Read the reports about trying to get a building permit if you are an Arab living in Jerusalem. Just google it, and a few reports will pop up. The rule is that all building permit applications filed by Arabs are rejected, the small exception is a few building permits are approved to give the illusion that you can actually build with a permit in Jerusalem. (source : Rabbis for human rights- North America : http://www.rhr-na.org/homedemolitions/questions.html) The Jews are not being discriminated against, its the Arabs who are the victims here. It is truly surprising how just one single incident of not granting a building permit to a Jew, will get so much media coverage, were as the daily and routine procedure of refusing to grant building permits to Arabs, hardly gets any coverage. If you are genuinely concerned by the the policy of granting build permits, you can launch an impartial investigation and see for yourself the truth on the ground.

Mr Segal, so enlighten me. There are a huge number of machsanim in Har Nof which have been converted into apartments (by Jews), which I understand is illegal. Nobody seems to bat an eyelid. Neither builder nor owner nor inspector, if they exist in this city. It appears to this observer that construction in Jerusalem is a hodgepodge which is not overseen well. This goes along with the bus lines where every stop is a Purimspiel with no route information. This goes along with the garbage, which so many people take no responsibility for. Each little neighborhood is its own little kingdom, as in the Middle Ages. Do we have city government?

you don't need reaport, if Israeli jew doesn't pay taxes he go to jail if Arab don't pay taxes he get away with it cause other wise he will draw the descriminating card, so stop whining, I heard so many Arabs in east Jerusalem build with out permits ilegal buildings, so none buy this so call victim act we all know you break the law and get away with it.

The Taxes we pay much higher than yours and we don't get any services for our taxes. Our streets rarely get paved; garbage piles up many days of the week. My street is considered zone A and thus have to pay premium Arnona rates and my street is much less than the worst Jewish area and term of quality which includes many trips to the car mechanic, The bigger picture is there a war waged against the Palestinians to leave via different means and its being stated publicly left and right yet a naive person like you comes and give a very mediocre reason for the discrimination.

I am a Palestinian who has been waiting 11 years now to get a building permit. I decided to do it the legal way, when I first applied and after I paid the fees, I was told by the municipality employee that zone where the family house and land where I want to build is marked purple as reservation area and no construction is allowed. I then sought the help of an Israeli architect who knows people in the municipality who confronted the employee again then the story changed. The municipality replied after a few months request a master plan (tecknot binui) as the plot is large. So we did that and that was rejected as it does not follow the guidelines of the municipality master plan. So we hired an Israeli master planer who has done a lot of these for the municipality. After her hard work and committee meetings she managed to get a preliminary approval subject to other approval. To make a long story short, the plans go to the committee and then we have to change this, we do wait a few months hearing “committee did not meet” “committee did not get to your file” 11 years later and the committee changed but no time for us. Today we are being told by the “experts” that there are two ways to get it done 1- Wait till the new settlement is approved and then you will get the same rights by law as they got, or 2- Payoff some people in the committee. I will not do either I will pursue my right. By the way to talkback 3 we Palestinians living in Jerusalem pay taxes, social security and arnona. BTW the area I am talking about is Sheikh Jarrah .

first of all anything in Israel is near impossible and you can easily get all tied up in red tape. That is what you get in a socialist nanny state. There is also a culture here of opposing the state by illegally building by Arabs and Jews alike. And as someone who has built a home in the US I can tell you that it too is an impossible process and meeting after meeting and tofes after tofes to be filled... and a lot of nonsense from the city and the neighbors. Still there is a law and the law needs to be followed.

King's Garden is just another small ship in the night for you all to chase after. The real issue here is that you all are avoiding Nof Zion in Jabal Makabar ! Nof Zion is 9 buildings built in an Arab village with hundreds more to soon come, that village had it's fields taken away 35 years ago to build yet another Jewish neighborhood Armon ha Natziv and Arnona and Caspi all Jewish neighborhoods. Nof Zion is going to be a massive dwelling for Jews only, visit their site on google and see what is already happening their, King's Garden is a decoy look in the other direction and see what's really going on or is that your real agenda to pretend to care about Arab homes in Jerusalem?

of jerusalem r extremely high, I checked if you think I am falling to the whining nope, and again you build houses without getting permits aka ilegal buildings and complain about the jews while you do the same .

What i really regret hearing is the total lack of compassion by some poster here. By demolishing a house, your are not only displacing people, but killing dreams. memories, and most of all hope. The house demolition policy is unfairly tilted against the Arabs. How many Jewish homes have been completely demolished as a result of illegal construction, and the word to look for here is 'Completely". When a Jewish home receives a demolition order, what usually happens is that the municipality demolishes part of the home, a wall or two, just to convey the message that you need to get a permit. thus allowing the occupant to rebuild and repair once he received his permit. If you are an Arab however, you'd be lucky if could rebuild in the same location. Using the law as a pretext for demolishing homes is in itself, illegal. I hope that the talkbackers on this site don't get too defensive trying to prove their point. You can't defend racism, and the policy implemented by the Jerusalem municipality has been for years, racist and discriminatory against Arabs. Please, if you live in Israel, don't take my word for it. go ahead and see for yourself. Injustice should not be tolerated, and any decent human being must oppose it, regardless of his/her ideological beliefs.

The Arabs have an easier time getting building permits than Jews do. Their main problem is most DO NOT own the land they are attempting to build on. That is the real issue.

What the author has expressed here would be tantamount to a white person in South Africa during apartheid saying how wonderful South African blacks had it, and the poor South African Whites, or the KKK claiming how bad it was for them, while the Blacks had everything in the southern states. The author forgot to mention that when you're a Palestinian you can have your homes bulldized to the ground for any reason while your children are left sleeping atop rubble with no compensation at all. Also someone should remind the author that Israel's presence in East Jerusalem is illegal. I guess that somehow slipped his mind when he spoke about Palestinians building illegal neighborhoods. What is illegal for Israel is always legal because it only adheres to its own interpretation of what the law should be.