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Israel begins work on disputed Jerusalem housing project
March 18, 1997
Web posted at: 10:52 a.m. EST (1552 GMT)Latest developments:
- Bulldozers begin earth moving
- Heavy Israeli military presence
- Minor violence by Arab protesters
- Other Palestinians hold peaceful protest
- Arafat calls on Palestinians to avoid violence
- Related stories and sites
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel began work at the site of a planned Jewish settlement in Arab East Jerusalem on Tuesday despite the possibility that the action could trigger massive Palestinian protests.
Palestinians view the project as a violation of Israel-PLO peace deals, but Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said he had called on his people to avoid violence over the issue.
Israeli soldiers ringed Jabal Abu Ghneim, a pine-covered hill called Har Homa by Israel, and Jerusalem police went on high alert.
There were no immediate reports of a widespread Palestinian backlash but witnesses said at least three Israeli Arab students were hurt trying to reach a Palestinian protest camp near the hilltop site.
The witnesses said Israeli soldiers attacked the students from Jerusalem's Hebrew University with the butts of their guns.
Bulldozers started breaking ground after being trucked to the site from a staging point about one mile (two km) away.
Surveyors also began taking measurements for the internationally condemned housing project. Israel plans to build 6,500 homes for Jews at the site.
The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argues that because it governs Jerusalem, it need not consult with anyone on construction in the city.
Peaceful protest near site
The Israeli army declared an area between the hill and the West Bank town of Bethlehem a closed military area in a bid to ensure Palestinian protesters could not reach the site. Earlier, Israel reinforced its troops in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in anticipation of protests.
But by Tuesday dozens of protesters including Faisal Husseini, the PLO's top official in Jerusalem, had pitched six tents on a rocky slope near the hill.
The protesters said they would resist soldiers' orders to leave. One soldier kept a mounted machine gun trained on the tents.
Husseini, a member of the Palestinian cabinet, said the protest would remain peaceful unless the Israeli army evicts them.
"We are sleeping here to defend the land. We are determined to stay here until we believe that our objectives are reached," he said prior to the arrival of the bulldozers.
Several dozen Israeli peace activists joined the group to protest Israel's action.
Israeli soldiers and a delegation of Israeli parliament members tried in vain to persuade the Palestinians to leave.
"We are prepared for any flare-up," Israeli Public Security Minister Avigdor Kahalani said earlier.
Dore Gold, an adviser to Netanyahu, told CNN new housing construction in Jerusalem follows the prime minister's campaign pledge to provide security for Israelis and to protect Jerusalem from being "redivided."
Arafat calls on Palestinians to avoid violence
In preparation for a possible upsurge in anti-Israeli violence, the Palestinian Health Ministry declared a state of emergency at hospitals in self-ruled parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In Gaza, members of the Israeli peace movement, including Yuval Rabin, the son of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, met with Yasser Arafat.
When asked by journalists if he had called for restraint by his people, Arafat answered: "Yes, I have done it."
Under the 1993 PLO-Israel peace accord, the future of Jerusalem and the fate of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza will be determined in "final status" talks that were supposed to have resumed on Monday and end in 1999.
The PLO wants East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, as the capital of a Palestinian state. Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its "eternal capital."
Jerusalem Bureau Chief Walter Rodgers, Correspondent Jerrold Kessel and Reuters contributed to this report.
More Images:
Related stories:
- Israelis to begin work on Jerusalem settlements - March 17, 1997
- With condolence visit to Israel, King Hussein spurs talks - March 16, 1997
- Netanyahu accuses Palestinians of creating 'crisis' - March 11, 1997
Related sites:
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- Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles - State of Israel
- Islamic Association for Palestine
- Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- The Jerusalem Post
- ArabNet
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