East Jerusalem - the Palestinian dream
Palestine wants East Jerusalam as its capital, but given the attitude of the Israeli government and its policy of dividing up Palestinian territory, this is looking increasingly impossible. One area of annexed land outside of Jerusalem is to be connected to the city and will become "a part of Israel forever". This flies in the face of the proposed "Road Map" settlement, and the U.S. has expressed dismay. However Ariel Sharon has come under attack from his own Likud Party for pulling out of Gaza and has to face elections with contenders even further to the right than himself.
I visited the settlement outside Jerusalem. It is a vast complex, and includes some houses belonging to Palestinians. Some of these have been bulldozed on the grounds that they did not have the necessary permission to build. The Palestinian homes are also distinguishable by having large water tanks on the roof. I was told that this was because of the possibility of the contamination of water supplies.
Posted by John at September 1, 2005 10:33 AM
