The Shepherd Hotel owned by al-Quds
Mufti Mohammad Amin al-Husayni has been demolished by Israelis to build a
new Jewish settlement in the heart of east Jerusalem.
The settlement will divide two Arab
neighbourhoods and will also change the landscape and the ethnic balance
of occupied east Jerusalem.
The move has been condemned by Saeb
Erekat, Palestinian negotiator, saying they would not negotiate with
Israel as long as such moves continued.
"The state of Israel is demolishing one
Palestinian property after another in an effort to cleanse Jerusalem of
its Palestinian inhabitants, heritage and history," Erekat said.
Israel believes that Jews have the right
to settle wherever they choose to live in the occupied east Jerusalem.
Israel’s plan to demolish the Shepherd Hotel created a diplomatic
dispute with the United States in 2009, and President Obama tried hard
to persuade Israel not to go ahead with it.
"By doing this, Israel has destroyed all
the US efforts and ended any possibility of a return to negotiations,"
said Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud
Abbas.
Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, also known as
Haj Amin al-Husseini, was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem from 1922-1937.
He was deported from Palestine by the British in 1937 and later died in
Lebanon in 1974.
Al-Husayni played a key role in opposing
Zionism and creating a state for European Jews in the land of
Palestine. He was active in opposing the British rule in order to secure
the independence of Palestine as an Arab state. During the 1948
Arab-Israeli War, he represented the Arab Higher Committee and opposed
both the 1947 UN Partition Plan and King Abdullah’s ambitions for
expanding Jordan by capturing parts of Palestine.
________________________________________________________Written by: Ibrahim Nazim
10 January 2011, Monday
6 Safar 1432
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