Courcy’s Intelligence Brief

*** Israel says to continue building settlements, unrest rising.  On 27 August, Israel’s Interior Minister Gidon Saar said that Israel will continue to build in east Jerusalem and the West Bank even during peace negotiations with the Palestinians.  He told students during a visit to a high school in Maale Adumin that with 300,000 Jewish settlers in the settlements it was impossible not to continue building. 

Two days earlier, Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel said that a two-state solution was unrealistic.  During a dedication ceremony for two new neighbourhoods in the West Bank settlement of Qedumim, the minister said: “Those who are here understand why the vision of two states is unrealistic and will never happen.  Those who think they can force us to build only within the Auschwitz borders are wrong.”

During a visit to celebrate a new neighbourhood in Alei Zahav, Ariel added: “I will say very clearly that I am here to build you an apartment, and we are doing this everywhere in Israel.  We are building 300 homes in Leshem just like we are building thousands in Rosh Haayin.  We are building in Qedumim like we are building in Qiryat Gat and in Modin.  We are building in Jerusalem like we are building in Galilee.”

On 26 August, there were violent clashes at the Qalandiyah West Bank refugee camp in which three Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers attempting an arrest.  Some 1,500 Palestinians participated in the rioting. 

This was the second significant incident in a week.  The other took place six days earlier in the Jenin refugee camp and led to the killing of one Palestinian.  Israeli sources say that these incidents are an indication of growing Palestinian resistance to arrests, particularly in refugee camps.

Our Israeli sources add that while these clashes are worrying, there is no sign as yet that the West Bank is on the brink of a third intifada.

*** China to hold meeting on reforms in November.  A meeting is to be held in November by the Communist Party of China (CPC) to discuss reforms.  The Politburo of the CPC announced on 27 August that the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee would include the delivery of a report by the Politburo and “the study of major issues concerning comprehensive and deepened reform”.