Building in Jerusalem ======================== Jerusalem, 28 October 1. Yesterday (27 October), officials in the Prime Ministers Office stated that plans would be advanced for 1,060 new housing units in existing Jewish neighborhoods of eastern Jerusalem. The directive concerns planning apartment buildings in Ramat Shlomo and Har Homa and not their actual construction. In Israel, the numerous planning and zoning stages prior to construction constitute a bureaucratic process that takes years to complete. A separate decision by the government is required before actual construction can begin. 2. The current government’s policy regarding building in Jerusalem is the same as the policy of every Israeli government since 1967. For nearly fifty years, no government has accepted restrictions on Israel’s right to build in any part of its sovereign and united capital. 3. Ramat Shlomo and Har Homa are not settlements. Rather, they are Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem that will remain a part of Israel in a future peace agreement. Building in Jerusalem is not a barrier to reaching an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. The true obstacle to lasting peace is Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas refusal to recognize Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people and its legitimate security needs. 4. Jews have been living in Jerusalem for the past 3,000 years almost without interruption, except for brief periods of time during which they were forcibly displaced from the city, as was the case in 1948 when the Jewish residents of the Old City were forcibly evicted and were only able to return after the Six Day War in 1967. 5. Alongside the plans for housing, the Prime Minister has also ordered the advancement of infrastructure projects in the West Bank for the benefit of both Israelis and Palestinians. Similarly, in September, the Jerusalem Municipality approved a new development plan for al-Sawahra, an Arab neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem that will allow for the construction of 2,200 residential units. Yet although both Arabs and Israelis build in Jerusalem, condemnation is almost exclusively reserved for Jews wishing to live in their capital.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 11:33:14 +0000
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