Reports that the government has decided to revive a ten-year-old plan to create a contiguous area populated by Jews, from Jerusalem eastward to the city of Maaleh Adumim, have aroused concern among PA officials. They claim that settling Jews in Judea and Samaria is illegal and creates obstacles to creating a Palestinian state.
Maaleh Adumim is a full-fledged city of almost 31,000 people, established over 25 years ago in what were then the pristine mountains of the northern Judean Desert.
Erekat said he would raise the issue of the new construction in a meeting today with two U.S. envoys who are currently visiting Israel. The two are Elliot Abrams, an official of the National Security Council, and David Welch, Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East.
“The most important thing at this stage is to… stop settlement activities,” said Erekat. He claimed that the Israeli plan for Maaleh Adumim was intended to “seal off” the eastern part of Jerusalem. The PA has stated repeatedly that it intends to establish a state with the eastern part of Jerusalem liberated by Israel in the Six Day War serving as its capital.
Despite reported U.S. assurances that the U.S. would not pressure Israel to relinquish large settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria, State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez said the U.S. was “seeking clarifications” regarding the Maaleh Adumim reports.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has claimed that he obtained U.S. acquiescence for Israel's retention of five Yesha settlement blocs in exchange for the expulsion of thousands of Jews from Gaza and Northern Samaria.
According to the Bush administration’s Roadmap plan for the creation of a Palestinian state, all efforts to build and expand Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria must cease.
The Maaleh Adumim construction plan, known as E1, was initiated by the late Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, after he signed the Oslo Accords with Yasser Arafat in 1993. The plan was designed to ensure Israeli control over the eastern slopes of Jerusalem up to Maaleh Adumim, which is just five kilometers east of the capital.
The plan calls for the construction of the construction of 1,250 housing units in the first stage, followed by an additional 2,250 units. A new headquarters for the Judea and Samaria police district will also be built, according to the plan, in an area between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim. The current headquarters are located beneath the Mt. of Olives.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has reportedly already approved construction of two projects in the mostly empty corridor between Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem.
Maaleh Adumim is a full-fledged city of almost 31,000 people, established over 25 years ago in what were then the pristine mountains of the northern Judean Desert.
Erekat said he would raise the issue of the new construction in a meeting today with two U.S. envoys who are currently visiting Israel. The two are Elliot Abrams, an official of the National Security Council, and David Welch, Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East.
“The most important thing at this stage is to… stop settlement activities,” said Erekat. He claimed that the Israeli plan for Maaleh Adumim was intended to “seal off” the eastern part of Jerusalem. The PA has stated repeatedly that it intends to establish a state with the eastern part of Jerusalem liberated by Israel in the Six Day War serving as its capital.
Despite reported U.S. assurances that the U.S. would not pressure Israel to relinquish large settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria, State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez said the U.S. was “seeking clarifications” regarding the Maaleh Adumim reports.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has claimed that he obtained U.S. acquiescence for Israel's retention of five Yesha settlement blocs in exchange for the expulsion of thousands of Jews from Gaza and Northern Samaria.
According to the Bush administration’s Roadmap plan for the creation of a Palestinian state, all efforts to build and expand Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria must cease.
The Maaleh Adumim construction plan, known as E1, was initiated by the late Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, after he signed the Oslo Accords with Yasser Arafat in 1993. The plan was designed to ensure Israeli control over the eastern slopes of Jerusalem up to Maaleh Adumim, which is just five kilometers east of the capital.
The plan calls for the construction of the construction of 1,250 housing units in the first stage, followed by an additional 2,250 units. A new headquarters for the Judea and Samaria police district will also be built, according to the plan, in an area between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim. The current headquarters are located beneath the Mt. of Olives.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has reportedly already approved construction of two projects in the mostly empty corridor between Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem.