Despite U.S. objection, Israel plans 900 homes beyond Green Line

Ha'aretz
The Jerusalem municipal planning committee on Tuesday approved the construction of 900 new housing units in the city's Gilo neighborhood. [Gilo is actually an Israeli Jewish-only colony built on land confiscated from Palestinian Christians in the West Bank.]

The committee's move comes in the wake of an expose Tuesday morning in the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aharonot revealing that the U.S. has voiced objection to the expansion of Gilo, which is located beyond the Green Line.

The plan - named "Gilo's western slopes" - will account for a significant expansion of the neighborhood. The planned 900 housing unites will be built in the form of 4-5 bedroom apartments, in an effort to lure relatively well-off residents.

...the majority of apartments slated to be built in Jerusalem in the coming years will be located in Gilo. Other building plans in various stages of approval include some 4,000 new housing units in Gilo and adjacent areas. Full story

Euphemisms for Israeli Settlements Confuse Coverage
FAIR

...Take the case of Gilo, an Israeli settlement that some pro-settler groups have used as a focal point for their campaigns to eliminate the term "settlements" in favor of "neighborhoods." In September 2001, CNN changed its policy on how to characterize Gilo: "We refer to Gilo as 'a Jewish neighborhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem, built on land occupied by Israel in 1967.' We don't refer to it as a settlement," said the order from CNN headquarters. Full story

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