EU: demolition of Jerusalem homes a violation of international law

[ 30/06/2010 - 09:49 PM ]

BRUSSELS, (PIC)--

EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton said that Israel’s decision to demolish several houses belonging to Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem is a violation of international law and constitutes an elemental obstacle in the peace process in the region, making the two-state solution impossible.

Ashton said in a statement on Wednesday that Israeli settlement outposts in Jerusalem and the decision to demolish Palestinian homes, are “illegal under international law, an obstacle in the way of peace, and threaten to render the two-state solution impossible,” noting that the European Union never recognized the annexation of East Jerusalem to Israel.

She demanded that Israel cease all actions that could hamper the talks and stand as an obstacle in the way of negotiations.

The Committee for Planning and Construction in the Jerusalem municipality approved a project called “The King’s Garden” on June 22, in the Arab Silwan district of East Jerusalem, where a few Israeli settlers live among an estimated 12 thousand Palestinians.

In similar instances, Minister of Public Works and Housing  in Gaza, Dr. Yousef al-Mansi, appealed to the international community and international institutions and legal bodies, to put pressure on Israel to stop racist criminal acts against the properties of the citizens of occupied Jerusalem, after the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) began large demolition and bulldozing projects in the town of Issawiya, in the city of Jerusalem in order to build a "Talmudic garden.”

Mansi also called on Arabs to take a stance against ongoing Israeli building plans and its policy of Judaization of Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque, and the continued demolition of Jerusalem homes, directing tribute to the citizens of Jerusalem on their steadfastness in the face of Israel’s plans aimed at expelling them from their land

For his part, Hamas spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, said in a statement on Wednesday, that Israel’s expansion of digging activity in the area behind the south wall of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, known as the Umayyad palaces, is a humanitarian and historical crime committed under the cover of negotiations and the absence of international justice.

He said, "There is no justification for the official silence of Arab leaders, and there is no justification for the existence of Zionist flags over the capitals of Arab states, as that is the biggest cover-up for Judaizing Jerusalem and obliterating the Palestinian cause."

Barhoum stressed that the real deterrent for Israel is the launch of resistance in the West Bank to stop these crimes, calling for immediate and urgent international intervention to stop Judaization and put an end to the violations.