Palestinians protest Israel demolishing historic building (Roundup)

Jan 9, 2011, 14:16 GMT

Jerusalem - Israeli contractors on Sunday began the partial demolition of an historic building in occupied East Jerusalem that will make way for a Jewish apartment complex, despite demands from the United States and others to halt the project.

Witnesses said two yellow bulldozers began tearing down parts of the building, known as the Shepherd Hotel, on a plot in the Arab neighbourhood of Sheik Jarrah.

The demolition came after years of planning and legal delays, as well as international efforts to halt the project.

Palestinian officials and Israeli peace groups condemned the move and said Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem 'destroyed' the possibilities for the Palestinians to build their capital in the eastern section of the disputed city.

The property, the former home of the late Grand Mufti Haj Amin al- Husseini, was used as a hotel after the Jordanians annexed East Jerusalem in 1949. It was then declared 'absentee property' after Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan in 1967.

The historic section built by the mufti himself will not be destroyed as it is protected by law, said Orly Noy, a spokeswoman for the Israeli group Ir Amim, which campaigns against Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem.

But a wing added to the original building later on, during the Jordanian rule, will be torn down to make way for two new residential buildings, initially with space for about 20 apartments.

The controversial mufti, who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II, erected the original building in the 1930s as his family home outside the walled Old City of Jerusalem.

The plain structure has also served as a British base, when Palestine was a League of Nations British mandate.

Used also for a time by Israeli justice authorities, it has stood empty since the beginning of this decade, even though it was purchased in 1985 by US businessman Irving Moscowitz, a staunch supporter of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.

Moscowitz turned it over to Ateret Cohanim, an extreme-right, non- profit organisation that promotes Jewish settlement activity in East Jerusalem.

In July 2009, the Jerusalem municipality gave final authorisation to plans to construct the new housing on the site of the hotel.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the move as 'part of a political programme of the Israeli government to preempt any solution on Jerusalem.'

'The United Nations and governments around the world, including the United States and United Kingdom, have already condemned plans to demolish this particular hotel. We call on the world to take a strong stand in defence of their positions,' he said in a statement.

Ir Amim also called on Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai to veto the project.

'The harsh criticism heard from the international community after the project was authorized makes it unequivocally clear that it has the potential to do tremendous damage to Israel's foreign relations and its international standing,' the group said.

As such, it was in Israel's 'national interest' to stop it, the group argued, noting that Yishai has the power to veto the project despite the fact that it has already received all necessary permits.

The Jerusalem municipality reacted by saying that it does not interfere in the development of private property anywhere in the city, whether in West or East Jerusalem.

'As in any other city,' the municipality 'issues construction permits solely according to professional criteria, without any check of religion, race or sex, which is illegal by law,' it said in a statement.

Palestinians oppose any Jewish construction in East Jerusalem, which they want as the capital of their future state.

Israel formally annexed East Jerusalem in 1981 and does not distinguish between the eastern and western parts of the city.

But Palestinians say that any change of the status quo beyond the 'green line' separating Israel from the West Bank - including in East Jerusalem - is illegal under international law because it is classified as occupied territory.

The US have called Israeli construction and demolitions in East Jerusalem unhelpful to the Middle East peace process. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has demanded that Israel halt the project in the heart of Arab East Jerusalem.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by saying that Israel 'cannot accept the idea that Jews will not have the right to live and purchase in all parts of Jerusalem.'

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