposed to live in the settlements, but they have arrived there nonetheless.

The provocative construction in the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem is continuing full speed ahead, under the fraudulent heading of strengthening Jerusalem. Barak and Olmert are retreating from the line formulated as far back as 2000, to the effect that Arab Jerusalem will be for the Palestinians and Jewish Jerusalem for the Jews. The impression has emerged that it is no coincidence that the same Barak who failed in those talks is the one causing these talks to fail.

The same Ze'ev "Zambish" Hever, who along with Ariel Sharon brought the settlements disaster down on the State of Israel, is continuing to push for construction in the West Bank under the auspices of a government that had declared a different path. It appears there is no point at all in electing a government and formulating coalition guidelines because whether it is a government of the right or left, building in the settlements continues.

Israel is continuing to work against itself, against its future, against any chance for the existence of two nation states side by side."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/970396.html