Jerusalem, which has been the focus of both religious and national longings and of conflict for so many years, holds the key to the possibility of a political resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to the future of Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Muslim relations.
Israeli leaders are being confronted by a new political reality that challenges the belief that Israel can retain its hold over the whole city forever. The international community, including the United States and the European Union, are sending clear signals that Israel's unilateral moves in East Jerusalem create obstacles to progress towards peace and must be halted.
The recent decisions by the Israeli Interior Ministry to allow
the construction of hundreds of housing units in the Jewish
neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem, together with the
continued Israeli policy of demolishing Arab houses, including the
Jerusalem municipality's decision to destroy 22 Palestinian homes
in Silwan for the buildin
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