The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Jerusalem

Activists built a mock Palestinian "settlement" in the West Bank on Saturday to protest a potential Israeli expansion there as Israel's housing minister vowed to proceed with a similar project in occupied east Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Authority, the United States and the United Nations have warned that the expansion of settlements could derail the Middle East peace process, revived just last month at a US-sponsored international conference.

Around 40 activists gathered in the hotly contested E-1 corridor early Saturday morning to erect a small shanty-style house near the massive Maale Adumim settlement in the West Bank outside Jerusalem. The Israeli government has plans for a vast project there aimed at linking Jerusalem to Maale Adumim, home to 30,000 Jewish settlers.

"We have built the first house of a Palestinian town. This land is Palestinian and should be dedicated to a Palestinian expansion and not an Israeli expansion," said Jonathan Polak, an Israeli pacifist.