I just had to post this article because it shows how the world perceived the building and expansion of Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria.
The negative tone of this article shows openly that the idea of having Jewish homes in an area that someday might become the 'state of Palestine' is completely unacceptable. At the same time Israel is expected to have Arab citizens. If that is not apartheid, I don't know what is. The irony is that the world spews such discrimination openly and does not even recognises it as such. The world fully supports a Jew-free future state of Palestine. Isn't that bizarre? Anti-Semitism under the banner of human rights.
Furthermore, the article suggests that calling the region 'Judea and Samaria' is just a Jewish fantasy—as if we made it up.
The article suggests that Jerusalem is divided into east and west—east being the Arab capital—when in fact Jerusalem is the undivided capital of Israel, and was never divided. The article also ignores the Levy Report, which clearly states that building Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria is legal under international law, and the writer is probably unaware that the report even exists.
I fully support the expansion and development of Jewish life in Judea and Samaria and I am very happy about this advancement. - Michelle
Source: Swissinfo
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel on Thursday issued a detailed plan for the building of some 800 new homes on annexed land in the West Bank that is certain to attract further international condemnation of its settlement policies.
A planning committee issued a call for bids from contractors to start building 797 housing units on the western slopes of the urban settlement of Gilo, an area that Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East war and later declared part of Jerusalem.
The annexation has never been recognised internationally.
Palestinians want to create a state in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
But they say Israeli settlement building around the city, such as at Gilo, which is home to 40,000 Israelis and lies between mainly Arab East Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Bethlehem, will cripple the viability of any future state.
Israel cites historical and Biblical links to the West Bank, which it calls Judea and Samaria. Some 500,000 settlers live in territory seized in 1967.
Previous Israeli announcements and subsequent settlement building have always drawn worldwide rebukes, including from Israel's main ally, the United States.
Hagit Ofran of the Israeli anti-settler group Peace Now, said construction could begin within a few months.
"The government could stop the process before building begins but is taking advantage of the upcoming elections in order to set facts on the ground and will make the possibility of peace with the Palestinians even harder to achieve," she said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called elections for January 22.
(Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Jon Hemming)
