'Israel engaged in ethnic cleansing

UNITED NATIONS - Israels expansion of Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem and eviction of Palestinians from their homes there is a form of ethnic cleansing, a UN human rights expert said Tuesday. Richard Falk, the Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, was speaking to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council as it prepared to pass resolutions condemning Israeli behaviour on territory it has occupied since 1967. The continued pattern of settlement expansion in East Jerusalem combined with the forcible eviction of long-residing Palestinians are creating an intolerable situation in the part of the city previously controlled by Jordan, he said. This situation can only be described in its cumulative impact as a form of ethnic cleansing, Falk declared. Israel declines to deal with Falk or even allow him into the country, accusing him of bias against the Jewish state. The continued pattern of settlement expansion in East Jerusalem combined with forcible eviction of long residing Palestinians are creating an intolerable situation that can only be described, in its cumulative impact, as a form of ethnic cleansing, warned Falk. Presenting his latest report to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council on Monday, Falk said that, over the years, Israel has taken measures to irreversibly alter the demographic composition of the occupied part of Jerusalem. Israeli settlers have continued to take over Palestinian homes and expel Palestinians from their homes of decades and generations, while the Israeli authorities support their illegal actions, he told the 47-member body which is currently meeting in Geneva, according to a news release issued at UN Headquarters in New York. Falk warned that the Governments support for settlers actions further illustrates the institutional and systematic discrimination against the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem by Israel, as well as the ongoing Israeli efforts to create what are euphemistically called 'facts on the ground for the annexation of East Jerusalem. Earlier this month, Falk reported that, since the beginning of 2011, Israel has demolished 96 Palestinian structures throughout the West Bank including East Jerusalem, consisting of 32 homes and other residential structures. As a result, 175 people, more than half of them children, have lost their homes, a sharp increase compared to the same period in 2010 when there were 56 demolitions and 129 people displaced.