Israel Matzav

Monkey Moon bashes Israel for non-existent 'settlement construction'

Moadim l'Simcha, a happy holiday to all of you.

Just a day after Housing Minister Uri Ariel admitted that there is a de facto building freeze in Judea, Samaria and 'east' Jerusalem, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon attacked Israel for 'settlement building.'

Ban was in Ramallah, where he held a joint news conference with Palestinian Authority (PA) unity government Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. Just a day earlier he justified Hamas terrorism by saying its cause is Israeli "occupation," at a Cairo donor conference on Sunday that raised $5.4 billion for Gaza.

"While rebuilding is important, we must tackle the root causes of instability. We must give renewed attention to the West Bank. I once again strongly condemn the continued settlement activity by Israel," said Ban on Monday, according to AFP.

The statement may be a reference to construction plans in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Givat Hamatos that far-left group Peace Now raised to thwart Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's visit with US President Barack Obama two weeks ago.

The move was in fact merely the approval of building tenders at some future date in the Jewish neighborhood of Israel's capital, and leaves intact the building freeze gripping the area.

Moon also attacked 'provocations' on the Temple Mount after Israeli police prevented 'Palestinians' from preventing Jews from ascending the Mount (you should have heard all the noise around 6:00 am this morning) by locking them in the al-Aqsa mosque.

"I am...deeply concerned by repeated provocations at the holy sites in Jerusalem. These only inflame tensions and must stop," said Ban.

There's more - read the whole thing. It has to make you wonder why Israel bothers to be in the United Nations at all. 

Labels: Ban Ki-Moon, Gaza, Hamas, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Jerusalem construction, Judea and Samaria construction, Palestinian Authority, Ramallah, Temple Mount

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:42 PM