East Jerusalem Evictions nudge China into the Middle East

[Zardoz Greek]

JERUSALEM JOURNAL
Evictions in Walled Old City Stir Up a ‘Hornet’s Nest’
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/01/15/world/middleeast/in-jerusalem-old-city-evictions-seen-as-stirring-up-hornet-nest.html

Nazira Maswadi, left, with her daughter, Alia Maswadi, right, and two grandchildren at the home in Jerusalem’s Old City from which they face eviction.
URIEL SINAI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
By DIAA HADID
JANUARY 14, 2016
JERUSALEM — The Palestinian residents of the Khaldiyya Ascent, a narrow cobblestone alley in Jerusalem’s walled Old City, have for decades lived in tiny, crammed apartments with high, moldy ceilings and peeling paint. Now, at least seven of these families face eviction threats by Jewish organizations reclaiming properties they owned before Israel was established in 1948.

Nazira Maswadi’s new landlord is trying to kick her out based on a claim that her estranged husband, Tawfiq, the original lessee, is dead. “He’s not dead,” she insisted. “He has 10 children with me. If he died, they would have to bury him.”

Mr. Maswadi, reached by phone on Wednesday, confirmed he is alive, but acknowledged he now lives mostly with his third wife in the Shuafat refugee camp, which itself could threaten his family’s occupancy of the Old City apartment.

The Palestinian families and their supporters claim the evictions, often based on seemingly arcane violations of their rental agreements, are part of a broader agenda to create Jewish enclaves inside the historic Muslim Quarter. Already, blue-and-white Israeli flags have been strung across some of Khaldiyya’s windows, marking the homes of Jewish families and a yeshiva.


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Chinese president calls for East Jerusalem as capital of Palestinian state
Xi Jinping addresses Arab League in Cairo before planned visit to Iran, announces millions in aid to Palestinians.
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.698833?v=064E490709B91A7321836F0DA32B2A06

21.01.2016 | 19:37  22 comments
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called for establishing a Palestinian state within the pre-1967-war borders amid efforts by Beijing to assert its economic and political clout in the Middle East.

Addressing the Cairo-based Arab League the Chinese president said.....
"China supports the peaceful process in the Middle East [and] the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital being eastern Jerusalem," he added through an interpreter.


Xi announced 50 million yuan ($7.6 million) in aid for the Palestinians.

The United States, an ally of Tel Aviv, have unsuccessfully attempted to break a long-standing stalemate in Palestinian-Israeli peacemaking.

Tensions between the two sides have been growing in recent months after a wave of Palestinian stabbing attacks on Israelis and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers.

"Maintaining the legitimate interests of the Palestinian people is the responsibility of the Arab League as well as the international community," Xi said.

For the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to end, negotiations should be pushed forward to reach a peace agreement, he said.

The Chinese president had arrived in Egypt Wednesday as part of a regional tour that has already taken him to Saudi Arabia.

Iran will be the final stop in his three-nation trip.

Xi's current visit to Egypt is the first by a Chinese head of state to the country in twelve years.

On Thursday, the two countries signed 21 cooperation deals in different fields including energy, technology, investment, transport, agriculture, housing and culture as well as a 1-billion-dollar grant offered to Egypt's central bank.

Egypt is seeking foreign investment to revitalize its economy, battered by political upheaval since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosny Mubarak.

China and Saudi Arabia on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding to build a nuclear reactor in the oil-rich kingdom.

Xi's visit to Iran comes days after the implementation of a landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, leading to the lifting of international sanctions on Iran.
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