update:Palestinian Refugee Restitution US Embassy Relocation
The American Committee on Jerusalem, along with Legal Counsel
George Salem, held a congressional briefing in Washington, DC on 17
February to appraise lawmakers and the media of the fact that 19
Palestinian Jerusalem families have been traced as owners of the
property, which the Israeli government has set aside for relocation
of the US Embassy to Jerusalem. At least 88 of the original owners
or their heirs are US citizens, 43 are Canadians and Europeans and
hundreds have other nationalities.
A lease agreement was signed for the property, totaling 31.288
dunums between Israel and the US on 18 January 1989. A small amount
of the land was "freehold", land requisitioned by Britain and of
which it assumed ownership. The majority of the land,composed of
five parcels, was "hired land." One parcel was waqf and the
remaining four were rented from private owners. As of the 15 May
1948, these parcels were owned by 76 Palestinians of 19 prominent
Jerusalem families. In a letter from the State Department on 6th
September 1989, the Department noted that it was aware of claims
from the Islamic Waqf but "has not been able to locate any record
or support for this claim."
According to a letter in late December 1999 from Beth Jones,
Principal deputy assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern
Affairs "The 1989 Land Lease and Purchase Agreement between the
United States and Israel … identified particular property for
this purpose that might be leased to the US by the government of
Israel under certain conditions." "As of today, however, the US has
not entered into a lease for this or any other property under the
Agreement." According to Paragraph 2.1 entitled, "Principle
Terms
of the Lease and Purchase" "…the Government of Israel will
immediately initiate all measures required for obtaining the sole
and lawful ownership of the properties, free from any encumbrances
or third party claims."
Bethlehem Checkpoint
Construction of the access road for the new military checkpoint
between Bethlehem and Jerusalem was completed in February.
According to official Israeli plans, the existing checkpoint will
be maintained for tourists, Israeli citizens and residents, while
Palestinians seeking to enter Jerusalem will be forced to use a new
checkpoint with increased Israeli security procedures.
Israeli Positions on
Jerusalem |