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Israel to Seize Palestinian Land for City Tramway
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, July 11 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israeli authorities in occupied east Jerusalem plan to seize Palestinian land to set up a tramway, according to a statement from the official Palestinian office in the city.
Several families living in the Shouafat refugee camp, in the illegally annexed eastern part of the city, have recently been warned their land will be taken from them to that end.
According to the statement, Palestinian land will be seized by the Israelis to set up a 30-mile tram system.
The first line will go partially through a tunnel and will link the town center with the Jewish settlement of Pisgat Zeev, where 60,000 Israelis live next to the Palestinian refugees.
Clashes broke out in the area Monday when the Israelis destroyed four houses built in the occupied area without their permission.
The United States classed that action as "serious provocation," and has strongly criticized Israel for razing Palestinian homes earlier this week.
In the Shouafat camp on Tuesday, Israeli bulldozers tore down 14 homes in one of the largest demolition operations in years, leaving dozens of Palestinians homeless.
Israel said that the houses had been illegally built without the necessary licenses or permits, which it claims all builders, whether Jewish or Palestinian, must have in order to build homes.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday that alongside hopes that the Palestinian Authority would take steps to curb violence, "We [also] hope the Israeli side will avoid taking provocative acts that cause the situation to become unstable, such as settlement activities [and] such as the destroying of Palestinian homes."
But Israel defends its actions as necessary for security. Minister without portfolio Danny Neveh was quoted by the BBC as saying on public radio, "I'm sorry about the American criticisms, which anyway are nothing new, but Israel will continue to destroy illegal Palestinian-built homes that are trying to create a new situation on the ground, especially in Jerusalem."
Palestinian radio has reported that the Israeli authorities have sent an additional 24 demolition notices to Palestinian families in the village of al-Midyah near the West Bank town of Ramallah, according to BBC reports.
On Sunday, left-wing Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres is set to meet with his new Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Maher, in Cairo for talks about the crisis. Maher is expected to warn Peres also about what the U.S. had called "provocative acts."
"Mr. Maher will tell the Israeli minister about the danger of provocative practices carried out by his government against the Palestinian people," an Egyptian foreign ministry official said under cover of anonymity.
Maher was appointed foreign minister in May, when he also said that any meeting with Peres remained dependent upon a halt to Israeli attacks on Palestinians.
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