Fayyad declares Jerusalem the capital of 'Palestine'
Suit-and-tie-clad 'Palestinian' Prime Minister Salam Fayyad declared Jerusalem the capital of 'Palestine' on Saturday, although it is not entirely clear whether he 'only' meant the eastern part of its city (including its Jewish neighborhoods) or also the western part of the city. Read carefully: "The future of the national project and the future of a comprehensive peace in the region are both dependent on protecting Jerusalem, its status, its history, and Palestinian rights in the city,” he declared.Notice two things here. First, while Israelis believe that it is 'accepted' that any 'final solution' will include border adjustments that will leave Jewish areas of Jerusalem and the 'settlement blocs' in Israeli hands, the 'Palestinians' have never accepted that openly and have continued to make maximalist demands, and the Obama administration, in contrast to its predecessors, seems to be giving credibility to the 'Palestinian' position.
"East Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian statehood and the state's sovereignty over its capital must be complete,” he added. [So is the 'capital' 'east' Jerusalem or is it all of Jerusalem? Not entirely clear. Certainly from the American attitude toward Jewish births in 'west' Jerusalem, there is grounds to believe that the entire city is an open question. CiJ]
Similar statements were made by senior PA negotiator Saeb Erekat, who expressed fury Sunday over the implementation of a court order evicting two Arab families from Jewish-owned homes in Jerusalem where they had been squatting illegally for several years.
"East Jerusalem is, and always will be, Palestinian,” an angry Erekat said. Like Fayyad, he threatened that Israel's presence in the entire city of Jerusalem “threaten[s] the viability of a two-state solution.”
Erekat called on the international community to reject Jewish growth in historic Jerusalem, which he termed “a dangerous plan” to thwart Arab demands. “The international community must act decisively, in line with international law, against these Israeli measures... Nobody can say that they didn't see these outrageous actions coming,” he said.
PA leaders have repeatedly insisted that they be granted sovereignty over all areas of Jerusalem that were conquered by Jordan in 1948 and occupied until 1967, when Israel regained control over the eastern part of the city during the Six Day War.
Areas demanded by the PA included the Old City and the Temple Mount, historic Jewish neighborhoods such as Mei Shiloach (Silwan) and Shimon HaTzaddik (Sheikh Jarrah), as well as more recently-built neighborhoods such as Pisgat Ze'ev and Neve Yaakov that are home to a total of roughly 300,000 Israeli Jews.
Second, if that really is the final 'Palestinian' position, there is nothing to discuss with them. Last night, we went to switch daughters who are spending the summer as mothers helpers in a town in central Israel. As we drove home with the daughter who spent July being a mother's helper, she pointed out the right window and said "those are the caravilot where the people who were expelled from Gush Katif live. So many of their children have so many problems because of the expulsion. And although they were given land here, none of them has the money to build on it."
It's four years this week since we uprooted 10,000 Jews from Gaza, and most of those Jews are still homeless and jobless, and they are now penniless as well. Does anyone really believe that the government will agree to uproot another 300,000 Jews from Judea and Samaria and 200,000 Jews from 'east' Jerusalem? Especially for a 'peace' that most Israeli Jews don't believe is anything but a mirage anyway? You've got to be kidding.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:57 PM
4 Comments:
Its not going to happen. Its beyond the abilities of the IDF and the Yassam to solve by force. That might have been possible in the early 1980s but not today. No Israeli government is going to repeat the Disengagement experience. It was a one time one off step to test what the Arabs would do if Israel unilaterally withdrew from a disputed area. It hasn't worked out as its proponents had predicted. And making a good situation even worse is not going to guarantee peace let alone social stability in Israel. And for that reason alone, there is no chance Israel will pay that kind of price for a Palestinian state.
next they will inthrone a new Mufti
Getting closer to push coming to shove and Israel will have no choice but to act.
From Al-Beeb - the US led international condemnation of Israel's eviction of Palestinian squatters from homes lawfully owned by Jews:
Israel Condemned Over Evictions
Never mind the Israel Supreme Court ruled the Jews had legal title to the homes in Shimon HaTzaddik and the Arabs had no right to remain in them.
Hopenchange, any one?
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