Waiting for American concern to show

Last week, Israel welcomed US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was on her first visit to the region in her new capacity, in characteristic style: by announcing new expansion plans for illegal colonies on Palestinian land in the eastern part of Occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank.

More than 70,000 new homes are to be built for the colonists, with the largest expansion being made in the main colony in Occupied Jerusalem.

Authorities tasked with establishing the colonies started demolishing homes of Palestinians in Al Bustan quarter in the Arab neighbourhood of Silwan, south of the holy sites in the city.

Then came another announcement about the digging of two new tunnels under Al Aqsa mosque, which threatens the very foundations of the Islamic holy sites.

Previous excavations at the site had raised concerns but Israel ignored pleas to desist from its callous plans.

Clinton reacted by saying that the demolition of Palestinian homes in the eastern part of Occupied Jerusalem was of "deep concern" and "unhelpful".

That's better than nothing, but such statements won't stop the occupiers from creating new colonies on the ground and jeopardising any future negotiations.

There is no doubt that Israel would not commit such crimes unless it had American consent. Or is Washington unable to stop Tel Aviv?

Since the 1967 war, Israel has been trying to expel Arabs from Occupied Jerusalem to lay claims over the city as part of the Jewish state. The Israelis want the original Palestinian population to constitute no more than 10 to 12 per cent.

Demolitions and confiscation of land to force families out have been going on for years. But since the peace process started, the rate of this ethnic cleansing has accelerated.

The latest campaign is aimed at driving out hundreds of Palestinians after confiscating their houses.

Occupation authorities claim that these houses were built without permission, though almost all of them were built before Israel occupied the city in 1967.

Though colonies are expanding continuously, Palestinian families are not permitted to add even an extra room to their houses and can't refurbish ramshackle buildings.

The plan does not just include forced transfer but is part of a process aimed at changing the landscape as well.

Elad, an association devoted to Judaising the eastern part of Occupied Jerusalem, claims to be behind the latest batch of houses to be demolished in Al Bustan (Garden) area.

The group says the area is to be the site of David's Park. It is not far from the Bab Al Magharba, which saw similar aggression being perpetrated before a campaign of ethnic cleansing was unleashed. The ultimate goal of this entire exercise is to build Solomon's Temple.

The same fanatical, right-wing organisation, Elad, had been funding digging at an Islamic cemetery site near Al Aqsa, where dozens of skeletons from the early Islamic period were discovered during excavations.

The human remains were later removed in clear violation of regulations. Palestinians face campaigns of this kind, aimed at driving them out of the city, almost on a daily basis.

A recent European Union report accused the Israeli government of using colony expansion, demolition of houses, discriminatory housing policies and the West Bank barrier as a way of "actively pursuing the illegal annexation" of the eastern part of the city.

The report was based on field data and information gathered by fact-finding teams who visited Occupied Jerusalem. But such reports are ignored by politicians in the West. They stop short of criticising Israel, let alone putting pressure on it to stop its activities.

Clinton did all she could and expressed concern - thanks for your concern, Madame Secretary. After all, she is only still just exploring the possibilities.

I'm sure she had a smooth journey from Occupied Jerusalem to Ramallah to meet Palestinian officials; therefore, she has no way of knowing exactly how Palestinians suffer humiliation at Israeli army check-points in the West Bank each day.

Despite her country's solid commitment to the security of Israel, the inhumanity of the occupation and its policies would have concerned her more if she would have been stopped at a check-point (like some other Western officials before her).

So far the US policy towards the Middle East is a continuation of the past. There is no real "change". Hopefully, this will change in time, when the new administration in the White House moves from listening to doing.

Dr Ahmad Mustafa is a London-based Arab writer.