This shouldn't even be a controversy. A civilized country has rules, such as applying for permits before building a home. I wonder if Meretz would be defending these squatters if they were Jewish.

Tear down ALL 88 buildings. If the courts have ordered the same for Jewish houses then the same must be applied to every single illegal Arab building.

huh?? what PEACE are u talking about?? with WHO??? get a life would ya! and maybe a second opinion too!

With the nightmarish red tape that non-jews must navigate, Palestinians always find themselves on the wrong side of the "law". This is just one of myriad traps set for the Palestinians that then is used for further ethnic cleansing. Israel, a democracy? Not anymore.

They legitimize their support to a surrender to Arabs by 'peace' but real peace is the true opposite of surrender.

What a schmuck you are. Your platform is nothing but a racist one masquerading as a "human rights" one, and you know it. Calls to make villages "Arab only" while demanding integration in Jewish villages.... Ignoring facts that many, many Jews lived in Sheik Jarrah and were unlawfully ethnically cleansed from there, of which today's Arabs have benefited from. Even the court which acknowledged Jewish owned land there, by law, was dismissed by your ilk because it didn't fit your agenda. It's time for real justice...not one that favors Leftist socialist agendas or Arab-only agendas.

1) those who's homes will be razed are not being thrown out of the city, but given land (and presumably money) to build in another part of town. Ergo, the Arab population will remain unchanged. 2) Red-tape for non-Jews? Try red-tape for everyone dealing with judiciary and govt. It's not different in New Mexico, my friend. And, precedent has shown that many Arabs have solicited courts and won, so it can't be that bad for "non-Jews" in Israel. 3) As the only democracy in the Middle East, it is incumbent on Israel to enforce the law on everyone and not just special groups. If Israel allowed Arab illegal building and banned the same for Jews, then it would not be a democracy. Equally, those who build illegally and say they have that right are also working against democracy. You should learn that definition too before you show what an ignoramus you are here.

No one should be above the law, plain and simple. In building illegally, these Arabs didn't take just land for a home, but took public land which was entrusted for each of the 7 million citizens of Israel. They didn't steal from a neighbor but from every man, woman, and child! This grave wrong must be righted. However, it must be acknowledged that families live in these homes, and re-building and moving is a major pain in the ass. In order to make this plan succeed, new land must be granted to the families and some financial assistance to get a new house built quickly, whether that be partial payment or a govt-backed loan.

with extra-sensory knowledge based on no objective evidence. I am extremely attached to Israel yet every Jewish Israeli will agree that our administration and bureaucracy is typically middle-easter, a "ballagan", the bane of Israeli existence and as bad for Israeli Jews as it is for Arabs. It always astounds me how there are so many "knowledgeable" people around the globe who have never lived in Israel like you, Paul, do not know the mideast but are so free to make their ignorant opinions published.

When the municipality won't granted you a building permit solely because you are an ARAB...then you have no choice but to build illegally. Perhaps if Israel didn't use racist, discriminatory laws to deny Arabs building permits, then they wouldn't be forced to have illegal construction.

Once you look at the numbers you get a better picture of how the Jewish control zoning works. The few houses Muslim's own the easier it is to push them out. Jewish people have the right of return while most Muslims in E. Jerusalem are not even Israeli citizens even if they and their parents were born there. Facts on the ground are important before peace deal so 67 borders will not be possible to go back to.

and your morons certainly don't know where to stop!

Jake, u r the moron...u obviously have no idea what u r speaking on. Two questions: How many permits have been given to Arabs in Jerusalem and how many Jewish houses have been demolished in Jerusalem? Do u actually think this is about "rules"? Have you been outside of the US in your life? Do u understand what is going on in the middle east?

You can't speak about the demolition of permit less Arab homes without talking about the difficulty of actually getting one in the first place. The Jerusalem municipality, and various Israeli administrations have all but eliminated any allowable growth in Arab areas. The reason being, more homes equals more arabs. And if you haven't noticed it is has been a demographic war in Jerusalem for the last 43 years. One of the first things that the Israelis did after taking the old city was to clear out the Bukharin quarter (with homes that were hundreds of years old) to become what is now the square of the kotel. It is completely revisionist....these people think if they push hard enough...and shout loud enough they can rewrite the history of the city. block by block...neighborhood by neighborhood. Many of the homes in Silwan, Sheik Jarrah, and Al bustan that are in contention were built prior to 1967, under a Jordanian authority that didn't exactly keep records. Only a handful of homes have been built since then. I wonder if a permit has been issued to an arab in the city in the last decade???? Generally the city doesn't care about regulating the arab areas until there is interest in settlement there...and then they only care about what is "legal" and what they are permitted to demolish

The biggest and real squatters are the occupiers who came from Europe and other parts of the world .

UN resolution 181 from 1947 clearly defines Israel international borders, so how capital of Israel can be out of those borders. No country has so far recognized Israeli sovereignty in either West or East Jerusalem. No country has so far recognized Israeli sovereignty in either West or East Jerusalem. With regard to West Jerusalem, the European states have de facto accepted the applicability of Israeli law. The case of Yossele Schumacher; this young ultra-Orthodox boy was abducted in the 1960s by his father from Jerusalem to the United Kingdom. The British court applied the law in force in West Jerusalem, i.e., Israeli law. Interestingly, foreign states have not claimed that the law of occupation should apply to West Jerusalem." Another example is the Regency Hotel, formerly the Hyatt Hotel on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. It is partly built in an area where there was an Israeli enclave from 1949 to 1967 and partly outside it. When official European representatives come to the hotel they go only into those parts located on land that belonged to this enclave. the UN GA resolution Resolution 46/82, December 16, 1991 determines that Israel's decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem is illegal and therefore null and void and has no validity whatsoever. If Jews continue presence in the West bank over centuries and hold documents of ownership of land; then why it's the right of the the settlers alone to build on UNCLAIMED land.

from colaboration to hitler during ww2 to plundering the jewish neighbouthood on the east side of jerusalem, they even managed to steal the bible books and sell them the Nachlat simion neighbourhood, Israelis still own those houses only arabs live in them now, wonder y. nead less to say the Amerikan colony is right next to it, I saw a map of it, wonder amerikan colony owned by arabs mmmm

they r not lokal, many of them r bedouin origins aka nomads, Arafat was Egyptian. and they call him pali. now that is funny.

of jordan would have done the same? I wonder, how many national park did he built? no he just inherite everything.

Arabs built on land that was meant to be excavated and eventually parkland. That is illegal, and they deserve to suffer the consequences of such idiotic actions. And, surprise surprise, Israel is a Jewish state. You don't see Jewish houses popping up in Mecca or Medina. Jerusalem is our Mecca. For the record, I've been to Israel 4 times, including a 9 month visit in 2004-2005.

UNGA 181 is neither a law nor legal. General Assembly resolutions are advisory only - according to the UN Charter. The resolution is illegal because it violates international laws and treaties. Namely San Remo Treaty, Mandate for Palestine - Covenant of the League of Nations, UN Charter.

the Nations are against the UN charter because, no single Nation recognizes Jerusalem as Israeli.