I'm crushed and livid. Jerusalem master plan: Expansion of Jewish enclaves across the city:
The Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee is set to approve an unprecedented master plan that calls for the expansion of Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, a move largely based on construction on privately owned Arab property.
This is heating up to massive proportions. And Coteret brings us more info:
Channel Ten News: Construction starts at Shepherd Hotel settlement compound in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem
Last night, riots broke out in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan as settlers, backed by Border Police, moved to evict Palestinians from a structure used as a mosque. .... Yaacov Elon: Very quietly Israel began construction of a new neighborhood in the Shepherd Hotel complex in East Jerusalem. ..You can hear the construction sounds in the background. What’s happening there, Roi? Roi Sharon: Work ended here this afternoon at the Shepherd Hotel in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem. Work began this morning, the construction that has already caused several diplomatic crises between Jerusalem and Washington, materialized this morning when the construction team arrived here with a micro fine drill and began the work.
Aha! Careful incisions! So livid. I'm practically speechless.
The timing is just days before Bibi meets with Obama. Peace Now:
"The mayor of Jerusalem and his partners in the right wing continue to decide the facts on the ground and harm Israel's political status. Netanyahu must order Barkat to stop the construction in Sheikh Jarrah immediately."
Bibi and company slap POTUS Obama yet again in the face, and what will be the result?
POTUS Obama will turn the other cheek, deny that he has been slapped, and seem to beg for more, while The Israel Lobby cheers on Bibi and demands yet further assault and battery be done to the national interests of the USA.
In other words, just another day at the office for Our Most Relaible Ally In The Middle East.
i’m writing the WH!
Well, be sure to write on AIPAC stationery. That way, your letter might actually mean something.
Real Big Sigh.
i write their contact page. in my fantasy world it makes a difference. speaking of which, from the first coteret link in my post (‘heating up’) remez tells of the TV stations white wash of the report, using falsified video
annie
Is that an israeli or american television channel?
coteret is a site that translates israeli (hebrew) press and comments on it in english. the tv show was in israel. as far as i know we don’t have any hebrew stations here.
Thanks
hayate, you should bookmark coteret because it is an essential site for 2 reasons. one being that did remez is a brilliant jewel in the heart of the peace movement inside israel (no kidding), and second because some of the most revealing informative inflammatory issues in israel are only published by the hebrew press (for a reason) . therefore his translations are essential and a hop thru the archives is well worth the time.
I keep waiting to discover what it will take to get the US govt to admit that support of Israel is support of injustice. But no matter how heinous the deed, they rally behind it.
American politicians are literally owned by israel … until alternate money sources are available for them to win elections and overcome the official israeli lobby’s line they are pawns
It’s not the money, radii, just ask Wellstone.
Well, the money is part of it, but zionist terrorism, hit teams & blackmail along with control of the media and the political recruitment process are the major factors.
And just look who inherited his seat. Al Franken a real pillar of integrity. Claims Wellstone if his idol.
If the next flotilla (hopefully including the Mary ship from Lebanon — named after St. Mary, Jesus’s mother — that has 50 women on board, including 4 American Catholic nuns) times its arrival to fall on the morning of July 4, maybe the next Israeli attack on a relief flotilla can fall on a U.S. holiday, the way the Mavi Marmara massacre was on Memorial Day, and maybe Netanyahu can be forced to postpone his new visit, currently scheduled for July 6.
maybe Netanyahu can be forced to postpone his new visit, currently scheduled for July 6.
it seems as tho this plan is such an inflammatory provocation at any time, but to do it now seems so extraordinary considering the history of obama and bibis visits. is there no logic or in your face logic? hard to imagine this could happen in a vacum cause it can’t.
The reason that massive expansion of Jewish housing in Jerusalem should be encouraged are many.
In fact there are many ways to do this without disenfranchising the Arabs that reside in the area and benefit from the Israeli sovereignty of the area as well as Israeli identity cards. (except naturally the HAMAS terrorists who have had their ID cards removed this month)
One reason for the limited construction that has been announced so far is that, very clearly the lands and areas were bought and owned by Jewish owners whom own the deed and title (Shephards Hotel).
Also a tourist park is just what is needed in historical areas, as I understand it the demolish plan is simply a compromise and will leave scores of illegally built Arab houses intact.
Personally, I would much rather lose my right arm than lose Jewish sovereignty over any part of Jerusalem and I do believe that there are enough staunch believers to prevent the city ever being capitulated.
It can’t be stressed enough, that dividing Jerusalem is dangerous for the security of America and “The West” in general.
