Identical letters dated 2 December 2010 from the Permanent Observer of Paletine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council
Source: United Nations General Assembly; United Nations Security Council
Date: 03 Dec 2010 A/ES-10/506 - S/2010/612
General Assembly
Tenth emergency special session
Security Council
Sixty-fifth year
Agenda item 5
Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Identical letters dated 2 December 2010 from the Permanent Observer of Paletine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council
It is with grave concern that I must draw your attention to the continuation and intensification of Israel's illegal, massive colonial settlement campaign in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.
In that connection, we wish to place on record our total condemnation of the approval by Israel, the occupying Power, of the construction of 625 new settlement units in the illegal Israeli settlement of "Pisgat Ze'ev" in Occupied East Jerusalem as announced on 1 December 2010. The latest unilateral, illegal measure comes on the heels of yet another unlawful announcement by the occupying Power, on 29 November 2010, to build 130 new settlement units in the illegal Israeli settlement of "Gilo", also in occupied East Jerusalem, on land confiscated from the Palestinian villages of Beit Jala, Shu'fat and Beit Safafa. As has been the case over the past years and months, the Government of Israel has continued to choose settlements over peace, and colonization over ending its occupation. These latest plans and announcements further confirm Israel's rejection of its legal obligations under international law, United Nations resolutions and the Quartet road map, as well as its rejection of the two-State solution for peace on the basis of the pre-1967 borders.
At the same time, Israel, the occupying Power, has continued to carry out additional actions that are obviously aimed at changing the status of Occupied East Jerusalem and at entrenching its illegitimate annexation of the city. In that regard, the first phase of the so-called Jerusalem light rail, which was initiated in 2005, is currently under construction. The route of the first instalment of the train line will connect the illegal Israeli settlements of "Neve Ya'aqov" and "Pisgat Ze'ev", via the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Shu'fat, to the West Jerusalem city centre and neighbourhoods. The so-called Jerusalem light rail will constitute additional infrastructure serving the illegal settlement network, which is not only in violation of international law but will also present further obstacles to the freedom of movement of the Palestinian population and detrimentally impact the fabric and presence of Palestinian life, including residence and livelihoods in the Old City. Moreover, such policies gravely undermine the prospects for the realization of the two-State solution since they deliberately and artificially sever East Jerusalem from the rest of the Palestinian Territory and destroy its contiguity and viability. We call on the international community to condemn this illegal action and to call on the occupying Power to halt all construction in this regard.
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