Arabs Moving Into Jewish Areas of Jerusalem

Here is the truth about the "Judaization" of Jerusalem: Arabs are moving into Jewish neighborhoods. It's called "integration," but it is being done with a nationalist motivation:

 

Yousef Majlaton moved into the Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev for such comforts as proper running water and regular garbage pickup. But he represents a potentially volatile twist in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute over the holy city.

 

The hillside sprawl of townhouses and apartment blocks was built for Jews, and Majlaton is a Palestinian.

 

Pisgat Zeev is part of Israel's effort to fortify its presence in Jerusalem's eastern half which it captured in the 1967 war.

 

But Majlaton, his wife and three kids are among thousands who have crossed the housing lines to Pisgat Zeev and neighborhoods like it in a migration that is raising tempers among some Jewish residents.

...

 

In 2007, the latest year with available statistics, about 1,300 of Pisgat Zeev's 42,000 residents were Arabs. In nearby French Hill, population 7,000, nearly one-sixth are Arabs, among them students at the neighboring Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Neve Yaakov, with 20,000 people, had 600 Arabs, according to the Israel Center for Jerusalem Studies, a respected think tank.

...

 

Majlaton and his wife are both Hebrew-speaking Christians. He said his new neighbors cold-shouldered them when they arrived in 2002, but gradually became friendlier.

 

He said he has since helped about 30 Arab families to move in and gets calls from prospective renters almost every day.

...

 

While his primary motivation was quality of life, he says living in Pisgat Zeev is "a nationalistic act" — a way to cement Arab presence in the city of his birth.

 

He said Palestinian leaders should follow his lead.

 

"They should bring all the Arabs to Pisgat Zeev," he said. "I'll help them find homes one by one."

The article repeats the following fallacy, which was evidently first publicized by Chris McGreal in the Guardian:

 

Netanyahu says Arabs have the right to live anywhere in the city, and so should Jews, though the Old City's Jewish Quarter is closed to Arabs.

 

There is no limitation preventing Arabs from living in the Jewish quarter.

 

Ami Isseroff