No rush to build in E-1

LINDA GRADSTEIN THE MEDIA LINE

Israeli police tore down Palestinian protest tents in an area slated for Israeli building east of Jerusalem earlier this month after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Israeli government. Some 50 Palestinian demonstrators were removed from the area.

It was the latest scuffle over an area that Israel calls E-1 (the “E” refers to east of Jerusalem) and the Palestinians have named Bab al-Shams (the Gate of the Sun). This small area, between east Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim, on land Israel captured in the 1967 war, has become the focus of international attention.

In late November, after the United Nations upgraded “Palestine” to non-member observer status, Israel announced a series of construction plans, including in E-1, plans that set off a wave of international condemnation. Palestinians say that the construction will divide the West Bank in two and make a Palestinian state virtually impossible. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told this reporter that the Palestinian claims are not true, but he also seemed to say that Israel has no intention of building in E-1 anytime soon.

“We haven’t made a decision to build yet – we’re only doing planning and zoning,” he said. “Actual construction will require a separate decision by the government.”

Regev also said that every Israeli government has envisioned Ma’ale Adumim, with its 40,000 residents, as part of Israel. “E-1 is the connection between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim, and it’s only natural that in final status peace we’d want to see that area as part of Israel,” he said.

Currently, there is an Israeli police station on the site of 4.6 kilometres. Several Bedouin communities and their livestock live in the area.

Palestinian activists say that they are taking a page from Israeli history in their hopes to rebuild the tent encampment: when Israel built on post-1967 land, they often started with tents, which were eventually replaced with permanent housing. Palestinians have created a new village council for Bab al-Shams, which they say will be part of the Jerusalem district under the Palestinian Authority.

Dovish Israeli groups also attacked Israel’s plans to build in E-1.

“E-1 is the most serious provocation by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the recent period,” suggested Yoav Peck, an activist with Peace Now. “It was on the shelf for a long time and was brought out as a way of punishing the Palestinian Authority for its declaration of statehood at the UN.”

While he believes that all construction on post-1967 land is an obstacle to peace, Peck said building at E-1 is especially egregious.

“It would break the contiguity of the Palestinian state and the ability of Palestinians to get from Ramallah, north of Jerusalem, to Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem. Secondly, one of the Palestinians’ central demands is that they be able to establish their capital in east Jerusalem, and E-1 makes that virtually impossible.”

Regev said that just as Israel envisioned a “safe passage” between the West Bank and Gaza during peace negotiations, Israel will make sure it remains possible for Palestinians to travel between cities in the West Bank.

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