It’s my earnest hope that we can push forward with this construction and much much more in Jerusalem and all over Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and as well as return to Gaza. Quibbling over 20 housing units only prevents the world from accepting what we need to establish as a fait accompli by rendering truly gigantic and irreversible facts on the ground.
Thank you for your consideration,
Maximalist
Castrated any Arabs recently?
Killed any Turks recently?
Why the fuck don’t zionists build up!
Up up upwards you bastards NOT sideways into your neighbors’ garden!!
Thieves, liars and mass murderers – that’s whom you are supporting maximalist asshole!
MaximumAnnoyance comes here to poke a stick in the fishbowl, stir it up, and watch the results … he has nothing to offer of substance and should be ignored for the silly Troll that he/she/it is
comes here to poke a stick in the fishbowl
why i generally just scroll his posts. it would be one thing if they were at least entertaining, they’re not.
As much as I try to resist, I simply cannot skip over your posts without glancing at them, like a child that wants to look through the paper-wrapped Christmas gifts hidden on Christmas Eve, to try to guess what is in there.
“It can’t be stressed enough, that dividing Jerusalem is dangerous for the security of America and “The West” in general.”
- Please define ‘the West”, I’d seriously love to hear your version.
“illegally built Arab houses”
I’d like your view on this, how do they decide?
“Jewish owners whom own “
WHO own.
“staunch believers to prevent the city ever being capitulated.”
Fidèles! Aux armes!!
“Quibbling over 20 housing units only prevents the world from accepting what we need to establish as a fait accompli by rendering truly gigantic and irreversible facts on the ground.”
Ah, there are many “facts on the ground” in the world, I guess we should give up on every struggle for justice that we naively take up, thinking that we are actually doing some good. We should meekly resign ourselves to reality, there is no going back. Maybe you’re right, we have to let power do what it likes, it is inevitable ; any resistance is futile. They need more breathing room, it’s Yahweh who says so. Who are we to contradict Him? We submit.
“Thank you for your consideration”
“Consideration” is a bit strong , you should think about the words you write.
“It can’t be stressed enough, that dividing Jerusalem is dangerous for the security of America and “The West” in general.”
Why?
“Quibbling over 20 housing units only prevents the world…”
It’s not *just* 22 houses. It’s trying to prevent the number of Palestinian homes demolished by Israel (the only democracy / shared values w the US / whatever ) since 1967 going from 24,145 to 24,165.
link to icahd.org
It’s trying to prevent nakba for probably more than 100s of people. Shed a tear for Shalit, and ignore this? No fucking way!
Annie ~ Is there any coverage around of the families whose lives are about to be wrecked by Israel? Names, photos, articles, video? We should meet them, as people not statistics..
I was in the Bustan area of Silwan in East Jerusalem on Saturday. This is where 22 houses – with a futher 66 homes on the waiting list – are shortly to be demolished after the plan was given the go ahead by Jerusalem municipality. This will leave approximately 1,500 Palestinians homeless as the homes are generally very crowded and Palestinians tend to have large families.
There is a chronic shortage of housing for Palestinians in East Jerusalem. It is almost impossible for Palestinians to get building permits, or zoning rights, from the municipality so many are forced to build “illegally”. Alternatively the municipality goes out of its way to facilitate illegal Israeli settlement both financially and politically. This is part of a deliberate policy to Judaise East Jerusalem in flagrant violation of international law and various UN resolutions.
In the middle of Silwan is a nine-storey building Beit Yonatan (named after Jonathan Pollard) built illegally even according to an Israeli supreme court which ordered the illegal Jewish settlers there to leave. But Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat has refused to remove them. Beit Yonatan residents are now threatening to hire private security guards to evict another four Palestinian families from an old Yemenite synagogue in Silwan.
After seeing the violent weekend clashes and speaking to some of those whose homes are about to be demolished I predict massive civil unrest if the Israeli government goes ahead with these unilateral moves.
Meanwhile in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem another 20 settlement units are being built. Peace Now also says that the Israeli authorities have dismantled only three percent of illegal settlement structures in the West Bank that it promised to remove. Furthermore, some settlement construction in the West Bank continues under the nose of the Israeli government despite the announcement of a “settlement freeze”.
he anger of the locals
oh Miss Dee Mena, i don’t know how i missed your post earlier..of course i had an idea many more than 22 homes would be demolished for this tourist area. is this the area they (the israel project) are digging under right now for this city of david?
Annie the area where the 88 homes are in Bustan is where the Jewish theme park is planned. I’m not sure if they are digging under all 88 homes right now or just the 22 which are shortly to be demolished but all those homes are on the list for eventual demolition.
