European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton has condemned a decision by the Israeli authorities to allow the construction of 20 apartment units around a hotel in east Jerusalem. “The European Union condemns the recent decision of the Israeli authorities to authorize construction around the Shepherd Hotel in East Jerusalem," a statement from her office said. She added: “The international community is making every effort to facilitate the resumption of peace talks. Settlement construction in east Jerusalem is illegal and undermines these efforts. The EU calls on Israel to reverse this decision.”
According to the Israeli media, the Jerusalem municipality has given final approval for the construction of 20 apartments next to the Shepherd Hotel, in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. "This process is apolitical and professional," said Stephan Miller, a spokesman for Jerusalem's mayor Nir Barkat. The municipality said news reports that it had given approval for the conversion now was “distorted and is meant to stir up a provocation during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit in Washington. The plan was approved in July 2009 by the local planning committee. Its approval was published in the media at the time. The landowners only paid the fees on March 15th, 2010 and approval was granted automatically after that."
Elisha Peleg, a Jerusalem city councilor, told the British newspaper ‘The Guardian’ that the Shepherd Hotel building permit was a "technical step" and that more construction would follow there and in other Palestinian areas of the city. "We will continue to build all over Jerusalem.”
Earlier this week, in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Washington, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had declared that Jerusalem was not a settlement. He received standing ovations from the audience when he said: "The Jewish people were building Jerusalem 3,000 years ago and the Jewish people are building Jerusalem today. Jerusalem is not a settlement. It is our capital."
King Abdullah II of Jordan alleged that Israel was "playing with fire" by continuing construction in east Jerusalem. "We have warned repeatedly that Israel is playing with fire and Jordan rejects and condemns all actions aimed at changing the identity of Jerusalem, emptying it of its Arab inhabitants, both Christian and Muslim," the king said in an interview with a Jordanian newspaper. "East Jerusalem should be the capital of an independent Palestinian state which must be established as soon as possible," he added.
The Shepherd Hotel was purchased by American Jewish businessman Irving Moskowitz in 1985. It once served as the headquarters of the anti-Semitic Palestinian grand mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini, who openly sided with Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler during World War II.
