Paris asked “accountable to the Israeli authorities” on the demolition of the center of the al-Bustan association financed by France in the Silwan district of East Jerusalem, Christophe Lemoine, spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Friday, November 15.
This demolition “is part of the Israeli settlement policy which is illegal under international law and threatens the two-state solution and the status of Jerusalem”reacted Christophe Lemoine.
A sector where colonization is intensifying
The French consulate in Jerusalem expressed its indignation on Thursday after demolitions by the Israeli authorities of buildings in a district of East Jerusalem particularly threatened by the Israeli government because of its proximity to religious sites.
The targeted neighborhood, al-Bustan (the garden, in Arabic), is part of Silwan, a suburb of East Jerusalem, close to the Old City where several Christian, Jewish and Muslim holy places are concentrated, in an area where colonization Israeli violence has intensified in recent years.
Supported and financed by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and 21 French local authorities, the center of the Al-Bustan association “provided more than a thousand children and young people with cultural and sporting activities as well as essential academic and psychological support”explained the spokesperson for the Quai d’Orsay.
Swiss
