tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62704009251780864642024-03-07T10:49:28.945+02:00TallouzaTallouzaTallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-21640770441675407722015-10-03T11:58:00.000+02:002015-10-07T18:19:53.119+02:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“Title By
Conquest: The Judaization of Jerusalem”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themetint: 153;">“We must bring Jews to eastern Jerusalem at any cost.
We must settle tens of thousands of Jews in a brief time. Jews will agree to
settle in eastern Jerusalem even in shacks. We cannot await the construction of
orderly neighborhoods. The essential thing is that Jews will be there.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themetint: 153;">David Ben-Gurion, 1967<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Few months ago I decided to write about Israel’s Judaization
and de-Arabization of Jerusalem as well as about the agony and hardship of the
Palestinians living there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the
beginning, I thought it was going to be an ordinary exercise that would take
few days of research before finally writing it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As I had expected, there was nothing ordinary about the contemporary
history of Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, discrimination,
convolution, manipulation, underhandedness, hypocrisy, deceit, and injustice
mark everything related to Israel’s occupation and annexation of Jerusalem, and
to the treatment of Palestinians there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I started to write, I soon realized the heightened level
of scrutiny one must employ in writing about this divine city. It was
overwhelming to see the amount of misinformation and historical falsification being
deliberately and consistently disseminated concerning the history of Jerusalem
and Palestine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Avoiding the use of
anachronistic and misleading terminology was of particular importance given the
manipulation of language, especially in appellations, masterminded by the
colonizing Zionists. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I naively hoped that by learning more about the intricacies
shaping today’s Jerusalem that I would find answers to why and how Israel
continues to violate with impunity international law and human rights
conventions. It did not take long before it dawned on me that most, if not all,
of the international community has collectively colluded to ignore and turn a
blind eye to Israel’s repeated and persistent violations there. Today, the international
community whitewashes its complacency towards Israel’s illegal actions in
Jerusalem through occasionally issuing carefully worded reports showing
Israel’s violations of an array of international laws, resolutions and
conventions. These reports not only expose Israel’s contempt of international law,
they also clearly expose the inability of the world community to impose punitive
measures against Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is ironic to
see the same community mobilizing in recent years “Armageddons” to invade and
destroy Arab countries for not complying with resolutions that are identical in
their legal binding nature to the ones Israel has been violating for decades. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today, what Israel is doing in Jerusalem is a crime and a
travesty of justice of horrific proportions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jerusalem is undergoing a massive systematic Judaization and de-Arabization
process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Palestinians living there are
in danger of losing their homes and identity as Jerusalemites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are alienated and helpless in fending for
themselves against Israel’s monstrous colonial policies. Israel subjects them
to provocative and suffocating measures in the hope of driving them out of
their generations-old homes. Edward Said best described Israel’s policies in
Jerusalem as “programmatic policies designed to remove Palestinians, officially
erase their traces, consign them to legal and institutional non-existence”.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I pored over the heaps of books and articles on
Jerusalem, one truth kept on asserting itself: “Jerusalem is the cornerstone of
any peace agreement in Palestine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without
a comprehensive and viable solution to the question of Jerusalem (East and
West), there can never be just and lasting peace not only in Palestine, but
also in the Arab World.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The status of
Jerusalem:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It does not take the observer long to realize that clear and
unambiguous discussion of the “status of Jerusalem” is rare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By Jerusalem it is meant all of Jerusalem,
east and west (old and modern). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Confining the discussion of Jerusalem to East
Jerusalem serves at sanctioning Israel’s aggression of 1948 and de facto
annexation of West (Or modern) Jerusalem. Today this very status continues to
be entangled in legal quagmires in what seems to be a deliberate attempt to
render a simple and straightforward case of illegal land occupation, annexation
and usurpation into a complicated matter without attainable solutions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For many the mention of the status of Jerusalem recalls the
Oslo Agreement of 1993 and its <a href="http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/isrplo.asp">Declarations of
Principles</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not going to allude
to this at all in this paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
personally believe that waiting for a just resolution of the status of
Jerusalem through the Oslo Agreement is like waiting for Godot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will never happen. The surge in Israel’s
creation of infamous malicious “facts on the ground” between 1993 and today is
enough to validate my belief.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To tackle the status of Jerusalem one could go as far
back as the time of the Jebusites almost 3800 years ago, or as recent as few
decades ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will not delve into the
ancient history of Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, given
the subject of this paper, it is important to highlight that the Jewish rule
was the shortest in Jerusalem and lasted 413 years, which ended 2500 years ago.
A fact that needs to be emphasized in the face of historical myths and fabrications
like “<a href="http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/mfa-archive/1993/pages/jerusalem%203000-%20city%20of%20david%201996.aspx">Jerusalem
3000</a>” celebrating Jerusalem’s 3000 years as a Jewish capital, which of
course deviously implies an unbroken 3000 years of Jewish sovereignty over
Jerusalem. In contrast, one must not lose sight of the fact that the pagans
(Jebusites, Canaanites, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans) ruled Jerusalem
for seventeen centuries, the Christians (Byzantine, Crusader and British) ruled
it for 420 years, and the Moslems (Arabs and Turks) ruled it for twelve
centuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the purpose of this essay,
I will look into the status of Jerusalem starting in 1947.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A significant watershed in the contemporary history
of Jerusalem was marked with the United Nations (UN) General Assembly <a href="http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/7F0AF2BD897689B785256C330061D253"><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Resolution 181</span></a>, also
known as the partition plan. On November 29, 1947, and in line with the
recommendations of the Palestinian Royal Commission (<a href="http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/MAPS/1938-british-partition-plan.html"><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Peel Commission</span></a>)
that was formed by the United Kingdom following the Palestinian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936%E2%80%9339_Arab_revolt_in_Palestine"><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">revolt of 1936</span></a>, the
UN General Assembly voted to divide Palestine into two states, a Jewish state with
control over 56% of the land, and an Arab state with control over 43% of the
land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The remaining 1% pertained to
Jerusalem, which was to become a “<a href="http://imeu.org/map/jerusalem-and-the-corpus-separatum-proposed-in-1947"><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">corpus </span>separatum</a>
under a special international regime to be administered by the United Nations.
“<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">&<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a></span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Resolution 181 also ended the 26 years of <a href="http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/2FCA2C68106F11AB05256BCF007BF3CB"><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">British mandate</span></a>
over Palestine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The British Government
ended its mandate on May 15, 1948 without providing for a successor local administration,
which resulted in plunging Palestine in utter chaos. Around the same time and on
May 14, 1948 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ben-Gurion"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">David
Ben-Gurion</span></a>, the first prime minister of Israel (1948-1953 &
1955–1963), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_Declaration_of_Independence"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">declared</span></a>
"the establishment of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_state"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Jewish state</span></a>
in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eretz_Israel"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Eretz Israel</span></a>, to be known
as the State of Israel”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although Jerusalem is the main topic of this paper, one
must allude to the absurdity of such division at a time when the population of
Palestine was 67 percent Palestinian and 33 percent Jewish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Jewish ratio was artificially high given
the waves of European (mostly British)-facilitated Jewish immigration during
the mandate years to Palestine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1900 the
Jewish population in all of historic (mandate) Palestine was no more than 7
percent, which clearly demonstrates the unnatural rate of 33 percent in 1948.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jewish population in Jerusalem mushroomed
from approximately twenty thousand in 1918 to close to hundred thousand in
1948.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is interesting to note that only in the 19<sup>th</sup>
century did the Jewish population in Jerusalem begin to increase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to historian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hajjar">Joseph Hajjar</a>, by the
mid 1800s the Jews living in Jerusalem numbered no more than 5,000. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The ownership of the land subject the partition was over
90 percent Palestinian while the Jews owned less than 7 percent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, the Palestinian population falling
under the partitioned Jewish section was 45 percent, while the Jewish
population in the Palestinian section was 1 percent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To put it in the words of <a href="http://jps.ucpress.edu/content/21/1/5.full-text.pdf">Professor Walid
Khalidi</a> the resolution (UN 181) said to the Zionists: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You will increase what you have 8-fold (from 7 percent to 55 percent of
the country).”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It said to the
Palestinians: “You yield 45 percent of what you have and let one-third of your
population live as a permanent minority under alien rule</i>.”<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title="">[7]</a></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Immediately after the passage of the partition plan civil
war broke out between the Palestinians and the colonizing Zionists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This escalated into a full fledge war in May
1948.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The war officially ended in 1949
with four <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1949_Armistice_Agreements">armistice
agreements</a> signed between Israel and Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Transjordan.
Palestine was now divided into three parts with three different political
regimes: Israel, the hill country of central Palestine<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
(West Bank), and Gaza Strip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
“temporary in nature” “Armistice Agreements” established demarcation lines marking
the boundaries of the various parts of divided Palestine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The demarcation lines concerning Jerusalem
were with Jordan and constituted part of what is known as the Green Line (reference
to the green ink used to draw the lines on the map in question).<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The demarcation lines are also referred to as
the 1967 borders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As the very name denotes<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>,
the “Armistice Agreements” were never meant to establish permanent borders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were simply meant to delineate areas
under Jewish, Palestinian and Arab control for the purpose of cessation of
hostilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These new cease-fire lines
brought 78 percent of Palestine under Zionist control as opposed to the 56
percent originally allotted to the Jewish state by the UN partition plan of
1947 two years earlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The remaining 22
percent of the land went under Arab control and it encompassed the Gaza Strip,
the eastern side of Jerusalem comprising of the Old City with a total land area
of 6.5 square kilometer, and the rest of what came to be known as the West Bank
of TransJordan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It must be emphasized
that by seizing 78 percent of the land the Jews invoked General Assembly
Resolution 181 to proclaim a Jewish state, but completely disregarded its
provisions concerning its own boundaries or the territories reserved for the
Arab State and the “Corpus Separatum” concerning the City of Jerusalem. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With Jerusalem falling within the boundaries of the Armistice
Agreements, Israel occupied and later annexed the western part of Jerusalem,
while Jordan occupied and later annexed the eastern part of the city. <a href="http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/arm03.asp">The Israeli-Jordanian
General Armistice Agreement</a> of 3 April 1949 effectively formalized the de
facto division of Jerusalem. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
meantime, and after receiving <a href="http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/85255a0a0010ae82852555340060479d/1db943e43c280a26052565fa004d8174?OpenDocument#Mr.%20EBAN%20(Israel)%20understood%20tha">assurances</a>
from Israel that it would implement UN resolutions 181 and <a href="http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/C758572B78D1CD0085256BCF0077E51A">194</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"> (refugees, right of return)</span>, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>UN General Assembly <a href="http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/83E8C29DB812A4E9852560E50067A5AC">resolution
273</a> was adopted on May 11, 1949 to admit the State of Israel to membership
in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">UN</span></a>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Excerpts from the resolution read:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Recalling its
resolutions of 29 November 1947 (181) and 11 December 1948 (194) and taking
note of the </i><a href="http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/85255a0a0010ae82852555340060479d/1db943e43c280a26052565fa004d8174?OpenDocument#Mr.%20EBAN%20(Israel)%20understood%20tha"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">declarations and explanations</span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> made by the representative of the
Government of Israel 5/ before the ad hoc Political Committee in respect of the
implementation of the said resolutions,<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The General
Assembly, Acting in discharge of its functions under Article 4 of the Charter
and rule 125 of its rules of procedure,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Decides that Israel is a
peace-loving State which accepts the obligations contained in the Charter and
is able and willing to carry out those obligations;”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Following the signing of the armistice agreements as
well as its admission to membership in the UN, Israel was quick to act on
manipulating the temporary “de facto” recognition of its role in West Jerusalem.
On January 23, 1950, Israel declared West Jerusalem as its capital and shortly
thereafter it moved its parliament (Knesset) there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This move was in violation of international
law as well as of the UN resolutions on the question of Jerusalem. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The hill country of central Palestine including East
Jerusalem was annexed by Transjordan in 1949, and came to be described
erroneously and un-historically as the “West Bank of Transjordan”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A prelude to this annexation was a conference
held in Jericho, and organized by King Abdullah I in December 1948, with
Palestinian notables who afterwards called for unification with Transjordan. In
February 1949, the Jordanian Nationality Law was amended to grant every
Palestinian a Jordanian citizenship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
March 1950, King Abdullah I issued a royal order to erase the word “Palestine”
from the map and from all official statements; thereafter the area was to be
known as “The West Bank of the Hashemite Kingdom”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>.
