1,600 housing units in east Jerusalem approved

Interior Ministry's District Committee for Planning and Construction approves expansion in Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, located beyond Green Line while US Vice President Joe Biden in Jerusalem to promote peace talks with Palestinians. Ministry source says timing coincidental

US Vice President Joe Biden is in the region to reignite the peace process, but the Interior Ministry seems unmoved by the political statements made and on Tuesday approved the addition of 1,600 housing units in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo, which is located beyond the Green Line. The Ministry's District Committee for Planning and Construction approved the plan be submitted for public comment.

Interior Minister Eli Yishai approved the decision that was made on Tuesday, but sources from the Interior Ministry claimed the timing of the approval was coincidental and unrelated to the US vice president's visit. The ministry confirmed that the housing units in question are located beyond the Green Line. "This means nothing to us, since the area is in Jerusalem's municipal territory," a source from the committee told Ynet.

The plan includes the expansion of the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood southward and eastward, as well as the upgrading of the existing road leading into the neighborhood and the addition of a new access road from the west. The plan includes 1,600 housing units, in an area of some 580 dunams (roughly 143 acres), with the average housing unit spanning 120 square meters (1,291 square feet).

Once the plan has been submitted for public comment, the public has 60 days to file an objection to the plan, which will then be discussed by the committee. This is a process that can take some time.

Dalit Zilber, the district planner for the Interior Ministry, said, "The plan is in line with the Interior Ministry's policy of upgrading and expanding the ancient residential neighborhoods of Jerusalem and increasing the supply of housing units to the diverse population in the city, while raising the quality of life for Jerusalem's residents."

Dr. Meir Margalit, a member of Jerusalem's City Council from the Meretz faction, claimed that the construction in question is just another phase in an ongoing process. "This is a relatively new neighborhood that was built a decade ago, and was constructed between the neighborhoods of Ramot and Shuafat, on land that was confiscated from the Shuafat village," he told Ynet.

"Today, the neighborhood is inhabited mainly by haredim, and it has recently been active in efforts to prevent construction by Shuafat residents near the neighborhood. Not only did they steal land, they also do not cease to do everything in their power to prevent Arabs from building on their own land."

Contrary to the interior minister's stance, the city's Meretz council member said the timing of the approval is no coincidence. "This is the interior minister's initiative, which is meant to sabotage the announcement that Netanyahu issued today regarding the renewal of indirect negotiations with the Palestinians. It is also a kind of slap in the face of the American administration:

"Yishai could have waited two or three days after US Vice President Biden left the country, but instead of waiting, he chose to do this while he is here, in order to signal to the Obama administration that there large forces in Israel that will not allow him to promote any peace talks. This is further proof that Eli Yishai is a man who endangers peace and should be restrained before he causes irreversible damage to the State."

Hagit Ofran of Peace Now said, "This is a part that the world does not recognize as the State of Israel. This running rampant in Jerusalem endangers us all, and the government just act responsibly to prevent provocation."

The ministry confirmed that the housing units in question are located beyond the Green Line. "This means nothing to us, since the area is in Jerusalem's municipal territory,"

Correct. Jerusalem is integral to Israel. The 1949 armistice line is immaterial. The city will never be cut up into pieces along those lines again.

For more on what the green line meant in Jerusalem, see: here. Most people have no clue that the city was NEVER cleanly divided along east-west lines.

Leftist nonsense follows:

in order to signal to the Obama administration that there large forces in Israel that will not allow him to promote any peace talks.

Since when do peace talks assume Israel will surrender Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem?

This is further proof that Eli Yishai is a man who endangers peace and should be restrained before he causes irreversible damage to the State."

Honestly, this Meretznik is the one doing damage.

Full text of the blog post I linked in my initial comment. Maybe this will get some people to actually read it.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Palestinian Mythology: "Arab East Jerusalem"

With Jerusalem Day tomorrow I thought it was time to debunk the most commonly repeated bit of Palestinian mythology. The idea the eastern Jerusalem is an Arab city, or that Jerusalem as a whole was ever truly an Arab city, is a lie that has been repeated so many times that most of the world seems to believe it. Straight faced reporters on major networks all over the world will speak of "Arab East Jerusalem" as if it is an undisputed fact of history and of present circumstances. It isn't.

During Ottoman rule, from the late 15th through the early 20th century, Jerusalem had either a Jewish plurality or an outright Jewish majority. In 1854 Karl Marx was a reporter for the New York Daily Tribune. His article of 15 April 1854 reported the population as follows:

...the sedentary population of Jerusalem numbers about 15,500 souls, of whom 4,000 are Mussulmans [Muslims] and 8,000 Jews.

At the time Jerusalem was little more than the old, walled city. Jewish settlement outside the walls wasn't permitted by the Ottoman rulers until 1865. The entire Jewish population was in the old city. If we judge east and west from the 1949 armistice line (pre-1967 borders) then the entire Jewish population was in what is now referred to as "Arab East Jerusalem".

What made east Jerusalem Arab? 19 years of illegal Jordanian occupation ending in 1967. In 1948 when Jordan captured the old, walled city they destroyed 58 synagogues. 58! I somehow don't think Arabs were worshiping in those synagogues. Yep, in 1948 there were still lots of Jews in "Arab East Jerusalem".

Here is a description of how Jerusalem was divided until the Six Day War written by former Israeli President Chaim Herzog in his 1982 book The Arab-Israeli Wars:

...Jerusalem had been divided between two warring elements: barbed wire in profusion, fortifications, trenches and battlements cut through the city...

Mount Scopus [was] an Israeli enclave on the site of Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital; it had been completely surrounded in 1948, but held out against all Arab attacks. The second enclave was Government House, which had been the residence of the British High Commissioner of Palestine...

So... there were Israeli and U.N. enclaves surrounded by Jordanian held territory in "Arab East Jerusalem" rather than a clean east-west, Jewish-Arab devision. Does this sound like workable, defensible borders as envisioned in UN Resolution 242? Not to me, it doesn't.

Yes, the majority of the eastern part of the city today is Arab. That's true, in part, because Jerusalem has grown and swallowed up several Arab villages and, in part, through natural population growth in the Arab community. There are also a number of Jewish neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city.

It may be possible, someday, after a period of peace, to separate Arab areas that aren't part of the historical city and place them under Arab rule. Right now, though, I don't see this is practical. I do not support dividing the city again and I do not accept the idea that any part of Jerusalem is intrinsically Arab and must be ceded.

If you, like I, support keeping Jerusalem united you may wish to visit OneJerusalem.org. Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem. To me, that is something to celebrate and cherish.

Amen.

My grandparents who were *kicked* out of Belarus, helped create the state of Israel, clearing swamps, getting malaria, and believing in a dream of a safe place to live... my mother was born in jerusalem. my family has fought and died for our homeland. and there are many israeli arabs who peacefully co-exist... who choose not to be political pawns, but to be people. just like jewish israelis.

And the Arab nations have chosen to utilize the Palestinians as pawns for the last 60 years... rather than sheltering and caring, as Israel has done for Jews ousted from countries throughout the world.

Until Americans have walked in those shoes, they do not have the right to make such pronouncements. And we have done much in this country to ostrasize our own of certain ilks over the centuries and even in this day and age...

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