Earlier today we posted Netanyahu's equal-opportunity-sounding talking point, that Arabs can buy property in West Jerusalem, so why can't Jews buy in East Jerusalem? Well Lara Friedman at Peace Now blows the argument out of the water:
The problem with this argument is that it isn’t true. Israeli
lawyer and Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann sets the record straight
with the following points:
– Virtually all of West Jerusalem is off-limits to Palestinian
residents of Jerusalem in terms of their ability to purchase property.
This is because most of West Jerusalem, like most of Israel, is “State
Land” (in all, 93% of land in Israel is “state land”). Under Israeli
law, to qualify to purchase property on “state land” the purchaser must
either be a citizen of Israel (Palestinian Jerusalemites are legal
residents of the city, not citizens of Israel) or legally entitled to
citizenship under the law of return (i.e. Jewish). This means an
Israeli or a Jew from anywhere in the world can purchase such property
in West Jerusalem, but not a Palestinian resident of the city.
(Technically, by the way, these are actually not purchases but
long-term leases.)
– With respect to the small amount of private land in West
Jerusalem, legally there are no limitations on Palestinian residents of
East Jerusalem purchasing in such areas. Similarly, there are no legal
limitations on Palestinian residents of Jerusalem renting in West
Jerusalem. However, Danny (who is extremely familiar with East
Jerusalem and its residents) does not know of a single case of a
Palestinian resident of Jerusalem residing in West Jerusalem, either
through purchase or rental of property. (This is distinct from Arab
citizens of Israel, a small number of whom do live in West Jerusalem).
The reasons for this are social, cultural, and economic, and as far as
State Lands go, legal.
There's a lot more there, at Friedman's post. But golly, this all makes me hanker for one democratic state!