The unification was finally completed on April 24, 1950 when the Jordanian
National Assembly adopted a resolution for the unification of Transjordan and
Palestine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The UN kept its stand on the “Corpus Separatum”
status and the internationalization of Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It initially resisted the post 1949 Israeli
and Jordanian occupation and annexation of East and West Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, with time there seems to have been a
de facto acceptance of the control of both countries over the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
crucial to note that the UN never rescinded the Partition Plan, which simply
means that to this date the issue of the status of Jerusalem (east and west) is
still legally undetermined, and in abeyance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In effect, by 1949 historic (British mandate)
Palestine came under the jurisdiction of Transjordan, Egypt and Israel. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Jewish state as stipulated by the partition
plan (Resolution 181) was created with complete disregard to the provisions
concerning the boundaries or the territories reserved for the Arab State and
the “Corpus Separatum” in the plan. The Palestinian state as envisioned by the
partition plan never materialized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Up
until 1967, Jerusalem remained divided between West and East under Israeli and
Jordanian control respectively.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After the war of June 5, 1967 Jerusalem was dealt another
fatal blow when Israel seized the West Bank including the Old City (East Jerusalem),
the Gaza Strip and parts of Egypt and Syria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By then, the entire city of Jerusalem fell under Israeli control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is “immediately” after June 1967 that the
process of structured and premeditated Judaization of Jerusalem became
blatantly clear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was amply
evidenced on June 27, 1967 when Israel passed the “Law and Administration
Ordinance (<a href="http://www.israellawresourcecenter.org/israellaws/fulltext/lawandadministrat670627.htm">Amendment
11</a>) Law” extending Israel’s law and jurisdiction and administration to
newly conquered East Jerusalem. On June 28, 1967 Israel enacted the “Municipalities
Ordinance (Amendment No. 6) Law”, which gave the Israeli Minister of Interior,
then Moshe Dayan, broad powers to amend the municipal boundaries of
Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Armed with this law, Dayan expanded
the land area of East Jerusalem from 6.5 square kilometers to 71 square
kilometers of expropriated Palestinian land, which included an airport and
lands of 28 Palestinian towns and villages.<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>On that same day the Knesset amended
the law of 1950, which proclaimed Jerusalem as Israel's capital, to reflect the
newly defined municipal boundaries. The following day, the Assistant Israeli
Commander of Jerusalem, Yaacov Salman, issued an order to dissolve the 12-member
elected Arab Municipal Council headed by Mayor Rawhi al-Khatib. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A year later al-Khatib was taken out of his
home by the Israeli military in the middle of the night, and was deported to
Jordan under the pretext that his presence in Jerusalem constituted a danger to
the security of Israel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By the end of June 1967, newly expanded East
Jerusalem was fully primed to be amalgamated with West Jerusalem. The illegal
and unilateral annexation of East Jerusalem was finally cemented on July 30,
1980 with the enactment of the<b><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></b><a href="http://www.knesset.gov.il/laws/special/eng/basic10_eng.htm"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Basic Law</span></a><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">: </span>Jerusalem,
Capital of Israel, which declared, "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the
capital of Israel.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The international
community vigorously condemned this law, and soon afterwards on August 20, 1980
the UN National Security Council adopted <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_478">Resolution
478</a> (by 14 to none) declaring the law “null and void”. There was one
abstention in the voting on this resolution, the United States. Fifteen years
later and true to its unconditional and unwavering support to Israel, the USA
passed<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">“</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_Embassy_Act"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995</span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">” </i>which called for initiating and
funding the relocation of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embassy_of_the_United_States,_Tel_Aviv"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Embassy of
the United States in Israel</span></a> from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Aviv"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Tel Aviv</span></a> to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Jerusalem</span></a>, no later than
May 31, 1999. The Act also called for Jerusalem to remain an undivided city and
for it to be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel. Moreover, in
2000 and in a show of utter contempt and disregard to the international
community Israel enacted an amendment to the Basic Law of 1980 in which it
specified the jurisdiction of the law, that included East Jerusalem. The
amendment also prohibited transfer of authority to a foreign body, for example
an international regime (Preempting any attempt to enforce the corpus separatum
status stipulated in UN Resolution 181). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In October 2010, the Israeli cabinet
unanimously approved a draft law to official Judaize the city of Jerusalem.
Plan No. 30 states that Jerusalem is to be a Jewish national priority area and
promoted as the “united Jewish capital” for the Jewish majority, as “the heart
of the Jewish people” and the cultural and spiritual center for Jews in Israel
and around the world<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[13]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></i></span></a></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To date, the annexation of West Jerusalem by Israel in
1948 is not recognized de jure. Although the 1949 General Armistice Agreement
endorsed the de facto division of the City, it did not affect the legal status
of it. Today, the international community views Israel as exercising only de
facto authority over West Jerusalem, and it decisively rejects Israeli claims
to sovereignty over Jerusalem (East and West). Nor is it accepted that there is
currently any other Power that has sovereignty over it.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title="">[14]</a></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<pre><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Israel’s egregious abuse and violation of international law in the Old City of Jerusalem spurred Jordan to propose in 1980 to enlist it on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage properties in danger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In December 1982 and during a session of World Heritage Committee held in Paris at UNESCO headquarters, Jordan highlighted the serious and specific dangers which threatened the "Old City of Jerusalem" pointing out the destruction of religious properties, threats of destruction due to urban development plans, and the deterioration of monuments due to lack of maintenance and responsible management, as well as of the disastrous impact of tourism on the protection of monuments. “The </span><a href="http://whc.unesco.org/archive/repcom82.htm#jerusalem"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">US delegate was opposed to Jordan making the proposal</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He stressed that a property must be situated in the territories of the nominating State and, in the opinion of his government; Jordan had no standing to make such a nomination. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furthermore, the consent of Israel would be required since it effectively controlled Jerusalem.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After discussion, the Committee decided, by 14 votes for, 1 against (USA) and 5 abstentions, to inscribe the "</span><a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/148"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">" on the List of World Heritage in Danger. <o:p></o:p></span></span></pre>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Judaization
of Jerusalem:</span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Judaization is a form of ethnic and theological cleansing
that Israel employs to create the conditions necessary for the survival of an
exclusive Jewish theocracy. In simple terms, it is an Israeli policy aimed at
reducing the number of Arabs (Christians and Moslems) in Israel as well as in
parts of the occupied Palestinian Territories in order to ensure Jewish majority
against a negligible Arab minority. Judaization, therefore, goes hand in hand
with de-Arabization of both Christians and Moslems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is believed that the idea of Judaization was
the brainchild of Yosef Nahmani (Nachmani), one of the originators of “the
redemption of the land” and head of the Karen Keymeth (The <a href="http://www.kkl.org.il/eng/">Jewish National Fund</a>) in <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>eastern Galilee from1935 and until his death
in 1965. Nahmani stressed the need to create a Jewish majority in the Galilee
to reduce "<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the </i></b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Arab</span></i></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
threat</i></b>" and prevent the formation of "a nucleus of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_nationalism"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Arab nationalism</span></a> within
the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_state"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Jewish state</span></a>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, the Judaization policy was intensely
advocated and enacted in order to ensure that there could be no serious
discussion of returning any of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaization_of_the_Galilee">lands earmarked
for an Arab state by the United Nations to Arab control</a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. </i>In a letter written in 1953 to David Ben Gurion, Nahmani wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Though western Galilee has now been occupied, it still has not been
freed of its Arab population, as happened in other parts of the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are still fifty one villages and the
city of Nazareth whose inhabitants have not left, in all there are 84,002
Arabs, not counting Acre, controlling 929,549 dunums of the land.”<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title="">[15]</a></span></b></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" title=""><!--[endif]--></a></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As far back as December 1947, and with callous disregard to UN
resolution 181 that calls for the internationalization of Jerusalem, Ben Gurion,
stated that “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jerusalem had to become the
scientific, educational, cultural, and artistic center of the Jewish people</i>”,
and that the Jewish population in the city and its environs had to be increased
and strengthened economically”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[16]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> In
1967, Ben Gurion went on to say:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We
must bring Jews to eastern Jerusalem at any cost. We must settle tens of
thousands of Jews in a brief time. Jews will agree to settle in eastern Jerusalem
even in shacks. We cannot await the construction of orderly neighborhoods. The
essential thing is that Jews will be there</i>.” <span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title="">[17]</a></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" title=""><!--[endif]--></a></span></span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">After the capture of East Jerusalem in 1967, Moshe Dayan, then
Israeli Defense Minister declared “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Israeli
Defense Forces have liberated Jerusalem. We have reunited the torn city, the
capital of Israel…never to part from it again</i>.”</span> <span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The belligerency of Israel’s rhetoric on Jerusalem was always
evident even when it was presumably talking peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On March 20, 1979, six days <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>before</u></b> the signing of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt%E2%80%93Israel_Peace_Treaty"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Menachem Begin, the
prime minister of Israel then, declared to the Israeli Knesset that the scope
of the treaty recognizes:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1- That Israel would
never pull back to its borders of 4 June 1967<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2- That Jerusalem, one
and unified, would remain for eternity the capital of Israel<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3- That there will never
be a Palestinian State in Judea and Samaria<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It
is not surprising, therefore, to see Israel’s relentless and tireless attempts
to Judaize, de-Arabize and integrate Jerusalem into the state of Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These attempts were and still are manifested
through legislative, administrative, military, as well as physical intimidating
“facts on the ground” measures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A glaring
example of such attempts is the 1968 “Master Plan” for the city of Jerusalem,
which noted that:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">“The majority of the [expanded] municipal land reserves that are
amenable to [Israeli-Jewish] development are in private [Palestinian] hands.
The effective development of the city will require the expropriation of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>substantial</u></b> areas.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Prior to the
1968 plan, there was the first Israeli master plan for Jerusalem, which was developed
as early as 1950. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arieh_Sharon"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Arieh Sharon</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">, one of
Israel’s founding architects, noted:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">“The</span></i><span class="MsoHyperlink"> </span><a href="http://www.ariehsharon.org/NewLand/Jerusalem-Masterplan/16212611_Rz5hWr#!i=1242319231&k=4KBMNR2">Jerusalem
Masterplan</a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">, prepared by the Planning Department in 1950, attempted to find an
organic solution to the different urban problems and to help the city serve its
main functions as the political and cultural capital of Israel. The hills in
the centre were expropriated and designated as the location for the Parliament,
Government Ministries, Hebrew University and Israel Museum. The Judean hills
west of the city were added to the municipal area for the erection of new
residential neighborhoods. It was proposed that a new commercial centre should
be established on the western city entrance and several industrial zones on the
outskirts. For the green belts and open spaces, Jerusalem offered a natural
solution: all wadis ravines and valleys between the hills on which the city
stands were designated as parks, with green strips separating the neighborhoods.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It
is evident how Israel’s plans to systematically Judaize Jerusalem started as
early as 1947. These plans have not stopped since then, and they have been
gaining astonishing momentum and steam over the past few decades. As mentioned
earlier, the relentless efforts at Judaizing Jerusalem <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">were
more clearly evident after 1967. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Immediately
after its illegal conquest of the West Bank in the 1967, Israel carried out a
series of measures in the Old City of Jerusalem and its environs that were
aimed at changing the character of the City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Tipping the demographic balance in favor of the Jewish population has
always been one of Israel’s top Judaizing maneuvers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today,
Israel continues to employ a variety of interrelated policies and tactics in
its plans to Judaize Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
tactics include, but are not limited to the following:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo8; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Demographic manipulation</span></b></li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Illegal settlement building</span></b></li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Expropriation of
Palestinian land</span></b></li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Demolition of Palestinian
homes</span></b></li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Revocation of Palestinian
residency rights</span></b></li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Building of “The Apartheid Wall”</span></b></li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Isolation of Jerusalem</span></b></li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Encroachment of the Hebrew Language on East
Jerusalem</span></b></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><br /></span></u></b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Demographic manipulation:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is safe to say that demography is the main driving
force behind Israel’s Judaizing policies manifested in settlement building,
land expropriation, revocation of residency rights, apartheid wall sanctioning,
and others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Israel’s main target in
Jerusalem has always been to achieve demographic superiority in favor of the
Jewish population.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jerusalem’s conquest by the Zionists took place in
two waves and so did its Judaization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The first wave was between December 1947 and June 1967 when Israel
occupied the western side of the city, which included the upscale districts of Upper
and Lower Baq’a, Talbiyya, Qatamon, Mamilla, and Shama’a, and others. During
the first two years, a combination of fear and intimidation campaigns carried
out by terrorist organizations such as the <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/Haganah">Haganah</a> coupled with Israeli
military orders led to the transfer of almost the entire Palestinian population
out of Western Jerusalem into areas where they could seek shelter in East
Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Jordan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The number of Palestinians who were subject to this forced evacuation is
estimated at 70,000 persons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Israel
confiscated close to 10,000 urban homes and about 35km2 of land (equal to
60-80% of Israeli municipal Jerusalem after 1948), and allocated it to its
Jewish population.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[18]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> In 1946 the population of Jerusalem was
divided between 99,000 Jews and 65,000 Arabs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By 1948 the population in West Jerusalem was 83,000 Jews and 1,000
Palestinians (Arabs).<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[19]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The Western and Eastern sides of the
city were then almost completely devoid of Arabs and Jews respectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the end of 1948, the city lauded over the
centuries for its ethnic diversity and temporal tolerance became bitterly and
militarily divided across religious and ethnic lines. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Immediately
after its conquest of the West Bank in 1967, Israel conducted on July 25, 1967
a conniving census aimed at altering the demographic make up of the conquered
eastern part of Jerusalem. Palestinians who were not recorded due to their
absence at the time of the census lost their right of return to their homes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their property was turned over to the Israeli
Custodian of Absentee Property, who in turn<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13.0pt;"> </span>and according to Military order No.
