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East Jerusalem Hotel Demolished for New Israeli Housing

   VOA News 09 January 2011
   A  worker  walks past excavators during the demolition of the Shepherd
   Hotel  in  the  Sheikh  Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, 09 Jan
   2011.

Photo: Reuters

   A  worker  walks past excavators during the demolition of the Shepherd
   Hotel  in  the  Sheikh  Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, 09 Jan
   2011.

   The demolition of an East Jerusalem hotel got under way Sunday to make
   way for new Israeli housing.
   The  20-apartment  project  has  angered Palestinian leaders, who said
   direct  peace  talks  with  Israel will continue only on the condition
   construction is halted in East Jerusalem as part of a freeze on Jewish
   settlements.
   The  United  States  has  also  sought assurances from Israel it would
   restrict settlement construction in the region.
   The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state,
   while  Israel considers all of Jerusalem its "eternal and indivisible"
   capital.
   Israel  annexed  East Jerusalem after capturing it in the 1967 Six-Day
   War in a move never recognized internationally.

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