The Last Exile

Overall it wasn’t a bad week for Israel unless you were one of the ‘left-wing elitist with pretensions of being cliquey opinion-makers, self-serving trend-setters and bon-ton groupies glory in posturing as anti-establishment nonconformists’ as Sarah Honig refers to them. If you are the last week in Israel was verging on a disaster of biblical proportions.

Let us start with the good news. Settlement growth in Samaria and Judea continued to grow, abet more slowly than last year but still at a respectable 4.9%.

Friends of the IDF held a fund raising dinner in New York and managed to raise $20 million at a period of time when virtually everyone with an equity portfolio saw the value of their portfolio cut in half or more. Face it, New York City and suburbs are an expensive place to live.

Tourism in Israel saw a 46% increase over last February.

The Israeli GNP rose higher than predicted, the job market continued to be strong and consumer confidence is at a 10 year high.

The international clothing retailer H&M opened their first store in Israel despite the firestorm of international progressive rage which attempted to sideline the company’s executive business development plan. I doubt H&M will see much of a backlash considering the progressive element are hardly H&M regular clientele. The store opened with much fanfare and 15,000 visitors in its first day of operation. Although, on a personal note, there is an H&M near me and I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone shops there but the Last Amazon loves it.

The historical reconstruction of the 18th century Churva Synagogue in Jerusalem was finally complete and official ceremonies commence on March the 15th. The Jordanian deliberately destroyed it in the Independence war of 1948 not because the shul was used as an ammo dump or staging ground for Israeli forces but to show their utter contempt for anything Jewish.

Ehud Barak, Minister of Defense saw his budget request for increase funding of the IDF’s civil administration branch which is charged with settlement freeze enforcement operations denied, denied, denied.

A record number of Hesder students enlisted in the IDF.

The so-called settlement population grew by 4.9% over last year. Jerusalem Post:

The West Bank settler population grew almost three times faster than that of the country as a whole in the first nine months of 2009. However, the 4.9-percent increase, when compared with the same time last year, shows that for the second year in a row, population growth has slowed down slightly, according to data posted recently on the Central Bureau of Statistics Web site.

Joe Biden and the Obama administration’s faux outrage. Oh, I suspect his ‘outrage’ is real enough but I take a rather contrary view of the whole scenario. Oh, I realize pissing off the Obama Administration and allegedly embarrassing Joe Biden can be considered a ‘bad thing’ in some circles – especially if you are the Obama Administration or part of the Arab world, but in my world its all good.

There never was a building freeze in Jerusalem so crying ‘foul’ now is a little bit too crying about the barn door after all them animals have fled the building. The time for outrage was when the Obama Administration was busy bullying Netanyahu to agree to a ’settlement freeze’ in the first place – although Netanyahu drew the line at Jerusalem and the Obama Administration knew it then and called it all good. So boohoo, and go cry someone else a river.

Secondly, the incidence proves something to the Americans – there are definite limits to their ability to influence in Israeli politics and it illustrates to the Arab world that American influence does have its limits in terms of the Israeli body politic.

Thirdly, building of 1,600 housing units shows the Israelis are resolute about keeping Jerusalem their undivided capital. So all in all, a good week, unless you are the Obama Administration, Joe Biden or a Gush Katif refugee.

Since its Friday and I expect there will be protests in East Jerusalem today so I offer this cautionary tale for all Palestinian civil right groups. Jerusalem Post

The Jerusalem Municipality on Wednesday evening announced that Mayor Nir Barkat had agreed to carry out a court order to evacuate and seal Beit Yehonatan, a seven-story Jewish-owned structure built without the proper permits in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.

Barkat made clear his intention to do this in a letter sent on Wednesday to State Attorney Moshe Lador, who last week sent a letter to Barkat, demanding that he uphold the court order to evacuate and seal the building. Barkat had initially refused to do so.

So more Jews will now be evicted in East Jerusalem from premises which are legally owned by Jews. Now let us all join hands and sing a chorus of ‘we shall overcome’ and hurray for the rule of law…except lawfare is not a one way street in East Jerusalem:

The move will also nullify a recent plan suggested by the municipality, which would have changed the status quo in the neighborhood with regards to building permits, and would have made both Beit Yehonatan and most of the illegally-built Arab homes in the area legal.

