<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Netanyahu defends settlement after U.S. criticism |&nbsp;Reuters]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><span id="articleText"></p>
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<p><span class="location">JERUSALEM</span> |          <span class="timestamp">Mon Jan 10, 2011 7:01am EST</span></p>
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<p><span class="focusParagraph"><span class="articleLocation">JERUSALEM</span> (Reuters) &#8211; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying Jews have  a right to live anywhere in Jerusalem, defended on Monday a settlement  project that drew criticism from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary  Clinton.</p>
<p></span><span id="midArticle_0"> </span>Israeli bulldozers cleared the  way for 20 new homes for Jews in East Jerusalem, an area captured by  Israel in a 1967 war and which Palestinian want as the capital of a  future state, by demolishing a derelict hotel on Sunday.</p>
<p>Clinton,  in Abu Dhabi on a tour of U.S. Gulf Arab allies, called the Israeli  action a &#8220;disturbing development&#8221; and said it &#8220;undermines peace efforts  to achieve the two-state solution&#8221;.</p>
<p>A  statement issued by Netanyahu&#8217;s office made no direct reference to  Clinton&#8217;s criticism, but said &#8220;there should be no expectation that the  State of Israel will impose a ban on Jews purchasing private property in  Jerusalem&#8221;.</p>
<p>The Shepherd Hotel,  torn down as part of a project first announced in 2009, was declared  &#8220;absentee property&#8221; by Israel after it captured and annexed East  Jerusalem. Israel views all of Jerusalem as its capital, a claim that is  not recognized internationally.</p>
<p>The  title of the hotel was transferred to an Israeli firm, which sold it in  1985 to Irving Moskowitz, a U.S.-based patron of Jewish settlers.</p>
<p>&#8220;Actions  undertaken yesterday at the Shepherd Hotel were conducted by private  individual in accordance with Israeli law. The Israeli government was  not involved,&#8221; the statement from Netanyahu&#8217;s office said.</p>
<p>It  added, however, &#8220;no democratic government&#8221; in the world would prohibit  Jews from buying real estate, and &#8220;Israel will certainly not do so&#8221;.  Jews, the statement said, &#8220;can buy or rent property in predominantly  Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem&#8221;.</p>
<p>The  settlement project at the hotel compound, whose ownership is contested,  stoked Palestinian anger as Washington tries to revive peace talks  stalled by a dispute over Israeli settlement construction in the West  Bank and East Jerusalem.</p>
<p>Some  190,000 Israelis live in East Jerusalem and adjacent areas of the West  Bank that Israel annexed to its Jerusalem municipality. East Jerusalem  has 250,000 Palestinian residents.</p>
<p>(Writing by <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&amp;n=jeffrey.heller&amp;">Jeffrey Heller</a>, Additional reporting by <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&amp;n=andrew.quinn&amp;">Andrew Quinn</a> in Abu Dhabi; Editing by <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&amp;n=jason.neely&amp;">Jason Neely</a>)</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7092JI20110110?feedType=RSS&amp;feedName=worldNews&amp;utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FworldNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+International%29">Netanyahu defends settlement after U.S. criticism | Reuters</a>.</p>
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