I spoke to Fakri Abu Diab who is the spokesman of the Bustan Committee who deals with the media and is fighting to stop the demolitions. He said the original document of the Israelis calls for the demolition of all 88 homes. He said the recent decision to go ahead with 22 only was only verbal so he doesn’t trust the Israelis to stick to only 22. His house is on the demolition list and he has five kids.
What was scary during Friday’s Israeli protest in Silwan was watching one of the Israeli security guards near the King David park drawing his pistol as unarmed and peaceful ISRAELIS protested for about five minutes before moving on. If they are this quick to draw their weapons against fellow Jews who are completely peaceful imagine how they are with…well you know.
thank you Miss Dee Mena. have you thought about writing some articles here at mondoweiss? i think it would be very valuable for the community since you are there. have you ever contacted phil? he’s generally very enthusiastic to get informed voices.
that makes me sick about Fakri Abu Diab and his family. it’s sadistic. about those security guards.. i hear they’ve privatized lots of them. settlementwatch east jerusalem reported a
includes video
One wonders just how much more supine the PA can get at not immediately ceasing participation in proximity talks and either declaring a state or demanding equal rights within one state. And why in the world after crap like this serially occurs it puts any credence whatsoever in talking with the U.S. over there or allowing it to play ringmaster I dunno.
I suspect some explosion is around some near corner.
Annie,
You’re often livid.
Too bad you are often not. You could use a little heart and a dose of humanism.
The real purpose of bozos like Witty, MaximalNastiness, Wondering Joker, etc. is to disrupt discussion among adults. Perhaps more than several others I have been guilty of trying to answer them, but no more.
I’d suggest that it’s a good idea to just let them make their noise by themselves, except when their slime looks exceptionally likely to confuse an innocent onlooker.
He combines the worst aspects of the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Lion, sadly.
Remind me again how Witty almost never targets women, specifically, who speak up?
Also, Witty, thank you for taking the time to notice that Israel has broken its promise, is continuing to steal land in the West Bank and that Zionism does, in fact, represent racialized wealth seizure by an elite class (but judging by your personal blog, that doesn’t bother you so much as long as it can be made sustainable).
Chaos, dear,
Promise me you will never, ever visit his blog again!
“You’re often livid.”
That’s because unlike you, there’s still humanity left in her.
And you’re often dishonest, RW.
The PA is a sort of subsidiary company whose shareholders are Israel, the US and the EU. It is capable only of gestures, not of significant actions. No hope should be placed in it.
I too felt a bit bad, like annie, when I came back after a week away from most of the news to find the ME news somewhere between depressing and miserable. Still, that’s just how things are.
This is a travesty…all while they starve people, refuse fuel for electricity and oxygen?
I am beyond livid!
A small bright flash in the midst of so much nasty. The end of the first Coteret article annie links to (“heating up to massive proportions”) details how social media is being used to organise and also fight back against whitewash reporting of the protest rally on Israel’s Channel 2 TV. Well worth a read!
I’m livid privately. You make a show of it.
I’m livid at both the left and the right and the pro-Hamas right/left.
I find that it intoxicates, and bleeds into hatred which is far far more fascistic than progressive in any meaningful definition.
The Silwan residents should be protected.
The argument of urban renewal is too much of a heart-valve process (one way).
In the eyes of many of the Jerusalem planners, they do see much of the evictions as part of an urban renewal scheme.
I’ve spoken of the urban renewal movement in White Plains NY that I got to hear of politically in the early 70′s. WESPAC that Phil speaks of periodically was on the border of an urban renewal zone. The new commercial zone and public administration zone that is there now (public library, railroad station improvements, courthouse), came about as a result of that urban renewal.
Was it racist? Yes, and no. It displace 9000 or so mostly black, mostly quite poor, residents and forced them to relocate. At the same time, the conditions that they lived in were horrid. Very poor housing (fires, collapses, mold). Poor transportation services, so no possibility of working out of the ghetto.
The urban renewal came as a mixture of sincere effort to reform, mixed with corruption, mixed with the dismissal of the actual residents and impotence to improve their condition.
It resulted from agitation from the left, demanding that the substandard housing be torn down, and from the right, demanding that the substandard housing be torn down.
Both the radical left and the powers that be got what they were urging, raging for.
this isn’t white plains, it’s jerusalem the most contested real estate on the planet.
The urban renewal came as a mixture of sincere effort to reform, mixed with corruption, mixed with the dismissal of the actual residents and impotence to improve their condition.
this ‘urban renewal’ comes from the desire to ethnically cleanse jerusalem. your continued efforts to create false equivalents in an effort to whitewash this affront to mankind is noted.
