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Last update - 08:37 28/04/2008
Settlers to move into E. J'lem police HQ
By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Irving Moskowitz 

Based on an agreement signed with former police commissioner Moshe Karadi, right-wing settlers will take up residence in a group of buildings in Jerusalem's predominantly Arab neighborhood Ras al-Amud in the next few days. The building had hitherto served as the Samaria and Judea District Police headquarters.

The buildings are slated to become the nucleus of a new Jewish neighborhood in the so-called Holy Basin area, the fate of which is supposed to be decided in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Police officials said yesterday that work began before Pesach on vacating the place, and that in the coming days they will finish moving the offices to a new facility built in controversial Area E1, which connects Jerusalem with Ma'aleh Adumim.
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Concurrently, right-wing settler groups filed a request with the Jerusalem Planning and Construction Committee a few days ago to approve construction of a new neighborhood of 110 housing units on the vacated site.

The request states that the new neighborhood, Ma'aleh David, is intended to link up with the Ma'aleh Zeitim neighborhood, which was built in the heart of Ras al-Amud by tycoon Irving Moskowitz, with the encouragement of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert while he was mayor of Jerusalem.

In all, the neighborhoods of Ma'aleh David and Ma'aleh Zeitim are projected to house around 250 Jewish families in an area with 14,000 Arab residents.

Nadav Shragai, writing in Haaretz on January 8, reported that the right-wing groups active in "redeeming Jerusalem" by buying up Arab land were negotiating with the Bukharan community committee to purchase the land and building that housed the police's Samaria and Judea District headquarters, which were acquired by the committee during Ottoman rule.

Noga Ben David, one of the leaders of the community, declined yesterday to discuss whether right-wing settler groups are behind the deal, saying he prefers to remain silent until the police vacate the premises.

Under the contract the police signed with the Bukharan community in July 2005, a copy of which was obtained by Haaretz, the community committee undertakes to apply to the Civil Administration and arrange for 14 dunams of land to be allocated in Area E1 for building a replacement building for the police. The committee undertook to plan the replacement building and surrounding development at its own expense.

This barter arrangement allowed the police to finance the new headquarters while bypassing the Budget Law.

The Palestinian Authority's chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, told Haaretz yesterday that allowing right-wing settler groups to move into the old police station in Ras Al-Amud, as the nucleus for a new neighborhood, would undermine the peace talks.

As for the new police station in E1, strong American objections have kept Israeli governments in recent years from implementing the E1 plan, which effectively envisions annexing to Jerusalem a wide swath of land on the eastern side of the Green Line.

The PA has persuaded the Americans that Israeli construction in that area would slice the West Bank in two, making a contiguous Palestinian state impossible. The Americans have made it clear during the current round of peace talks that they are opposed to altering the status quo in Jerusalem.

For this reason, the inauguration of the new police station was postponed at the last minute on the eve of the last visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Erekat, who accompanied PA President Mahmoud Abbas on his visit to the United States last weekend, said that President Bush assured them he would object to any attempt to turn the Palestinian state into "Swiss cheese."

The land on which the police station is located has a convoluted history: It was expropriated for "public purposes" by the Jordanian government, conquered by Israel in the Six-Day War, then legally handed over to the Israel Lands Administration, and finally given to the police - "for public purposes."

Asked on what authority the police had handed over land it received from the ILA to an entity that designates it for residential construction in a sensitive area, the Public Security Ministry said: "At issue is an agreement that was signed with the Israel Lands Administration, the police and the Bukharan community's endowment, whose rights to the land in Ras al-Amud were recognized by the court. In a circular agreement, the endowment undertook to build a new building for the district headquarters in return for the old headquarters."

No response was received from the ILA before press time.