150 (1968) could expropriate these properties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>East Jerusalem became illegally and against all human rights
conventions, subject to the Israeli “Absentees’ Property Law of 1950”, which is
a major component of a system of Israeli land laws designed, under a legal
guise, to expropriate Palestinian land, and to bar restitution of confiscated
land to its Palestinian owners.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Master Plan of Jerusalem is another instrument through
which the make up of the population is manipulated in favor of the Jews. The
Jerusalem Master Plan 2000, which was ratified by Jerusalem Municipality in
2007, aims at stopping the Palestinian population from growing beyond 40%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is an increase form the earlier balance
set of 70 percent Jewish and 30% Palestinians. Currently, the population ratio
is 64 percent Jewish to 36 percent Palestinian. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Between
1967 and 2013 the population of Jerusalem tripled in number from 266,300 to
829,790, and it almost doubled from 1980 to 2013. The Muslim population grew by
136 percent from 125,000 in 1988 to 295,000 in 2013. The Jewish population grew
by 44 percent from 354,000 in 1988 to 522,000 in 2013.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over 200,000 illegal Jewish settlers out of
the 522,000 Jewish population live in East Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Christian population remained stagnant at
15,000 levels. This is a sharp drop from the 45,000 Christians recorded in
1947. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Projections
for Jerusalem in the year 2020 show the city’s total population at 958,000
inhabitants with 61.2 percent Jewish (587,200) and 38.8 percent Arab.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Porfessor<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyal_Weizman"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Eyal Weizman</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">, an Israeli architect </span><a href="http://www.palestine-studies.org/jq/fulltext/78278"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">writes</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">:</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 33.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">“By trying to achieve the demographic and geographic guidelines of the political
master plan, the planners and architects of the municipality of Jerusalem and
those working for them have effectively taken part in a national policy of
forced migration, unofficially referred to in Israeli circles as the “silent
transfer,” a crime according to international law.2 The evidence of these
crimes is not only to be found in protocols or<span style="color: #262526;"> </span>in
the wording of political master plans, but in the drawings of architects and
planners. They can be seen as lines in their plans.3 Yet remarkably, in spite
of all Israel’s efforts to keep the 28 per cent Palestinians to 72 percent
Jewish ratio, its planning policy is falling short of its target. Out of the
650,000 registered residents of Jerusalem in 2005, about a third were
Palestinians. This has obviously increased the frustration that further
accelerates Israel’s draconian measures.”<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20;" title="">[20]</a></span></b></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20;" title=""><!--[endif]--></a></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Illegal settlements and outposts:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Settlements are illegal under international law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today 35% of the unilaterally Israeli-defined
municipal area of East Jerusalem has been illegally designated for settlement
use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Israel has built a massive network of settlements in and
around Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The positioning of
these settlements is carefully selected in order to manipulate the make up of
the City demographically and geographically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In essence they are colonizing tools used for gerrymandering as well as
for creating facts on the grounds aimed at strengthening the Jewish historical
narrative of Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, the
geographic position of the settlements “cuts off Jerusalem from the rest of the
West Bank and divides into separate northern and southern parts, thus impacting
severely on the contiguity of a future Palestinian state and Jerusalem’s
potential as a future capital of two states”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">There are currently some 133 settlements in the West Bank,
of which 10% is in <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>East Jerusalem. (This
is following Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from all of the settlements in Gaza and
four settlements in a portion of the northern West Bank). In addition to the
settlements, roughly 100 “illegal outposts” exist in the West Bank, many of
which lack formal government and planning approval, but which nevertheless have
been established with some degree of Israeli governmental support. There are
approximately 250,000 settlers living in the West Bank, excluding those in East
Jerusalem. This is roughly twice the 126,900 settlers who lived in the West
Bank at the time of the Oslo Accords. Civil Administration, estimates that
nearly one-third of the land incorporated into the settlement jurisdictions is
private land owned by Palestinians.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">There are an estimated 210,000 Israeli settlers living in
East Jerusalem, alongside 300,000 Palestinians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Israeli presence in East Jerusalem is spread over the following
settelelmtns and areas in East Jerusalem: <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 5.4pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-table-layout-alt: fixed; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 347px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: .5pt; mso-border-color-alt: windowtext; mso-border-left-alt: 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: .5pt; mso-border-style-alt: solid; mso-border-top-alt: 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="35"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Year<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="57"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Settlers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.55pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Location<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Talpiot (East)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="35"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1967<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="57"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">13,660<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.55pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Settlement
in E. Jerusalem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>French Hill (Giv'at Shapira)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="35"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1969<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="57"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6,090<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.55pt;" valign="top" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Settlement
in E. Jerusalem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gilo<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="35"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1973<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="57"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">29,420<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.55pt;" valign="top" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Settlement
in E. Jerusalem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Giv'at Hamivtar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="35"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1970<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="57"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2,958<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.55pt;" valign="top" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Settlement
in E. Jerusalem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Giv'at Hamatos<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="35"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1997<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="57"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.55pt;" valign="top" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Settlement
in E. Jerusalem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Har Homa<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="35"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1997<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="57"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">16,470<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.55pt;" valign="top" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Settlement
in E. Jerusalem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ma'alot Dafna<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="35"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1972<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="57"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2,940<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.55pt;" valign="top" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Settlement
in E. Jerusalem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neve Ya'akov / Atarot<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="35"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1972<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="57"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">20,380<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.55pt;" valign="top" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Settlement
in E. Jerusalem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pisgat
Ze'ev<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="35"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1985<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="57"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">40,240<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.55pt;" valign="top" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Settlement
in E. Jerusalem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ramat EshkolS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="35"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1970<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="57"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6,770<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.55pt;" valign="top" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Settlement
in E. Jerusalem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 11;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ramat Shlomo<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="35"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1995<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="57"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">15,140<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.55pt;" valign="top" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Settlement
in E. Jerusalem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 12;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jewish Quarter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="35"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="57"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3,350<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.55pt;" valign="top" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Settlement
in E. Jerusalem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 13;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ramot
Alon<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="35"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="57"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">42,430<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.55pt;" valign="top" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Settlement
in E. Jerusalem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 14;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>City of David<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="35"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="57"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">10,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.55pt;" valign="top" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Settlement
in E. Jerusalem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 16.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 15; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 16.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Total<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 16.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="35"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 16.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="57"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">209,848<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 16.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 127.55pt;" valign="bottom" width="128"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source: http://www.btselem.org/settlements/statistics</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;">During 2014 alone, the Israeli government approved the
building of 2610 housing units in Givat Hamatos, the first new Israeli settlement
in East Jerusalem since construction of Har Homa settlement in the 1990s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Municipality also approved building
permits for 186 housing units in Pisgat Zeev and in Har Homa C.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tenders were issued for 708 units at
Gilo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The year also witnessed a number
of Palestinian homes take over by Israeli colonial settlers in Silwan, where
500 heavily protected Israeli illegal settlers intimidate and antagonize 20,000
Palestinians live there. Silwan is today slated for the extension of the Jewish
Quarter of the Old City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;">Another dangerous development in the settlement policies
of Israel in Jerusalem are the plans for Palestinian population transfer from
the area known as E1 to the town of Nuweima north of Jericho.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The government of Israel is currently studying
several plans submitted for the construction of Nuweima.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E1_(Jerusalem)"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;">E1</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;"> plan
“would effectively complete a crescent of Israeli settlements around East
Jerusalem dividing it from the rest of the West Bank and its Palestinian
population centres, and create a continuous Jewish population between Jerusalem
and Ma'ale Adumim. It would also nearly bisect the West Bank jeopardizing the
prospects of a contiguous Palestinian state.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[21]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;">During the “Conference of High Contracting Parties To The
Fourth Geneva Convention”, UNRWA expressed concern at the</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-themecolor: text1;"> ”</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;">The threatened <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">forcible displacement</b> E1 of approximately 7,000 Palestinians in the
Jerusalem periphery, many of whom are Bedouin registered as UNRWA refugees. In
addition to threatening traditional livelihoods and culture, forcible transfer
of protected persons from land under occupation would represent a breach of
international humanitarian law.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[22]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Incidentally Israel and USA exerted pressure
on Switzerland not to hold this Summit on Palestinians.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[23]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Expropriation of
Palestinian land</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Israel
has expropriated 35 percent of East Jerusalem’s surface territory (about 24.5
km2), targeted for Jewish settlements and neighborhoods expansion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today more than 86% of the land area of (expanded)
East Jerusalem, as defined by the City’s municipal boundaries has been
expropriated without compensation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In
addition to land expropriation, the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem uses
urban planning as a tool for Judaizing Jerusalem and for achieving its geopolitical
objectives. Only 13 percent of Palestinian lands in East Jerusalem is allocated
for Palestinian use. 35 percent is expropriated for Israeli settlements, 22
percent is zoned as Green Areas for public use (Which almost always means
reserved for settlement building), and 30 percent is entirely without a plan.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn24" name="_ftnref24" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn24;" title=""><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[24]</span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 184.3pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Demolition of Palestinian
homes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Demolition of
homes and buildings by an Occupying Power is illegal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn25" name="_ftnref25" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn25;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[25]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
states:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Any
destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging
individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other
public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited,
except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military
operations</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Demolitions in Jerusalem
are carried out under various pretexts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They are one of the main tools applied to drive the Palestinians out of
Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Demolitions are usually
carried out for lack of Israeli building permits, or as a punitive measure as
part of an illegal collective punishment tactics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In many cases, Palestinian homeowners opt to carry
out the demolitions themselves in order to avoid paying exorbitant costs of the
demolish. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">According to late
Rawhi Khatib, the last Palestinian mayor of East Jerusalem before its illegal
occupation by Israel in 1967, less than a week after the occupation of East
Jerusalem in 1967, Israel started systemized demolitions of Palestinian homes
inside and outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. Israel was quick to
demolish the Moroccan Quarter or neighborhood in the Old City, which at the
time included 2 mosques, 135 homes inhabited by 650 Palestinians. A Plastics
factory near the Armenian Quarter was demolished, leaving 200 of its workers
out of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Around 200 hundred homes
were also razed in the vicinity of the Noble Sanctuary.</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn26" name="_ftnref26" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn26;" title=""><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[26]</span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The illegal measure of punitive demolitions
was also at work around that time with the Israeli </span>military demolishing
24 homes under the pretext of punishing members of Palestinian resistance
movements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1969, Israel civil
authorities demolished 14 worship and antiquity homes, including a mosque near
the Bab Maghribeh, and the Zawiyya Fakhriyya, for the sake of exploration
around the “Buraq Wall” or what is known as the Western Wall.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn27" name="_ftnref27" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn27;" title=""><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[27]</span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All of these demolitions resulted in the displacement of at least 1,000
Palestinians during the late 1960s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many
of the residents of the Moroccan Neighborhood had ties with Morocco and they
went back there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others ended up in
Shu‘fat Refugee Camp and elsewhere in Jerusalem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since 1967 the number of Palestinian homes that have been
demolished exceeds 2000 homes. This means an average of 45 homes per year, 4
homes per month, and one home per week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>According to UN (OCHAOPT ) at least a third of the Palestinian homes in
East Jerusalem lack Israeli-issued building permits, potentially placing over
90,000 residents at risk of displacement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Revocation of Palestinian residency rights</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Palestinian East Jerusalemites are issued residency status
in Jerusalem which gives them a different status form the rest of the
Palestinians in the West Bank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since 1967 at least 14,000 Palestinians had their
Jerusalem residency revoked by the Israeli authorities. The Israeli authorities
may revoke Palestinian identity cards if its holder fails to prove that Jerusalem
is his/her “Center of Life”, a highly subjective and non-transparent criteria
that Palestinians are subjected to in fending for their residency rights in
Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other pretexts for stripping
Jerusalemites of their identity cards include <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>living outside Jerusalem for seven consecutive
years, obtaining<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>another nationality,
and or registering as a resident of another country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“According to these cases, various studies
estimate that the number of Palestinian Jerusalemites who have lost their
identity cards has now reached about 50,000-60,000. All are either deported
from the city of Jerusalem or kept out of it.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn28" name="_ftnref28" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn28;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[28]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The official figure of the Israeli Ministry
of Interior show that between 1967 and 2013 Israel revoked the residency status
of 14,309 Palestinians from East Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In 2013 alone, Israel revoked the residency of 106 East Jerusalemites.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Israel plans to introduce <a href="http://www.eccpalestine.org/hp-complicit-in-jerusalems-ethnic-cleansing/">electronic-biometric
cards</a> as well as expiry dates on the ID cards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These measures are seen by many Palestinians
as an attempt by Israel to drive even more Palestinians out of Jerusalem. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The “Apartheid Wall”.
