European Union: Israel "Illegal Annexation" of East Jerusalem

From The Guardian of London yesterday:

A confidential EU report accuses the Israeli government of using settlement expansion, house demolitions, discriminatory housing policies and the West Bank barrier as a way of "actively pursuing the illegal annexation" of East Jerusalem.

The document says Israel has accelerated its plans for East Jerusalem, and is undermining the Palestinian Authority's credibility and weakening support for peace talks. "Israel's actions in and around Jerusalem constitute one of the most acute challenges to Israeli-Palestinian peace-making," says the document, EU Heads of Mission Report on East Jerusalem.

The report, obtained by the Guardian, is dated 15 December 2008. It acknowledges Israel's legitimate security concerns in Jerusalem, but adds: "Many of its current illegal actions in and around the city have limited security justifications."

"Israeli 'facts on the ground' - including new settlements, construction of the barrier, discriminatory housing policies, house demolitions, restrictive permit regime and continued closure of Palestinian institutions - increase Jewish Israeli presence in East Jerusalem, weaken the Palestinian community in the city, impede Palestinian urban development and separate East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank," the report says....

The EU report goes further, saying that the demolitions are "illegal under international law, serve no obvious purpose, have severe humanitarian effects, and fuel bitterness and extremism." The EU raised its concern in a formal diplomatic representation on December 1, it says.

Comments

[James]

A lot of the arabs I talked to said they like being ruled by a royal family. I asked them what happens when they get a bad ruler and wouldn’t it be better if they could vote crummy leaders out of power. They replied that they just assinate them. No need for democracy as a check and balance on power. Quite a system they got there. Welcome to the Dark Ages.

[James]

Who cares what the EU said ???

For over 3,300 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital. Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem (1948-1967), they never sought to make it their capital, and Arab leaders did not come to visit.

In the Jewish Bible, Jerusalem is mentioned over 669 times and Zion (which usually means Jerusalem, sometimes the Land of Israel) 154 times, or 823 times. The Christian Bible mentions Jerusalem 154 times and Zion 7 times. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran. Jerusalem is also not mentioned in the PKing David established the city of Jerusalem as the capital of the whole Land of Israel. Mohammed never came to Jerusalem. Jerusalem remained under Turkish Ottoman Empire rule from 1517 to 1917, and under British rule from 1917 to 1948.

[Josh Mull]

James,

Wow, I had no idea arabs were genetically pre-disposed to hating democracy. Also, since when is the Bible considered a legitimate source for analyzing geopolitical conflicts? I'm sure my assessments of Afghanistan would be a lot easier if only I could include Icarus or The Amazing Spider-Man as sources...

[Scott Lucas]

James,

Thank you for making the case for the Palestinian people.

"Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity", but it was the long-standing seat of power for Palestinian representatives. The issue which you have highlighted so well for us is that Jerusalem was not the "capital" because a succession of foreign states/regimes --- the Ottoman Empire, Britain, and now Israel --- have denied Palestinian statehood (even though, I seem to recall, Israeli statehood was accepted in 1948).

S.