Sheikh Jarrah was a Jewish Neighbourhood

The recent protests in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem against the eviction of two Palestinian families from a house has brought international condemnation of Israel has come from a variety of sources, including the UN. But the events in Sheikh Jarrah are part of a larger history that the international community never seems to take into account. So reports Seth Frantzman, see link at the end of the blog

What is today called Sheikh Jarrah in the 19th century included two Jewish neighborhoods known as Nahalat Shimon and Shimon HaTzadiq. Sheikh Jarrah was primarily a Jewish neighborhood from 1876 onwards and remained so up until 1948.

ACCORDING TO research carried out by Prof. Ruth Kark of the Hebrew University the Jewish housing developments were bordered by villas constructed by Jerusalem's leading Arab families that began building in Sheikh Jarrah in the 1870s. By 1918 the total number of Muslim houses in the neighborhood had grown to thirty.

In December of 1947 fighting broke out between Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem. Initially the leading Muslim families asked Arab fighters from outside the city to leave their neighborhood, and the Jews there, in peace. By March 1948, however, Arabs from a unit called "al Shabab" [The Youth] invaded the neighborhood and set the Jewish synagogues and houses on fire, causing the residents to flee.

Sheikh Jarrah was not the only Jewish neighborhood in east Jerusalem destroyed in the war. Silwan, where Yemenite Jews had settled in 1882 was also taken over along with the Old city's Jewish quarter which was razed.

After 1948 East Jerusalem passed into Jordanian control and in this period the city's Christian population declined from around 30,000 before 1948 to some 11,000 in 1967.

THE UN was involved in settling Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem. The disputed houses in Sheikh Jarrah were actually handed over to the Hannoun and Gawi families in 1956 under the auspices of UNWRA. The Jewish community which actually owned the properties was not consulted. Neither was the Jewish community consulted when graves on the Mount of Olives were destroyed beginning in 1956.

Many of the disputes about East Jerusalem have their origins in what happened between 1948 and 1967, a period so often ignored by historians, governments and activists. The UN was NEVER given authority to resettle Palestinians in Jewish property, yet this is what they did. Before condemning Israel, the UN should first apologize for their theft of Jewish property without compensation. The Jewish properties in question might well have been left in ruins, like part of Nahalat Shimon and the grave of Simon the Just was. In fact none of the rampant destruction of Jewish sites in Jerusalem was condemned by the UN during the period of Jordanian rule.

Had the international community cared then as much as it does now perhaps the disputes would not have come about. If people understood more about the period of Jordanian rule one might better understand the actual history of the city, rather than focusing merely on Israeli actions and Palestinian victimization.

For more on this read http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1251145166123&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

This Apartheid Israel!!

This year has seen a great start for the Israeli soccer scene. It has managed to get 2 clubs through into the official first stage of the European club competitions.
In the premier competition, the Champions League, Maccabi Haifa will be playing. However, until the new stadium is built, its matches will have to be played at the Ramat Gan stadium near Tel Aviv.

The Israeli railways will be laying on special trains to take fans from Haifa to Ramat Gan directly (in the normal schedule, one has to change trains during the journey), a journey of approx 40 mins.

One of their main goalscorers in the qualifying stages for Maccabi Haifa was 18 year old, Mohammed Gadhir, who lives in a small Bedouin village in the Western Galilee, Bir Machsur

He has 7 brothers

Before most games, he deliberately seeks out a blessing form the local sheikh

He has come through the team’s youth system, and it would not be surprising if he is snapped up by a European team during the transfer season

Who Cares if Palestinians Kill Palestinians?

Thirty Palestinians killed. Women and children caught in the crossfire. Missiles fired at a Mosque. Muslim prisoners 'executed' in cold blood. A massacre. Media restrictions.

A familiar tale? Indeed. International outrage and demonstrations in the streets of London? Nope.

And why might that be? Why it's simple. The Palestinians were were killed by Palestinians and, it would appear from the lack of reaction that in those circumstances their lives are cheap, but when they are killed by Israelis it is an outrage.

So reports Tim Marshall of Sky News in his blog and concludes that unless the Israelis kill Palestinians, people don't care. Recommended reading http://blogs.news.sky.com/foreignmatters/Post:0dcaff14-d72f-476c-b111-c25709abd3fa

Who Says the Israelis Don't Treat Sick Palestinians?

Foreign media frequently reports that the Israeli government routinely denies Palestinians access to quality healthcare. The facts are that a growing number of Palestinians are being personally chauffeured to life-saving medical appointments in Israel by volunteer Israeli drivers.

It took more than half of her young life for doctors to diagnose two-year-old Aya Aiid Abo-Mois's chronic kidney disease. Today, it's the dialysis she receives four times a week at an Israeli hospital that keeps her alive says a report from Israel 21C

In the Palestinian Authority city of Jenin in the West Bank where she lives there are no adequate facilities to treat her rare condition. Aya has been receiving treatment at an Israeli hospital ever since she was rushed to Jerusalem suffering from kidney failure earlier this year.

Her physician states that "It's never happened that the authorities didn't let her though," and continues that “Aya receives the same medical treatment as any Israeli citizen”.

This is just one story of many about how Israelis and Palestinians are working together to ensure that children in the PA have access to healthcare in Israel when necessary. The Palestinian Authority and private donors foot the bill.

