Daniel Luria, Executive Director of Ateret Cohanim sat with me and gave an update on new building permits in the Old Yemenite Village (Silwan), PA’s prblem with praising terror, and 50 years of reunificatio of Jerusalem.
“You cannot continue to keep people in a situation where they are under your occupation and expect them to come to the conclusion that everything is fine.”
-Ron Huldai
For years now, Tel Aviv has lived in a bubble. Its economy grew as did its international stature. The world, with it s BDS drive, incessant focus on “occupation,” and drive towards an unrealistic peace accords pretended Tel Aviv was a different country. This year the city has now seen 3 attacks, last night’s being the most brutal.
For the attackers Tel Aviv is the occupation. Judea and Samaria maybe internationally ostracized, but the “settlers” are not viewed as estranged from the daily grind in the territories. There is an unfriendly respect between the Arabs and the Jews of Judea and Samaria that is dealt with differently.
Huldai and his cohorts, as well as the Tel Aviv culture, exemplifies for the Arab Palestinians everything that is wrong with secular Zionism. It’s true the communities in Judea and Samaria maybe over the green line, but that is all. Hamas and all who support them do not view a difference between Tel Aviv and Kiryat Arba. In fact an attack such as this would be nearly impossible in Kiryat Arba, where most people are armed and aware. Tel Aviv is picked because it is complacent and its elected officials weak.
Tel Aviv is on the front lines precisely because Ron Huldai wants to pretend it has nothing to do with the fabled occupation. In fact, it his Tel Aviv that yearns to reflect a dying European culture and strives to maintain a bubble of disconnection. It is the European culture that is seen as an occupation.
After three terrorist attacks in one year, the citizens of Tel Aviv have woken up and recognized we are all in this together. Ron Huldai and his supporters have yet to realize that they too are on the front lines of a war. The faster they stop accusing the “occupation” in Judea and Samaria for their problems, the better they will be in dealing with the enemy that is out to destroy them.
Al-Haleddeyi St. may seem like an unlikely location for the next stage of Jewish growth in Jerusalem, but this small street that descends from the Christian quarter to Ha Gai Street into what most consider the Muslim quarter, is experiencing an influx of Jewish residents.
Once considered the main street in the Jewish quarter, Al-Haleddeyi St. known first as Hevron Street, because of the high percentage of Jewish residents, saw its Jewish residents driven out in waves between 1929 and 1937. Many of the Old City Rabbis lived on it, including Rav Diskin. At its peak it had 1,299 Jewish residents and was a bustling center of Jewish life in the late 1800 and early 1900’s.
Now, with organizations like Ateret Cohanim as well as private individuals, cases amounting to squatting are getting reexamined by the courts. One by one, properties that belonged to Jewish communal boards are being returned to their former Jewish owners or caretaker committees.
“We aren’t a banana republic and so if our very respected legal system and courts rule that the Arabs don’t have rights in the complex or that they have to vacate the premises, then so be it,” says Daniel Luria, executive director of Ateret Cohanim. “The same court system that backed the government and gave its stamp of approval to expel and relocate 10,000 Jewish residents and citizens from Gush Katif, should also be respected and adhered in these cases inside the Old City of Jerusalem. Behind the court case is really a story of Jews being driven from the area in the 1920s and 1930s by Arabs and their return to the area in these times. “
This past week I had the opportunity to see first hand one of the newest acquisitions on Al-Haleddeyi St. As I walked onto Al-Haleddeyi St,. Sam Goodman, a local activist and I turned left and then a quick right. Arabs paid no attention to us as we veered into a small courtyard belonging to an unassuming building. “This is resting on the Hekdesh [Jewish Communal Property],” Sam says to me as we walk straight ahead into the bottom of the building. “Above us are still Arabs, with one Jewish family on top as well. We all get along.”
The apartment is dark and in need of renovations. The former occupants left most of their belongings behind before they left. Unlike typical acquisitions that involve a buyer, seller, and often a few middlemen, apartments that change hands due to a court decision can be far more chaotic in terms of entry.
Interior of newest Jewish home on Al-Haleddiya St.
The apartment Sam and I were standing in went back to the courts several times, but like most of the houses on Al-Haleddeyi St. the evidence of land theft and squatting on the part of the Arab population was incontrovertible.
Up and down Al-Haleddeyi St. more and more Jews are moving in. Israeli flags can be seen out the windows and on the rooftops. The bustling of Jews is beginning to return. In many ways the quarter system, enacted by the British is being busted apart. Each new acquisition and court case that goes in favor of the Jews returns the city back to its original state, where a decolonization of Western backed Arab land theft is undone
For now Sam lives in the apartment, standing guard until renovations are complete. “Once there is a family that wants to move in, I’ll move out. My job is complete.” In fact since I saw it, the apartment already has a waiting list and more court cases are pending. Jewish life is returning to Al- Haleddeyi St. Perhaps in a not too distant future it will be renamed Hevron St. as it once was known.
