Prime Minister Netanyahu made a great point in the Sunday cabinet meeting. The whole world gets really mad when Jewish residents move into an apartment in Eastern Jerusalem, but no one cares that Arabs live in Western Jerusalem.
The comments came as the US protested Israel’s building of a new apartments on the edge of French Hill, my old neighborhood. I can verify that it is, in fact, a majority Jewish neighborhood with many Arab residents. It is not some remote Arab neighborhood with a new Jewish settlement popping up in the middle.
Bibi was very clear that Jerusalem is a united city blind to borders and race. Any person of any religion is free to live anywhere in the city. I understand why no Muslims would want to live in Bayit Vagan just as I understand why no Jew would want to live in the middle of Wadi Al-Joz. That does not mean, however, that it is not allowed for either to happen.
The JCPA put together a few key quotes from the meeting:
“I read the newspaper headlines today about the construction of a neighborhood in Jerusalem and I would like to re-emphasize that united Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people and of the State of Israel. Our sovereignty over it cannot be challenged; this means – inter alia – that residents of Jerusalem may purchase apartments in all parts of the city.”
“This has been the policy of all Israeli governments and I would like to say that it is indeed being implemented because in recent years hundreds of apartments in Jewish neighborhoods in the western part of the city have been purchased by – or rented to – Arab residents and we did not interfere. This says that there is no ban on Arabs buying apartments in the western part of the city and there is no ban on Jews buying or building apartments in the eastern part of the city.”
“This is the policy of an open city, an undivided city that has no separation according to religion or national affiliation. We cannot accept the idea that Jews will not have the right to live and purchase in all parts of Jerusalem. I can only describe to myself what would happen if someone would propose that Jews could not live in certain neighborhoods in New York, London, Paris or Rome. There would certainly be a major international outcry. Accordingly, we cannot agree to such a decree in Jerusalem. This has been the policy of Israeli governments over the years and it is also the policy of our government.”
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