Carter Center Calls for End to Home Demolitions and Settlement Construction in the West Bank

Media contact: Deborah Hakes, 404-420-5124

Atlanta, GA….The Carter Center expresses strong concern about recent home demolition orders issued by the Jerusalem Municipality. If implemented, a total of 95 structures, including 87 homes in the historic Al-Bustan neighborhood south of the Old City, would be demolished and some 1,840 Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem would be displaced. Moreover, the Jerusalem Municipality is conducting an examination of East Jerusalem neighborhoods, largely populated by Palestinian residents, to seek out any additional Palestinian homes to be destroyed.

News of the demolitions comes on the heels of a report from Peace Now, an Israeli organization, revealing that Israel has plans to construct 73,000 new housing units in the occupied West Bank. If construction proceeds as planned, the population of settlers in the West Bank (excluding East Jerusalem) will increase by an estimated 300,000 people, more than doubling the current number of settlers and increasing already significant obstacles to the creation of a viable Palestinian state.

During her visit to Israel and the Occupied Territories, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted the Obama Administration's intention to address the issue of settlements and house demolitions with a new Israeli government, referring specifically to the planned home demolitions as "unhelpful and not in keeping with the obligations entered into under the roadmap." The Carter Center agrees with this position and urges Israeli authorities to rescind the demolition orders and to freeze completely the expansion of Israeli settlements.

"Israel must refrain from practices such as house demolitions, which can only further strain relations with Palestinians," said former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. "In addition, the single most important obstacle to a viable two-state solution is the continued expansion of settlements and outposts in the West Bank. I hope these plans will not be implemented."

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"Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope."
A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in more than 70 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; improving mental health care; and teaching farmers in developing nations to increase crop production. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.

Read more about the Carter Center's work in Israel and the Palestinian territories

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Watch/listen to media interviews with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on his 2008 book, " We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land:  A Plan That Will Work"