Slippery Slope

48 MKs signed a petition to the government ministers to stop cooperating with 20 Israeli companies. The companies in question signed a contract with the Palestinian Authority, in which they agree not to purchase any products of settlements in the West Bank, in Eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, for the purposes of the construction of the new Palestinian town of Rawabi. Among the signatories are Dahlia Itzik (Kadima), Roni Bar-On (Kadima), Yoel Hasson (Kadima), Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) and Aryeh Eldad (Ha’Ichud Ha’Leumi). (Hebrew)

Thousands of Palestinian residents in Eastern Jerusalem were disconnected from the phone and internet services of Bezeq for six weeks during the last two months, after unknown persons have sabotaged local infrastructure. According to the residents, the problem was fixed by small crews who were only working for several hours every few days. (Hebrew)

The police has recently informed ‘Adnan Jeith, a Palestinian activist residing in Silwan in Eastern Jerusalem, that the Home Command General, Yair Golan, intends to issue an administrative restraining order against him, which will forbid him from entering Jerusalem for four months. It is estimated that Jeith’s removal would be argued as a “security reasons”, due to intelligence noting that the continued presence of the Jeith in the neighborhood will lead to a fear to public safety. (Hebrew)

The Knesset has approved, 65 to 33, the Referendum Bill, which will force the government to hold a referendum prior to retreating territories annexed to Israel, such as the Golan Heights and Eastern Jerusalem. Israel has never held a referendum before. (Hebrew)

The Prime Minister’s Bureau replied (Hebrew) to White House criticism of the approval of the building of more housing units in eastern Jerusalem. The statement said that “Jerusalem is not a settlement – Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel”. The statement further said that “Israel has never accepted any restrictions on building in Jerusalem, where some 800 thousand people reside, not even during the ten months of suspension of building in Judea and Samaria”.

The French-Catholic church Maison D’Abraham, in eastern Jerusalem, claims (Hebrew) the police don’t bother to investigate its complaints. According to Fr. Michael O’Sullivan, who runs the church, “just last month we had two incidents with a large truck, a Volvo, which deliberately slammed into our entry gate and escaped. After the second incident, we lodged a complaint with the police, but nothing happened. They didn’t sent a cop to examine our claims”. He further said that “we suffer from break-ins, theft and harassment, but the police does nothing, or only pretends to act. About two years ago we captured a thief red-handed during a robbery, we turned him over to the police, but it discharged him after one day. After two months, he was back stealing”.

The city of Jersualem demolished  (Hebrew) a business stall in the east city, even though the stall has been licensed for over 40 years. The owner of the stall, Mu’amar Abu-Ramus, even turned to the court, which accepted his petition and found the city has no right to evacuate the stall. The city used a legal statute, allowing them to confiscate the owner’s merchandise before he managed to carry on the legal process. The city claims to have acted legally.