"Rashomon" of West Bank Settlements: Two Views, Two Reports………….
“U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the West Bank and got a first-hand look at nearby Jewish settlements. Accompanied by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Ban was able to see the red-roofed settlement of Givat Ze'ev, which is home to 11,000 Israelis. Further in the distance were Jewish neighborhoods in disputed East Jerusalem. Speaking at a news conference in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Ban was unequivocal. "The world has condemned Israel's settlement expansion plans in East Jerusalem. Let us be clear, all settlement activities is illegal anywhere in occupied territory and this must stop," he said……”
The New York Times version of the settlement issue:
“The 1,600 units in East Jerusalem constituted the latest of several steps that the Americans considered problematic. The Palestinians felt exposed and the Americans were furious. The Israelis, by contrast, say that while Mr. Netanyahu offered confidence-building measures for Palestinians in the West Bank, he made no concessions on Jerusalem. There are dozens of projects in the pipeline in Jerusalem, they said, and he has no intention of slowing down or interfering with them. Whether he will quietly do so anyway, allowing each side the chance to go on claiming it won, remains to be seen……..”
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