5. ARABS ALLOWED to BREAK LAWS ENDANGER ISRAEL
Linda Rivera , |
New York |
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(06.26.06) |
THE SELF DESTRUCT DOUBLE STANDARD
by Yoram Ettinger, January 20, 2006
Illegal Arab construction has become a norm, led by
the Palestinian Authority (many PA officials reside in
illegal homes), bankrolled by Saudi petrodollars and
observed by the wide-closed eyes of Israel.
Illegal
construction has become an effective means to
challenge
Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem, to
undermine major infrastructure and housing projects in
the Negev and Galilee, to limit the freedom/security
of Jewish movement along major transportation
arteries, to facilitate terrorism and to exacerbate
crime.
Over 1,000 illegal houses are built annually – by
Jerusalem Arabs – since 1997. Only 30-40 are
demolished by the authorities.
About 10,000 illegal houses are built, annually, by
"Green Line" Arabs in the Galilee, Negev, "Triangle",
Lod and Ramleh. About 100 are demolished.
Since 1967, there has been more Arab residential
(largely illegal) construction in Jerusalem than
Jewish construction in the capital of the Jewish
State.
But, Israel is enforcing the law in an iron-fist
manner when it comes to a few scores of Jewish houses
throughout Judea & Samaria and Hebron (built on a
Jewish-registered property, which was ravaged by Arabs
in
1929).
Legal and governance impotence have characterized
Israel's battle against illegal Arab construction,
which threatens Israel's sovereignty and the rule of
law in Jerusalem and all over the country.
Palestinian documents, found at the PLO's "Orient
House", highlight illegal construction as a key
instrument in the campaign to erode the Jewish
character of Jerusalem.
According to the documents,
the Palestinian Authority (PA) has enticed illegal
construction in Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods of
Shoafat, Beit Haninah and A-Zaim, in order to prevent
continuity between the Jewish neighborhoods of French
Hill and Pisgat Ze'ev, and to avert the unification of
Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adoumim.
Illegal construction is
raging along Highway 443, the critical road from Tel
Aviv to Jerusalem, with the aim to transform it into
an Arab road, threatening the security of Jewish
transportation.
While a 1999
Palestinian document
anticipated that Israel was determined "to demolish
400-500 illegal houses in Beit Haninah and Shoafat", a
2000 document notified the PA that "no need to worry",
since Israel would only demolish a few houses, and
illegal construction could proceed with full speed
ahead.
For instance, illegal construction in the Jerusalem
Arab neighborhood of Silwan has been a platform for
intensified terrorism and felony. Forging real estate
titles has proliferated in the Arab sector, robbing
state-owned land as well as privately owned Arab land,
fueling extortion, protection, gang-wars and the
importation of illegal Arab residents from Hebron and
other towns to Jerusalem – a fertile ground for
terrorism.
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