Har Homa ? The goal is a Palestinian state free of Jews

...But, of course, such Palestinian complaints do make sense, at least from the point of view of most Palestinians. Their goal isn’t a state alongside Israel or to share Jerusalem. They want Jews out of Har Homa for the same reason they want them out of most other parts of the country since what they desire is a Palestinian state free of Jews.

Jonathan S. Tobin..
Commentary..
28 June '13..

Secretary of State John Kerry is back in Israel today for another bout of what some wags are calling “couples therapy” for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas. The chances of this push leading to fruitful negotiations, let alone a peace agreement, are slim. But what is most interesting about the chatter all this talking about talking is producing is the way the Palestinians and other critics of Israel are trying to raise the ante even before anyone sits down together. Thus, the willingness of PA negotiator Saeb Erekat to turn the announcement of building permits in a Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem into an excuse for not making peace tells us a lot more about the Palestinian mindset than it does about the Netanyahu government.

The permits for constructing 69 apartments in the Har Homa neighborhood was treated as a big deal in today’s New York Times, which validated Erekat’s attempt to inflate the decision into a cause célèbre. The Times was also quick to compare it to the 2010 episode in which the Obama administration picked a fight with Netanyahu over a routine announcement about a housing start in a 40-year-old Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem. The administration claimed it was an “insult” to Vice President Joe Biden, who happened to be passing through the city at the time. Little good came of that for anyone, especially since the Palestinians failed to use the U.S. tilt in their direction by returning to peace talks. But it bears repeating that the Palestinian desire to claim that any building in parts of Jerusalem that were once illegally occupied by Jordan from 1949 to 1967 and during which Jews were banned from even worshiping at the Western Wall–let alone living in those parts of their ancient capital–is an obstacle to peace simply doesn’t make any sense.

Irish Times flunks its own standards

Elder of Ziyon
07 October '10

The Irish Times writes on its website about its journalistic integrity. Among the items they say they are scrupulous about are:

The truth is presented having made every reasonable effort to establish it on the basis of verifiable fact and reliable sources. During the reporting and editing process, every story is measured against taste, preference and inclination in an effort to eliminate any trace of partisanship.

We never go to publication without seeking both sides of the story. And if, in spite of our best efforts, we cannot get one side's version, we make it clear in our report that we have made every reasonable effort to secure that information.

Above all else, we commit ourselves to accuracy.

OK, let's see an example of these sterling qualities, in an article by Michael Jansen:

THE ROUTE from Jerusalem to Bethlehem takes us through Israel’s Har Homa settlement, constructed during the 1990s on formerly forested hills incorporated into Greater Jerusalem.

More than 4,000 Israeli families dwell in stone-faced multistoried apartment blocks in this urban colony. Buildings stand wall-to-wall in solid fortress ranks. Buildings are rising at the heart of Har Homa and on its flanks, invading the Bethlehem district, populated by descendants of the world’s first Christians.

Har Homa was built on land that no one had ever lived on previously. Ever.

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Har Homa and Hasmonean Tunnel Self Defeating Debating Points For Left

Dr. Aaron Lerner
IMRA
Weekly Commentary
04 March '10

Almost every critic of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's decision to include Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron in Israel's national heritage project points to Netanyahu's decision to open the Hasmonean Tunnel and build Har Homa in his previous term as if the consequences of those moves proves their point.

But the opposite is the case.

Yes, there was a lot of flack on the Har Homa project, with demonstrations and condemnations galore.

And yes, there was even a short bloody clash over the opening of the Hasmonean Tunnel that runs next to the Western Wall along with angry statements from around the world and worse.

But let's have an attention span that goes beyond a few days.

I know this is asking a lot for most Israelis.

But it's worth the effort.

Let's put our thinking caps on for a moment.

OK.

Here we go.

Har Homa is today a Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem that is no different than any of the many other Jewish neighborhoods beyond the '67 line. You would be hard pressed to find an Israeli Jew who seriously thinks that Har Homa will ever be ceded to the Arabs in any future deal.

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