EU voices protest over Israeli policies in East Jerusalem, West Bank

[Little Tich]

Source: Haaretz

EU Ambassador tells foreign ministry EU concerned evacuation and demolition is part plan to expand Ma'aleh Adumim in the E1 area and asked for clarifications.

A day after the four European Union members of the UN Security Council strongly criticized Israel's decision to speed up construction of settlements, tension between the parties appears to be rising.

EU Ambassador to Israel Andrew Standley on Thursday submitted a formal protest to the Foreign Ministry over evacuating Bedouins and tearing down Palestinians' houses in the E1 area near the West Bank settlement Ma'aleh Adumim.

Standley told Raphael Schutz, who heads the Foreign Ministry's European desk, that the EU was concerned that the evacuation and demolition was part of preparations to expand the settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim in the E1 area and asked for clarifications.

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/eu-voices-protest-over-israeli-policies-in-east-jerusalem-west-bank-1.403038

[Violet_Crumble]

1. Israel gearing for effective separation of East Jerusalem Palestinians

Last week, a new border crossing was opened in East Jerusalem's Shoafat neighborhood, to little fanfare. Two days later, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat asserted that Israel should relinquish Palestinian neighborhoods of the capital that are beyond the separation barrier, despite the fact that their residents carry Israeli identity cards.

Some people view these events as two pieces of the same puzzle. A third piece is the resumption of work on separate roads for Israelis and Palestinians between Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim.

Put the pieces together, and you get a picture of Israel erecting, at enormous expense, a major system of roads and checkpoints that would allow for the total separation of Palestinians and Israelis while also enabling the construction of Mevasseret Adumim, a neighborhood that would connect Ma'aleh Adumim to Jerusalem.

The new crossing at Shoafat, which replaced the old military checkpoint, resembles a border terminal between two countries more than it does a security checkpoint. Its generous proportions include five lanes for vehicles and a lane for pedestrian traffic.

In the days leading up to and following the opening, an intolerable stench hung over the pristine terminal, testimony to the "skunk truck" and its cargo of liquid stink, which the Border Police used to drive away Palestinians demonstrating against the new crossing. But the protesters' efforts were in vain, and the terminal is operating according to plan. It may even improve the quality of life of Palestinian Jerusalemites living in and around Shoafat, by reducing their travel time to and from the rest of the city.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-gearing-for-effective-separation-of-east-jerusalem-palestinians-1.403034