Related articles:
  • Police move to new HQ east of Jerusalem
  • Court rules to evict eight Jewish families from E. Jerusalem house
  • City manager insists gov't delaying Jewish housing in E. J'lem
  • PM plans to halt E. J'lem tenders, okay Har Homa
  • Settlements are their religion
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      1.   Either / or 04:31  |  Yossi 28/04/08
      2.   Israelis the world over will be known as land thieves. 04:46  |  *BEN JABO 28/04/08
      3.   Bulldoze all jewish settlements 05:18  |  betz55 28/04/08
      4.   If Israel was not a racist state it would also build Arab housing 05:21  |  anti-racist 28/04/08
      5.   Iran can help remove the illegal settlers from East Jerusalem 05:24  |  Aounist 28/04/08
      6.   anti-apartheid heroes, like Mandela, compare Israel to Apartheid 05:24  |  anti-racist 28/04/08
      7.   # 1 you can`t be ben jabo... 05:31  |  eric 28/04/08
      8.   Jerusalem, the capital of Israel 05:33  |  Eliyahu 28/04/08
      9.   #1 - Either/or 05:46  |  Bob 28/04/08
      10.   Re#2 - *BEN JABO 06:03  |  Farik Al Faris 28/04/08
      11.   World Opinion 06:07  |  Moshe 28/04/08
      12.   #2 FAKER - YOU`RE A NAME THIEF 06:13  |  * BEN JABO 28/04/08
      13.   #3 anti-racist - what a misnomer 06:16  |  * BEN JABO 28/04/08
      14.   #5 anti-racist (deceitful name) 06:17  |  * BEN JABO 28/04/08
      15.   More power to them...One state sooner 06:27  |  Ben 28/04/08
      16.   So 06:45  |  rm 28/04/08
      17.   BUYING IS STEALING ? 06:58  |  BOET 28/04/08
      18.   DEAR ANTI-RACIST.... 07:06  |  BOET 28/04/08
      19.   Stuck on the 1967 Borders 07:09  |  Steve 28/04/08
      20.   new settlers in Ras Al Amoud 07:36  |  abjad 28/04/08
      21.   # 13 to boet in south africa 08:21  |  eric 28/04/08
      22.   #13 Boet 08:46  |  Space 28/04/08
      23.   Jerusalem 08:51  |  Claire 28/04/08
      24.   Jordan expropriated it and lost it in a war with Israel 10:29  |  redmike 28/04/08
      25.   #13 2nd try to explain to BOET 11:00  |  Johnboy 28/04/08
      26.   Why locate a police station away from any existing community? 11:15  |  Anton Siniora 28/04/08
      27.   akiva eldar is careful to put in the knife 11:32  |  harzion 28/04/08
      28.   to #7 Moshe 11:37  |  Hildar2@aol.com 28/04/08
      29.   may i congratulate the marvellous settlers 11:38  |  harzion 28/04/08
      30.   And Israel "supposedly" wants peace... 11:40  |  David 28/04/08
      31.   Continuation of last message 11:42  |  Hilda 28/04/08
      32.   let them build the new Jewish neighborhood. Test of peace. 12:05  |  Let Jews Live 28/04/08
      33.   Jewish-Arab Coexistence 12:24  |  Abdul-Hakim Fadi 28/04/08
      34.   #1 Yossi 12:27  |  Said 28/04/08
      35.   Yehuda and Shomron -Yosh is Israeli land! 12:46  |  Dr eric 28/04/08
      36.   Yossi of London - you said it, #1 13:51  |  sh 28/04/08
      37.   A different game if and when Pals accept Jewish-majority Israel 14:01  |  Sam 28/04/08
      38.   SOS: thieves ! 14:19  |  Ralph 28/04/08
      39.   Arab appeasing haaretz would be proud 15:10  |  Denise Thompson 28/04/08
      40.   #2. Living in one`s own land doesn`t make one a thief. 15:27  |  Chaim 28/04/08
      41.   CHAIM IT`S NOT YOUR LAND 15:44  |  JH 28/04/08
      42.   #41 JH - I will under agree with you with one proviso 16:15  |  * BEN JABO 28/04/08
      43.   ARABS TO ARABIA OR DETROIT 17:12  |  shmuel 28/04/08
      44.   BEN JABO SEEKS TO WIPE AWAY 14 CENTURIES OF PALESTINIAN HISTORY 17:13  |  JH 28/04/08
      45.   Ben Jabo, you seemed to have had your fill of hater-ade for today 17:17  |  anti-racist 28/04/08
      46.   harzion-multi headed hydra 17:24  |  zimri 28/04/08
      47.   harzion-multi headed hydra 17:25  |  zimri 28/04/08
      48.   PROOF of BEN JABO`s racism 17:33  |  anti-racist 28/04/08
      49.   #41 jack hass and geography an expert not 17:35  |  v hardman 28/04/08
      50.   #40 Chaim 17:49  |  Jim 28/04/08
      51.   DEAR BOET 18:01  |  anti-racist 28/04/08
      52.   more for BOET 18:13  |  anti-racist 28/04/08
      53.   #17 BOET. Yes even when the Jews buy it is stealing. 18:13  |  Pssd Off ARAb 28/04/08
      54.   Jim-without a doubt,the settlers believe G-d gave them the land 18:16  |  Sam 28/04/08
      55.   Ben Jabo is a zionazi.... 18:28  |  betz55 28/04/08
      56.   Ban Jabo is a racist 18:37  |  betz55 28/04/08
      57.   More Land Grabbing 18:42  |  Sylvie 28/04/08
      58.   Marching towards the one-state solution 19:03  |  David 28/04/08
      59.   Good News! but why only 250 Jewish homes? 20:53  |  Baruch Gold 28/04/08
      60.   #42 Ben Jabo: Your points are rational and correct 21:10  |  Baruch Gold 28/04/08
      61.   BARUCH GOLD 21:21  |  JH 28/04/08
      62.   Supremacy of Arab Right of Conquest 21:51  |  Scharker Yid 28/04/08
      63.   #61 Jh : What land theft? Arabs are Occupiers of Many Lands 23:03  |  Baruch Gold 28/04/08
      64.   #55 Betz if that`s the best you have 23:28  |  * BEN JABO 28/04/08
      65.   #61 JH - I asked some valid questions 23:32  |  * BEN JABO 28/04/08
      66.   #58 Daoud - I too see the one state solution 23:35  |  * BEN JABO 28/04/08
      67.   Keep it up Israel 23:36  |  American 28/04/08
      68.   #44 JH - You`re trying to wipe away 5768 years 23:51  |  * BEN JABO 28/04/08
      69.   #44-2 JH "As I promised in 44-1" 23:55  |  * BEN JABO 28/04/08
      70.   #48 anti-racist "proof that any jackass can write" 00:02  |  * BEN JABO