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New Data Shows Israeli Settlement Surge in East Jerusalem

Associated Press

   JERUSALEM - Jewish settlement construction in Israeli-annexed east
   Jerusalem has spiked since President Donald Trump took office in 2017,
   according to official data obtained by The Associated Press.

   The data also showed strong evidence of decades of systematic
   discrimination, illustrated by a huge gap in the number of construction
   permits granted to Jewish and Palestinian residents.

   The expansion of the settlements in east Jerusalem, which Israel seized
   along with the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war, threatens to
   further complicate one of the thorniest issues in the conflict.

   The refusal to grant permits to Palestinian residents has confined them
   to crowded, poorly served neighborhoods, with around half the
   population believed to be at risk of having their homes demolished.

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