The Fence. The Wall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Israel’s Separation
Barrier. The “Berlin Wall”:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The plan to build a “separation fence” (Apartheid Wall
hereinafter) in the West Bank (with Israel) was announced by Ariel Sharon then
Prime Minister of Israel on April 14, 2002.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Apartheid Wall is best described as a
link in a chain of colonial measures whose aim, to borrow<span style="color: #21252a; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"> </span><a href="https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-democracy-was-dead-arrival-peter-beinarts-crisis-zionism-reviewed/11162"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Peter Beinart</span></a><span style="color: #21252a; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">’s </span>words, is to create:
“a relentless assault on the lives of Palestinians to immiserate them to such
an extent that they flee.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The entire route of the wall is more than twice the size of
the Green line and is approximately 700 kilometers, out of which more than 500
kilometers have been built.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its total
cost so far is estimated at $2.6 billion, with $260 the cost of annual
maintenance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the Jerusalem area the Apartheid Wall is 168 kilometers
long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The overriding consideration in
planning its route was settlement expansion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As it stands today, the Wall integrates 12 Israeli settlements into
Jerusalem’s unilaterally defined municipal boundaries as well as the Jewish settlements
beyond the municipal boundary such as Ma’ale Adumim (located in the West Bank).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, the route of the Apartheid
Wall has left a number of Palestinian communities considered within East
Jerusalem municipal boundaries at the side of the West Bank of the border, with
serious negative impacts on the lives of at least 70,000 Palestinian residents
of Jerusalem (out of the estimated 300,000) Palestinians living there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The wall in effect has managed to physically
alienate 30% of Jerusalem’s Palestinian constituency, leading to its final
Judization.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In July 2004, the <a href="http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1671.pdf">International Court of
Justice</a> ruled in an advisory opinion that the construction of the wall
violates international law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1677.pdf">This ruling</a> must
now be added to Israel’s list of voluminous violations of international laws
and human right conventions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica CY";"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haim_Ramon">Haim Ramon</a>, an ex minister
and member of the Israeli Knesset stated, “[The Wall] also makes [Jerusalem]
more Jewish. The safer and more Jewish Jerusalem will be, it can serve as a
true capital of the state of Israel.” Asked about the Palestinian neighborhoods
that would be isolated by the Wall, Mr. Ramon said: “I don’t think anybody is
sorry about this.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn29" name="_ftnref29" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn29;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica CY"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[29]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Isolation of Jerusalem:</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Between the Apartheid Wall and the ring of
settlements that is carefully built around Jerusalem, the City is now geographically
severed from its natural West Bank hinterland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A trip between Jerusalem and Bethlehem that would normally take fifteen
minutes is now undertaken through a network of make do roads and the infamous dangerous
road known as “Wadi Nar”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
traditional metropolitan area of Jerusalem, a corridor of 30 kilometers running
from Ramallah in the north to Bethlehem in the south, has been completely
disrupted by the settlements and the Wall. This corridor has traditionally
accounted for 35% of the Palestinian national economy.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftn30" name="_ftnref30" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn30;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[30]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Approximately
four million Palestinians from the Occupied Palestinian Territory are prohibited
from entering Jerusalem without Israeli-issued permits, which are difficult to
obtain. Since the early days of the Israeli military occupation of East
Jerusalem, Israel controlled entry to Jerusalem through military and police
checkpoints at all access points to Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Today there are 16 wall check points controlling every entrance point to
Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Palestinian residents of
the West Bank access to Jerusalem is restricted to four checkpoints: Gilo,
Qalandiya, Shufat, and Zeytoun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">The isolation of
Jerusalem affects the access of Palestinians to Christian and Moslem religious
sites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Israeli <a href="http://972mag.com/hasbara-why-does-the-world-fail-to-understand-us/27551/">hasbara</a>
loves to show and even romanticize how the City of Jerusalem is a place of religious
freedom and diversity with unhindered access to the different holy places,
while in fact it is the embodiment of Israel’s colonial separatist policies
aiming at achieving Jewish theological dominance over the City of Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two million West Bank Palestinians living under
Israeli military rule need special and hard-to-get permits to enter Jerusalem, let
alone the Aqsa compound or any of the quarters of the Old City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Entrance to the Al-Aqsa compound is often
restricted to all Palestinians, residents and non-residents of Jerusalem. In
addition police and settlers have a heavy presence in the Old City, turning it into
a place of heightened tension and intimidation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Encroachment of the Hebrew Language on East
Jerusalem:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">In December 2010, the
municipality of Jerusalem issued a municipal decision forcing shop-owners in
East Jerusalem to add Hebrew text to their shop signs, and mandating that the
Hebrew text should take up at least half of the total space of the sign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given the importance of language in asserting
a narrative over another, streets names in East Jerusalem were also altered
from their original Arabic names to Jewish / Hebrew ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In light of all of Israel’s violations and
abuses of international law, this hebraization and Judaization of names might
seem trivial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it is probably one
of the most important aspects of erasing the memory of the place, and in
disconnecting the past from the present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Judaizing names validates Israel’s narrative that weaves a concocted
reality aimed at monopolizing its presence in Jerusalem while excluding all
other residents there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">In a show that
cannot be described but one of arrogance and contempt, and in the midst of
heightened tensions between Palestinians and Jews in Jerusalem, the Jerusalem
City Council, <a href="http://972mag.com/east-jerusalem-streets-given-hebrew-names-amid-tensions/111873/">approved</a>
in September 2015 the decision to name 30 roads in East Jerusalem’s Palestinian
neighborhoods with Hebrew names.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The Hebrew
street names will appear in</span><span style="color: #171717; font-size: 15.0pt;"> </span><a href="http://972mag.com/in-silwan-the-settlers-are-winning-big-time/97214/"><span style="color: #13488e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Silwan</span></a><span style="color: #171717; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">, </span><a href="http://972mag.com/sheikh-jarrah/"><span style="color: #13488e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Sheikh Jarrah</span></a><span style="color: #171717; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">, </span><a href="http://972mag.com/watch-police-spray-putrid-water-on-palestinian-homes-schools/98840/"><span style="color: #13488e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">A-Tur</span></a><span style="color: #171717; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">, </span><a href="http://972mag.com/backed-by-court-east-jerusalem-settlement-expands-into-palestinian-home/56947/"><span style="color: #13488e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Ras al-Amud</span></a><span style="color: #171717; font-size: 15.0pt;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">and the area around Damascus Gate. The names will include Biblical
references and names highlighting Jewish connections to the area.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #171717; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">Conclusion</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #171717; font-size: 15.0pt;">:<o:p></o:p></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #171717; font-size: 15.0pt;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It may be called the holy city, but over the past few
decades, Zionists have desecrated Jerusalem in the name of this very
sanctity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The city of peace is now the
city of the colonized, dispossessed and occupied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the past seven decades Jerusalem has
been subject to a systematic, ruthless and audacious Judaization process, which
started in earnest in 1948 with one end in mind: to alter the demographic and
geographic character of the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ultimate
objective of this alteration was, and still is, to establish demographic
superiority of Jews over Palestinians, and to keep Jerusalem as one single and
indivisible administration unit governed by Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Over the past thousands of
years Jerusalem </span>changed hands more than 25 times, suffered more than 20
sieges, was destroyed seventeen times, and its inhabitants were massacred on
several occasions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine the absurdity
if all of those who once conquered Jerusalem went back claiming title by virtue of their presence there once upon thousands of years ago. Well,
this is exactly what Israel is doing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Even though the Jewish rule in
Jerusalem ended in 587 BCE (</span>when the Babylonians destroyed the Kingdom of Judah)<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">, the Jews today cite biblical arguments to justify their presence there. They use their rule over Jerusalem two thousand and five hundred years ago as an absurd pretext to </span>“exhume a Jewish state from the dust of history". </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As Henry Cattan explains “Israel’s
claim of an historic right to Jerusalem is nothing but a gigantic bluff by
which the Zionist Jews have succeeded in deceiving world opinion”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Over the past several decades, all</span> Judaization measures taken in Jerusalem
fall at the heart of creating new facts on the ground aimed at justifying this 'bluff'.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;">Apart from the absurdity of Israel's divine and biblical claim to Jerusalem, Israel is violating a slew of international laws and human rights conventions in forcing its illegal presence in and control over Jerusalem. The most obvious violations are those concerning the </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">"Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict", </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the 4th Geneva Convention, and a number of UN resolutions addressing the "Question of Jerusalem". </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Annual reports by Heads Of European Missions
on East Jerusalem repeatedly allude to these violations and warn that “The increasing integration of East
Jerusalem into Israel has left Palestinian neighbourhoods ever more isolated.
Israel is, by legal and practical means, actively pursuing its annexation by
systematically undermining the Palestinian presence in the city”.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Finally, I strongly believe that in order to
have any meaningful discussion of the status of Jerusalem, it must cover all matters pertaining to the modern conquest of the entire city, east and
west.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Confining the talk to East
Jerusalem only serves at ignoring the wrongs that have led to Israel’s de facto
occupation and annexation of West Jerusalem in 1948.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Moreover, one must remain mindful of the fact that the distinction between East and West Jerusalem is as artificial
as Israel’s claims of sovereignty over the City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, all of Jerusalem, East and West, is
illegally occupied and annexed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cattan">Henry Cattan</a> puts it in
his book “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>The Question Of Jerusalem</u></b>”:</span><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Although the [UN]
Security Council and the General Assembly became more vocal since 1967 in
condemning the measures taken by Israel to change the legal status of Jerusalem
and in proclaiming their invalidity, there can be no doubt that on legal or
logical grounds there exists no difference, in regard to their illegality and
invalidity, between the measures taken by Israel in modern Jerusalem in 1948
and those [taken] in the Old City in 1967</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">N.B.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In
the course of writing this essay it occurred to me how much we need to be
reminded of the idea, for sure promulgated by the Zionists, that “The old (Palestinians) will die and the young will
forget” (The origin of this </span><a href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/old-will-die-and-young-will-forget-did-ben-gurion-say-it" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">quote
is unknown</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> – falsely attributed to Ben Gurion). It is the moral and ethical duty of every
caring and responsible Palestinian and human being to never forget, and to work in whatever capacity there is to support the Palestinian cause. There are countless ways in which one could support ending the
illegal presence of the Zionist colonial occupation and presence in Palestine.
I would suggest supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (</span><a href="http://www.bdsmovement.net/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BDS</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">) movement. I would also suggest seriously looking into
supporting (and subscribing to) all the institutions that are working on
preserving our history and heritage such as the </span><a href="http://www.palestine-studies.org/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Institute of Palestine Studies</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, or
the </span><a href="http://www.palestine-studies.org/jq" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jerusalem Quarterly</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
publication, the soon to be opened </span><a href="http://www.palmuseum.org/language/english" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Palestinian Museum</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, or performing art organisations teaching music and dance such as </span><a href="http://ncm.birzeit.edu/en" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Edward Said National Conservatory of Music</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">,
and </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/www.ibdaa48.org/info?tab=overview" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ibda Cultural
Center</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">…The list is endless. And of
course the simplest way of all is by educating ourselves about the history of
Palestine, and by never ceasing to remind the world, through talking, writing, photographing, filming, singing, cooking, baking, whatever it takes, of the truth about the injustices being committed in Palestine, and the
misery of the Palestinian people in their own homeland.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span class="MsoFootnoteReference">Jerusalem Quarterly</span> <span class="MsoFootnoteReference">Vol 45, p. 61 Said, Edward "Edward Said’s Lost
Essay on Jerusalem"</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> United Nations Resolution 181. The boundaries were
restated in article 8 of UN Resolution 194 of December 11, 1948, as well as
other UN documents such as UN Doc. A11245, December 10, 1949.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> Annex B of UN resolution 181 explicitly states
that: “The City of Jerusalem shall include the present municipality of
Jerusalem plus the surrounding villages and towns, the most eastern of which shall
bebe Abu Dis; the most southern, Bethlehem; the most western, Ein Karim
(including also the built-up area of Motsa); and the most northern Shu'fat,
(annex B).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel</span></a><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><sub><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><sub><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></sub></span><!--[endif]--></span></sub></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><sub> Between 1922 and 1936 the Jewish population in
Palestine grew from about 86,000 to 400,000. <o:p></o:p></sub></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> In 2011 Jerusalem’s population was estimated</span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><sub> </sub>at 800,000 of which 64% were Jews and
36% were Arabs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> Journal of Palestine Studies Vol 21, no. 1 (Aut.
91): pp. 5–16. Khalidi, Walid "The Palestine Problem: An Overview"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> Description taken from MERIP Report on Palestine</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> In 1948 and at the time of the official cease-fire,
Moshe Dayan sat with Abdallah Tell and UN mediators, slicing up Jerusalem.
Using a map scaled at 1:20,000, each side used a different coloured wax pen to
delineate the furthest point under its control. Israel drew a red line and
Jordan a green line. This is the origin of the phrase used to describe land
that is “behind the green line.” In many places the two lines converged. In
addition, as the wax of the China graphic pens dried, the coloured ink lines
spread out until they coved two millimetres of the map which equaled 200
meters. The drying ink caused a delicate problem as to where the exact boundaries
were. For example, part of the neighbourhood of Musrara remained in a deadlock
until an agreement was reached in July 1951.
(http://www.jewishpress.com/sections/travel/jerusalem-walking-tour-along-part-of-the-1948-armistice-line/2012/09/28/0/?print)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> According to Merriam Webster online dictionary the
meaning of armistice is “a temporary suspension of hostilities by agreement
between the opponents: A truce."</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> Flapan, Simha, 1987,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Birth of Israel: Myths And Realities</i>; Pantheon Books, New York, page
150<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> Journal of Palestine Studies Vol. 1, no. 1 (August
91): pp. 5–16. Khalidi, Walid "The Palestine Problem: An Overview</span><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;">".</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[13]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://civiccoalition-jerusalem.org/system/files/urban_planning_in_jerusalem_final.pd"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 8.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://civiccoalition-jerusalem.org/system/files/urban_planning_in_jerusalem_final.pd</span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[14]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;">“The Status of Jerusalem in International
Law - http://www.nad-plo.org/etemplate.php?id=33<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[15]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 8.0pt;">Jiryis, Sabri<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i>1976<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, The Arabs in Israel; </i>Monthly Review
Press, New York and London (p. 105)</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><o:p></o:p></u></i></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[16]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 8.0pt;">Flapan, Simha, 1987, The</span><i><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"> Birth of Israel: Myths And Realities; </span></i><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;">Pantheon Books, New York; </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/039455888X"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 8.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(p.32</span></a><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">)</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[17]</span></b><!--[endif]--></span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;"> </span></i><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;">Uzi Binyamin<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">,
City Without a Wall (Shocken, 1973), p. 2. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[18]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span class="MsoFootnoteReference">http://www.bdsmovement.net/files/2014/05/Fact-Sheet-Jerusalem-1948-present.pdf</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[19]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span class="MsoFootnoteReference">http://www.jiis.org.il/.upload/yearbook/2015/shnaton_C0115.pdf</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[20]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> Journal of Palestine Studies Issue 38 p. 17. Eyal
Weizman"Demographic architecture".<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref21" name="_ftn21" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[21]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span class="MsoFootnoteReference">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E1_(Jerusalem)</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn22" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref22" name="_ftn22" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[22]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><a href="http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/ED52BC76147D00AE85257DCE005E0CAC"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/ED52BC76147D00AE85257DCE005E0CAC</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref23" name="_ftn23" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[23]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.631082"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.631082</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref24" name="_ftn24" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn24;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[24]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><a href="http://civiccoalition-jerusalem.org/system/files/urban_planning_in_jerusalem_final.pdf"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://civiccoalition-jerusalem.org/system/files/urban_planning_in_jerusalem_final.pdf</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref25" name="_ftn25" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn25;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[25]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Geneva Convention
relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, commonly
referred to as the Fourth Geneva Convention, is one of the four </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaties"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">treaties</span></a><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> of the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Geneva Conventions</span></a><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. It was adopted in August 1949,
and defines humanitarian protections for </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">civilians</span></a><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> in a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">war zone</span></a><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.</span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref26" name="_ftn26" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn26;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[26]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Al-Aqsa Mosque
Compound, </span></b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">sometimes
referred to as the Noble Sanctuary (“Haram al-Sharif” in Arabic), is the
compound that contains Al Aqsa building itself, ablution fountains, open spaces
for prayer, monuments and the Dome of the Rock building. This entire area
enclosed by the walls which spans 144 dunums (almost 36 acres), forms the
Mosque. Sacred to approximately 1.6<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>billion Muslims around the world, and a symbol for all Palestinians, the
Mosque has been under exclusive Muslim sovereignty and control since the
construction of the Dome of the Rock in 692 CE. As such, any entrance to the Al
Aqsa Mosque must be agreed and coordinated by the Muslim Waqf. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref27" name="_ftn27" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn27;" title=""><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[27]</span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> A report
published in December 1930 by the Commission appointed by the United Kingdom
government to determine the rights and claims of Moslems and Jews in connection
with the Western or Wailing Wall at Jerusalem found that “it [The Wall] is
legally the absolute property of the Moslem community and the strip of pavement
facing it is Waqf property, as is shown by documents preserved by the Guardian
of the Waqf.” (UN General Assembly S/8427/Add.1 23 February 1968)</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref28" name="_ftn28" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn28;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[28]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;">https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/middle-east/9223-israels-silent-expulsion-of-jerusalemites</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref29" name="_ftn29" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn29;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[29]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jul/12/israel1</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6270400925178086464#_ftnref30" name="_ftn30" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn30;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[30]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.nadplo.org/userfiles/file/New%20Publications/BehindTheWall.pdf</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-1687119903484924222015-02-24T22:24:00.000+02:002015-02-24T22:24:08.333+02:00“Apology Not Accepted”<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://www.frequentflier.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Delta_AndersonCNN-700x399.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.frequentflier.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Delta_AndersonCNN-700x399.png" height="182" width="320" /></a></div>
I was thrilled to read about emirates airlines' rejection of
Delta airlines’ apology over the deeply racist and banal 9/11 statements. The comments in question were made by Delta CEO Richard Anderson, who was arguing
that some state-owned Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) carriers are distorting
global trade with the help of huge subsidies from their governments. He denied on CNN claims
that U.S. airlines benefitted from US government subsidies after the 9/11 attacks.
