Islam Online, Qatar
July 27 2005
Palestinians Slam New Jewish Homes in Al-Quds
A Palestinian woman reacts after her family house was demolished by
Israeli authorities in Al-Quds. (Reuters)
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, July 27, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) –
Palestinians lambasted Wednesday, July 27, an Israeli decision to
build 21 homes and a synagogue for Jews in the heart of the Muslim
Quarter in Al-Quds’s Old City, saying it is a part of an Israeli
scheme to judaize the entire city.
`This is pouring fuel on the fire. We ask the international community
to intervene immediately and stop such actions,’ senior Palestinian
negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters.
He said the plan would spark new friction between Jews and Arabs in
the historical city.
The Old City is surrounded by walls and consists of four quarters:
Jewish, Christian, Armenian, and Muslim, which is the largest part.
There are around 230,000 Palestinians living in Al-Quds, home to
Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest shrine in Islam.
The status of the holy city has long been one of the thorniest issues
of the Arab-Israeli conflict as Jews claim that their alleged Haykal
(Temple of Solomon) exists underneath Al-Haram Al-Sharif used to be
the first qiblah (direction Muslims take during prayers).
Israel captured and occupied Al-Quds in the six-day 1967 war, then
declared its annexation, in a move not recognized by the world
community or UN resolutions.
Approval
The Israeli municipality in the occupied city gave Tuesday
preliminary approval for the construction, according to Israeli
Maariv daily.
The project, however, needs to be approved by the Interior and
Housing Ministries before construction can begin.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli Housing Ministry said the plan was
initiated by the previous housing minister and was not in the
ministry’s budget for 2005.
An ultranationalist Jewish organisation has been buying property in
the Muslim Quarter in recent years for Jewish families, according to
Reuters.
The Israeli cabinet approved Sunday, July 10, a revised route of the
controversial West Bank separation wall, leaving around a quarter of
the Palestinian residents in Al-Quds cut off from the rest of the
holy city.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nation’s highest
legal body, has ruled that the 700-kilometer (435-mile) barrier
violated international law.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has made no secret of his
intention to cement control over parts of the occupied West Bank ,
especially on the outskirts of Al-Quds.
Most Palestinians say they welcome any Israeli withdrawal from their
homeland, but understandably express fears Sharon was trying to trade
tiny Gaza for much of the occupied West Bank , where 240,000 settlers
live surrounded by 2.4 million Palestinians.
Jenin Raid
Yussef Haseef, a 15-year-old bystander, was killed during the Israeli
raid in Jenin. (Reuters)
Meanwhile, a Palestinian teenager was killed and nine people wounded,
two of them Israeli soldiers, when Israeli occupation troops stormed
the northern West Bank city of Jenin earlier Wednesday.
Around 30 armored vehicles and four bulldozers entered Jenin as
troops surrounded the home of a leading member of the Islamic Jihad
resistance movement, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Yussef Haseef, a 15-year-old bystander, was shot during the clashes
and rushed to hospital in the nearby city of Nablus where he died,
medics said.
Medical sources had said two of eight wounded Palestinians were in a
serious condition.
Israeli troops launched the operation to detain Hamzi Sami, a leading
member of Jihad’s armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades.
Haseef’s death brought the total toll to 4,809 since the Palestinian
Intifada began in September 2000, according to an AFP count. The vast
majority of the casualties have been Palestinians.