Consternation Over Israel's Building in Judea and Samaria

by Nadene Goldfoot

Why has the peace talks been dependent on Israel not building in Judea and Samaria? Abbas has demanded that we continue the 10 freeze in building before he even talks to us backed by Obama's pleading and enticing offers. Building in the area is exactly the item that has to be discussed in any peace talks. It's an item that was tabled long ago. What is going on here? It's like putting the cart before the horse.

The problem is that there was a 1995 agreement between Israel and the PLO where they both agreed that "neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations."

We have yet to have an outcome. This never intended to refer to construction. Evidently peace talks would address this issue. Israel, since 1967, has built homes there and in return gets international criticism. Well, we're used to that. Whatever we do gets international criticism.

The Palestinians have built thousands of buildings in the area without any planning. They have built buildings oftentimes just to have them in the way of two different Jewish neighborhoods. It's a mess.

What is maddening is that during our 10 month building freeze, the Arabs were building like crazy and without any restrictions. The United States, Europe and the Arab states of the Persian gulf bankrolled much of their construction. It was Obama who brought up the idea of a Palestinian state for the first time.

The reason for the 10 month freeze was to stop Israel from having neighborhoods there that would prejudice the results of the peace talks with Abbas. The reason is that the Palestinians have misinterpreted the clause of the 1995 agreement, as far as we're concerned.

The goal of the Palestinians is to make all of Judea and Samaria their Palestinian state, devoid of all Jews. We have about one million Arabs as citizens in Israel and can't see why they can't allow our communities to remain there.

The Palestinians are building the city of Rawabi just to change the status of Judea and Samaria. It lies in the middle of a predominantly Jewish neighborhood just to harm the Jewish communities. It was done on purpose.

One problem area is in eastern Jerusalem; the Jewish Shimon Hatzadik neighborhood. Eastern Jerusalem has Arabs living there. The Jews have bought their property legally. Every Friday there have been wild demonstrations for the Arab minority. Evidently leftist Israelis also are a part of the Arab demonstrators trying to move the Israelis out. When Jerusalem's planning board decided to approve construction of housing units in a Jewish neighborhood, Obama's administration assaulted them just last Spring. So dozens of illegal Arab buildings are still standing in East Jerusalem for fear of international outcry. The building code, a part of Jerusalem's government, cannot be followed. Such things as water, sewer, traffic, schools, etc, have to be forgotten now.

Caroline Glick, in her article, reminds us that we see two sets of rules; one for Arabs and one for Jews. Jews are not being given special rights. Indeed, they are being held back from "inviolable rights" to their own property by their own government. The Israeli government is trying to be so fair with the Arabs and in turn listen to the Obama government and the international community that they in turn are harming their own citizens. This is why Netanyahu can no longer continue the building freeze. Enough already!

I see more of a problem here than Caroline does in adressing the rights of Israeli citzens. I see in her article that Israel is surrounded by hotspots besides the Judea/Samaria issue. On every border we are having problems and are trying to appease our neighbors and keep things cool. It's like trying to keep the genie in the bottle when he has muscle power to push out the cork. You have to keep sitting on it.

I'm looking at the total picture and it's amazing that Israel has kept the lid on so many outbursts, except now our own Israelis are sick and tired of giving more than their fair share. I see a far bigger problem. What happens if Palestine is to be created by the U.N. anyway without any peace talks as they have been pushing for? What will happen to our citizens in Judea and Samaria?

Abbas is not interested in peace or even a state of his own. If he was it would be so easy. Recognize Israel, and sit down and talk. It's not happening. I think he's being dictated to by Hamas. I can't picture there being a peaceful Palestine next door to Israel. I can't picture them being part of Israel other than the ones already here. These are the problems Israel faces while it tries to remain a democracy and deal fairly with its own citizens. They do have an elephant in the room interfering with the democratic process.

http://www.carolineglick.com/ Do Jews Have Civil Rights?