Construction to Add Housing for Jews in Arab Neighborhood.
Israel intends to move forward with plans to expand Jewish-only neighborhoods that have been built in the middle of an Arab neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, and in the next two weeks, at least five Palestinian families will be evicted from their homes to make way for the expansions.
The far-right Israeli government has made much of their intention to expand what are essentially settlements, but which since Israel nominally annexed East Jerusalem they claim is a distinct expansion of housing in a religiously-exclusive manner, for quite some time.
Since President Trump’s election, Israeli politicians have believed themselves more or less free to expand settlements, particularly in East Jerusalem, as quickly as they want without fear of serious reprimand from the US, and by extension from the UN.
Israeli NGO Peace Now was very critical of the planned expansions, saying that the Palestinian families were protected tenants and had lived in the area for decades, and their expulsion proved that the current government is trying to further undermine the possibility of a two-state solution.
