Comments on: U.S. Gambling Millionaire Causing a Crisis in American-Israeli Relations

By: Mid-Summer Racism News Batch « One Region, One Future

Mid-Summer Racism News Batch « One Region, One Future — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 07:05:41 +0000

[...] Last but not least, if you’re a Jewish Bingo Mogool from Florida, then, too, you can legally build in East Jerusalem, Eileen Read writes. [...]

By: Eileen White Read - Peacemakers - U.S. Gambling Millionaire … | arablives

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 03:40:22 +0000

[...] rest is here: Eileen White Read – Peacemakers – U.S. Gambling Millionaire … Share and [...]

By: Eileen White Read

Eileen White Read — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:10:07 +0000

Richards, thanks for your comments. It’s a really tough issue, and one where a lot of Israelis feel like the world is dictating to them. One problem is, the international justice community has benignly neglected the post-1967 occupation of Palestine, leading many Israelis believe that land is theirs. BTW, this morning on AlJazeeraEnglish, Gregory Aronson from the Foundation for Middle East Peace, the former mayor of Jerusalem, and a Palestinian university professor had a thoughtful discussion about Israel’s right to develop settlements in the occupied territories.
Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/aljazeeraenglish#play/uploads/0/0ZC8NOw6g_M

By: richards1052

richards1052 — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 06:56:13 +0000

Eileen, I know Max Blumenthal’s work but had never seen this remarkable video. It’s truly repellant and racist. I’m ashamed to see fellow Jews who are so ignorant and hateful to people who live practically right alongside them.

Layla’s argument about Jews living in E. Jerusalem would be stronger if Arabs could live in West Jerusalem. They can’t. They certainly can’t own property there. A few live in short term rentals in Jewish settlements in Jerusalem like French Hill because of the housing shortage in Arab neighborhoods.

I’ll make you a deal, Layla, if tell me you oppose Israeli laws that prevent Arabs from living in Jewish areas and neighborhoods then I could see supporting Jews living in Arab neighborhoods as long as they didn’t use subterfuge to gain possession of said land (as is often the case).

By: Eileen White Read

Eileen White Read — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:16:23 +0000

Hi again Layla,
I will definitely look into this sheikh’s involvement in East Jerusalem. Since currently, the Tel Aviv government has very strict zoning laws in East Jerusalem, there should be records available of what he bought or tried to buy. Let’s keep in touch on this.
Moskowitz – if the settlements were for people of all religions, I would have no problem with them. The whole settlement enterprise – the segregation of them, the guards, barbed wire, and gates, the private roads, the wall snaking around them – doesn’t communicate a message of peaceful coexistence.
Best,
Eileen

By: Eileen White Read

Eileen White Read — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:06:43 +0000

Layla,
I appreciate your view. I personally value heterogeneity. One issue I have with regard to East Jerusalem is, why have 200,000 people of the Jewish persuasion been given financial and other incentives to move there in the past decade, while only a few thousand people of the Arab and Christian religious groups been allowed to move in, and without financial incentives? It looks like a kind of social/religious engineering. If the settlement blocks weren’t segregated by religion, I would be more comfortable with them. If the government and private millionaires like Mr. Moskowitz didn’t offer financial grants, cars, below-market apartments, government jobs, etc, I would be more comfortable with settlements. Anyway, thanks again for commenting and please keep challenging me.
Eileen

By: layla

layla — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:43:15 +0000

By the way, Sheikh Yousuf Qaradawi of Qatar has granted $21 million to Hamas to buy buildings in eastern Jerusalem for Hamas activists. Sheikh Qaradawi is a strong supporter of suicide bombings in Israel, and Hamas’ charter calls for the elimination of the state. But we’re supposed to believe that Moskowitz funding religious Jews to live in Jerusalem is problematic?

By: layla

layla — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:03:24 +0000

Eileen, you haven’t given one single good reason why Jews shouldn’t live in East Jerusalem, where they lived in large numbers until they were expelled by the Jordanian army when it took that part of the city in 1948. Whether financial inducements are offered or not is irrelevant. Rather a large red herring to raise. And surely political beliefs, while you may find them repugnant, are not a reason to disqualify someone from living in a neighborhood either. It’s called “discrimination.”