http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?id=60850&mador=4&datee=11/9/99
Tuesday, November 9, 1999
Barak gets green light in Ras al-Amud
By Danny Rubinstein
In addition to the problems they have faced in
areas of the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians have
been unable to stop settlement activity in East
Jerusalem and outlying areas. Settlement activity
has been undertaken in a swath encompassing Har
Homa in the south and Kochav Hair in the north,
but the most conspicuous effort has ensued at Ras
al-Amud, overlooking the Old City. Two years ago,
a Palestinian spokesman charged that settler
efforts at Ras al-Amud, backed by American
benefactor Irving Moskowitz, represented "acts of
malice and terror that will cause bloodshed."
Palestinian protests, led by Jerusalem-based PA
official Faisal al-Husseini, were conducted at the
site. Peace Now held a protest vigil in the area.
The Netanyahu-led government met stiff American
resistance, and was compelled not to authorize the
construction of a Jewish neighborhood at Ras
al-Amud.Now it turns out that what was forbidden
to Netanyahu is permitted to Barak. Full-scale
construction work has been undertaken by settlers
at Ras al-Amud for some time, and there has been
nothing to impede their efforts.
The PA leadership and Husseini's associates at the
Orient House freely admit that had the Ras al-Amud
construction work ensued under the direction of
the Netanyahu government, they would have
protested vehemently, stirring up passions among
the people. Yet under the current Barak government
they can do little to oppose this settlement
activity, since progress is being made in the
peace process. It is a safe bet that not a murmur
of protest will be sounded in weeks to come, when
full-fledged discussions ensue to attain a
framework for a final status accord.
Yet the fact that the Palestinians are keeping mum
about construction at Ras al-Amud can hardly be
ranked as an Israeli accomplishment. The opposite
is true. A small Jewish neighborhood now awaits
completion in the heart of a densely populated
Arab region in East Jerusalem. Its arrival
constitutes a surefire recipe for contention,
strife and woe; sooner or later, tempers are bound
to explode at Ras al-Amud.
The "separation" principle that Barak is fostering
apparently does not apply to Arab neighborhoods in
East Jerusalem, an area to which all Israeli
governments have extended Israeli sovereignty.
Nonetheless, East Jerusalem cannot possibly be
treated as an Israeli Arab city, comparable to
Shfaram or Umm el-Fahm, nor can it be counted as a
mixed Jewish-Arab location, along the lines of
Acre or Ramle.
The reason for East Jerusalem's distinctiveness is
no secret: Arab Jerusalemites are not Israeli
citizens. They vote in elections for the
Palestinian parliament, and they are eligible for
election to it; young people study under the aegis
of the Palestinian Education Ministry.
Husseini is designated as a PLO official since,
under the Oslo accords, the PA is forbidden from
pursuing activities in Jerusalem. Under his PLO
guise, he continues to host statesmen and notables
from around the world. Instead of welcoming them
at the Orient House, Husseini receives his VIP
guests at Palestinian institutions housed in
adjacent buildings.
Responding to these meetings, Public Security
Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami registered a protest last
week with Husseini. Yet persons close to Husseini
say there is no chance that he will desist from
meeting with such guests.
Husseini claims that his guests initiate these
meetings, but the question of who prompts them is
immaterial. They are significant because they
underscore the status of Arab Jerusalemites,
further emphasizing that they are not Israelis.
With respect to the West Bank, Barak's government
proposes to apply the separation principle by
consolidating several settlement blocs. It remains
to be seen whether this policy is zfeasible. At
any event, the same principle should be applicable
to the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, areas
where settler activity comes as deliberately
provocative action. Former Jerusalem Mayor Teddy
Kollek took action to thwart this settlement
activity. Netanyahu stopped building at Ras
al-Amud. There is no plausible reason why the
Barak government should give it the green light
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