He went on to say “<a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-airlines-clash-over-rivals-from-persian-gulf-1424737494">It’s a great irony to have the UAE </a>from the Arabian
Peninsula talk about that,” he said, “given the fact that our industry was
really shocked by the terrorism of 9/11, which came from terrorists from the
Arabian Peninsula.” <div>
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Shortly thereafter hell broke loose over his remarks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Delta quickly apologized only to have Emirates
Airlines make global headlines with its rejection of this apology.</div>
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To me, this story was symbolic on more than one level.</div>
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First, the USA is now tasting some of its own medicine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The slightest hint that a certain industry is
being impacted by foreign competitors resulted in having major industries rally the office
of the President to contain the claim of this "threat".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This should give Americans a little taste of
what it is like to have the affairs of one’s own country meddled with, albeit on a relatively minor and small scale. Second,
the apology ensued only because they were contending with powers to be reckoned with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Third, the reaction of the GCC airlines hit a
chord not only with their own nationals, but I could safely assume with all
Arabs as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> We yearn for the day </span>in which Arabs deal with America
from a position of power and not one of weakness and vulnerability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The power inherent in this rejection was so
elating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish we applied it in our foreign relations as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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This event sadly recalled the killing by the Israeli army in cold blood, exactly a year ago on March 10, of Jordanian judge Raed Zuaiter. To date Jordan has not even had an apology or a
proper explanation of what happened. Let alone, of course, seeing Jordan properly retaliate for this heinous terrorist crime. Today the official stance is that "the government is waiting for the findings
of the investigative report Of the Jordano-Israeli joint committee!!!".</div>
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Finally, and going back to the airline story, I must confess that I was kind of disappointed to
see that the sweet "apology not accepted" remark made by Tim Clark, a British national,
who is the CEO of Emirates Airlines. I wished it came from Sheikh Ahmad bin Maktoum or any other Emirati national. Please don't get me wrong, but the complex of Kipling’s “White
Man’s Burden” runs deep in my veins!</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-30386699139611097322014-05-16T20:34:00.002+02:002014-05-16T20:34:21.670+02:00التصوُّف<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijUTSuu564vQcdUE21UUK-8gckML8DE581CGfzNPhBqJ63tjAA0ei583jepNw_IfvhKkEwdKlo7DzgJzdLW-pFGgfXNKygmZLex7VaLO9JHNx3BDzTFtcTNebFXxcYpL1BN8Quag4Tyiw/s1600/sufi.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijUTSuu564vQcdUE21UUK-8gckML8DE581CGfzNPhBqJ63tjAA0ei583jepNw_IfvhKkEwdKlo7DzgJzdLW-pFGgfXNKygmZLex7VaLO9JHNx3BDzTFtcTNebFXxcYpL1BN8Quag4Tyiw/s1600/sufi.jpeg" height="400" width="286" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.09375); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">التصوّف** موضوع شيُق للبعض والغوص فيه مثير للغضب عند آخرين. وهذا التناقض في فهم <a href="http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B5%D9%88%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%A9">التصوُّف</a> بينبع من إنه البعض بيشوفه طريق للسلام والطمأنينة من خلال التدين والعبادة، والبعض الآخر بيشوف فيه شكل من أشكال الإلحاد والهرطقة وهتك أستار الشريعة. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.09375); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.09375); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">أما أنا فموقفي أقرب من المحبين للتصوّف مع إني غير متدينة وغير ممارسة لأي من العبادات من صلاة أو صوم آو غيره. </span></div>
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من فترة غير قصيرة بدأت أقرأ عن التصوٰف لانبهاري بفكرة ومبدأ "الزهد". شفت فيها تحرر عظيم وراحة نفسية عميقة. بعض الكتب اللي قرأتها كانت معقدة جداً والبعض الآخر كان سلس وبسيط وممتع للغاية. ومن كثر ما حبيت اللي قرأته حبيت إني أدونه بصورة ملخصة ومقتضبة. وبالمناسبة هذه أول مرة آكتب بالعربي في مدونتي. اخترت إني أكتب بالعامية وما كتبت بالفصحى حرصاً على سلامة وصحة محبين اللغة العربية.</div>
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على كلٍ، نرجع لموضوعنا التصوّف. انا لقيت أفضل طريقة لفهمه مبدئيا هي بالتركيز على غاية التصوف وهي برأيي الوصول إلى الله أو الحقيقة. وبما أنها وجهة غايتها الوصول إلى محطة معينة فهناك عدة طرق يمكن سلكها وبالتالي المقولة "الطرائق إلى الله على عدد أنفاس الخلائق"</div>
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الطريق بهذا المعنى يتم تحديدها نوعاً ما عن طريق الشيخ أو المريد اللي بيتبعه الصوفيّ. والقاعدة المتفق عليها إنه يتم تلقي الطرق الصوفية سابقاً عن سابق. وعند البحث عن الطريقة الأصل وجد إنها بتوقف عند كميل بن زياد اللي تلقى تعليمه على يد علي ابن ابي طالب والذي تلقى الطريق من النبي الذي هو بدوره تلقى الطريق من جبريل. ومن الطرق الصوفية المعروفة "القلندرية"، "الملامتية"، "القادرية"، "الدسوقية"، "الشاذلية"، "العزمية"، "البرهانية" وغيرهم.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"> في جانب آخرما عليه إجماع وهوأصل كلمة "التصوف".بتستغربوا انه أصل الكلمة تم دراسته مطولاً من قبل العديد من العلماء ومؤرخين التصوّف. المهم نعرف إنه لا يوجد إجماع عأصل الكلمة. في ناس بيقول جاي من الصوف الذي كان رد</span>اء الأنبياء والزّهّاد كدلالة على التقشف. وفي ناس بيقولوا إنه مشتق من كلمة الصفا (صفاء النفس)، ناس ثاني بيقول إنه مشتق من الكلمة اليونانية سوفيا وتعني الحكمة. مرات بينسبوا الكلمة لقبيلة أو جماعة مثل أهل الصُّفَّة أو قبيلة صوفة اليمنية. وطبعاً في كثير من الدارسين بيضيفوا اصول متعددة أخرى للتسمية.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">بالنسبة الي موضوعي المفضل بالتصوف هو تعريف التصوف. زي ما أكيد بتتوقعوا في عدة تعريفات جميلة ومختلفة للتصوف. التعريف اللي حبيته أكثر شي هو تعريف الشيخ الشبلي (أبو بكر جعفر بن دلف بن جحدر الشبلي) اللي بيقول فيه "التصوف هو الجلوس مع الله بلا همٍّ" ومصطلح الجلوس في الصوفية روحاني وغير حسّي وبيشير إلى دوام الطاعة لله.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">فكرة إسقاط الهم من القلب في تعريف الشبلي فكرة رهيبة. وتفسر على عدة مستويات.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">آول مستوى "إسقاط الهم من الغد" وهو مفهوم التوكل. والصوفيين بيقولوا "بالهمَّة والعمل" وبيحذروا من "المُنْية والأمل" خوفاً من سيطرة الأماني والآمال على العباد. والنقشبدي حكى شغلة كتير حلوة بهذا السياق " من طال أمله اشتغل بالجمع والتحصيل ، وغفل عن الموت وتركه نسياً منسياً حتى يصير كمن أيقن أنه يبقى إلى أقصى أوقات الآجال"</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">ثاني مستوى لإسقاط الهم هو اليقين بآن كل ماعليها زائل وفان. والتعلق بالزائل حمق. وهون في نقطة مهمة لازم تتوضح. التصوٰف لا يعني إنه الواحد لازم يكون فقير أو إنه الفقر يكون أحد غاياته. بالعكس التصوف بيقول الله يزيد ويبارك بس نتأكد من مُلْك الأشياء من دون ما نسمحلها تملكنا. الإمام عبد القادر الجيلاني قال "إجعلوا ذلك (المتاع) في أيديكم فليس في قلوبكم، فلا يضركم". بعرفش ليش هون تذكرت مثل بحبه كتير وهو "العز بهدلة".</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">ثالث مستوى لإسقاط الهم، واللي عنده رح آوقف لأني تعبت وبدي أروح أنام شوي قبل ما أطلع أ</span>مشي مع صديقي علي، هو إسقاط هَمِّ الآخرة بمعنى تجاوز الرغبة في الجنة والخشية من النار، إلى الرغبة في الإرتقاء إلى مقام المحبة " وهنا تكون كل أفعال العبد إرضاء لله وليست طمعاً في الجنة أو خوفاً من النار" ويمكن آكثر واحدة معروفة في إسقاط هم الآخرة هي<a href="http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%A9"> رابعة العدوية</a> المشهورة بقول "انها ما عبدته خوفاً من ناره ولا طمعاً في جنته، فتكون كآجير السوء إن عمل طلب الأجر، وانما عبدته حباً فيه وتقربتً إليه" </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">وبالنهاية ونظراً لتحرر الصوفي من الدوافع المادية الدنيوية، فبلاقي إنه مباديء التصوف ممكن إنها تكون مدخل مهم لإعادة القيم والأخلاق للعديد من نواحي حياتنا. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0898438); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">**معظم المعلومات من كتاب "التصوف" ليوسف زيدان.</span></div>
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Elisabeth Badinter is a famous person. A celebrity of sort. I only heard of her recently when I stumbled upon an <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/2697285e-67e7-11e3-a905-00144feabdc0.html">interview</a> with her in the Financial Times in which she was described as a philosopher, a feminist and a billionaire. The combination of those three together was intriguing as well as contradictory. I thought to myself, a person with such power must have vested interests that could compromise its philosophical and feminist ideals (Just a thought and I could be wrong of course).<br />
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Badinter is a former philosophy teacher, a best selling author, and an intellectual. She is also the largest shareholder (10%) in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publicis">Publicis,</a> the multi-billion euro advertising agency.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The interviewer probed Badinter on an array of issues such as women’s rights, gender equality, religion, and prostitution. No talk of French prostitution and feminism is complete without evoking the name of the French baron of sleaze, <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/05/the-dsk-affair.html">Dominique Strauss Kahn (DSK)</a>, who Badinter happens to be his wife’s friend.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The views of Badinter were refreshingly progressive and bold. She made the distinction between women’s rights and gender equality favoring the latter. Simone de Beauvoir figured prominently in her thinking, and she seemed quite mesmerized by her. On the topic of prostitution, Badinter sees it as a contract between two consenting adults, which the government has no business interfering in. In Badinter exact words she said, “If a woman wants to rent out her body, that’s nobody’s business”. She is quite supportive and feels strongly about gay marriages. <o:p></o:p></div>
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All of this talk of freedoms took a sharp turn to the worst when it came to religion, especially Islam in France. One could sense the tone of Badinter changing and she instantly turned into an all too familiar xenophobe that France has had an abundance of lately. She vehemently opposed women wearing the veil at school and women in niqab in public places. She equated wearing the veil with religious radicalism, and she proceeded to hail secularism as “Being part of France‘s DNA.” She went on to say “It [secularism] is the heritage [of France] of the [Age of] Enlightenment (17<sup>th</sup> century).”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Badinter’s extremism and intolerance towards Moslems was perplexing and disappointing. How could such a “progressive” person who believes that prostitution is a right, deny the same right to choose to another. This selective approach only highlights the hypocrisy that is taking over a large part of the world’s “intelligentsia”. In fact it goes beyond hypocrisy to the more serious epidemic of the globally prevailing moral bankruptcy. The same way seculars want religious institutions to accept their right not to believe, they too must grant these freedoms to religious people with all the edicts that come with it. Interestingly I highly doubt that Badinter would dare to make such accusations, or take such strong stands by campaigning against any exhibition of Jewishness, which is quite prevalent all over France.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Publicis is a huge conglomerate. To have its biggest shareholder campaign so vociferously against the simplest manifestation of Islam should undermine its ability to do business with Moslem stakeholders. Until Moslems learn how to flex their economic muscle, they should not be surprised to see business conducted with bigots who see them as an easy target, and who openly and belligerently attack their religious and cultural beliefs that they so cherish and consider “part of their DNA.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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And by the way just as I expected, Badinter’s view of the “DSK affair” was quite sympathetic (powerful vested interests at play). She said the way DSK was treated after his infamous New York Sofitel affair “has left a scar”. I would say not one but many scars…the kind that usually comes with serial rapists.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Over the past few days a piece of news in </span><a href="http://www.alghad.com//articles/510081"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Al-Ghad Newspaper</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
caught my attention about a mini-intifada in one of the schools in the “shanty
town” of Joufeh in the Jordan Valley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
students of “</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/aljofa.school?hc_location=timeline"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Joufeh Secondary School for Boys</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">” were rioting against the cutting
off of electricity and water to their school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Just imagine a school of 570 students was forced to shut down its restrooms
because there was no water. Students answering nature calls had the choice of
either going home or relieving themselves out in the open (Yes this is happening now in
Jordan).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The electricity cutoff meant dark
classrooms, in addition to other obvious inconveniences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For two days in a row, the </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-ENe6RgJPQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">sight of young children</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> calling for electricity and water in the streets around their school
was nothing short of devastating, and a sure sign of the sorry
state we find ourselves in today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The reason behind the cutoff in water was not clear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the cutoff in electricity was
because a good “Samaritan” and while practicing what seems a favorite passtime down there decided to shoot the electricty generator that feeds the school. As expected, the electricity
company refuses to foot the JD 18 thousand needed for fixing it (and I don't blame it). Once again we find ourselves faced with the ramifications
of the absence of the rule of law, and this time the victim presents itself in
the form of an electricity generator, or maybe a school of 570 young students!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Funnily enough the school in question is a brand new school,
less than 2-years old!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the pictures
online, it seems modern and quite impressive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was built with foreign aid (surprise surprise!) and as part of some fancy program called </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Community-Mobilization-for-Partnership-in-Schools-Project-CMP/240933679272261"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Community Mobilization for Partnership</span></a> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(CMP)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
in schools program run by an agency called
IRD (International Relief and Development) and supported by USAID. The Arabic
translation of CMP is quite <span style="color: black;">intriguing and a bit fuzzy (<span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang="AR-SA" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span dir="RTL"></span> (المــدرســة المجتمعــية</span></span></div>
<span class="usercontent"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
or maybe it should be appropriately renamed</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<span dir="RTL"></span><span lang="AR-SA" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span dir="RTL"></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">(المدرسة المشكلجية)</span></span><span dir="LTR" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span> </div>
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black;">The latest reported news on the situation is that the school is still left to fend for itself to get basic services such as electricity and water. The Ministry of Education is nowhere to be heard from nor seen</span>. </span></div>
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="usercontent">The story of this school fascinated me
because it ironically sums up our state of affairs today on so many levels. On the citizen respect level, in this school we find absolute
disregard to the welfare of our students and their teaching faculties and environments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> On the national capital investment level, we are still b</span>uilding school edifices that we cannot
sustain simply because we found some imbecile to fund them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> On the rule of law level, this story more than amplifies the state's i</span>nability to deter hooligans from wreaking havoc
by violating public properties from electricity generators, to water wells, to
government lands. On the public relations level, our love is still unabated for enrolling in fancy humanitarian programs without really
putting in the necessary commitment or effort to make them work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="usercontent">A case in point of these wonderful humanitarian programs is the</span> core principles of </span><a href="http://www.ird.org/our-work/programs/community-mobilization-for-partnership-in-schools"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">IRD</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, which are:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->To reduce the suffering of the world’s most
vulnerable groups and </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span>To provide the tools and
resources needed to increase their self-sufficiency.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="usercontent" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well for now, why don’t we reduce the urge of pooping by providing a decent lit bathrooms with clean running water in the school for our students. Once we succeed at that, we can then move on to provide other lofty tools needed to increase other self sufficiency requirements.</span></div>
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<span class="usercontent" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finally, shame on us for consistently and systematically failing our children, especially the poor disadvantaged ones.</span></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-29894841951929192272013-12-15T16:47:00.001+02:002013-12-15T23:00:45.261+02:00"Prime Ministers Galore"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi47z_W7oIGWidNDDVLfvI3TxCkUTmqnrk9MbvBDokElzXWC8knWw7HQAppBRh1ek6ZO5PXwS_PeLaSMu-Y3rPeWM64hxj4YZXGPWkNRc1V16wC5d-hD5Rx2PGJVKJzNLGhNPQyK_iVh6E/s1600/PMs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi47z_W7oIGWidNDDVLfvI3TxCkUTmqnrk9MbvBDokElzXWC8knWw7HQAppBRh1ek6ZO5PXwS_PeLaSMu-Y3rPeWM64hxj4YZXGPWkNRc1V16wC5d-hD5Rx2PGJVKJzNLGhNPQyK_iVh6E/s1600/PMs.JPG" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two frequently asked questions about Jordan keep on popping
(or pooping) up on almost any occasion, ranging from the funeral of Nelson Mandela
to the legalization of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>marijuana in Uruguay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first is "why Jordan hasn’t been able to
achieve sustainable and inclusive growth?" This question is immediately followed by "has this failure always been
the case, or is it a recent phenomenon?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The frequency of these questions intensifies with time, and so does the urge to
find answers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This very urge
led me to read countless economic and political economic stu</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">dies on why genuine
growth over the past decades has remained elusive.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In looking for reasons, there seemed to be an
emphasis on the weakness of the institutional framework for policy making and
strategy planning in Jordan. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There also
seems to be a consensus on the symptom, or maybe the root cause, of such
weakness, which are the continuous dizzying changes in governments in Jordan. The
constant “government hopping” has been a huge enigma for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why would anyone “in his right mind” (the ultimate
absolute decision maker namely the king) persistently disrupt an already
vulnerable socio-economic <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>status quo?
Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, I noticed that we have
tended to blame the past decade (in an indirect allusion to King Abdulla’s
reign) for such instability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having all
of this in mind, I decided to take a quick look at government formations in
Jordan since it was a British Protectorate (Emirate of Transjordan </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1921)
until today. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is what I found:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>The first prime minister Transjordan knew was
Rashid Talee’ (April-August 1921)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Since 1921 Jordan has had 73 changes of prime ministers. An
average </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">of one prime minister per 1.3 years.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Since 1946 Jordan has had 61 changes of prime ministers. An
average of one prime minister per 1.1 years</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Three prime ministers had their (or one of
their) premierships for less than a month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>5 days (Hazza Majali in 1955), 8 days (Hussein Khalidi in 1957), and 9
days (Muhammad Daoud in 1970).</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>61 out of the 73 were prime ministers for less
than two years.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>41 out of the 73 were prime ministers for less
than a year</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>10 out of the 73 were prime ministers for less
than three months.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>The longest sitting prime minister was Tawfiq
Abu Al-Huda 1938-1944</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>The longest 3 sitting prime ministers were
before 1946</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Zeid Refai was twice a prime minister (I had completely
forgotten about this) the first time 1973-1976 and the second time 1985-1989.
Both periods were tumultuous ones.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>From 1999 until today Jordan has had 10 prime ministers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An average of 1 prime minister per 1.4 years.
A better ratio than the previous decades!!!!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Since 1948 Israel has had 12 prime ministers over
33 terms. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In conclusion, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>attributing
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>our inability to achieve sustainable
growth to the instability of our policy making framework seems to hold some
truth to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we say in Arabic, if the
reason is known, then the puzzlement is gone; or part of it at least.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-67435318842354755092013-05-31T10:58:00.003+02:002013-05-31T10:58:32.040+02:00USA: A Melting Pot or a Changing One?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
These days reading the news coming out of the USA, it is quite evident that we no longer read names typically associated with Anglo-Saxon America. The following is a sample of some of the names in leading news stories over the past few weeks:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/arizona-mom-yanira-maldonado-released-jail-family-spokesperson/story?id=19293807">Yanira Maldonado</a>: Arizona woman held on marijuana charges
<br />
<a href="http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/05/30/arvind-mahankali-wins-national-spelling-bee/">Arvind Mahankali</a>: Winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee
<br />
Tamerlan <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzhokhar_and_Tamerlan_Tsarnaev">Tsarnaev</a> & Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: Alleged Boston Marathon bombers
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8DCYD6zaKuOEFY3d_DVjnBWWDBHLmDehvdxYNo1qZ2tfAFcB9xeD7ALknm8RcLvBbJBKSHtAnpC2UNNjpSQOuMIAtcpeZjN0dmgG-Hw6l3whibw7e5i5nQGq-tu63gyvd5KXLyDFiQ/s400/Obama+Jewish+President.jpg">Barack Obama</a>: The first US Jewish President<br />
<a href="http://now.msn.com/tamer-mosallam-california-teen-misses-crash-that-killed-five-friends">Tamer Mosallam</a>, Nozad Al Hamawendi, Cecilia Zamora, Alyahyan, teenagers involved in a recent highly publicized tragic car crash in Newport Beach in California.
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<br />
A passing thought for whatever it is worth.<br />
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</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-37652958933529396132012-01-02T20:43:00.003+02:002012-01-02T20:47:47.338+02:00Tolerance...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik1InV_Qjlg-lYqo8Zx7eVysfXbY_Z3xa29rFxufKF8O5O3fsmILyjTcjTuzeGLwPvA6bQG3lySWLIzCbqJ_vlsj7IuyS29-7KUpziYYRQ3L3ytReqXHFmG-7t4HxFwOqVuiPWzjHoJio/s1600/blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik1InV_Qjlg-lYqo8Zx7eVysfXbY_Z3xa29rFxufKF8O5O3fsmILyjTcjTuzeGLwPvA6bQG3lySWLIzCbqJ_vlsj7IuyS29-7KUpziYYRQ3L3ytReqXHFmG-7t4HxFwOqVuiPWzjHoJio/s320/blog.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693107966882904146" /></a><br />“I am not guilty of the common error of judging another by myself. I easily believe in another’s humor which is contrary to my own; and though I find myself engaged to one certain form, I do not oblige others to it, as many do; but believe and apprehend a thousand ways of living; and, contrary to most men, more easily admit of difference than uniformity amongst us. I as frankly as any one would have me, discharge a man from my humors and principles, and consider him according to his own particular model. Though I am not continent myself, I nevertheless sincerely approve the continence of the Feuillans and Capuchins, and highly commend their way of living. I insinuate myself by imagination into their places, and love and honor them the more for being other than I am. I very much desire that we may be judged every man by himself, and would not be drawn into the consequence of common examples”. (Michel Montaigne)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-57689064672785717412011-08-01T11:54:00.005+02:002011-08-01T12:08:40.431+02:00العصافير "توتوت" والقافله تسيرارتفع سقف حرية التعبير..<br />بس فعليًا ما صار في تغيير..<br />المشاكل هي هي وقابله للتجيير..<br />والجماعه فوق بيتكركرو "ههه قال بدهم تحرير"..<br />والجماعه تحت بيتخبطو باللي بصير وما بصير..<br />طعه وقايمه قلبت كل صغير كبير...<br />والكبير سقف أحمر لأنه من غيره بئس المصير..<br />صدقنا حالنا وفكرنا فيسبوك مأذنه للتكبير..<br />وفكرنا تويتر لحاله رح يعمل تأثير..<br />وتناسينا إنه الكلام الحاف ما بحل أزمة تعتير..<br />إفتراضي كان أو جاي من حتة تقرير..<br />الوضع مهزله والحراك قابل للمصادره بس مش للتصدير..<br />وسلامتكو وتعيشو على خطابات إجلال وتقدير..<br />فحواهاالعصافير توتوت والقافله تسير<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-16843200591070242692011-06-24T12:20:00.004+02:002011-06-24T12:50:59.920+02:00Is Hitler a Christian?I was recently asked by a 12-year old adorable and very intelligent American boy “Was Bin Laden a Moslem?” I answered “Yes”. <br /><br />The question suddenly popped up on my mind on that same evening. It wasn’t so much the question, but the fact that a 12-year old kid is already thinking along these lines. I had no doubt of the innocence of his question. However, I had all doubts about the media at work shaping this type of thinking.<br /><br />The following day, and while having breakfast with the parents of this child, and who happen to be devout Christians, I decided to bring up this question again. It was now my turn to ask the father (who is a good friend) and said “Was Hitler a Christian?” He answered “Yes”. I then continued “Does it ever occur to you why is it that even though Hitler targeted groups based on their religion, we never think of him as a Christian but rather as a Nazi; while in the case of Bin Laden who was specifically opposed to U.S. foreign policy and intervention in the Middle East, we still insist on emphasizing his religion rather than his actions?<br /><br />After what ended up being a lengthy discussion, we concluded that neither the actions of Bin Laden nor those of Hitler are representatives of their religious beliefs. More importantly, we agreed that once religion is infused in politics, they both become manipulative, toxic, and lethal. Most importantly, my 12-year old friend shared in this discussion, which thankfully succeeded in putting this matter in a different and more tolerant perspective.<br /><br />As for the media fueling and mongering such thinking, well that's a whole different question altogether!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-51167967202884103992011-04-12T13:43:00.004+02:002011-04-12T13:46:33.241+02:00Count Me Out For Now!<a href="http://tiny.cc/kuwgh"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 315px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 315px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://tiny.cc/kuwgh" /></a> <br /><br /><br /><br />While some argue that elections give transitional countries experience with organizing parties and civil society in addition to improving the protection of civil liberties, others argue that well-functioning rule of law must precede elections. The importance of a vibrant middle class and a functioning state apparatus are also stressed on as prerequisites of meaningful elections.<br /><br />In the absence of many of these prerequisites, the question that remains in my head: why should I vote on Tuesday (our Tuesday that is November 9, 2010)? I am fully aware that this is a “chicken and egg" question? Ooops this riddle has been recently resolved, it’s the chicken. Well, you get the gist of what I am trying to say. I hope! <br /><br />If the process of campaigning is any indication, then I am definitely turned off. If the track record of the candidates is any indication, then common sense tells me that the majority of them did not get to finish their last term because they were simply fired (I have no better way to describe it). So seeing them back again would be equivalent to Yogi Berra’s “It's déjà vu all over again". A nightmare scenario if you ask me. If the firing of many of the likely lucky future MPs, ok ok term dissolution, was unfair (as some might argue), then the independence of this entire crucial branch is more of a reason not to vote. To tell you the truth, when the last session was dissolved I got the feeling that the message was “you either do it the executive way, or I will show you the way”, out that is!!! <br /><br />Sounds negative. I know. Well let me look at it from a more positive angle. I will start with letting bygones be bygones. Let me now look at the campaign program of the candidates I am supposed to cast my vote of confidence for. Program? What’s that? Some have declared superficial and skeleton ones through slogans that make elections sound more like martyrdom, while others have simply and “condescendingly” declared “no messages” but we are still supposed to take them seriously and vote for them. Others have graciously reminded us that Jordan is for Jordanians...how about the “non-Jordanians” (as defined by these very Jordanians) who will be voting? <br /><br />I am extremely annoyed by the fact that I won’t be voting. But frankly speaking, I would be more annoyed to vote for a candidate simply because I have to. I’d rather delay this part of being a good citizen and concentrate on the many other parts that are real and can hopefully make a meaningful difference. Sorry...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-22419828379443138852011-03-21T23:27:00.003+02:002011-03-21T23:34:01.662+02:00The Paradox of Change<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9YHXhVIRL1-TQscS9sYAuQgG6DoKj9YZFMDXzmzTyL06dtG1XKAVKvOJ1fV2oa3UYnVdjuReQyWZFBeiMOEgwKZ6jUmc6ChwSxLFJXAf0RPnAUzZk3tzq3ut7JpJv-zPwvqfN2jyPjds/s1600/Hurriya_image.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 234px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9YHXhVIRL1-TQscS9sYAuQgG6DoKj9YZFMDXzmzTyL06dtG1XKAVKvOJ1fV2oa3UYnVdjuReQyWZFBeiMOEgwKZ6jUmc6ChwSxLFJXAf0RPnAUzZk3tzq3ut7JpJv-zPwvqfN2jyPjds/s320/Hurriya_image.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586648836681905554" /></a><br />It is impossible not to feel the breeze of the winds of change sweeping through the Arab World today. Mesmerized by the news, and totally awestricken by the sheer fact that fear is gone; we the people of this region have finally reclaimed our long muted voice. <br /> <br />The speed with which the recent changes have taken over our lives has served as a centrifugal force of all indifference and passivity. Purgatory is no longer an option, it’s either hell or heaven; and the choice is ours! Consensus on the definition of what each means was also formed with a dizzying speed: hell is the status quo pre Tunisia, and heaven is the reality that we will proactively and collectively create together. All of a sudden, our vision has become that of an eagle in its clarity, and our mission that of a saint in its good will. Boundaries in all their forms have melted erasing with them all manifestations of apathy and numbness. Our outlook is now vibrant, energized, empathetic, and full of hope. We suddenly found ourselves falling in love with life, with action, with thinking, with history, with ourselves, and ultimately with one another. Our defeated souls no longer haunt us. We have trumped defeat with a vengeance, and we have all made a tacit pact among ourselves that never again will we be subject to the humiliation that we once helplessly and ashamedly suffered in silence.<br /><br />In contemplating our future, it seems as if we all agree that the ball is in our court now, and it is up to us how we play it. There are varying views on what is the best way to go about asserting our right in determining this future. Regardless of what the means are, the end result must ensure building democratic institutions that would eventually transcend the individuals behind their creation. The foundation of these institutions is a rule of law that is just in its essence, and enforceable in its application. In this institutionalized system, universal equality might be farfetched, while equity must be its cornerstone. As for the skeptics who have long championed the condescending claim that Arabs aren’t ready yet for this neat exercise of institution building, my answer for now is anarchy!<br /><br />Quoting the popular Arab adage “it doesn’t get constructed unless it gets destructed”.* The process of constructing will necessarily have to coincide with a radical phase of destruction. Bakunin, the well known theorist of collective anarchism said: “ The urge to destroy is also the urge to create”. Incidentally this urge, in its most absurd form, resembles to a large degree what the Arab world is going through today: a process of negation, without necessarily claiming to know what the best alternative is. What is certain today is that all forces of oppression- be they political, economic, cultural or moral are being confronted and attacked with unprecedented determination. More important, central to this confrontation is the proclamation of absolute confidence in the masses, as well as the absolute rejection of the stifling status quo that has for long symbolized the source of suffering and humiliation for many.