So-called Israeli parliament to discuss demolishing of 246 Arab homes in Al Teera, while new illegal settlements are planned on stolen Palestinian lands in the West Bank

Israeli Knesset to discuss the demolishing of 246 homes in Al Teera

Thursday February 14, 2008 00:34 by Saed Bannoura - MEMC & Agencies saed at imemc dot org

The Israeli parliament (called Knesset in Hebrew) discussed on Wednesday demolishing orders which were issued against 246 houses in Al Teera Arab town within the Israeli boundaries. The deliberations were made after Sheikh Abbas Zakkour, from the Arab United Bloc, filed a proposal to discuss this issue at the Knesset session.

At the end of the session, the parliament approved transferring the case for discussion at the Internal Parliamentarian Committee.

In his speech in front of the parliament, MK Zakkour slammed the Israeli policies of demolishing Arab homes and said that the consecutive governments carried these violations without aver attempting to discuss and explore that real issues that force the residents to build their homes without obtaining a construction permits.

He added that the residents pay every penny they have and go into debt to build those homes, while the bureaucracy of the state and its development committee do to respond to frequent request by local councils of Arab villages to expand their boundaries in order to enable new couples to build their homes.

“The consecutive Israeli governments always knew how to annex Arab lands”, Zakkour stated, “but it seems they don’t know how to expand the Arab towns”.

He added that young couples who own lands cannot build on them due to the ongoing rejections of the Ministry of Interior.

“The Ministry of Interior must find a solution to solve the issue of housing in the Arab towns”, Zakkour said, “The ongoing demolishing of Arab houses will only lead to violent confrontations which do not seek”.

Commenting on a statement by the Israeli Interior Minister regarding “his intentions to build an Arab town in the Galilee”, Zakkour said; “we always heard such statements in the past, but none of them ever came true, I suggest that the ministry should now expand the existing Arab towns instead of talking about new ones, especially since the existing towns are over populated and need urgent expansion”.

Washington to ask for clarification from Israel regarding new settlement activities

Wednesday February 13, 2008 23:47 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC&Agencies rami at imemc dot org

Spokesman of the U.S State Department, John Mackromk, stated on Wednesday that the American administration will ask for clarifications from Israel with respect to a new settlement project on the occupied east Jerusalem.

" the U.S never doubts the commitment by the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert or the Palestinian Authority's president for working together fro peace", Mckromak told reporters in Washington,

However, he maintained that the latest Israeli declared plans to embark on new settlement projects would negatively reflect on underway Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, in a way that would undermine the two-state solution.

The American official added that both sides realize that they have a joint interest in reaching a deal and that the United States will be helping them to keep momentum.

Senior Palestinian negotiator, Ahmad Qurai, slammed today the new Israeli settlement project, which includes building 111 housing units on a settlement based in the occupied east Jerusalem, Palestinians want as the capital of their future Palestinian state.

U.S President Gorge W. Bush, urged both sides last November to conclude an agreement by end of this year, before his term in office comes to an end, realizing a two-state solution based on 1967 borders, of which east Jerusalem is a part.

Despite repeated calls by Washington to Israel since 2003 to halt all settlement activities on occupied Palestinian territories, Israel has been keeping up construction and expansion of settlements.

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