Israel Vows to Build in West Bank Site After Evicting Protesters

Israel Vows to Build in West Bank Site After Evicting Protesters

<h1>Israel Vows to Build in West Bank Site After Evicting Protesters</h1><img src="http://www.voanews.com/App_Themes/VOA_en-US/img/colorLogo.gif"/>Israel&#39;s prime minister has vowed to move ahead with settlement building in a Palestinian-claimed area near Jerusalem, after Israeli security forces evicted more than 100 Palestinian protesters from the site.<br /> <br /> In an interview Sunday on Israeli radio, Benjamin Netanyahu said &quot;there will construction&quot; in the disputed E-1 zone between Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem and the major West Bank Jewish settlement of Maaleh Adumim.&nbsp; But he said it will take time for Israel to complete the planning process for 3,000 housing units.<br /> <br /> Israeli security personnel entered the zone before dawn Sunday and quickly removed dozens of Palestinians who had set up tents Friday to protest the proposed settlement project.&nbsp; The protesters resisted passively and there were no serious injuries.<br /> <br /> <b>Conflicting claims</b><br /> <br /> <div class="tag_image tag_image5 floatLeft" mode="img|expand|F6579D37-7A70-44E3-8B74-D11CF53257FB.jpg|5|floatLeft||1#9#100|1"> <img src="http://gdb.voanews.eu/F6579D37-7A70-44E3-8B74-D11CF53257FB_cw100_cy9_cx1_r1_w268.jpg" />Israel&#39;s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2nd R) attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, January 13, 2013.</div> ​​Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting he ordered the eviction to prevent anyone from harming what he called Israel&#39;s claim to territorial &quot;contiguity&quot; between Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim.<br /> <br /> Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state they say should include all of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including E-1.<br /> <br /> One activist told Israel Radio the Palestinian struggle against the planned settlement will continue.&nbsp; &quot;We came here to stay here,&quot; he said.&nbsp; &quot;We are Palestinian families, we own this land and we want to use it.&nbsp; We want to build over it, we want to plant it, we want our children to use it.&quot;<br /> <br /> Another Palestinian man vowed to return, saying, &quot;I will stay at long as it takes.&nbsp; And then I can build a house here and I can stay here.&quot;<br /> <br /> The protesters obtained an Israeli Supreme Court injunction on Friday, preventing Israeli authorities from removing their tent camp in E-1.&nbsp; The Israeli government later declared the site a closed military zone and said the court ruling did not block the removal of the protesters.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <b>Strategic zone</b><br /> <br /> Palestinians say the proposed E-1 settlement&#39;s location at the center of the West Bank would make it impossible for them to form a state with viable borders and would block Arab access to East Jerusalem.&nbsp; Much of the international community also has criticized the Israeli plan, calling it an obstacle to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<br /> <br /> Israeli supporters of E-1 say it would not obstruct an independent Palestine&#39;s connection to Jerusalem through Arab districts such as Abu Dis.&nbsp; They also say it would not prevent the northern and southern parts of the West Bank from being connected by a corridor at least 15 kilometers wide - about the same as Israel&#39;s narrowest waistline between the Mediterranean coast and the West Bank.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <i><small>Michael Lipin contributed to this report from Washington.</small></i><link rel="canonical" href="http://www.voanews.com/content/israel-vows-to-build-in-west-bank-site-after-evicting-protesters/1582911.html"/><meta name="syndication-source" content="http://www.voanews.com/content/israel-vows-to-build-in-west-bank-site-after-evicting-protesters/1582911.html"/><img src="http://livetracker.voanews.eu/counter.lt?PageType=256&RecordId=1582911&SiteId=415&r=631596713&it=0&pd=20130113151341&url=ArticleID1582911" alt="" style="border:none;" height="1" width="1">

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