Israel Confirms New Construction in East Jerusalem By ISABEL KERSHNER
Published: March 24, 2010 New York TIMES JERUSALEM — Construction of a contentious Jewish housing project in a predominantly Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem could start at any time, Israeli officials and experts said Wednesday, as Israeli plans for Jewish residential building in the contested territory continued to upset peace efforts and strain ties between Israel and the United States. Jerusalem city officials approved the project on March 18, days after it said the landowners had paid the required fees. Once the fees were paid, City Hall said in a statement on Wednesday, “approval was granted automatically.” The plan in question is for construction of 20 residential units in the Shepherd Hotel compound in Sheik Jarrah, a neighborhood populated mostly by Palestinians, and more recently by some Israeli nationalist Jews, just north of the Old City. The green light for the project was first published by Ynet, an Israeli news Web site, on Tuesday night, shortly before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Obama in Washington. Given the tense atmosphere surrounding building plans in the Israeli-annexed eastern part of Jerusalem, Israeli officials Wednesday played down the significance of the Sheik Jarrah development, saying approval was a technicality that required no further decision by any committee or body. more at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/world/middleeast/25jerusalem.html -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
