UK foreign minister handed letter from Jerusalemite officials facing exile

UK foreign minister handed letter from Jerusalemite officials facing exile

Occupied Jerusalem, — A Jerusalemite delegation handed on Wednesday visiting British foreign minister William Hague a letter from the Palestinian officials threatened with expulsion from their native city in which they warned of the grave impact of Israel’s expulsion policy pursued against the Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem.

The delegation highlighted the role Britain could play in pressuring Israel to respect international resolutions which demand it to withdraw from all occupied Palestinian territories including east Jerusalem and protect the Palestinian citizens’ rights in the holy city.

The delegation also talked about the aggravated suffering of Jerusalemite citizens as a result of Israel’s escalation of its demolition of their homes and restrictions on their lives, its protection of settlers’ attacks on them and their property especially in Silwan district and its persistence in settlement activities.

Hague, for his part, stressed the need for freezing settlement activities and affirmed that Britain believes as all countries of the European union that a Palestinian state must be established on the 1967 borders and east Jerusalem must be the capital of the Palestinian people.

In the context of his visit to the occupied Palestinian territories, Hague met with Palestinian activists in the West Bank and Jerusalem and discused with them the issues of Israel’s segregation wall and the humanitarian situation in Silwan district in the holy city.

Haaretz newspaper opined yesterday that Hague’s meeting with members of the popular committee against the apartheid wall in Ramallah city was a surprising and unusual move and reflected his solidarity with the anti-wall activities organized by this committee.

The newspaper noted that the Israeli foreign ministry expressed its dismay at such meetings which reflected Britain’s support for the Palestinian struggle against the wall.

In a separate incident, the Israeli government declared the suspension of all channels of its strategic dialog with Britain unless the latter decided to amend its laws which allow the arrest and prosecution of Israeli officials suspected of committing war crimes against the Palestinians.

The Hebrew media stated that Israel informed London about this decision during a meeting between some of its security officials with Hague during his presence in the occupied territories.