Posted on 09/01/2014 3:26:57 PM PDT by Nachum
United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday condemned Israel’s decision to declare 4,000 dunams (988 acres) of land in Judea as state land, AFP reports.
Ban’s spokesman said that the UN chief is "alarmed" by the Israeli plans and feared they could lead to more “settlement activity”.
"The Secretary General is alarmed by yesterday's announcement by Israeli authorities to declare as so-called 'state land' nearly 1,000 acres of land in the Bethlehem area of the West Bank," the spokesman said, according to AFP.
"The seizure of such a large swath of land risks paving the way for further settlement activity, which -- as the United Nations has reiterated on many occasions -- is illegal under international law and runs totally counter to the pursuit of a two-state solution,” Ban’s spokesman said.
"The Secretary General calls on Israel to heed the calls of the international community to refrain from settlement activity and abide by its commitments under international law and the Quartet Road Map."
Sunday’s decision is one of Israel's responses to the kidnapping and murder of Israeli teens Eyal Yifrah, Naftali Frenkel, and Gilad Sha'ar. The three were kidnapped in Gush Etzion and their bodies were found several weeks later in a field near Hevron.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas issued a condemnation of Israel’s decision, which opens the possibility of further construction in the region.
Speaking Sunday evening, Abbas spokesperson Nabil Abu-Rudeineh said that the decision would “bring about a further deterioration” in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...
When the arabs do it, it is poverty fighting economic development, when Israelies or the West does it, it is settlements. Same with China in Zimbabwe.
Fracking UN troops on Golan heights begged Israeli troops to defend them.... After stabbing them in the back in South Lebanon.
He is going to be apoplectic when he sees how much land God gives back to Isreal.
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