Activists say Israel gave key site to settlers

[Scurrilous]

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"Israel has handed control over much of a key Palestinian area in annexed east Jerusalem to hardline settler groups in a creeping takeover kept away from public scrutiny, a report by an activist group said on Thursday.

Government bodies have transferred both private Palestinian property and national parks in the Silwan neighbourhood outside the walls of the Old City to the settler organisation Elad, said Ir Amim, a non-profit group specialising in Jerusalem issues.

"It was done in the dark, in flagrant violation of the rules of good government and in some cases in violation of the law, without open and official decisions by the government or Knesset and without public discussion, inquiry or scrutiny," said the report entitled "Shady Dealings in Silwan."

Elad is dedicated to expanding Jewish ownership in Arab areas of east Jerusalem, which Israel captured from Jordan in 1967 and annexed in a move not recognised by the international community.

In Silwan, Elad has acted as an arm of the government for the past 20 years to gain control over a quarter of the land along its main thoroughfare, Wadi Hilweh or City of David.

"Silwan is a keystone to a sweeping and systematic process whose aim is to gain control of the Palestinian territories that surround the Old City, to cut the Old City off from the urban fabric of east Jerusalem and to connect it to Jewish settlement blocs" in the northeast, it said."

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[Violet_Crumble]

1. That's appalling that a govt would hand over running of a site to an extremist organisation...

I remember a thread about this from last year and the JNF said only Jews should live in Silwan. Yep, found it:

'Therefore, according to the Jewish National Fund, it is “historical justice” that only Jews should live on this land.'

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=124&topic_id=261695