Israeli President Shimon Peres (C) and
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) attend a state ceremony marking
Jerusalem Day, which celebrates the conquest of East Jerusalem during the
1967 Six Day War, in east Jerusalem, May 21, 2009. Israel occupied East
Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast War and declared the whole city as its
"eternal and undivided capital" in 1980 in a move not recognized by the
international community, while the Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the
capital of their future state. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) Photo
Gallery>>>
by Xu Gang
JERUSALEM, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Thursday that all of Jerusalem would always remain under Israeli sovereignty, but hundreds of east Jerusalem Arabs protested the occupation.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a ceremony marking Jerusalem Day at Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem May 21, 2009. Jerusalem Day marks the anniversary of Israel's capture of the Arab Eastern part of the city. Israel annexed East Jerusalem as part of its capital in the 1967 Middle East War in a move not recognized internationally. Netanyahu said on Thursday that Jerusalem would "never be divided" and would remain the capital of the Jewish state, drawing an angry response from the Palestinians. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
"United Jerusalem is Israel's capital. Jerusalem was
always ours and will always be ours. It will never again be partitioned and
divided," Netanyahu was quoted by local daily Ha'aretz as saying at a state
ceremony marking Jerusalem Day, which was held at the Ammunition Hill in east
Jerusalem.
The prime minister said he had made the same
declaration during his visit to Washington, where he met Monday with U.S.
President Barack Obama over the Middle East peace process and Iran's nuclear
program.
Jerusalem Day celebrates the conquest of the city
during the 1967 Six Day War, before which Jordan controlled east Jerusalem,
while Israel had the western section. Shortly after the war, Israel annexed east
Jerusalem.
"Only under Israeli sovereignty will united Jerusalem
ensure the freedom of religion and freedom of access for the three religions to
the holy places," Netanyahu said, without referring to Palestinian demands to
declare east Jerusalem the capital of the state they want to establish.
Netanyahu's speech echoed remarks of Israeli
President Shimon Peres, who said earlier at the ceremony that "Israel will never
have another capital other than Jerusalem, and Jerusalem will never be the
capital of another people."
In response to Netanyahu's words, Palestinian
negotiator Saeb Erekat said that the Israeli prime minister's position on
Jerusalem was a setback to the goal of a two-state solution, which is strongly
supported by the Obama administration.
"Netanyahu, by saying that, he is saying the state of
conflict will be eternal," Erekat said.
Also on Thursday, hundreds of east Jerusalem Arabs
protested against Jerusalem Day celebrations in the city, according to local
daily The Jerusalem Post.
Demonstrators waving flags of the Palestinian
National Authority shouted slogans to condemn the Jewish occupation.
Participants lambasted "the myth of the city's unity"
and said Israel must "awaken from the fantasy of unity" of Jerusalem. They said
east Jerusalem's annexation to Israel in the wake of the Six Day War was
illegal.
Protestor Inad Muhammad Surhi from the Jabal Mukaber
neighborhood, told local news service Ynet that "We are here to say one thing:
Jerusalem has never been united. Look at the difference between west Jerusalem
and the east, you will see that there is no equality in the city."
"We are here to say that we want Jerusalem to be the
capital of two states and that's all. Only then will there be peace for both us
and you," said Surhi.
Jerusalem City Council member Meir Margalit, who is
from the left-wing Meretz party, was present at the protest, saying that "I am
here because I feel that there is a big lie that has been going on for 42 years,
and it is called the unification of the city."
"Someone must burst this bubble. The city is not
united; on the contrary, it is more divided than ever," he said, adding that
Jerusalem Day is not a holiday for all the city's residents.
"Calling it 'Jerusalem Day', as if all the residents
are happy with the situation, is a big lie. It could be called 'Jerusalem Day
for the Jews'," said Margalit.
UNITED NATIONS, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations
humanitarian wing on Friday urged Israel to address the housing crisis in East
Jerusalem, where current building policies and house demolitions have left
Palestinians with a serious housing shortage.
The crisis is due to the failure of Israel to provide
Palestinian residents with adequate planning, together with the expropriation of
about one third of annexed East Jerusalem lands for the construction of
settlements, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
said in its latest report regarding the situation in the occupied Palestinian
territory. Full story
JERUSALEM, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Just hours after being
evacuated by Israeli security forces, the West Bank outpost of Maoz Esther was
being rebuilt on Thursday by Jewish settlers who returned to the site of their
dismantled homes, local news service Ynet reported.
Dozens of youths working to rebuild the outpost said
they would make sure Maoz Esther was expanded even further than it had
originally been.Full story
JERUSALEM, May 20 (Xinhua) -- It is true that when U.S.
President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first made
eye contact in Washington this week, their respective diplomats had already
agreed on the agenda and quite likely much of the outcome.
However, unlike the first meetings between American and
Israeli leaders in the recent past, this one was tinged with tension that was
heightened by weeks of media speculation about a rift between the normally close
allies. Full story
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Visiting
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks might be resumed in "next few weeks," though he
managed to shun any words about the two-state solution.
Netanyahu, who arrived in the Egyptian resort of Sharm
el-Sheikh on Monday noon, made the remarks at a joint press conference after a
meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, on his first foreign visit since
he took office in late March. Full story
