| advertisement |
|
|
| advertisement |
|
|
|
| British foreign office angers Israel
|
|
| Page tools |
 |
|
|
|
A leaked British foreign office report accusing Israel of rushing to annex East Jerusalem has attracted the ire of the Israeli government.
The document, written by officials at the British consulate in East Jerusalem, was published in a number of newspapers, including the Guardian, over the weekend.
In it, Israel is blamed for jeopardising chances for peace with the Palestinians by blocking the opportunity for Jerusalem to be the capital of a Palestinian state.
The foreign office officials claimed that Ariel Sharon’s policy of not giving up Jerusalem could be driving local Palestinians to support radical terror organisations.
Countering policies
According to the Guardian, the document was presented to an EU council of ministers meeting chaired by British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, last week. The Guardian said that Straw recommended various options aimed at countering the Israeli policy, including recognition of Palestinian political activities in East Jerusalem.
The document said that Sharon’s plans to build thousands of homes in Maale Adumim settlement block in the West Bank in an attempt to inextricably link the area with Jerusalem “threatens to complete the encircling of the city by Jewish settlements, dividing the West Bank into two separate geographical areas".
It adds: "Israeli activities in Jerusalem are in violation of both its Roadmap obligations and international law."
The foreign office also condemned the controversial West Bank security barrier as an attempt by the Israelis to take Palestinian land and create a border.
"This de facto annexation of Palestinian land will be irreversible without very large-scale forced evacuations of settlers and the re-routing of the barrier," the document said.
Israel is accused of using the barrier to control the Palestinian people. "When the barrier is completed,” the report said, “Israel will control all access to East Jerusalem, cutting off its Palestinian satellite cities of Bethlehem and Ramallah, and the West Bank beyond. This will have serious consequences for the Palestinians.”
Master plan
Claiming that Israel has a “Master Plan” the authors of the document wrote: “Israel’s main motivation is almost certainly demographic... the Jerusalem master plan has an explicit goal to keep the proportion of Palestinian Jerusalemites at no more than 30 percent of the total."
On Friday Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, Mark Regev, made clear Israel’s position.
"Israel believes that Jerusalem should remain the united capital of Israel. At the same time Israel has committed itself that Jerusalem is one of those final status issues," Regev said.
And on Saturday an Israeli source was quoted by the Guardian as accusing the British of being “anti-Israeli” and “unrelentingly pro-Palestinian”
The Israeli source told the Guardian: "We are not in the slightest bit surprised that this should have come from the British. On the one hand they always say they understand Israel’s problems and want to be an intermediary and on the other they are accusing us and attempting to embarrass us. They cannot be trusted," he said
|
|
 |
|