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Middle East Peace Report- March 2, 2010

Vol. 11, Issue 20

Silwan Scheme Deferred; Heritage Firestorm, Parts 1-3; Contempt of Court?

Silwan Scheme Deferred: Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said today that he will delay his efforts to promote a dangerous plan to demolish a number of Palestinian homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan to make room for a park sought by settler groups. Barkat's announcement followed a request by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who reportedly expressed concern about mounting tensions in East Jerusalem.
 
Tensions in Silwan are very high. Part of a parking lot for a mosque in the neighborhood collapsed into a 4-meter pit, in what some see as proof that settler-run archeological digs in the area are undermining the foundations of Palestinian homes. An Israeli guard for a settler group was injured yesterday after shots were fired at his jeep.
 
Barkat said that although he is determined to ultimately carry out his plan, he will do it "with utter consideration and sensitivity." Therefore, Barkat said, he decided to heed a call from Netanyahu to delay its implementation in order to try to reach an agreement with the Palestinian residents of the area.
 
Barkat was supposed to present today his plan to build "The King's Garden," a biblical park with several hotels for tourists in Silwan. The Jerusalem Municipality's plan would require the demolition of 22 Palestinian homes.
 
Instead, at his press conference today, Barkat said that he has decided to defer the implementation of the plan pending negotiations with Silwan's residents. According to the news site Ynet, Netanyahu called Barkat shortly before the press conference to caution him that the plan might ignite clashes and damage Israel's image abroad.
 
Israel's Peace Now movement actively mobilized to stop Barkat's scheme. Hagit Ofran, director of Peace Now's Settlement Watch Project, explained that Barkat's plan is geared to appease pressure from settler organizations that are trying to take over the neighborhood of Silwan, which is located on the slopes of the Temple Mount. "Barkat continues to be the mayor of the settlers only," Ofran said. (Ynet, 3/2/10; Jerusalem Post 3/2/10; Maariv; 3/2/10; Yedioth Ahronoth, 3/2/10; Israel Radio, 3/2/10; www.peacenow.org.il, 3/2/10; Israel Radio, 3/1/10; Haaretz, 3/1/10)
 
Heritage Firestorm: Under pressure from the West Bank settlers' lobby, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu decided last week to add two Jewish historical sites in the West Bank - the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem - to a list of Israeli "national heritage sites," which are slated to receive special funding for renovation.
 
Both sites are also holy to Muslims. The Cave of the Patriarchs is the only site in the world that actively serves as a mosque and a synagogue. It was also the site of the 1994 Hebron Massacre, in which a settler murdered 29 Muslim worshippers.
 
Netanyahu's move triggered demonstrations in the West Bank and in Jordan, angry reactions worldwide, a public denunciation  by the U.S. administration, calls by Hamas leaders for a "new intifada," an urgent petition to the United Nations to take action, and harsh criticism by Israeli politicians and pundits.
 
The government's plan to invest $106 million over the next six years to renovate some 150 heritage sites, a project that the cabinet called "of highest national value," initially included only Jewish and Zionist historical sites inside Israel proper. But under pressure from right-wing politicians and leaders of the settlers' movement, who submitted to Netanyahu an extensive list of Jewish sites in the West Bank that they said must be included in the list, the prime minister decided to add the sites in Hebron and Bethlehem.
 
Netanyahu's decision seems to have thrown a wrench into U.S. efforts to resume Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has been exploring with the Obama administration ways to resume the negotiations, warned that the decision was "a grave provocation that could lead to a holy war." The U.S. administration also made its displeasure clear. "We have asked both parties to refrain from provocative and unilateral actions that undermine efforts to resume negotiations to end the conflict," said State Department Spokesman PJ Crowley. He added: "We have raised this directly with the Israeli government."
 
The Israeli government, however, reacted with defiance. Netanyahu dismissed official Palestinian reactions as "a false and hypocritical campaign." Several cabinet members claimed to be outraged by the suggestion that Israel could not or should not tend to Jewish holy sites in the West Bank.
 
Israel's president, Shimon Peres, reportedly did not endorse the decision. According to Ynet, he said he is concerned about the decision and about its repercussions. (Ynet, 2/27 & 2/28/10; AP, 2/25/10; AFP 2/25/10; Ma'ariv 2/24/10)
 
Heritage Firestorm, Part II: The decision to extend the national heritage sites renovation project to the two West Bank tombs was repudiated in the Israeli media as a reckless move.
 