With the ascendancy of Avigdor Lieberman to the post of Defense Minister, politicians from across the spectrum were ready for the Russian right wing populist to start assassinating Hamas leaders as soon as he could. Nearly every political pundit was convinced Lieberman as Defense Minister would ensure the state’s transition into some sort of neo-fascism.
All of these premonitions amounted to nothing. “When there is a dispute between the integrity of the nation and the integrity of the land, then integrity of the nation is more important,” Lieberman said upon his swearing in as Defense Minister. This line is not inconsequential and reaffirms his acceptance of the two-state solution.
So why is the right gleeful about Lieberman’s appointment and Ya’alon’s resignation?
Despite Lieberman’s expression of support for the two-state solution, there are some big differences between Ya’alon and Lieberman.
- Style
- Support for soldiers no matter what
- Ending the warping of the IDF’s crippling purity of arms
- The Civil Administration will now be run by Eli ben Dahan in following with the coalition agreement
This last point is highly consequential. It is ultimately the Civil Administration that decides on building, zoning, and a host of other important matters in Judea and Samaria. Rabbi Eli ben Dahan, member of the Jewish Home party, will now be able to provide favorable zoning to communities long held back in Judea and Samaria, while helping to create structures that allow for increased building through the area.
“We are very happy with the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman,” says Meir Deutch of the Regavim organization. Regavim battles illegal Arab building throughout Israel. In Judea and Samaria where the laws are antique and administered by the Defense Ministry, Lieberman’s appointment means the Arab flaunting of Israeli law can finally be addressed.
No Second Sharon
It is clear that members of the right are wary of a second coming of Sharon. Lieberman may often times speak with bombastic rhetoric when it comes to Arabs, but is little trusted by those on the right in the reigns of power. Land of Israel activists are cognizant that a Lieberman unchecked could flip and help push through a final status accord.
Of course the new defense minister is not about to march to the beat of the Left, but in a world where international forces are gearing up to foist a “peace plan” on Israel, pressure on Israel’s less ideological right can turn someone like Lieberman into a perfect delivery man for the west’s neo-colonial aspirations in the Middle East.
The right has much to be thankful for in Lieberman’s appointment and yet remaining cautious and ready to check the newest member of the security cabinet is a strategy that remains necessary.
Reports continue to race in about scores of wounded and dead Biafrans. With the violence initiated by gangs backed by the Nigerian government, one tries to grapple with the sheer trantsparent morality of both the White House and the State Department. Obama’s foreign policy has always been an enigma and yet the Biafra is the most baffling of all. The American government continues to back a divisive Islamist over the law abiding people in Biafra. Yet it should not come as a surprise to those that have watched the US government’s treatment of Israel that, America relishes in playing both sides against one another. After all conflict is good for business, America’s arms business.
In the case of Biafra, which is home to a growing Jewish population as well as a Hebraic form of Christianity, the pretenses of balancing the conflict have gone completely out the window. The question is not is Biafra different, but why is it being treated different?
Echoes of the Slave Trade
Within Biafra, the Igbo are the most populous. They also happened to have made up the majority of the slave population ripped from West Africa and transferred to the Americas. The presence and perseverance of the Igbo in a similar fashion to the Jewish Nation is a reminder of just how eternal spirit and hope are. The West hates to be reminded of its hypocrisy. Biafra is a constant reminder that in truth the West stands for little.
The pronouncements of rights and freedoms are just that, clever talking points given to stake the moral high ground while painting others as deficient in the realm of ethics. Yet one must be blind not to see the ridiculousness of it all. The West was the largest perpetrator of the destruction of the African continent, including Israel which rests on its North Eastern tip than any other group of Nations. Starting with the crushing of the Judean Revolt all the way to destructive policies of post colonial Africa, the West has wiped out whole cultures and memories causing everlasting trauma.
Biafra reminds us who the real enemy is. The Hausa to the North, much like the Arabs that surround Israel are pawns, enabled by those Arabist bureaucrats at the State Department as well as the neo-colonial policies of Europe. Biafra and more specifically, the Igbo reveals how hollow Obama’s and the Lefts pseudo empathy of African suffering really is. By picking Islam over traditional indigenous cultures, they have shredded Pan Africanism the same way they have called into question Israel’s very connection to its Land.
Biafra, more than anything exposes the lie that Obama and the West actually care. They don’t, unless it is about money.
The parallel struggles of Biafra and Israel are a reminder that good people need to stand up. Yet, the situation is also a wake up call to Israel, that now is the time to become the leader it is destined to and take a central role in protecting and freeing Biafra. Doing so will send a message to the World, that morality is something worth fighting for.