Sunday, July 19, 2009

'We won't halt J'lem housing project'


Jul. 19, 2009
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

Jerusalem is the "unified capital of Israel and the capital of the Jewish people, and sovereignty over it is indisputable," Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday, responding to an American demand to put an end to a housing project to be built in east Jerusalem. "Hundreds of apartments in the west of the city were purchased by Arabs and we didn't get involved. There is no prohibition against Arab residents buying apartments in the west of the city and there is no prohibition barring the city's Jewish residents from buying or building in the east of the city," Netanyahu added at the weekly cabinet meeting. "That is the policy of an open city that is not divided."

"We cannot accept the notion that Jews will not have the right to buy apartments specifically in Jerusalem. I can only imagine what would happen if they were forbidden from purchasing apartments in New York or London; there would be an international outcry. This has always been Israel's policy and this is the policy of the current government," the prime minister added.

Netanyahu's remarks came after Israel's Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren was summoned to the US State Department over the weekend and was told that the Obama administration wanted Israel to put an end to construction work at the site of the historic Shepherd's Hotel in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

The summons came following a complaint by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who reportedly told the Americans that allowing Jewish housing in the neighborhood would shift the demographic balance in east Jerusalem.

The compound, which was acquired by American businessman Irwin Moskowitz in the 1980s, originally belonged to Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini, and then served as a hotel from 1945 until the 1967 Six Day War. Most recently, the site was rented to the Jerusalem border police as a base.

The Jerusalem Municipality also issued a reaction to the report Sunday, saying, "The Local Planning Committee of the Jerusalem Municipality operates according to equal criteria for all issues of construction permits, without regard to race, creed, gender, religion, or national identity of the resident or property owner.

The acquisition of the land that includes the Shepherd Hotel was legal and received the necessary renovation and construction. The Municipality of Jerusalem's Planning Committee looks only at the congruence of the planning and the law.

According to the High Court of Israel, Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike can purchase land in all parts of the city of Jerusalem. For example, there are Arab residents living in French Hill. The Municipality acts in full transparency and has presented the plans, including to the representatives of the British and US Consulates in Jerusalem. Not only were 20 apartments approved, but a number of conditions that include the preservation of the historic structure were prescribed by the committee."

Etgar Lefkovits contributed to this report
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