The razing of the Shepherd Hotel in Jerusalem to make room for the construction of 20 housing units for Jewish families on the site is yet another example of how the Holy City is changing.
World condemnation (http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/un-chief-deplores-demolition-of-east-jerusalem-hotel-1.336270) and the EU envoys' recommendations in a confidential policy report are also a sign of how the international community is changing its attitude towards Israel's continuing unilateral actions. The EU is stepping up its opposition to the rapid erosion of the Arab identity of East Jerusalem. Some in the international community may be turning against Israel as frustration with lack of progress in the peace process deepens.
Palestinians' access to Jerusalem was greatly restricted following the 1993 Oslo accords. Entry to Jerusalem by West Bank Palestinians has become literally impossible during the years of the second intifada. In their policy report prepared last month, the heads of 25 European missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah urged Brussels to treat East Jerusalem as the future capital of a Palestinian state. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/10_01_11_eu_hom_report_on_east_jerusalem.pdf)
The report also calls for an EU presence at the demolitions of Palestinian homes, and intervention when peaceful protesters face arrest. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12150792).
International leaders are warning that Israeli actions in the city are jeopardizing the two-state solution.
But some Palestinian leaders say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's drive to assert the Jewish identity of Jerusalem could be moving the Palestinians closer to statehood.
"Netanyahu is doing us a favor. We have little difficulty now in convincing the world Israel is obstructing a peaceful settlement and to heed our call to recognize a Palestinian state. Our next move was to push the Europeans to take a stance and step up objection to Israel's unilateral actions. He is making that task easier," a senior Palestinian official said.
Netanyahu defended his government's actions in Jerusalem by reiterating it was Israel's right to build in Jerusalem.
The failure of direct and indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to reach a final settlement prompted the Palestinians to opt for Plan B: Step up diplomatic and peaceful action against settlements construction, turn to the United Nations to issue a Security Council Resolution against settlements expansion, and win international recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. The Palestinians, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad, are determined to have a state by September.
"President Abbas is now considering several paths of action if he fails to get a negotiated settlement by September. He will either step down and admit failure to realize his quest for a state, or place the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza, under the mandate of the United Nations. Other options are also being examined. In any case, there will be an announcement in September," an official close to Abbas said.
Fayyad is confident he is moving towards attaining his statehood goal.
"We are working hard at all levels towards achieving this goal. You might think I'm not serious when I say there will be a state, but I am," Fayyad told me during a recent visit to Ramallah.
It might seem hard for many to imagine what kind of state would be established with hundreds of checkpoints dividing the West Bank, with Jerusalem totally cut off from the rest of the Palestinian territories, with Gaza under Hamas' control, and the U.S. strongly opposed to a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state.
I remember in 1994, when I moved from Jordan to Jerusalem for work as a journalist, one could hardly see an Israeli walking the streets in East Jerusalem. There was a sense of a de facto division of the city: the East side for the Palestinians and the West for the Israelis.
The Orient House, the PLO's headquarters in Sheikh Jarrah, headed by the late Faisal Husseini, was running the affairs of the Palestinians in Jerusalem.
Today, the West side is still Israeli, and the Palestinians are struggling to maintain a presence in the East side.
The Palestinian Authority is banned in Jerusalem. Jerusalemite Palestinians feel abandoned by their leaders and fear for their future.
It is true we are witnessing a dramatic change in the nature of East Jerusalem, but we are also seeing a willingness by some European states to go beyond the usual criticism or silence.
The Palestinians say they are not expecting similar action by the U.S., at least not in the near future.
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