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The West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim. (Eyal Warshavsky / BauBau)
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IDF orders the expropriation of Arab land near East Jerusalem
By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent

The Israel Defense Forces recently issued an order expropriating over 1,100 dunams of land from four Arab villages located between East Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim.

The land is slated to be used for a new Palestinian road that would connect East Jerusalem with Jericho. That in turn would "free up" the E-1 area between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim - through which the current Jerusalem-Jericho road runs - for a long-planned Jewish development consisting of 3,500 apartments and an industrial park.

The Palestinians and the international community, including the United States, have long objected to the E-1 plan on the grounds that it would cut the West Bank in two and sever East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank. Israel claims that the new road will solve this latter problem.
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Due mainly to American objections, the E-1 plan has been frozen since 2004, other than construction of a thus-far empty police station in the area. Public Security Minister Avi Dichter told Haaretz last week that police would move into the station by the end of this year. However, Israel promised the U.S. at the time that the station would not serve as an initial stage of the full housing project.

The land is being confiscated from the villages of Abu Dis, Arab al-Sawahra, Nebi Musa and Talhin Alhamar. The expropriation order was signed on September 24.

The new road will run along a route originally planned by the Ma'aleh Adumim municipality in 2005. According to that plan, the route was meant to ensure "transportational contiguity among Palestinian population centers."

The plan also noted that the proposed housing development in E-1 would create an uninterrupted urban expanse between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim. Such an expanse would effectively sever the territorial contiguity between the northern and southern West Bank.

Ma'aleh Adumim's plan also called for building several other new roads to ensure "transportational contiguity" among Palestinian cities after work started on E-1. For instance, it proposed a ring road east of Ma'aleh Adumim that would link Hebron and Bethlehem, south of the settlement, with Ramallah to its north. Until the current expropriation order was issued, however, no steps had been taken toward building any of these roads.

Vice Premier Haim Ramon, the minister in charge of the "seam" region that runs along the border between Israel and the West Bank, told Haaretz that he was not consulted about the expropriation order and knows nothing about it.

The Defense Ministry said that the land was expropriated to pave the road and "has nothing to do with the E-1 issue."

An official in the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, who asked to remain anonymous, said that he could not comment on the expropriation order, "since we don't yet know all the details," but in general the U.S. opposes any move that could impair the chances of an Israeli-Palestinian final-status deal.

Barak Ravid contributed to this report.