In his letter to Lador, Barkat reiterated that the municipality’s plan would have made it possible to reduce the disagreement and friction surrounding illegal construction in Silwan by nearly 90 percent, and that carrying out hundreds of demolition orders in the area would create a “high potential for conflict” instead.

Barkat also made it clear that the municipality would implement the rule of law without discriminating between Arabs and Jews.

And the price tag for forcing the hand of Jerusalem municipality to adhere to the letter of the law rather than implement a municipal plan which had been worked out with the local neighbourhoods to legalized the structures which had been built ‘without permits’ in East Jerusalem? Ynet News:

However, Barkat added that he would also implement orders against 200 illegal structures built by Arabs in the area, so as not to act in a discriminatory manner.

Mazel Tov! What ever would we do without Israeli lefties and their progressive supporters? And I am sure the 200 homeless Arab families will be forever grateful for your continued support.

This bit of Israeli legislation should be throwing the Obama administration into a full-panic mode for their Israeli-Palestinian policy. Jerusalem Post

The Knesset took a step closer toward requiring a referendum that could make territorial concessions in the capital and the Golan Heights more difficult, when it voted Wednesday to waive an initial reading of the Golan Heights and Jerusalem Referendum Bill.

The bill now goes for further processing in committee, after which it would need to pass second and third readings in the plenum, a procedure that could take several months. Polls have shown that, were such a referendum mandatory, there would be strong opposition to concessions in Jerusalem and the Golan.

The bill would require that any return of land under the administration and judicial authority of the State of Israel pass a national referendum, as well as a government decision and Knesset approval. The bill does, however, offer the government a way out – in the event that the concession passes the Knesset by a two-thirds majority, or if within 180 days after the Knesset okays the government decision, a general election is held.

Netanyahu and the Likud Coalition’s continued support of the Golan Heights and Jerusalem Bill will continue to allow – not only Bibi’s government but any future government of Israel to be able to resist any pressure brought to bear against any unilateral withdraws from either the Golan or Jerusalem by any outside party.

The Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation just decided tonight to give the government’s back to the Golan Heights & Jerusalem Bill so the bill will probably be probably be back in the Knesset plenum in the near future. Here is the Jerusalem Post link but I will quote from the Arutz Sheva’s report as the pertinent details are much clearer.

(IsraelNN.com) The Ministerial Committee for Legislation decided Tuesday to give the government’s backing to a bill proposed by MK Yariv Levin (Likud) requiring that a national referendum be held if the government ever intends to cede land under Israeli sovereignty.The law is seen as being primarily relevant with regard to the eastern neighborhoods of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, which are under full Israeli sovereignty. The Knesset passed laws annexing eastern Jerusalem and the Golan in 1980 and 1981, respectively.

If the government wishes to make a deal to surrender these areas, according to the proposed law, a referendum must be called within 180 days of the initial agreement – and any deal would be contingent on its passing the referendum. In order to avoid the referendum, 80 MKs would have to approve the deal.

Initially, this bill was introduced and sponsored by two Kadima MK’s from the last Knesset session who were worried former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was ready to give away everything under the sun but a few acres of Tel Aviv beachfront.

Joe’s not happy and refers to the bill as ’sick’. Under normal circumstances I would agree with Joe but given the realities of Israel’s current political leadership; I think this bill is the best which can be hoped for under the circumstances. May a referendum never be held or the 80 MK vote ceiling never be reached.

A NY Times article touches on the contentious issue of Jewish ownership of land in Jerusalem.

JERUSALEM — Jewish nationalists and Palestinians clashed in an East Jerusalem neighborhood on Tuesday after the Israelis took over a house by court order in a predominantly Arab area. The house at the center of Tuesday’s flare-up is in Sheik Jarrah, a district just north of the Old City, where three Palestinian families have been evicted from other houses in the last year after losing a lengthy legal battle in the High Court and lower district and magistrates courts. A Jewish association won its claim to historical ownership of the land in question, and has plans to build a large Jewish housing complex there.

