East Jerusalem

Assalaamu 'alaikum,
Al Jazeera has a couple new videos that deal with the situation in East Jerusalem. Israel systematicly tries to decrease the number of Palestinians in East Jerusalem to strenghthen their hold on the city. While they insist that the illegal settlements Must be alowed to increase the number of housing units, or even expand in size, to keep up with "natural growth." Palestinians in East Jerusalem find it next to impossible to get a permit to even add on to a house. If you build without a permit, you run the risk of having your house destroyed. This policy also drives up land prices since the supply of housing in no way keeps up with demand. But if you move out of Jerusalem into the West Bank because you cannot afford the rent in the city, they will take away your residency permit, and then you cannot move home again! (Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are considered "residents" of Israel, but not citizens.) Another policy is to allow Israeli settlers to move into Palestinian neighborhoods by deceptive or illegal means. The episode of "Inside Story" below explains one such case.

Please watch. Please care.

A building battle in East Jerusalem


Inside Story- East Jerusalem land grab- 23 Aug 07- Part 1


Inside Story- East Jerusalem land grab- 23 Aug 07- Part 2