The Forum for the Jerusalem Region has revealed additional encroachments of the Palestinians on lands in the E1 area near Maaleh Adumim, not far from the capital. The Forum's monitor has documented the recent planting of trees and the erection of fences and gates surrounding huge tracts of appropriated land.
Members of the Forum have cautioned that if these steps go unchecked, they will lead to a continuum of Palestinian settlement separating Maaleh Adumim from Jerusalem.
E1, also known as Mevasseret Adumim, is a parcel of land 12 kilometers square to the east of Jerusalem and within the municipal boundaries of Maaleh Adumim. It is of strategic importance to both Jews and Palestinians - it can either link Jerusalem with Maaleh Adumim, or Ramallah with Beit Lehem, surrounding the capital with a chain of Arab settlements to the north and south, which would undoubtedly alter the status quo.
As far back as the premiership of Yitzhak Shamir, Israel had developed a master plan that included Jewish construction in E1, with residential units planned for the area. In 1995, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin authorized the plans and ordered work to begin. Successive Israeli governments have advanced the construction somewhat, including the construction of a large police station in the area. A total of four thousand residential units are planned for the area, which has already been named: Mevasseret Adumim. In addition, an industrial zone, parks, tourist areas, and commercial zones have been mapped out.
Nonetheless, the Palestinians are also moving forward with their plans, and a recent tour of the area by members of the Jerusalem Forum revealed a large tract of land fenced off and barred behind a locked gate. Upon further investigation, they discovered that Arabs from a nearby village were responsible for the fences and the trees planted on the area within.
"This is further encroachment whose purpose is to seize lands belonging to Maaleh Adumim, land that is of vital strategic importance as it is located so close to the capital," Forum members said. "It is not for nothing that the Palestinians have focused their attention here with their overall plan being to take over Area C and the Land of Israel.
"The government has to wake up and take immediate action to stop these incursions, both in E1 and in all other parts of the Jerusalem region," they added. "We are losing our land and our capital, and we have to take action before it is too late."