Israel pursues 'criminal activities' in talks' shadow

A senior Palestinian official on Monday accused Israel of committing "crimes" against Palestinian natives of Jerusalem hinting the Palestinian authority would seek international aid to stop such practices. Israel is holding negotiations with the Palestinians while, at the same time, seeking to undermine "any outcome of these negotiations in advance, through the practices on the Palestinian territories," said Yasser Abed Rabo, the secretary of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, in a statement. Tel Aviv is involved in provocative acts, such as "construction of settlements, piracy and judaization as well as perpetrating crimes against humanity in the occupied city of Jerusalem," he added. Israeli authorities are confiscating Palestinians' properties in Jerusalem at pretext the landlords are "absent," he said. "They are not absent, they are citizens of Jerusalem who live on the Palestinian territories and some have been isolated due to construction of the racial fence," he said. Israel has built a huge fortified fence that resulted in various problems for the Palestinians, such as separation of relatives and partition of residential areas. "Israel is seizing personal identity cards for the Palestinians who reside in Jerusalem, demolishing their houses, in addition to other criminal acts," he added. The Palestinian leadership, at a meeting held on Sunday, discussed prospects of referring this issue to international tribunals. "We will refer to all international quarters including the Security Council in case such policies are pursued," Abed Rabo said, urging the Americans, particularly, to "take these issues seriously. "We will not accept that Israel enforce the law of absentees' properties because this means that half of the real-estates in Jerusalem will be shifted to the settlers, this will be the largest operation of fraud in modern history, " he said. Abed Rabo warned further that Israel is expanding the settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem in an unprecedented manner. "There will be wide-scale seizure of the Jerusalem lands under cover of the current negotiations," he cautioned. He renewed doubts current US-sponsored talks would lead to tangible results, particularly in shadow of such Israeli policies.