"The unnecessary confrontation over the sites threatens to turn a welcome initiative - one that deepens the link to Jewish heritage and the country's history - into a focus of contention with the Palestinians and the entire Arab world," editorialized Haaretz
 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Haaretz, "has chosen once again to strike a match next to a powder keg. And once again he is doing it while an international effort is underway to renew dialogue and prevent flare-ups between Israel and the Palestinians. Once again he is portraying the Palestinian Authority as an empty vessel and adding to Hamas' stature."
 
Haaretz concluded, "Netanyahu must not turn Jewish heritage sites into a new chapter in Israel's long combat heritage. He should announce that joint restoration work at Rachel's Tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs will be one of the first subjects of peace talks with the Palestinians."
 
Ma'ariv's Ben Caspit wrote that although the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb deserve to be on the list of heritage sites, the question is whether adding them at this time and manner was smart. "We live in an insane region, and when you sit on a powder keg, you don't start a barbecue," he wrote. "We have to conduct ourselves cautiously.  Sensibly.  With forethought."
 
Yedioth Ahronoth's Sima Kadmon concurred. "This is a classic example of how a small nail is enough to spark riots, how one match can ignite the entire region," she wrote. (Haaretz 2/26/10; Ma'ariv, 2/24 & 2/26/10; Yedioth Ahronoth, 2/26/10)
 
Heritage Firestorm, Part III: The decision to list the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb as Israeli national heritage sites led to Israeli-Palestinian clashes in Hebron and East Jerusalem.
 
For five days last week Palestinians demonstrated in Hebron, throwing rocks, bottles, and tires at Israeli military personnel.
 
On Sunday, the riots spread to Jerusalem. Four Israeli policemen and a number of protesters were hurt in clashes near the Temple Mount. On Sunday and Monday Israel limited access to mosques at this holy site to Israeli Muslims over the age of 50.  Restrictions on Palestinian freedom of movement were also extended across the West Bank on Sunday.
 
Israeli defense officials told the Jerusalem Post that they were concerned that the outbreak in Jerusalem was an indication that Palestinian unrest could escalate into a wave of violence throughout the West Bank.
 
This possibility was foreseeable, and Israeli security officials are complaining that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to consult with Israeli intelligence officials over the ramifications of his decision.
 
"Israel has enough trouble on other fronts. It's odd that security figures were not consulted. We could have potentially prevented the violence, or at least prepared for it ahead of time," an Israeli security official told Haaretz.
 
Former Mossad official Yossi Alpher also sees Netanyahu's move as having clear security implications. "Obviously, an Israeli leader really anxious to engage the PLO in renewed final status talks should avoid making a statement that is so easily interpreted by Palestinian leaders as asserting an Israeli claim to disputed and sacred real estate in the heart of the West Bank. Coming more or less on the sixteenth anniversary of the Baruch Goldstein Machpelah Cave massacre in Hebron, the angry response of Arab Hebronites was inevitable," he wrote for APN.
 
Meanwhile, Netanyahu has been trying to assure Palestinians that his decision would not limit Muslims' access to the sites. "There is no plan or program to change the status quo between Jews and Muslims," he said. "All we want to do is strengthen the existing prayer agreement."
 
Netanyahu also pledged that any steps taken would be made in conjunction with the Muslim religious trust. (Haaretz, 2/25 & 2/26/10; APN, 3/1/10; Jerusalem Post, 3/1/10; Ma'ariv 3/1/10; Israel Radio, 3/1/10)
 
Contempt of Court? Justices of Israel's High Court of Justice criticized the Israeli government's timid response to settler lawbreakers on Monday.
 
The criticism was voiced at a hearing regarding a lawsuit initiated by Peace Now to stop construction at the settlement of Kiryat Netafim, where settlers are encroaching on land which - under Israeli law - they have no right to use.
 
Israel's High Court had ordered a stop to this construction several months ago, but the Israeli government failed to take any action.
 
Addressing Ilana Gorni, the Israeli government's attorney, High Court Justice Salim Joubran said, "You yourself say that the order has been violated. What steps has the State of Israel taken to deal with the order that was disobeyed? Can you share the State's thoughts about what it should do in light of the violation of the order?"
 
Gorni was unable to offer a concrete answer to this challenge, but urged the court to allow the government to continue handling the matter. Gorni added that the government is looking into the possibility of retroactively permitting the settlers' construction and land take-over.
 
Peace Now attorney Shlomi Zacharia lamented the Israeli government's failure to confront the law breakers, noting that the Israeli government "has abstained from anything that has to do with enforcement; it is in fact perpetuating the lawlessness and is looking to do so with the court's seal of approval." (Ynet, 3/1/10)