For the full story, read http://www.israel21c.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7128:drivers-and-doctors-on-the-road-to-peace&catid=61:social-action&Itemid=140

It takes a network of volunteers from the PA and Israel to make sure that Aya and her mom Sahir have the necessary permits to travel from Jenin. A driver from among the volunteer coordinators at "Way to Recovery" transports them from their home to the hospital.

"Way to Recovery" numbers about 50 volunteers. Founded in 2006 by the Israeli-Palestinian Forum of Bereaved Families, requests for transport from the PA to Israel increase slightly each month.

The Rambam hospital in Haifa takes care of children from all over, "including children from the Gaza Strip, Schem (Nablus) and Hebron and we are asked to do our best. I also know there are many Palestinian children with cancer coming to Israeli hospitals," said Aya’s physician.

"One Small Step in the Process of Peace-Making"

For two weeks in July the village of Rechnitz, the apricot-growing center of Austria, became the center of reconciliation, tolerance and peace as eight Leo Baeck 11th graders from Haifa http://www.leobaeck.org.il/english/ set up house with their Palestinian and European peers in a "Dialogue 4 the Future" seminar. The Leo Baeck group was accompanied by their High School principal together with representatives of the Bereaved Families Circle, a group of Palestinians and Jews who have lost loved ones in the conflict.

Small steps during those early ice-breaking days - pronouncing each other's names correctly, house and camp rules for all, soccer and table tennis,
learning about siblings, hobbies, meeting the mayor, yodel music, drama workshops… The developing friendship between Sagi from Israel and Allah from
Ramallah; the common bond – mosquito bites!

On the 4th day the students began opening their hearts, expressing their personal and group goals using English as their common language. "Feeling safe together and knowing what the other thinks and feels," was a thread that ran throughout the process culminating in their mission statement, "It is our goal that we will all take part in an honest discussion that will help us to learn more about our different beliefs and change the way we understand each other."

Leo Baeck Principal blogged, "Day 11 was the reason we came here, the day when we went deep into the heart of the conflict… It was moving and painful, quiet and respectful… There are large gaps between us and yet within them there is a willingness to find common issues, and solutions. When the discussion ended everybody hugged, some cried."

The village of Rechnitz will remain as it always was, but for the 27 young people from Haifa, Ramallah, Hungary and Austria, who hugged and wept when they parted at the airport, those two weeks in the summer of 2009, were just the beginning. Follow up activities are already in process to ensure that the dialogue did not end in Rechnitz.

Leo Baeck believes that as the permanent Israeli "Dialogue 4 the Future" partner it can pave the way to a better future.

An Economic Success?

It is a fact that Israel has now taken major steps to spur the Palestinian economy, despite the security risks involved. Two-thirds of the check points have been removed in the last three months and only 14 remain in operation, out of 41 just a few months ago.

All checkpoints around the major West Bank cities have been removed. A Palestinian driving from Jenin to Hebron today will only have to pass through two checkpoints, a considerable change from a few years ago.

In addition Israel has also substantially increased the number of permits issued to Palestinian businessmen and VIPS able to come and go from the West Bank to Israel, and that there were now some 75,000 Palestinians working in Israel, a 25% increase from the previous year.

The consequence of these steps has been an 8 percent growth in the West Bank's economy, according to the World Bank, decreasing unemployment, and a significant increase in tax revenue. Which country in the world can boast these figures in the present state of the world economy?

Tourism to the West Bank tripled last year, reaching some 1.2 million, with the hotels in the West Bank now running at 75 percent capacity, there is now NIS 13 billion in annual trade between Israel and the West Bank, with 80 percent of that being goods imported into Israel from the West Bank.

In addition there are three major projects underway in cooperation with the Regional Development Ministry:

a) The planning and development of a light industrial zone for tourism and services near Bethlehem, with the assistance of the French government.

b) A major industrial zone in Jalameh in the Jenin area, with the assistance of the German government.

c) A zone for the export and processing of agricultural products in Jericho, with the assistance of the Japanese government. Much progress has been made, and years-old obstacles have been removed.

Are we now going to see some minute flexibility on behalf of the Palestinian Authority? Forgive my skepticism but I don’t see it coming.

The Palestinian Illusion

If anyone is still under the illusion that the Palestinians are the least bit interested in a peace with Israel then maybe Alice looking through the looking glass represents reality.

The concluding session of the current Fatah Assembly decreed that the return of both east and west Jerusalem to Palestinian control was a "red line" which was non-negotiable, and would need to be fulfilled before any peace talks with Israel could renew, Israel Radio reported.

According to the report, a document adopted by the Fatah delegates declared that Palestinians would "continue to be sacrificed until residents of Jerusalem are free of settlements and settlers." The document went on to state that all of Jerusalem, including the surrounding villages, belonged to the Palestinians, and lands conquered following the Six Day War shared the same status as those located within the Green Line.

In a recent interview on the BBC Persian service, an Iranian writer and commentator observed that in the history of world conflicts no peace treaty has been achieved by victor and vanquished being treated as equals. Israel was victorious in the wars with the Arab States and in this case of the Israel Palestinian conflict, he goes on to say, the UN has always interfered to ensure that Israel has been unable to reach any agreement.

This declaration by Fatah is a clear message to all those who maintain the illusion that the Palestinians were prepared for compromise.

In re-electing Mahmoud Abbas as head of Fatah, it is going to be more of the same. Moderation? Forget it, the emperor has NO clothes!!