Ashrawi condemns Israel's latest settlement units, home demolitions in Jerusalem

PLO Executive Committee member, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi Wednesday condemned Israel's latest approval of the construction of 349 settlement units in Occupied Jerusalem and the demolition of Palestinian homes in Beit Hanina and Sur Bahir."It is evident that Israel is isolating Jerusalem from its Palestinian environment by means of apartheid walls, checkpoints and rings of settlements. The Palestinian citizens of Jerusalem continue to suffer at the expense of Israel's policies of ethnic cleansing which include home demolitions, annexation of Palestinian land, and the revocation of Jerusalem IDs," said Ashrawi.Ashrawi added, "Israel is engaging in the deliberate provocation of the Palestinians to drive them to leave the negotiations in protest of Israeli violations, and therefore be blamed for the destruction of the peace process.""Clearly, it is Israel and its violations of international and humanitarian law that constitute an Israeli attempt to ensure the failure of negotiations and the destruction of the two-state solution. Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is deliberately sending a strong message to the United States, Europe and the rest of the world that it has no intention of adhering to international law and the will of the international community," she elaborated."Israel is not only capable of sabotaging the talks, but it is flagrantly destroying the chances of peace and stability throughout the region," concluded Ashrawi.