This is sure to draw the ire of Obama and Ban Ki-Moon
[Jerusalem Councilman and former mayoral candidate Moshe] Leon said this is the first time Arab construction in the capital is being approved on such a large scale. He warned that the decision would encourage rampant illegal Arab building and create an unbroken chain of Arab neighborhoods from the north to the south on the eastern side of Jerusalem.
Such a move threatens the demographic balance in eastern Jerusalem, where roughly 200,000 Jews live alongside 230,000 Arab residents.
Leon's initiative may succeed in stopping the housing approval, given that members of the hareidi parties on the Jerusalem council supported Leon when he ran for mayor against incumbent Mayor Nir Barkat, and may support him again in the new push.
"It's not a case of Jews against Arabs, and it isn't a political crisis," clarified Leon. "There's a problem here with management and prioritization."
"At a time when thousands of young families can't find a place to live in Jerusalem, or can't hold up under the cost of housing - the mayor chooses to give a prize to criminals that took over land and built illegally, and he approves this project," said Leon.
The talk of rewarding criminals comes at a time when several Arab-majority neighborhoods have been the source of massive violent rioting in addition to illegal construction, and after a report on Monday revealed that in the past few months terror attacks in Jerusalem have been growing exponentially.
Leon warned "advancing this project will be a grave mistake for Jerusalem."Read the whole thing. It is ridiculous that at a time when Jewish construction is essentially frozen in Jerusalem, Arab construction is going ahead.
Labels: East Jerusalem, Jerusalem construction
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:39 PM
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