Washington DC, Mar. 21 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) expressed grave concerns about reports that the Israeli government has confirmed plans to build 3,500 new homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank in order to deepen its hold on Jerusalem. The leading Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that, “Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last week approved the construction of 3,500 new homes to secure Greater Jerusalem." The new project, which will reportedly be constructed between occupied Arab East Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim, is a breach of Israel's commitments under the Roadmap for Peace promoted by US President George W. Bush.
This follows a report in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz that an aerial photography survey, commissioned by the Israeli Defense Ministry, has revealed that an additional 3,000 new homes are currently under construction in existing West Bank settlements.
ATFP cautioned that these major and strategically located construction projects could scuttle the diplomatic progress made since the election in January of the new Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Israel should not view its Gaza withdrawal as a quid pro quo for increasing settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. ATFP urged the Bush Administration to use its good offices to ensure that this new settlement construction program does not go forward, and that neither side take steps to jeopardize the fragile cease-fire or abrogate their basic commitments under the Roadmap.
ATFP reaffirmed that the future of Jerusalem should be negotiated based on the following principles: