Friday, August 31, 2007

Israel's Policy Not Aiding Peace


West Bank Policy Not Aiding Peace, Says UN

By Sharmila Devi in Jerusalem
Published: August 30 2007 19:48

Last updated: August 30 2007 19:48
FT

Israeli infrastructure that divides the West Bank and confines 2.5m Palestinians to enclaves does not provide a basis for a two-state solution to the conflict, said a United Nations report on Thursday.

...Mr Williams also pointed to the Jewish settlements in his final briefing to the UN Security Council on Wednesday...“Settlement activity undermines hope for a contiguous Palestinian state,” he said.

Almost 40 per cent of the West Bank is off-limits to Palestinians because of Israeli settlements, military infrastructure and a system of roads designed to ease access for Jewish settlers (see map above), justified by Israel as protection from terrorism.

The report points out: “These measures are also intimately linked to maintaining settler access and their quality of life.”

Israel took the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in 1967.

Settlements are deemed illegal under international law, but about 450,000 Jewish settlers now live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. ...

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