Dunno where he got it — or if he did it himself — but this very effective image is taken from the Palestinian Pundit blog, showing The (present-day) Wall (with biblical figures) near the town of Bethlehem.
If you look at it as if you are in Bethlehem and can’t get out because of The Wall. then just under the shining Star of Bethlehem, which tradition says guided the three wise men to the newborn baby Jesus, is about where the forested hilltop of Jebel Abu Gheneim used to be, before it was cleared of trees to build the controversial and contested modern-day Israeli settlement of Har Homa. on the outskirts of Jerusalem … Except that The Wall, as pictured here, runs in a more north-south direction, while “just” a separation fence or barrier runs in the valley between the ridge where Har Homa is being constructed at a furious pace, and Bethlehem and Beit Sahour (Shepherd’s Field) more or less shown in this illustration…
The Independent reported a few days ago that “Part of the barrier’s purpose is to close off Bethlehem from Jerusalem as well as the much closer Gilo and Har Homa. Both are officially regarded by the international community as settlements in occupied territory and by Israel as Jewish neighbourhoods in land it unilaterally annexed after the Six Day war. And both are now on the ‘Israeli’ side of the barrier. It was Israel’s plan to build 300 new homes at Har Homa, known to generations of Arabs as Abu Ghneim, which soured the first negotiations to follow last month’s Annapolis summit”… The Independent story on Bethlehem is published here.
On Sunday (23 December), news reports indicated that even more new homes are budgeted for Har Homa this year. AP reported that “Israel’s diplomatic efforts to reach a peace deal with Abbas were hurt Sunday with the disclosure that Israel plans to build an additional 740 apartments in disputed east Jerusalem and the West Bank in 2008. Palestinians claim east Jerusalem and the West Bank, areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, as part of their future state. Some 450,000 Israelis live in these areas, and the timing of Sunday’s announcement was sensitive. The two sides formally renewed peace talks after a seven-year break less than one month ago, and President Bush is expected to visit the region next month. Rafi Eitan, Israel’s minister for Jerusalem Affairs, confirmed the Construction Ministry’s proposed budget for 2008 includes 500 new apartments for the Har Homa neighborhood in east Jerusalem, and 240 new apartments in Maaleh Adumim, a major West Bank settlement just outside Jerusalem. Eitan told Army Radio that Israel never promised to halt construction within the municipal borders of Jerusalem, whose eastern sector Israel annexed after capturing in the 1967 Mideast war. Eitan called both areas ‘integral’ parts of Jerusalem. Olmert spokesman Mark Regev said he was ‘not aware’ of the plan to expand Har Homa and said there was ‘no new decision’ for additional construction in Maaleh Adumim. The international community never recognized Israeli sovereignty over east Jerusalem … Eitan’s comments were the third announcement in recent weeks of plans to build in east Jerusalem and the West Bank”. The AP report is published here.
