VARIOUS: PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT ACCUSES ISRAEL OF VIOLATING INTERIM PEACE DEALS WITH THE PLO BY PLANNING NEW HOUSING FOR JEWISH SETTLERS

Record ID: 400047

  • Title: VARIOUS: PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT ACCUSES ISRAEL OF VIOLATING INTERIM PEACE DEALS WITH THE PLO BY PLANNING NEW HOUSING FOR JEWISH SETTLERS
  • Date: 10th December 1996
  • Summary: JERUSALEM/ KIRYAT ARBA, WEST BANK/ GAZA CITY, GAZA (DECEMBER 10+11, 1996) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) JERUSALEM (DECEMBER 10, 1996) 1. PAN/LV ARAB NEIGHBORHOOD OF RAS AL-AMUD (3 SHOTS) 0.28 2. SV RAS AL-AMUD RESIDENT MAHMOUD ADILA SAYING I DON'T FEEL GOOD. THEY WANT TO MOVE MY FAMILY OUT AND BREAK MY HOUSE (ENGLISH) 0.40 3. P
  • Embargoed: 25th December 1996 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: GAZA CITY, GAZA/ JERUSALEM/ KIRYAT ARBA, WEST BANK
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Reuters ID: LVA1SDZPS0NAFB3V5789HR8MF1JE
  • Story Text: INTRO: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has said an Israeli plan to build 132 housing units for Jews in the heart of Arab east Jerusalem is a violation of the Israeli government's interim peace deals with the PLO.

    Israel's Jerusalem municipal planning commission approved on Tuesday (December 10) a plan to build new Jewish housing in Ras al-Amoud in east Jerusalem - an area where around 11,000 Palestinians live.

    Interior Minister Eliahu Suissa said the plan to build the units has been approved, and though it still needs ministerial approval, he has every reason to believe the building will go ahead.

    But the scheme has upset Arabs living in the area. They fear losing their homes to make way for the influx of Israelis. The Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) has already labelled the development a "time bomb" which wouldignite a new outburst of violence if it is implemented.

    Speaking to reporters in Gaza City on Wednesday (December 11), Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said the building plan was a serious breach of the Oslo agreement which was signed between Israel and the PLO.

    Israel has encircled Arab East Jerusalem with Jewish neighbourhoods since it captured the city along with the rest of the West Bank in 1967.

    But apart from the settling of some 3,000 Jews inside the walled Old City, it would be the first time that Israel had tried to settle Jews in the heart of an Arab community.

    Some 160,000 Jews and about 155,000 Palestinians live in east Jerusalem. The PLO wants east Jerusalem to be the capital of a future Palestinian state. Israel regards the city as part of its "eternal" capital.

    Arafat reacted to news of the settlement plan as membersof the Islamic Hamas movement held a rally marking the ninth anniversary of the Palestinian uprising, the Intifada.

    Hamas activists shouted slogans against Israel and burnt Israeli flags during their demonstration.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register