I bet they talked about blacks getting the proper ‘licenses’ in the Old South too. Here’s a scary interview in Foreign Policy with Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat in which he justifies racist policies as good city planning, and compares himself to Michael Bloomberg. Too bad that FP gives him such a platform without exposing these lies. Note that Barkat gives it away when he talks about Arab population growth as a justification for the evictions in East Jerusalem of Palestinian families who had lived there for 50 years. This really is about ethnic cleansing. Licensed. But by whom?
FP: Recently Israeli police shut down cultural events that Palestinians were having when Jerusalem was named city of the year for culture by an Arab group. Do you think that was a mistake?
NB: It was illegal, and the police didn’t allow it to happen.
FP: Why was it illegal?
NB: Because if somebody wants to do something, they must get the proper licenses. Any event happening in Jerusalem has to get proper licenses from the municipality, the police, to make sure it’s appropriate. It’s common practice in every city in the world…
FP: You pushed back against U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s criticism of the demolition of the Palestinian homes. Do you agree with that criticism, and how do you see yourself as a player in Israeli foreign relations?
NB: Well, it’s not about Hillary!
Let’s get our facts right! Jerusalem has to be managed as a city. We have to build schools; we have to build roads. We have to make sure people properly get their licenses and that people obey the law. And in many of the cases, when people build illegally, and it’s on the account of their neighbors, and it’s the account of the vision, they have a problem not with me; they have a problem with the law. And the planning process that we’re now expanding….
In the last 50 years, the Arab population grew dramatically, even more than the Jewish population, and it’s still growing. And that’s fine. And my role is to serve them. However, things have to be done under law, and the same way that [New York] Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg would treat illegal buildings in Central Park, I am obliged as mayor to manage the city day to day, with no political agenda. I’m looking at this in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of a mayor who is committed! Committed to serve all my residents honestly and fairly, according to the law.
(H/t to Matt Duss)
