“by Mel Frykberg
JERUSALEM – Israel has published tenders for the construction of 1,761 illegal housing units for Israeli settlers in occupied east Jerusalem alone, according to the Israeli rights group Peace Now.
The expansion plans come despite promises by the Israeli government at last year’s peace summit at Annapolis, Maryland (in the US) to freeze all settlement growth.
‘Once again this government has shown that its words and commitments are meaningless, and they have no intention of keeping to their word,’ says Peace Now.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stressed repeatedly that settlement construction or expansion in the West Bank is contrary to international law and Israel’s commitments under the ‘road map’ peace process.
The road map was a series of peace-building measures proposed by US President George W. Bush in 2002 and subsequently developed by the diplomatic Quartet of the European Union, the United Nations, Russia and the United States.
Ban Ki-moon further urged Israel to freeze all settlement activity and to dismantle outposts erected since March of 2001.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, normally a diehard supporter of Israel, also expressed her concern about the settlement building during her last visit to Israel several months ago.” (Read more from antiwar.com)
. . . but that doesn’t stop our government from giving tax breaks to organizations funding the settlements. (See Below)
AIPAC: The UN is irrelevant! Fire Ban Ki-Moon!
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