<br /><br />If politics were to resemble art, then drawing parallels with the Dadaist movement would be appropriate in this case. Nearly a century ago, Dadaism was formed as a direct result to the cataclysmic events of the turn of the 20th century. Today at the turn of the 21st century, we see Arab revolutions and upheavals taking place as a direct result of mind boggling oppression felt through accumulations of abuses, defeats and failures over the years. Dadaism response was “a rejection of the values of a society that had allowed such tragedies to happen”; and so is the Arab response in its rejection of anything associated with autocracy and dictatorship. Tristan Tzara summed up the Dada attitude in its manifesto of 1918: “Let everyone proclaim that we have a great work of destruction and negativity to accomplish. Sweep and clean. The cleansing of the fellow will take place after a period of total madness and aggression, the mark of a world left for too long in the hands of bandits who are tearing apart and destroying the centuries”. In effect what Tzara was describing was an anarchism that did not last, but nevertheless was catalytic in the creation of some of the greatest art that the 20th century witnessed including surrealism and avant guard styles. <br /><br />Similar to Dadaism, the Arab world must go through this dialectical process of the struggle between the forces of destruction and construction in order for it to transcend into a full fledge independent and democratic society. A society that spouses the interests of its people and respects its will at large. A society that is dynamic and participatory. In this society, values of freedom reign supreme, and citizens are equal in rights and opportunities. <br /><br />Finally it would be naïve to assume that the individuals carrying out the revolutions today are better intentioned than their predecessors decades ago who saw themselves just as progressive and good willed. The decisive factor of success today is the ability to build functioning and dynamic institutions that supersede and transcend the events leading to their creation. The day we see loyalties lie in protecting a system that we painstakingly create, rather than the individuals behind its creation, is the day we know that we have made it.<br /><br />* تخرب لما إلا بتعمر ما<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-32487071564652784412011-01-22T22:22:00.003+02:002011-01-22T22:36:20.354+02:00Leaderless leadershipThursday's televised debate between Ayman Safadi and Youssef Mansour was disturbing. Safadi was vehemently defending the status quo; while Mansour was persistent in blurting accusations that are at best superficial and at worst hearsay. The end result was that the debate ended without offering any insight for understanding the frustration taking over our streets and our discourse lately.<br /><br />Safadi overwhelmed Mansour with indicators that were clearly carefully anticipated and selected. In most cases these indicators were also true (I would definitely argue with the Aqaba so called Billions!!!) Mansour fell easily into the trap of Safadi by consistently being on the receiving end. He was weak in laying the grounds for what the opposition really wants or stands for. However, for anyone who thinks that Mansour’s weakness made Safadi look any better, let me just remind you of what happened in Tunisia a week ago.<br /><br />Safadi could have easily been a Tunisian minister sitting in a televised debate on Al Nasmah channel defending the status quo with numbers that none of us could argue with. The question is, are these the numbers that we should be considering in evaluating our situation or in formulating opposition views. I highly doubt it. Had the revolution not taken place in Tunisia a week ago, it would still be hailed today for the progress it made on various fronts: economic, infrastructure, women’s issues, population mortality and growth rates, and many others.<br /><br />Today we all know too well that any progress that does not filter down to the common man or woman on the street, is far from being called so. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUaJMNtW6GA&feature=share">Stiglitz</a> was one of the very first prominent economists who alerted us all from the perils of using Gross Domestic Product as an economic barometer for growth and prosperity.<br /><br />In essence, what the leadership needs to know is that we can be selective about almost everything in life except one thing: the truth. Another thing I would add to the leadership the higher you are on your horse the more painful the fall is going to be. Empathy must definitely be the order of the day. On the other hand, what the opposition needs to know is that by definition they are opposed to something that they would want to replace. If what we saw on Friday is the alternative to the existing leadership, then I am sorry they ain’t getting my vote!<br /><br />Until this leadership crisis is resolved , my motto will remain the incompetent devil I know is better than the incompetent one I don’t!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-68680138502943428102010-08-23T15:47:00.002+02:002010-08-23T15:51:32.752+02:00Out of Sight and Out of Touch!A recent attempt at distributing Ramadan charity boxes (contains basic food like rice, sugar, wheat, etc.) proved to me that there are increasingly two groups in Jordan. The first is those who are out of touch, and the second is those who are out of sight. The relationship between the two is a direct one, as one increases the same change occurs in the other one.<br /><br />The incident happened in Al-Ghor (Jordan Valley). I had called someone I know there to ask him to assist with distributing the charity boxes ( (BTW for lack of better word!!!) to poor families in the area. I indicated to him that the van with the goods will be there around 2 p.m . He then asked me to make it after Iftar instead. He said if we do it before iftar we are going to be inundated with people. In my head, I was skeptical to the extent that I secretly accused him of exaggerating because he was being lazy. I persisted and arranged for the van to be there in the afternoon. Sure enough, I got a call from the team going down there telling me that the van is swamped! People were hovering all over it wanting to get some of the food being distributed. We postponed this until after iftar as was advised earlier. <br /><br />The above episode left me in shock. This is not the Jordan I know. This might happen in Africa, but not in my Jordan! <br /><br />The more I thought of it the more I realized that my reaction of being shocked bothered me on two counts:<br /><br />The first, am I so out of touch that I find such incidents absolutely shocking?<br /><br />The second, how many of those are there who no longer can afford to be out of sight and have suddenly abandoned the dignity we have for so long attached to the poor of our country. We have always sought misguided comfort in the fact that the poor in Jordan are “mastooreen”, and I assure you the ones swamped the van are so. However when hunger strikes, no rules will ever apply.<br /><br />My message is for those (me) who are out of touch, wake up! You are running out of excuses. For those who are out of sight, stand up! Your rights have had enough abuses.<br /><br />The gist of my gig: hiding the sun with our finger might conceal it but it surely does not shield us from its heat!!!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-53443797951007910052010-07-30T01:03:00.003+02:002010-07-30T01:10:50.711+02:00Form to Transform!Constant cabinet changes is only leading to constant lack of focus.<br /><br />The continuous change in cabinets has become a source of ridicule and more important a source of agitation to many. This sarcasm has been intensified by the inability of various successive cabinets to speak of any significant achievements at all. If any, there are failures. Most important of all the failure to effect any true meaningful reform aimed at making the necessary adjustments for us to move ahead. In fact, it seems the primary objective of reform today is to lessen the state of backwardness we find ourselves in. It is no longer to make us move forward…at best it is to render us at least current!!!<br /><br />The way I see it, a cabinet is a group of individuals who come together to effect a comprehensive plan that is interrelated and intertwined. The cohesive power of this group is the common good. A common good based on fact and realistic vision. In order for these individuals (whom we call cabinet) to deliver, they must go though the typical stages of any successful group formation. To borrow from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuckman">Tuckman’s</a> (and others such as M.Scott Peck) organization theory, the team must go through <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Scott_Peck">five stages</a>:<br /><br />1. Forming: where the team members have some initial discomfort with each other but nothing comes out in the open. They are insecure about their role and position with respect to the team.<br /><br />2. Storming: where the team members start arguing heatedly and differences and insecurities come out in the open.<br /><br />3. Norming: where the team members lay out rules and guidelines for interaction that help define the roles and responsibilities of each person. This corresponds to emptiness, where the community members think within and empty themselves of their obsessions to be able to accept and listen to others.<br /><br />4. Performing: where the team finally starts working as a cohesive whole, and effectively achieve the tasks set of themselves. In this stage individuals are aided by the group as a whole where necessary, in order to move further collectively than they could achieve as a group of separated individuals.<br /><br />5. Transforming: This corresponds to the stage of true community. This represents the stage of celebration, and when individuals leave, as they must, there is a genuine feeling of grief, and a desire to meet again.<br /><br />Today in Jordan, we are still grappling with the storming and norming stages. The failure to accept and to listen to others is proving to be a staunch enemy that is preventing us from performing adequately in our plight to transform ourselves and our country. It is unfortunate that our inability to progress to the performing stage has become an all too familiar precursor for a cabinet change.<br /><br />Therefore, it is extremely uncanny and unwise to dismiss the cynicism surrounding the revolving door of cabinets as simply “silly”. All we see are silos in action and no concerted cohesive efforts coordinated in a way to enable us to honestly speak of a properly functioning team of ministers.<br /><br />I hope that next time we hear of a new cabinet, we remind ourselves that its formation is closely tied to performances that would eventually lead us to the transformation necessary to keep us not ahead of the game but at least in it.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-62729547157758121812010-07-01T21:52:00.005+02:002010-07-01T23:21:18.111+02:00Jordan Festival, AGAIN!Jerash Festival is cancelled. No one knows with certainty why this arbitrary decision was taken few years ago. Many claim they know the sinister motives behind this cancellation, but none have had the guts to express their “classified information” in public. With all said and done, the issue of discontinuing Jerash Festival has become the pretext to attack any new attempt to fill the void left with its termination.<br /><br />Jordan Festival opened last night with Amal Maher’s tribute to Um Kulthoum. The feedback from the event was telling on many levels. Apart from the praise of the brilliant performance that was befitting of a Diva, the kind of talk was indicative of an insecurity that we have harbored for too long and that we were only too happy to dispel. The feedback bordered on national pride, an elated feeling coupled with an implicit sigh of a relief of “Yes we can”. We can produce shows of such high standards. We can accommodate thousands without creating havoc. We can showcase a first class taste that we thought only others were capable of.<br /> <br />Not surprisingly, the view of certain expected and selected cynical few was different. It was not negative. It was poisonous. The organizers as well as the event were publicly attacked with malicious and mean spirited insinuations bordering on treason. Descriptions of the foundation backing this Festival as mysterious and alien is tantamount to slander. Those who have taken up the habit of attacking anything and everything must be stopped. They must be stopped not because it is unfair to the organizers, but because it is unfair to all Jordanians who are truly desperate for reasons to make them proud again. <br /> <br />Jerash Festival and Jordan Festival complement one another. They are not mutually exclusive. Support of a Jordan Festival does not mean quitting the calls for the return of Jersah Festival. I personally was very <a href="http://tallouza.blogspot.com/2008/06/if-it-aint-brokenbreak-it.html">saddened to see it end</a>, and I would at any moment call for its return.<br /><br />Enough carping! We are tired! We want to be happy. And if this is a sin…then I am a sinner. We want to feel proud. We want to see honesty in the way things are handled. Unleashing attack dogs for no reason other than bitterness and egotistical motives does us all harm.<br /><br />Finally, for all those who claim that the title is an infringement on the name “Jordan”, I say think again! Anything and anyone who succeeds in showing the beautiful face of Jordan deserves unequivocally to carry this name. Entitlement alone suffocates objectivity. Earning the right is by far a better judge!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-67623551305354472392010-06-25T17:47:00.001+02:002010-06-25T17:49:22.095+02:00We Finally Agree!Growing up I remember the famous saying that we used to hear about the political stances of Arabs: “Arabs are only in accord to be in disaccord”. When it comes to social issues and problems, it seems that Jordanians have broken this rule. Today they all seem to be in accord that the social fabric as well as structures of our society are deteriorating. The good news is that we finally have a consensus; the bad news is that the news is really bad. <br /><br />The issues I am referring to are dangerous: the disrespect and disregard to rule of law, rage in society, the collapse of social values, the bankruptcy of our educational system and the list goes on.<br /><br />In times like these it is easy to point fingers, harp on dysfunctions, theorize, philosophize, criticize, and most dangerous of all pretend that we all have nothing to do with it. It is the doing of all those others. God only knows who these “others” are.<br /><br />Failed attempts at reform on many levels have only fueled the sense of cynicism and skepticism that we find so prevalent these days. People seem demoralized, de-motivated, and at times totally disinterested. Positive outlooks are becoming synonymous with being gullible. Talk of gloom and doom is the order of the day.<br /><br />It makes me really sad to see that this has become the environment we live in. However, this also makes my resolve even stronger to want to be part of the solution. If this sounds naive, then I am very naïve. I refuse to believe that the light is not at the end of the tunnel even if I do not see it. I might need to wear special glasses or change my perspective. The light is there, we just have to make an honest and sincere effort to see it.<br /><br />Failed attempts at solving problems should never be a pretext to quit. If all attempts work from the first try, then we should all be standing in line for noble prizes. Failed attempts are lessons for us to learn from to try to get it right the next time round. Henry David Thoreau, the 19th century philosopher and author said: "For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at the root." Where there is a will there is a root waiting to be struck. We just have to have faith in each other and in the role that each and every one of us plays in making our world a better and sweeter one.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-15420283753327137482010-03-27T21:03:00.001+02:002010-03-27T21:07:05.279+02:00The Dead Sea Alive With FliesWe in Jordan have successfully managed to attract and develop multimillion dinar investments in what is turning out to be spectacular set of five-star hotels on the shores of the Dead Sea. These investments are finding themselves fighting a most unspectacular enemy, namely flies.