I’m livid privately….I find that it intoxicates, and bleeds into hatred
i know, it seeps out in the ideas you write. me, i don’t hate. anyone. the idea of it is frightening. why would i ever let my adversaries hold the key to my own destruction? i wouldn’t. hate is neither anything i experience or a term i use in rhetorical arguments and i feel sorry you ever have to think on those terms. my son is grown up now but while he was being raised we only had one word not allowed at our household and that was hate. i have never ever heard my son say he hates anything. i don’t care if it’s peanut butter or dick cheney.
hatred eats away your soul, sorry for you to be even thinking in those terms much less letting your private livid intoxication bleed into hatred. go see a therapist if you can’t get a grip on it, it’s bad for your health.
Nothing wrong with ‘hating’, annie.
You’re supposed to ‘hate’ stuff that’s wrong and evil – like Israel, child molestors, nazis, etc.
What you do with your emotions/feelings is what counts.
it’s just not my bag. hate isn’t an emotion, it’s a condition. at least that’s the way i regard it. i acknowledge people experience it but i don’t. i’ve been in love but i’ve never been in hatred (cross my fingers). i suppose if i was completely stripped of all my abilities to communicate and create and experience and effect change or had to witness my child being abused or tortured or imprisoned..none of that has ever happened to me. i get strength from remebering people in much worse conditions than i’ve ever endured find strength love and resilience. if they can do it whatever i have to endure i can endure without having hate eat away at my being.
it there anything worse than hate? i can’t think of anything. experiencing hate would be like experiencing the worst thing imaginable. i’ve been lucky all my life, even when i’m in really bad shape i’ve never been submerged in the worst of the worst.
It could be said that hatred of injustice is love.
i seriously doubt any philosopher has ever gained notoriety w/that concept demize.
annie,
Experiencing hate towards evil stuff doesn’t stop me from feeling pure love.
And I think demize’s statement is pure love poetry :-)
Well its an original concept but considering Ecclisiastes it may not be. I’m either destined for greatness or will continue to live in obscurity. If I was a betting man I’d say the later but you never know:)
I’m glad you can remain pacific, but anger and hatred can no more be willed away than can a sneeze. They can also be the ultimate motivators. I don’t deny they can be unhealthy and overwhelming. YMMV.
anger and hatred can no more be willed away than can a sneeze
anger and hatred are not the same thing. hopefully i will never have to find out whether it can be willed away or not. i’ve tried willing away a broken heart and i know that doesn’t work. do you mean a pacifist? i’m not sure how that applies. pacifism is a matter of principles. having hate is more like having a disease, i think.
anyway, enough of this philosophizing. this is witty’s way of turning up the volume, injecting the concept of the worst possible human condition into the thread. enough!
Love and hate are borne of the same seed.
Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars… Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
Martin Luther King Jr.
something told me if i googled martin luther king and ‘hate’ it might bring clarity. shall i tru gandhi anyone?
Pacific means calm or placid.
annie,
A mother can become violent because she loves and needs to protect her infant. She will direct hatred and physical violence onto anyone that threatens her newborn. She hates out of love and rightly so.
Can you see how nothing about human emotions is ever just black and white? That ‘relativity’ is morality’s guide and measure here and not absolutism.
Righteous hatred, of rapists and child molesters for instance, should not be such a shocking concept or consensus.
The ancient Greek philosophers would tell you to hate, but only in moderation :-)
That’s not say that I don’t get your point, annie: that ‘obsessive’ hatred is indeed an extremist condition that needs the balm and tonic of love, otherwise it becomes a destructive and ugly force.
Overlooked in the obsession with E J is the eviction of 10 Palestinians families from their homes in the Jordan Valley, which Israel is assiduously cleansing.
link to presstv.ir
I was going to post that. And Witty and Co. tell us that the ethnic cleansing and dispossession were all in a past so distant that it has passed beyond living memory and into mythology.
How many know of the nakba by memory, and how many by story?
Similar numbers to the holocaust. But/and the holocaust is authoritatively documented.
The nakba is only beginning to be so. It is a tragedy that Israel does not regard its obligation to record its history candidly and fully, not undertaking full histories.
It shares that precedent with its Muslim neighbors though who often cited their shrines on top of those that they conquered, in an attempt to erase history.
Better that remember both.
But, only the present forward is a progressive view. Revenge for the past is a definitively reactionary view. An Ezra Pound version of dissent.
“… the present forward …”
And the ethnic cleansing is still going on in the present.
Is it revenge to ask for reparations?