There are a number of reports from this ‘clash’ in Sheik Jarrah I could have chosen but I picked this one because its the most blatantly representative on how a complex issue is slanted under the guise of even-handedness. Now on to the heart of matter -

The latest Jewish residents to move into the area were escorted by the police and private security guards and immediately removed furniture from the property, which was built by a Palestinian family headed by Refka al-Kurd, 87. The small, one-story structure was built about 10 years ago as an extension of the Kurds’ original home, but it was unoccupied, having been sealed by the authorities after it was determined to have been constructed without the proper permits. “The authorities took our keys to the property because we built it without permits,” said Nabil al-Kurd, 66, who lives in the original house. “But it seems the settlers can live here without permits because they are the sons of God,” he said bitterly, referring to the Jewish newcomers. Shmulik Ben-Ruby, the spokesman for the Jerusalem police, said his force acted in line with the court decision that determined that the property “is owned by Jews.” Blood spattered the forecourt on Tuesday after a Jewish man was hit on the head by Palestinians who attacked the new residents with clubs and stones. Later, after a day of scuffles, a Palestinian woman, Nadia al-Kurd, was taken to the hospital with what was thought to be a heart attack.

Now what the NY Times glosses over is the actual court ruling wherein the land was found to be owned by Jews who were ethnically cleansed from their land during the illegal occupation by the Jordanian government and instead focuses on the ‘pitiful plight’ of the Palestinians being evicted.

In fact, the Palestinian family never did receive title by the Jordanian government for the land during their occupation and the Israeli court ruled this family could have kept occupation of this property providing they paid rent to the legal owners of the land which the family refused to do. The Jewish owners then moved to have the court evict the squatters from their property in order to move in paying tenants. The evictions have nothing to do with ‘illegal’ building permits but by interjecting it into the article it gives a nice aura of grievance and a sense of institutional discrimination to the Palestinian narrative under the Israeli court system.

And I would be remiss if I did not point your attention to the fact the NY Times piece only mentions the names of the Palestinians victims of the ‘clash’. How do I know all this? It’s easily cross referenced this with the Arutz Sheva report.

(IsraelNN.com) A “welcoming” committee of Arabs and foreign anti-Israel activists, including those from the United States and Sweden, attacked Jews with clubs and stones Tuesday as a new family moved into a home in eastern Jerusalem. Police stopped the attack but not before blood was streaming down the face of a Jewish guard at the site.

The Palestinian demand for East Jerusalem conveniently ignores that there is a long documented history of Jewish ownership of land in East Jerusalem. An ownership which was only terminated by the illegal occupation by the Jordanian government which cleaned the land of Jews from their ancient community in 1948-49. In order for the Palestinians to make East Jerusalem for the ‘capital’ again requires a significant second expulsion of Jewish property owners and their Jewish tenants.

I am in a bad mood for a variety of reasons and apparently it has been a life long affliction which strikes every now and then. Let’s just call this my one minute of hate. It’s probably just me and the mood I am in but there is something about a German telling a Jew where he can live or not live which makes me go from zero to psychotic in seconds…. Jerusalem Post.

Ulrich Wilhelm, a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, criticized Israel’s intention to build new housing units in Gilo during a press conference on Monday, saying that his government “greatly regrets the recent decision to allow the construction of new homes in east Jerusalem.”

 
Dude needs to get a clue and then look at a map. Gilo is in south-western Jerusalem and not in ‘East Jerusalem’. Its great to have regrets, and I personally deeply regret – the fact your people built death camps, ovens and gas chambers. Don’t kid yourself Ulrich; the Germans are not quid pro quid with the Jews or the Roma – not by a long shot.

Long before there was television; there was Life Magazine capturing iconic images of the way the world was. Ben Atlas has put together a Life in Israel 1948 series based on the Life photographs taken from that period. Its a remarkable collection.