<br /><br />To many, this might seem as a trivial matter, but it is turning out to be the most challenging issue for many hoteliers and business owners down at the Dead Sea and even at the Jordan Valley (Or Ghor). Residents literally suffer from these flies, and business owners are constantly bombarded by the inability to do anything about them. According to one Dead Sea hotelier: “how can we explain to our guests that they cannot sit outdoors when they specifically came to the Dead Sea to do so?”<br /><br />Funnily enough, when the World Economic Forum (WEF) is held at the Dead Sea, these unwelcome visitors mysteriously disappear! The good news here is that there is a proven remedy for these flies; the bad news is that the WEF is only held for few days every year or two.<br /><br />If we think that these flies don’t negatively impact the image of one of our touristic jewels, we need to think again.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-66055111971798072592010-03-27T20:28:00.003+02:002010-03-27T20:38:39.668+02:00Eating healthy and dreading it!I don’t know about you, but for a while now, eating a fresh salad is turning out to be an unsettling affair for me. Every time I attempt to prepare a salad**, I find myself wondering about the safety of what I am about to eat. The salad I prepare mainly consists of tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce. The toxicity found in these three items has been the subject of a wide informal speculation . How many times have we heard of cucumbers that continue to grow even after picking? How many of us wonder about the tomatoes that we eat, whether in terms of the water used for irrigation or the pesticides and fertilizers used to grow these tomatoes. In effect, I feel that the safety of our agricultural produce is in question.<br /><br />There are serious fears out there that need to be allayed. I wish those in charge would come out and address this issue in an open and transparent manner. Maybe if we learn about the mechanisms applied and enforced (enforced being the operative word here) to safeguard the integrity of our agricultural produce, we would then feel reassured that we are eating healthy rather than filthy.<br /><br />Until then, I will keep on eating healthy and I will continue dreading it.<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">**I won’t use the term “toss a salad” since it apparently has a sexual connotation! Go figure :-)</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-42872638536537833552010-02-23T22:01:00.003+02:002010-02-23T22:46:04.697+02:00Shshshshsh...Beware!The Friday before <a href="http://www.aawsat.com/details.asp?section=4&issueno=11376&article=553592&feature=">appointing</a> Saleh Gallab head of the country's number 1 media corporation, namely Jordan Radio and Television Corp., he was busy attacking a group of individuals for simply asserting their right for free speech. This was during an interview on JTV's "60 minutes" news show. Gallab's logic was twisted, language uncivilized, and motives totally exposed. He was simply spouting venom.<br /><br />Are we to blame if we do not believe what we hear in the official media about free speech (freedom including freedom from being demonized and from the systematic unleashing of paid attack dogs) , or should we continue to be skeptics and to continue reading between the lines? Well come to think of it, in this case the lines are no longer in between but rather "headlines".<br /><br />Sadly, the message of this appointment is loud and clear.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-82564708524294108092009-08-05T23:03:00.003+02:002009-08-05T23:13:30.412+02:00Twitter<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFAsEm5aJAlMKNnm_pyrynZL5qcZiXYSoIGY1JVjiOJbnhcu4ETq9N8_4BePbisN6DY5RpCxW1kxx_FJ1kQoGFMuwi90KWx6E6YBVy-W3eBif46RtXkycEvloPGMLlqdjRyvG3WGmkBTw/s1600-h/tallouza.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 221px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFAsEm5aJAlMKNnm_pyrynZL5qcZiXYSoIGY1JVjiOJbnhcu4ETq9N8_4BePbisN6DY5RpCxW1kxx_FJ1kQoGFMuwi90KWx6E6YBVy-W3eBif46RtXkycEvloPGMLlqdjRyvG3WGmkBTw/s320/tallouza.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366590546819254738" /></a><br />I did it....Tallouza is now on Twitter. Twittering is fun, but it does not seem to have picked up much as far as Jordanians are concerned. It is a pity because I am finding it an excellent, quick and easy way to share thoughts and news with fellow twitterers....If you are on Twitter, please let me know so that I can follow....Happy Twittering!<br /><br />P.S. The photo is my chosen look on Twitter:-)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-90413771018240629582009-07-15T22:37:00.009+02:002009-07-16T00:23:32.599+02:00Rum Music and Tareq Alnasser<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_images/RMTRQNSSR.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 340px; height: 198px;" src="http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_images/RMTRQNSSR.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://tareqalnasser.com/">Tareq Alnasser</a> and <a href="http://www.rummusic.com/">Rum Music </a>are the joy and pride of Jordan.<br />I just came back from their concert and they were AWESOME!<br /><br />As I was watching them, I thought to myself what they are doing is not easy....they must have had a lot of difficulties that could have made them give up before they even started. What I saw this evening was obviously a beautiful result of how great persistence and resilience can be.<br /><br />I am so proud that we can boast such an impressive, fun, and extremely talented musical group. <br />This group really reflect the great country that Jordan is.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-1871273391404736282009-05-02T22:40:00.001+02:002009-05-02T22:40:39.500+02:00I've learned...Today I received a very sweet e-mail from my uncle. He is someone I adore and look up to in more ways than one. What he sent me is a mass e-mail. However, its impact on me was so refreshing especially that it came from someone who believes in and acts like everything said in it. It is so nice to have family that you love and feel proud of. <br /><br />I remember being once in a pharmacy in Amman late at night. I needed to buy medicine and I had no money on me. The pharmacist politely apologized since the pharmacy's policy is not to accept checks. I suggested leaving my ID card with him along with the check and to send him the money the following morning (I had forgotten my ATM pin number). The pharmacist held my ID, and when he saw my name he asked "how are you related to this man?". I said "he is my uncle". The very uncle who sent me this e-mail. He then said "your uncle is probably one of the very few honorable men left around". He went on to say "please take whatever you want and you can pay me later". He refused to take the check and he refused my pleas to leave any form of proof behind. That to me is worth all the money in the world. So from this incident I’ve learned that maintaining one’s family’s good name and reputation is for sure very hard work, but one that only gets more rewarding and enjoyable with time.<br /><br />I've learned.... That the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.<br /><br />I've learned.... That when you're in love, it shows. <br /><br />I've learned.... That just one person saying to me, 'You've made my day!' makes my day. <br /><br />I've learned.... That having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world. <br /><br />I've learned.... That being kind is more important than being right. <br /><br />I've learned...... That you should never say no to a gift from a child. <br /><br />I've learned.... That I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way.. <br /><br />I've learned...... That no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with. <br /><br />I've learned.... That sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand. <br /><br />I've learned.... That simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult. <br /><br />I've learned.... That life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes. <br /><br />I've learned.... That we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.<br /><br />I've learned.... That money doesn't buy class.. <br /><br />I've learned.... That it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular. <br /><br />I've learned... That under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved. <br /><br />I've learned..... That to ignore the facts does not change the facts. <br /><br />I 've learned.... That when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you. <br /><br />I've learned.... That love, not time, heals all wounds.. <br /><br />I've learned.... That the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am. <br /><br />I've learned.... That everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile. <br /><br />I've learned.... That no one is perfect until you fall in love with them. <br /><br />I've learned... That life is tough, but I'm tougher. <br /><br />I've learned.... That opportunities are never lost, someone will take the ones you miss. <br /><br />I've learned ..... That when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere. <br /><br />I've learned.... That I wish I could have told my Mom and Dad that I loved them one more time before they passed away. <br /><br />I've learned.... That one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them. <br /><br />I've learned.... That a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. <br /><br />I've learned.... That when your newly born grandchild holds your little finger in his little fist, that you're hooked for life. <br /><br />I've learned.... That everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it. <br /><br />I've learned...... That the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-40530766005542334802009-04-29T19:31:00.006+02:002009-04-29T20:36:25.078+02:00Yazan...I am really sorry<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmNXVcVh3P9lkIx4rSjsIQkLT9WD0qPxBhQ5nbvhh1XKs2o0uED2a2C5efTDVBfNHPqZJxjWXcbyHxqBYgY9houWPK8f6R16wVJ8giMGYnlHI-2ypaMErvI1Af8wZk4Mh07e-kT0xak34/s1600-h/photo2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 306px; height: 259px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmNXVcVh3P9lkIx4rSjsIQkLT9WD0qPxBhQ5nbvhh1XKs2o0uED2a2C5efTDVBfNHPqZJxjWXcbyHxqBYgY9houWPK8f6R16wVJ8giMGYnlHI-2ypaMErvI1Af8wZk4Mh07e-kT0xak34/s320/photo2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330175504045811426" /></a><br />The crime I am about to write about is also one I am guilty of.<br /><br />The crime I want to write about is not the brutal killing of the little boy named <a href="http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=16204">Yazan</a>. The more shocking crime is the lack of public outrage concerning Yazan’s story. It is the complacency towards a suffering that many of us could have turned into a lesson of compassion and empathy.<br /><br />Yazan is a Jordanian 5-year-old child whose mother and father were imprisoned at the same time. This left Yazan in the custody of his aunt, whose husband abused, tortured and viciously inflicted pain on this little child’s body. Yazan gave up at the end and fell into a coma. He died few weeks ago.<br /><br />Yazan was laid to rest today.<br /><br />For days I read about Yazan’s dead body laying at the hospital waiting for someone to claim this innocent angel. As if the lack of justice in his life was a foreshadowing of the misery he would endure in his death. The thought did cross my mind of claiming him and preparing a funeral for him. Every time I thought of doing something, I was worried of being judged as pretentious and butting into business that is not mine.<br /><br />As I read news of Yazan, I had a strange feeling of detached sympathy. I somehow believed that my reaction and contribution wouldn’t count. There will be others who will take up the cause of Yazan and deliver justice to this little boy. The faith I did not have in myself was sadly misplaced in others. <br /><br />As I learnt that Yazan’s misery is finally put to rest, I also saw images of his funeral. A funeral I thought would be a crowded show of love and apology to this child who fell victim to a system that failed to detect his suffering. A funeral that turned out to be a gathering of no more than few kids who were pictured seated in front of lecterns on the ground of a mosque reading Koran while this little boy’s body laid wrapped in white cloth waiting and desperately “wanting” to be interred.<br /><br />The gist of what I am writing is that whenever one detects injustice, and whenever one is blessed enough to do something about it, one should rush to do it. I hope I won’t be faced with a similar choice again. But if I do, I will go by what my gut feeling tells me to do and I really won’t care what cynics might make out of it.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270400925178086464.post-86212341126640741062009-04-04T00:53:00.007+02:002009-04-04T16:36:16.508+02:00Gross National Happiness and JordanIn 2001 I moved back to Amman after having lived for over 15 years overseas. My move came with the absolute conviction that I was doing the right thing. I never regretted my decision. In fact I always felt fortunate for having the choice to do so.<br /><br />Coming back with me home was a feeling of romanticism of how things are done here in Jordan. What many perceived as retarded customs or invasive traditions, I was so willing to consider as simply part of the culture. I guess this was due to the fact that I had lived in many different so called developed societies that were far from being perfect or developed in the human sense. My attitude when I moved back was one of empathy and an unconditional acceptance of the way our society is run.<br /><br />It is only lately that I am starting to feel suffocated by the pathetic state I find our society in. I suddenly realize that in our quest for development we have lost sight of what really matters while consistently failing to preserve anything of meaning. Instead, we have opted to hold on to false claims of entitlement only to legitimize a debilitating general state of laziness and demoralization that the majority seems to be suffering from. It has been extremely hard for me to come face to face with the ugly truth that our situation today is at best pathetic and at worst mediocre. <br /><br />The disconnect that I am seeing among the various strata of our society is a further evidence of how a whole nation can live in denial and turn a blind eye waiting for some magic wand to come and do the job for it. In general, I feel that the majority of people are unhappy and feel alienated for many reasons. The end result is that we happen to be a bunch of disconnected class groups who have nothing in common except for one thing: We all seem miserable and unhappy.<br /><br />What is behind this unhappiness? I am no expert on this. However, I recently learnt about a measure that was started in Bhutan and that has gained some merit lately: <a href="http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1016266,00.html?promoid=rss_top">Gross National Happiness</a> (GNH). GNH is an attempt to define quality of life in more holistic and psychological terms than Gross National Product. “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_National_Happiness">While conventional development models</a> stress economic growth as the ultimate objective, the concept of GNH claims to be based on the premise that true development of human society takes place when material and spiritual development occur side by side to complement and reinforce each other. The four pillars of GNH are:<br /><br />1. The promotion of equitable and sustainable socio-economic development<br />2. Preservation and promotion of cultural values<br />3. Conservation of the natural environment<br />4. Establishment of good governance”<br /><br />One question I will leave you with: How does Jordan score on the above four pillars? <br /><br />On that note, I rest my case.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="vertical-align:middle;border:0"/></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallouza" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></p></div>Tallouzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532655666149436405noreply@blogger.com3