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Insight: Jerusalem expansion reaches point of no return
Source: Reuters
Insight: Jerusalem expansion reaches point of no return
By Crispian Balmer
JERUSALEM | Tue May 22, 2012 6:38am EDT
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
'Airplane Hill' lies on the southern fringes of Jerusalem's city limits - rock-strewn land dotted with shabby, prefabricated bungalows and the occasional pine tree.
Once a tranquil backwater, the area has become the focus of hectic activity in the last six months, with Israeli authorities releasing plans for 2,610 housing units and 1,110 hotel rooms.
With the approval process going more quickly than expected, building could start later this year, creating the first new Israeli settlement in 15 years among the sprawl of a modern Jerusalem that is spread out over many hills.
If that happens, it would effectively cut off the city's mainly Arab neighbourhoods from Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, imperiling the Palestinians' prospects for establishing a coherent capital and with it their goal of an independent state.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
By Crispian Balmer
JERUSALEM | Tue May 22, 2012 6:38am EDT
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
'Airplane Hill' lies on the southern fringes of Jerusalem's city limits - rock-strewn land dotted with shabby, prefabricated bungalows and the occasional pine tree.
Once a tranquil backwater, the area has become the focus of hectic activity in the last six months, with Israeli authorities releasing plans for 2,610 housing units and 1,110 hotel rooms.
With the approval process going more quickly than expected, building could start later this year, creating the first new Israeli settlement in 15 years among the sprawl of a modern Jerusalem that is spread out over many hills.
If that happens, it would effectively cut off the city's mainly Arab neighbourhoods from Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, imperiling the Palestinians' prospects for establishing a coherent capital and with it their goal of an independent state.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/22/us-palestinians-israel-jerusalem-idUSBRE84L0AX20120522