For compnesation?
For restoration of rights?
So work to stop the ethnic cleansing already.
A day in court to assert title claims, compensation and restoration of rights are a necessity.
Are you confused about what I’m suggesting?
I’m saying to WORK HARD for justice that is constructed of the present-forward, and reject definitions of justice that are resentments from the past.
Progressive, NOT reactionary. Criticism, not demonization.
How do we stop Israel from ethnic cleansing?
How can we have justice if we ignore the past? Reparation for past wrongs is part of justice.
How can we comment with moral honesty on Israel without revealing its demonic nature?
And I am not confused about what you are sugesting. Your suggestion is to say to the Palestinians, “You were screwed over. But we’ll let you have some scraps.”
He’s a tired old man w/ tired old ideas, longing for the days when people actually believed the vicious lies zionists told.
The situation in East Jerusalem has been heating up for some time, for anyone who follows it. The notion that this is just some random 22 homes is ridiculous. (And as I write that, I am rendered breathless – 22 homes!!!!! Where else in the world would we say that in passing as if it was even remotely conceivable??)
Much more information and background can be found here for those who wish to learn:
B’Tselem East Jerusalem reports
Israel Revoked the Residency of 4500 Arabs in 2009
Separate and Unequal: The Inside Story of Israeli Rule in East Jerusalem
thank you bijou, i didn’t mean to imply in my post it was unusual to demolish palestinian homes although the plans surrounding these particular homes i believe are because of this (gov website) ‘park’ and tourist center, ‘the king’s garden’ i also read somewhere it is actually 60 homes.
also, i do think this represents a ‘heating up’ because it is a ‘master plan’ which is described by haaretz as ‘unprecedented’. more here
maybe they won’t touch off ‘diplomatic tensions’ but they should! the article from yesterday stated ‘Before giving the go-ahead, the committee will give objectors to the plan 60 days to submit their reservations. ‘ but from the article i just posted before it sounds like the plan has been pushed thru regardless of the 250 ‘defects’ : “the department which inspects building plans prior to their submission to the planning committee found no less than 250 defects in the Silwan plan.”
AND ONE MORE THING! i trust didi remez (coteret)for feeling the pulse of jerusalem right now. here’s bradly burston: A Special Place in Hell about what’s going on right now in EJ. i do think it is heating up.
scroll up a bit annie and Miss Dee Mena gives some more detailed info – it’s 22 homes plus another 66 planned demolitions..
..a little more annie – there’s a UK group named “Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine”.
link to apjp.org
I don’t know much about them but they’re active and have posted the Haaretz article on their news feed. Great to see professionals organise in this way, and especially since Israel uses planning and urban design as tools of ethnic cleansing. Jeff Halper goes into this in great detail in his book “An Israeli in Palestine”.
There’s also a Canadian group “Engineers for Justice” who seems less active – at least their website is:
link to engineersforjustice.org
And “Architects for Gaza”, who are very active:
link to facebook.com
oh thank you for both of these links, i am writing a’diary’ about this, i’ll maybe include one of these.
“– 22 homes!!!!! Where else in the world would we say that in passing as if it was even remotely conceivable??)”
Indeed bijou – whenever I hear of new house demolitions i can’t help but think of Marvin Heemeyer who (angered over a zoning dispute no less) armoured a bulldozer – the “Killdozer” – in 2004 and went on a demolition spree. Naturally it was got massive media coverage.
link to youtube.com
link to en.wikipedia.org
I don’t care if it’s some random nutter or a “official” organisation like Israek’s OPT Civil Administration – there’s something obscene about demolishing a families home. I’d like to demolish a few homes of Caterpillar employees and shareholders, and members of Congress and the Israel Lobby, and see how long they remain fans of “the only democracy”.
sad update: Razing of Palestinian homes in E. Jerusalem approved despite 250 shortfalls in plan
Annie, I agree that it’s an escalation – just wanted to point out that it’s been “brewing” for a long time. And I my comment about the routine reference to razing 22 homes was not directed at you (sorry!!) but at others. You clearly have a large heart. :)
I think it’s important that we continue to shine a light on this story and I’m very glad you wrote your post.
On the positive side, the escalation in Jerusalem is igniting an important new protest movement – don’t miss this video:
Protest March in Silwan last Friday
Apologies if this has already been posted here — no time to review.
thank bijou, yes that is the same video from coteret linked in the main post above under the heading ‘heating up to massive proportions’. this whole master plan thing drives me nuts, but i agree w/you i think it is getting lots of attention, but it’s never enough..we have to keep it up from our end…thanks for posting