RI CONDEMNS ISRAEL'S PLAN TO BUILD MORE HOUSES IN EAST JERUSALEM

Jakarta, June 6 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government has condemned Israel's plan to build 884 more houses in East Jerusalem because it could derail all peace negotiation efforts with Palestine. The Indonesian government called on the international world and the United Nations to pay attention to the planned settlement expansion given that the issue was a basic factor for the continuation of peace negotiations, the Indonesian foreign ministry said here on Thursday in an official statement. "Indonesia hopes that Israel will meet the commitment it made in the joint Israeli-Palestine declaration issued at the Annapolis meeting," the Indonesian government said. The Indonesian government always referred to and supported UN Security Council Resolutions No. 242 (1967) and No. 338 (1973), which demanded the return of all Arab lands being occupied by Israel, recognition of Palestinian people's self-determination rights, and establishment of an independent Palestinian state on their homeland with Al-Quds as-Syarif (East Jerusalem) as the capital city, based on "land for peace", the statement said. East Jerusalem is an area that Palestinians want as the capital of their promised independent state. "We will invite tenders for the construction of 121 housing units in Har Homa and 763 others in Pisgat Zeev," Eran Sidis, a Israeli housing ministry spokesman, said recently. Both the settlements are part of Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 war. In 1968 Israel unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem - a move that was condemned as illegal by the UN Security Council. All settlements in both the West Bank and East Jerusalem are considered illegal under international law. Aljazeera.net reported that Ehud Olmert, the current prime ministers, has said he considers settlements blocs in East Jerusalem as part of Israel. Palestinians criticised the housing ministry's decision, saying it undermines peace efforts. "We strongly condemn this decision, which is a continuation of similar decisions to expand settlements that have never stopped," Saeb Erakat, the Palestinian senior negotiator, said on Sunday. Mahmud Abbas, the Palestinian president, called the decision a "dangerous threat" to the peace process. The Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now also criticized the decision, which it said was part of a larger effort by the Israeli right to pre-empt the division of Jerusalem in a final peace deal. "More settlements in Jerusalem will mean that the physical ability to have compromises between Israelis and Palestinians will be harder," Yariv Oppenheimer, the director of Peace Now director, said. TZ.G003