By Yudith Oppenheimer, Executive Director, Ir Amim
In the early morning on August 2, 2009, as residents of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem slept soundly, a group of Israeli settlers accompanied by a large police force broke into two homes, forcefully removing the residents and their belongings. Within hours, the settlers had moved in and began treating the homes as their own. Pictures of the eviction were seen all over the world, prompting Israel's friends everywhere to wonder how such scenes could be squared with the Israeli government's repeated declarations of commitment to the peace process. A similar fate awaits other Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood who recently lost the right to their homes after long and exhausting legal battles with well-heeled settlers' groups, who make no secret of their goal -- to demolish these homes and build a Jewish settlement of around 200 residential units in their place.
The Palestinian homes now under threat are located just a few hundreds yards from the Shepherd Hotel, the contested building referenced by Prime Minister Netanyahu when he said that "it is unacceptable that a Jew should not be able to purchase a home anywhere in Jerusalem." These homes are just around the corner from "the Glassman campus," another recent acquisition by the settlers in Sheikh Jarrah and within a stone's throw from the "Mufti's Grove," Emeq Tzurim and Beit Orot -- all ongoing and future settlers' projects that are encircling the neighborhood. The attempt to represent these and other settlements as individual, disconnected real estate transactions is intended to hide the true situation in East Jerusalem from the Israeli public and the world. In reality, Israel's governments have been in league with the settlers for decades. They have helped the settlers acquire properties in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods, and turn them into settlers' enclaves that are privileged with scandalous building permits. The settlers in these enclaves live in a constant state of confrontation with the surrounding Palestinian population and with the Law.
In Jerusalem today, the right of Jews to buy a home in one neighborhood or another is not being threatened, but the future resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is. In recent years, Israeli politicians and heads of state have publicly acknowledged that the conflict can only be resolved with a compromise in Jerusalem, yet the government is extending a supportive hand to extremist elements, which are working tirelessly to create facts on the ground that would make a future compromise difficult if not impossible. They use all kinds of provocations to incite tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, to cause the conflict in Jerusalem to boil over and to push it from the negotiating table into battles played out on the street.
Jerusalem today bears no resemblance to the sane and balanced image being promoted by the new government and municipal leaders. In reality, it is becoming an arena for unchecked action by extremist groups that acquire properties by questionable means, operate private police forces with State funding, and seek confrontation with the Palestinian population. A government that declares its commitment to peace and at the same time winks in support of groups whose stated goal is to prevent a negotiated solution and shuts its eyes to open transgressions against public law and order, should not be surprised to find itself with a situation like Hebron, where ideological settlers have gained control over a significant portion of the city's property and live by their own laws, in the heart of its capital city.
The Netanyahu government insists that its conduct in Jerusalem cannot be dictated by Washington. But one must wonder whether its actions reflect Israel's real interests or the wishes of its public. The Israeli public has persistently supported a two-state solution, and is ready to accept a painful compromise in Jerusalem if that would bring the conflict to an end. The Israeli public understands as well that Jerusalem is not just a real estate market, and that any action that changes the geographical and demographic status quo in the city carries grave political consequences. A responsible government must clarify its real intentions concerning the peace process and promote a reasonable, well-considered policy concerning its capital city. It must not allow extremist elements to dictate policy under the pretext of property rights.
Fact:There were plenty of population exchanges around same time.
Example1: Millions of German refugees came to Germany when evicted from Czech. and other places.
Obviously it wouldn't occur to Germans to keep Germanic refugees in camps for 60 years to show off other governments.
Yet this PRECISELY what Arabs are doing.
Example2: Millions of Muslim refugees moved to Pakistan/ Millions of Hindu moved to India. No refugee camps camps deprived of basic human needs! This would unthinkable.
Yet this is PRECISELY what Arab states doing.
Think about it.
Example3: 800,00 Jewish refugees from Middle East. No one lives in camps.
Conclusion: ALL of refugee movements of the mid-20s have been solved. EXCEPT ONE. Palestinians kept in camps all over Middle East to keep them angry and hungry and focus their anger towards fighting the Jews--- Michael Vick M.O. of operation.
CONSIDERED ONE OF THE MANY ANTI ISRAELI BIAS.
http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=1&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=442&PID=0&IID=3056&TTL=The_U.S.-Israeli_Dispute_over_Building_in_Jerusalem:_The_Sheikh_Jarrah-Shimon_HaTzadik_Neighbo
"If the Jews had not been subject to an exodus, the Palestinians wouldn't have been either," he said,
Dawood Baghestani
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/08/12/81570.html
But the world's supply of "untapped" Jews is dwindling, the US Jewish population isn't moving and migration out of Israel is increasing. And with ongoing strife, few will want to go there. Jews are actually safer in Tehran.
I's actually over, except for how bloody the end actually will be.
There was a lengthy court battle between current residents of those two houses and a group of people who claimed ownership to the properties.
One party lost and was evicted. The rest is just agitprop.
I have yet to see a single instance when ANY Middle Eastern Jew has been able to recover ANY of their land property in Egypt, Yemen, Morocco, Jordan, Iran, Iraq etc.
Someone provide a SINGLE instance of any such claim succeeding then we talk about creating a balanced fairness.
Until then,..... ciao.
They also knew long in advance when they needed to leave but instead of packing and finding a new home they left everything so it would make a good photo opp. When will you people realize you are being manipulated by the Arabs?
Small problem with that rather crude assumption. Israel HAS made peace with those who are genuinely interested in peace--Jordan, Egypt, France, Germany and hundreds of other countries with whom ISrael has mutually beneficial relationships.
Deal with it.
Bad Karma!
Israel DID offer Israeli citizenship to Arab residents of Jerusalem. most refused on ideological grounds. Not smart.