THE desolate hills east of Jerusalem seem insignificant, a barren stretch of scrubland with few buildings or residents. Yet twice in the past few weeks Israel’s supreme court has heard arguments over this small patch of territory. Diplomats have bluntly warned Israel not to build anything here. And thousands of Palestinians have found themselves at the centre of a long battle over the most controversial patch of the occupied West Bank.
The area in question, known as E1, sits between Jerusalem and the sprawling settlement of Maale Adumim, 7km (4 miles) to the east. Every Israeli prime minister since Yitzhak Rabin has dreamed of building a town on these hills. It would create a salient jutting almost halfway across the West Bank’s narrow waist, slashing the route between Ramallah and Bethlehem, and further encircling Palestinian districts in East Jerusalem. One local activist calls it the “doomsday settlement”, a deadly blow to the idea of a territorially contiguous future Palestinian state.
Any construction in E1 would oblige Israel to expel 18 Bedouin tribes who live in the area. Last spring several members of these...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/1lawZjj
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