This image was taken by photographer John Phillips in June 1948. It shows Jews attempting to leave East Jerusalem after the surrender of the eastern portion of city to Arab forces. Remember that the next time some one says ‘Arab’ East Jerusalem or complains of the Judification of Jerusalem.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

There is something rather disturbing about the whole concept of time. When one is very young, every hour and every day is too long but when one grows older, every hour and every day is fleeting, and yet, time remains constant whether young or old. I am most definitely in the time is fleeting camp. I wish I could capture time within my hand and measure it out a little bit at a time so there could finally be enough time to do all that I am compelled to do in any given hour or day. Alas, I have no such hands or luck.

So blogging may or may not be almost existent. Although there was something which caught my eye at the Toronto Star and I just wanted to note for future reference. It is a classic case of agenda manipulation in the media.

JERUSALEM – The mayor of Jerusalem and the prime minister of Israel are both in serious denial – or they are if you ask Menachem Klein.”I wonder how these people can maintain loyalty to their own statements,” Klein, a research fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, said yesterday. “For the time being, they live in denial.”

Klein was referring to declarations on the status of Jerusalem issued this week by Nir Barkat, the city’s recently elected mayor, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Both men took advantage of the celebration Thursday of Jerusalem Day to vow that the so-called City of Peace will never again be divided, as it was between 1948 and 1967, when Israel controlled the western city, while East Jerusalem was ruled by neighbouring Jordan.

According to Klein, such statements not only diminish the prospects of Middle East peace. They also fly in the face of at least two demographic and political realities. First, Jerusalem is already divided – split between a Jewish city in the west and a predominantly Arab city in the east, a situation that four decades of Israeli occupation have not managed to reverse.

Also, Jerusalem’s Arab minority, which now represents 35 per cent of the city’s total population, is growing at three times the rate of the Jewish community. Klein says Arabs will form a majority in the city in 10 to 15 years.How, he asks, will Israel – which prides itself on being both a Jewish and a democratic state – continue to claim sovereignty over a national capital that soon will be peopled primarily by Arabs?

Oddly enough, Klein makes these statements despite demographic information published from his own institute. Ha’aretz carried an article on the declining Arab birthrate in Jerusalem last July.

Fertility rates in Jerusalem have been declining among Arabs and rising among Jews in recent years, according to statistics the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies issued to mark Jerusalem Day, today.

Among Arabs the rate has dropped to 4 children in 2006, from 4.3 in 2000, and among Jews it has risen to 3.9 children in 2006 from 3.7 in 2000. However, the ratio of Jews and Arabs hasn’t changed – 66 percent Jews (489,480) and 34 percent Arabs (256,820) totaling 746,300 at the end of 2007.

Of course, most of us sitting in Toronto wouldn’t have a clue that Klein is purposely undermining demographics published by his own institute. There is only one reason for him to do so and in three words the why is – hard left politicking. And the Toronto Star Middle East bureau eats up every word Klein spews out. Klein was one of the advisers to the ill-fated Oslo Accords but has been actively promoting the Geneva Accord as well. Go google him, as I don’t have the time.

In recent days, there has been a great deal of push exhibited towards the idea that the Israelis can and should negotiate to divide Jerusalem again. Ynet News:

France accused Prime Minister Benjamin Neyanyahu on Friday of prejudicing the outcome of the Middle East peace process by declaring that Jerusalem would forever be Israel’s undivided capital. “The declaration made by the Israeli prime minister yesterday in Jerusalem prejudices the final status agreement,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Frederic Desagneaux told reporters in Paris

Melanie Phillip’s column penned the best response to the French outraged over an Israeli Prime Minister declaring without hesitation or ambiguity that the eternal capital of the Jewish nation will never be divided again.

Zionism is simply the movement for the self-determination of the Jewish people. And its significance is greater than any other movement of national liberation because Judaism itself rests upon three legs — the people, the religion and the land. If one is lopped off by having its legitimacy denied, the whole thing collapses. That is why anti-Zionism is far more than an unpleasant political position. It is a direct attack on Judaism itself.

Jerusalem is the heart of Zion. It can no more be divided than the Vatican City or Mecca. The Palestinians will have to find somewhere else to plant their flag as Jerusalem is not for division.