 Israeli bulldozers, working under police protection, on Sunday demolish part of the former Hotel Shepherd complex in occupied east Jerusalem. AFP photo |
Bulldozers demolished a hotel in the occupied Arab east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah on Sunday to make way for a new Israeli housing settlement, angering Palestinians.
The Shepherd Hotel, purchased by an American millionaire in 1985, is to be replaced by 20 apartments for Israelis. The hotel was once home to the mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini.
Peace talks are currently stuck over Israeli construction in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as their future capital. The Palestinians say they will not renew talks without an Israeli settlement freeze that includes the area, which was captured along with the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East War.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the project. "As long as this government continues with settlement and acts like the demolition of the Shepherd Hotel there will be no negotiations," Erekat said.
The Shepherd Hotel project is funded by American millionaire Irving Moskowitz. He received a permit for the project from the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Council last year. Moskowitz is a supporter of Ateret Cohanim, an organization that promotes settling Jews in occupied east Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Israeli peace activist and former lawmaker Mossi Raz told the Associated Press that the people behind the project "want to settle here and make the situation in Jerusalem even more problematic than it is now."
Israeli Knesset member Dov Henin also harshly criticized the demolition of the hotel. The move "exterminates the chance of a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem existing side-by-side with an Israeli capital in the west," the Jerusalem Post quoted him as saying.
Henin said that the building of the new Jewish neighborhood in Sheikh Jarrah was a calculated political move meant to prevent the Palestinians from making their capital in the eastern part of the city.
Sheikh Jarrah is the scene of a weekly protest against the evictions of Palestinians to make way for settlers.
The Shepherd Hotel, purchased by an American millionaire in 1985, is to be replaced by 20 apartments for Israelis. The hotel was once home to the mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini.
Peace talks are currently stuck over Israeli construction in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as their future capital. The Palestinians say they will not renew talks without an Israeli settlement freeze that includes the area, which was captured along with the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East War.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the project. "As long as this government continues with settlement and acts like the demolition of the Shepherd Hotel there will be no negotiations," Erekat said.
The Shepherd Hotel project is funded by American millionaire Irving Moskowitz. He received a permit for the project from the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Council last year. Moskowitz is a supporter of Ateret Cohanim, an organization that promotes settling Jews in occupied east Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Israeli peace activist and former lawmaker Mossi Raz told the Associated Press that the people behind the project "want to settle here and make the situation in Jerusalem even more problematic than it is now."
Israeli Knesset member Dov Henin also harshly criticized the demolition of the hotel. The move "exterminates the chance of a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem existing side-by-side with an Israeli capital in the west," the Jerusalem Post quoted him as saying.
Henin said that the building of the new Jewish neighborhood in Sheikh Jarrah was a calculated political move meant to prevent the Palestinians from making their capital in the eastern part of the city.
Sheikh Jarrah is the scene of a weekly protest against the evictions of Palestinians to make way for settlers.
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