Israel’s illegal Jewish settlements have had a major strategic and political purpose from the onset. Despite claims to “reclaim” the God-given land for the Jewish people, Israeli settlements are said to prevent the creation of a contiguous independent Palestinian state. The latest Israeli push to revive the E1 settlement plans in East Jerusalem has that precise aim.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who appears to be pushing for a fourth Israeli election within less than two years, appears to be eyeing the area that could connect the large Ma’ale Adumim settlement with West Jerusalem. Having failed to get the green light from Washington for unilateral annexation of Palestinian lands in the West Bank, Netanyahu appears to be intent on satisfying right-wingers in Israel by launching the controversial settlement to the east of East Jerusalem, which would physically destroy any remote chance of a two-state solution that would include a contiguous Palestinian state.
The PLO’s National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements stated in its weekly report Aug. 10 that the Israeli government is moving forward in its pursuit to build thousands of settlement units on the lands of al-Tur, Anata, al-Eizariya and Abu Dis villages in the E1 area, within the greater Jerusalem settlement project. “[This] would completely close the eastern area of Jerusalem and encircle the Anata, Al-Tur, and Hizma’s areas. The settlement project would link all settlements in the eastern region and beyond the boundaries of the Israeli Occupation Jerusalem Municipality with other settlement[s] in the so-called Moshe Laion municipality. Thus, it turns Arab villages into besieged ones, as well as annexing wide areas of lands in the West Bank to the borders of Jerusalem,” the report stated.
The Israeli move quickly produced an important diplomatic response. The European Union (EU) along with 15 European countries submitted Aug. 6 a letter to the Foreign Ministry protesting the advancement of new homes in Givat Hamatos in the E1 area.
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