Jews in East Jerusalem
Lots of people know about Sheikh Jarra, where a long legal process eventually resulted in the eviction of a few Palestinian families who refused to pay rent; they were replaced by Jews. Palestinians in the same building who do pay are still there, and not going anywhere. This is turning into a cause célèbre for the anti-Israel crowd.
Meanwhile, about two miles to the south the opposite story has finished its wending through the courts. A Jewish group purchased a plot of land in the Arab section of Silwan and built a seven-story apartment building there. They called it Beit Yonatan, Jonathan's House, in honor of Jonathan Pollard. In this case, it was the Jews who lost the ensuing court case; my understanding is that they built significantly higher than the zoning rules allow, in their attempt to fit as many Jews as possible into the little space they had acquired.
The mayor, Nir Barkat, has been dragging his feet in complying to the court order to evict the Jews and seal the building. I know the mayor personally, though not that well; some people I know know him very well. I believe him when he says his intention was to hammer out an agreement that would resolve all the illegal building issues in Silwan; that's the way he works. The State Prosecutor, however, isn't an elected politician, he's a lawyer, and he has been demanding that the mayor follow the law first, and perhaps resolve the larger issue later. So the mayor has announced he'll comply: he'll enforce all the court decisions, those against the Jews and those against the Arabs - although, he warns, enforcing the decisions against Palestinians will probably lead to riots. (And undoubtedly they'll lead to wall-to-wall condemnation of Israel, from the White House down).
It's like watching a train wreck about to happen.
Meanwhile, about two miles to the south the opposite story has finished its wending through the courts. A Jewish group purchased a plot of land in the Arab section of Silwan and built a seven-story apartment building there. They called it Beit Yonatan, Jonathan's House, in honor of Jonathan Pollard. In this case, it was the Jews who lost the ensuing court case; my understanding is that they built significantly higher than the zoning rules allow, in their attempt to fit as many Jews as possible into the little space they had acquired.
The mayor, Nir Barkat, has been dragging his feet in complying to the court order to evict the Jews and seal the building. I know the mayor personally, though not that well; some people I know know him very well. I believe him when he says his intention was to hammer out an agreement that would resolve all the illegal building issues in Silwan; that's the way he works. The State Prosecutor, however, isn't an elected politician, he's a lawyer, and he has been demanding that the mayor follow the law first, and perhaps resolve the larger issue later. So the mayor has announced he'll comply: he'll enforce all the court decisions, those against the Jews and those against the Arabs - although, he warns, enforcing the decisions against Palestinians will probably lead to riots. (And undoubtedly they'll lead to wall-to-wall condemnation of Israel, from the White House down).
It's like watching a train wreck about to happen.
Originally posted by Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations
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