Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad vowed Tuesday that east Jerusalem would be the capital of a Palestinian state as he opened a refurbished school there following a political spat with Israel. "This area is part of Jerusalem and (east) Jerusalem is Palestinian land occupied in 1967," he told around 200 local residents and officials who were attending the opening ceremony in the neighbourhood of Dahiyat al-Barid.
"It will be the capital of our independent state." His remarks were made after Israel barred him from inaugurating another renovation project in the occupied and annexed eastern half of the city, in what it said was a political manoeuvre to exert Palestinian sovereignty over an area claimed by Israel.
The spat erupted late last week after the Palestinian premier announced plans to inaugurate several renovation projects in two east Jerusalem neighbourhoods, both of which lie on the West Bank side of Israel's separation barrier, which snakes through the city.
But one of the projects - a renovated road - is located in Anata neighbourhood, part of which falls within the Israeli municipal boundaries of Jerusalem, an area which is considered off-limits for any official activity by the Palestinians. Following protests by rightwing groups, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered officials "not to let the Palestinian Authority conduct events and ceremonies in the municipal area of Jerusalem," a statement from his office said late Monday.
Fayyad called off the visit to Anata but pushed ahead with the event in Dahiyat al-Barid, which is located just outside the municipal boundaries and therefore of no interest to Israel. "We have already rehabilitated 14 schools in Jerusalem in less than four months as well as several roads, and we will continue to work towards our goal of establishing an independent state," he said, speaking in the shadow of the huge separation barrier. "Today we declare our victory and the victory of our projects against the occupation and the terrorism of the settlers," he said in reference to rising tensions between locals and Jewish settlers living in the city's eastern sector.