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    <
      1.   Israel`s anti-goyim policies 03:52  |  Randolph 09/10/07
      2.   Yeh Seize it all 04:35  |  Metal Man 09/10/07
      3.   randolph 1 04:43  |  realism 09/10/07
      4.   Why does the army make decisions about taking land? 04:51  |  Omran 09/10/07
      5.   Why does the army make decisions about taking land? 04:51  |  Omran 09/10/07
      6.   Oink! 04:55  |  mensa 09/10/07
      7.   TO Randolph 04:56  |  Chris Barkley, Ph.d. 09/10/07
      8.   More Israeli Theft 05:03  |  Peace and Justice 09/10/07
      9.   Abbas Olmert Hamas and Hezbollah 1 05:08  |  Ahmed 09/10/07
      10.   Abbas Olmert Hamas and Hezbollah 2 05:14  |  Ahmed 09/10/07
      11.   Zionism gone wild and overwhelming influence in US politics 05:16  |  Harold 09/10/07
      12.   Abbas Olmert Hamas and Hezbollah 3 05:19  |  Ahmed 09/10/07
      13.   Good! Build up Jerusalem and get rid of Olmert! 05:20  |  Avraham 09/10/07
      14.   Abbas Olmert Hamas and Hezbollah 4 05:21  |  Ahmed 09/10/07
      15.   Eminant Domain 05:31  |  Realist 09/10/07
      16.   Zionist pigs at the trough 05:43  |  Hannah 09/10/07
      17.   ALL THE LAND WE GAVE TO GOYIM!!! OY VEY!!! 05:46  |  Abrashka Yagudi 09/10/07
      18.   And the ethnic cleansing goes on 05:49  |  El-birawi 09/10/07
      19.   How come? 05:53  |  frank 09/10/07
      20.   #1 Randolph, there is no such thing 05:54  |  Denton 09/10/07
      21.   I think... 06:14  |  r.m. 09/10/07
      22.   you stole also my land ! 06:17  |  Palestinan 09/10/07
      23.   These are ACTS OF WAR!! 06:22  |  Joe 09/10/07
      24.   the land was expropriated to pave the road 06:24  |  S 09/10/07
      25.   Let the bible speak on this 06:28  |  The Other Alan 09/10/07
      26.   Answer to Nr.16 zionist stealer 06:30  |  Palestinan 09/10/07
      27.   #6, mensa 06:31  |  Hannah 09/10/07
      28.   Thieves - and PM Olmert says . . . 06:34  |  JW 09/10/07
      29.   Hannah you are isolated banded and frustrated 06:35  |  e.m 09/10/07
      30.   #9, Ahmed 06:39  |  Hannah 09/10/07
      31.   The Bible and the PH.d 06:40  |  Victor 09/10/07
      32.   #163, Abrashka Yagudi 06:45  |  Hannah 09/10/07
      33.   Land Thieves!! 06:48  |  Niva dos santos 09/10/07
      34.   True thieves!! 06:50  |  Niva dos santos 09/10/07
      35.   The land has been freed by IDF in 1967 six day war 06:55  |  e.m 09/10/07
      36.   Peace partner? 06:59  |  Leon 09/10/07
      37.   Don`t give them any roads at all 07:01  |  Jewish Jerusalem 09/10/07
      38.   no division of the west bank 07:21  |  Robins 09/10/07
      39.   Sick of the the Arab rhetoric 07:23  |  BZ 09/10/07
      40.   ENOUGH! I`m So Sick Of This. 07:24  |  Proud Pal Defender 09/10/07
      41.   I CHOKE ON THIS 07:43  |  why 09/10/07
      42.   Israel wants peace! of course!! 08:03  |  Ahmad Abouali 09/10/07
      43.   ENOUGH IS ENOUGH 08:06  |  Hastaroth 09/10/07
      44.   #7 To Randolph 08:17  |  maggie 09/10/07
      45.   The Road Seems to be FOR West Bank Contiguity 08:24  |  B`Galil 09/10/07
      46.   This stinks! 08:24  |  Esther 09/10/07
      47.   No Jews in nARab Lands, No Arabs in Jewish Lands 08:32  |  J 09/10/07
      48.   Only war will stop the Greater Israel Project 08:32  |  Clickfool 09/10/07
      49.   Give part of Saudi Arabia to Muslims 08:36  |  Parviz 09/10/07
      50.   And the Next WAr the Arabs Start - No More Ceasefire 08:36  |  J 09/10/07
      51.   Will the Israeli toady, Mahmoud Abbas do anything? 08:37  |  Clickfool 09/10/07
      52.   Re S #21 08:39  |  Esther 09/10/07
      53.   It`s all Jewish land. 08:40  |  Avraham 09/10/07
      54.   #4 Why does the army make the decisions, Omran? 08:41  |  Johnboy 09/10/07
      55.   Israeli Double Speech- like always 08:42  |  Ole 09/10/07
      56.   Build them a one-way road to the Jordan River 08:42  |  Dani 09/10/07
      57.   In the eve of the solemn peace conference, a stink and a crime 08:44  |  Ivar 09/10/07
      58.   For Proud Pal Defender # 37 08:45  |  Clickfool 09/10/07
      59.   #15 Realist knows he is telling fibs 08:45  |  Johnboy 09/10/07
      60.   THE ONLY DEMOCRACY IN THE MIDEAST? 08:47  |  Samy 09/10/07
      61.   Land 08:51  |  Anti-terror 09/10/07
      62.   Facts on the ground 08:51  |  Jan Elshout 09/10/07
      63.   #35 So much ignorance, e.m. 08:53  |  Johnboy 09/10/07
      64.   Peace conferences?! 08:55  |  Esther 09/10/07
      65.   For Hannah, on Zionist pigs # 16 08:56  |  Clickfool 09/10/07
      66.   Land theft and politics 09:08  |  Erik 09/10/07
      67.   Who really owns the land 09:08  |  lee dee 09/10/07
      68.   http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=cjwI26-zV74 09:09  |  Erik 09/10/07
      69.   #7 To Randolph 09:11  |  maggie may 09/10/07
      70.   Don`t trust a Israeli 09:24  |  Bernt 09/10/07
      71.   What is a "Palestinian" road? 09:30  |  Steve 09/10/07
      72.   Politricks-the Israeli version of politics 09:34  |  Kenneth 09/10/07
      73.   Hate-head Hannah 09:34  |  akiva (zionist) 09/10/07
      74.   Please save us your Spurious Theatrics 09:35  |  Yoav Noar 09/10/07
      75.   Keep on BUILDING & BUILDING & BUILDING!!!!! 09:42  |  Zionist 09/10/07
      76.   No.17 Abrashka Yagudi 10:02  |  Yoav Noar 09/10/07
      77.   Pot calling the Kettle Black 10:04  |  Dagma 09/10/07
      78.   BZ, thank GOD you live so far away 10:05  |  Fauna 09/10/07
      79.   fakers 10:05  |  mike 09/10/07
      80.   Israel`s stupidity 10:19  |  Andrew Watson 09/10/07
      81.   #48 click labarse and ignorance is bliss