WEST BANK/JERUSALEM: Israel confiscates land in the West Bank to expand controversial settlement and open new bypass road

One of the West Bank's largest and most controversial Israeli settlements is set to expand under a new decision to annex adjacent Palestinian lands. Over 272 acres (110 hectares) of Palestinian land from Abu Dis, Sawahreh, Nabi Mousa and al-Khan al-Ahmar in the Jerusalem governorate are to be seized by the Israeli army, according to an order issued on September 24. Israel says the land will be used to build an 'alternate' road for Palestinians that links the north and the south of the West Bank, thereby facilitating Palestinian circulation between Ramallah and Bethlehem while restricting access to East Jerusalem. This would effectively exclude Palestinians from using two main roads (Road 1 and Road 60) and close off the E-1 area between Jerusalem and Maale Adumim, where plans are underway to build at least 1,000 Israeli homes. Opposed by the European Union and United States as detrimental to Palestinian-Israeli peace efforts, the 'E-1 Settlement Expansion Plans' have been underway since March 2006. "There are many apartheid roads in Israel which Palestinians are not allowed to use. But it is the first time a special apartheid road is being paved so that Palestinians will not use the same road as Israelis to enter Jerusalem," says Dr Meir Margalit, field coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD). Israel says the new route will ensure 'transport contiguity' between Palestinian areas. Critics reply that it threatens the 'territorial contiguity' of a future Palestinian state. "If the intention is to build a road connecting Wadi an-Nar and al-Khan al-Ahmar in Jericho, that would effectively lead to the establishment of a Palestinian canton in the south, another in the middle and a third in the north. This effectively means the elimination of the concept of an independent Palestinian state. It means the abolishment of the two-state principle," says Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. Established in 1975, the Maale Adumim settlement now counts 25,000 residents, making it the most populous settlement outside the area of annexed East Jerusalem. The E-1 scheme is the first attempt to directly tie a West Bank settlement to the municipality of Jerusalem. LAND DISPUTES

ITN Source | November 5, 2007

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