The thousands of Israeli "settlers" that NO ONE condemns!

...So what's that word when Jews and Arabs - both citizens of Israel - do the exact same thing but the Jews are demonized while the Arabs are applauded?

Elder of Ziyon..
07 December '14..





Reuters has an article saying that some Arabs are moving into Jewish "settlements" (meaning, neighborhoods) in Jerusalem:

Little noticed amid the furor over one of Israel's most contentious policies, a small but growing number of Arabs are moving into Jewish settlements on occupied land in East Jerusalem, drawn by cheaper rent and better services.

For decades, Israel has encouraged Jews to settle in East Jerusalem, changing the population balance, provoking Palestinian anger and drawing international condemnation.

But in one such settlement, around Mount Scopus where the Hebrew University is based and many Palestinians study, about 16 percent of residents are either Arab citizens of Israel or Palestinians, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics.

While the high proportion of Arab residents in French Hill and Mount Scopus is probably exceptional, the trend is visible in other East Jerusalem settlements too.

In the working-class areas of Pisgat Ze'ev and Neve Yaacov to the northeast of Jerusalem's Old City, 1 to 2 percent of residents are now Israeli Arab or Palestinian, figures show.

The Jerusalem municipality does not collect ethnic data, but Uzi Chen, the City Hall representative for northern districts, said "several hundred" Arab families live in Pisgat Ze'ev and Neve Yaakov, which have a combined population of 63,000.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of Arab Israelis are moving across the "Green Line" and into "settlements."

So are they considered settlers? Are they "breaking international law"? Are they "illegal"?

(Continue)

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A numbers game in the Middle East

Joel Brinkley
SFGate
05 September '10

As American and Middle East leaders begin peace talks in Washington, public discussion in the weeks ahead is likely to center on borders, security, settlements and the fate of Jerusalem. But behind all of this, in the negotiators' minds, a threat hangs like the sword of Damocles: Isn't the Palestinian population growing so fast that, soon enough, it will outnumber Jews in the land between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea?

American presidents and Israeli prime ministers have issued dire warnings about this for years. Late last year, former President Bill Clinton, speaking in Jerusalem, chastised Israelis, saying: "Two things remain unchanged" since he was president: "geography and demographics. Palestinians have more children than Israelis have or can import."

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, speaking to Israel's parliament in 2007, predicted "a demographic battle, drowned in blood and tears," if Israel did not settle with the Palestinians.

These stark warnings generally come from the Israeli left, which favors trading land for peace. Give the Palestinians their own state on the West Bank, they say, and the demographic nightmare will disappear. The Palestinians can have all the babies they want, and they will be residents of Palestine, not Israeli-occupied territory.

But they might all be wrong. A team of demographers headed by Yoram Ettinger, a former Israeli diplomat, conducted a detailed study and found, to most everyone's surprise, that Israeli Jews far outnumber Palestinians and Israeli Arabs. What's more, Jewish birth rates are higher now, too. The demographic threat, these demographers say, simply doesn't exist.

(Read full article)

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Demography, Geopolitics, and the Future of Israel's Capital: Jerusalem's Proposed Master Plan

Nadav Shragai
JCPA Global Law Forum
03 March '10

The aspiration to create and preserve a stable Jewish majority in the unified capital of the State of Israel has been the dream of the Jewish people over many generations.Yet, the Jewish majority in Jerusalem is declining due to the mass migration of the Jewish population from Jerusalem, together with the migration of an additional Arab population into Jerusalem.

According to the proposed master plan for the city, the planned inventory of Jewish housing does not meet expected needs for 2020, while the planned inventory of Arab housing will suffice until at least 2030. Lands earmarked on paper for expanding Jewish neighborhoods are Arab-owned, have unregistered ownership, and a minority are Jewish-owned. In the current political and diplomatic reality, it is not plausible that the state will expropriate land as it did in the past.

Furthermore, the proposed master plan will create urban contiguity between eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods and Palestinian neighborhoods outside the city, reinforcing the Palestinian demand to recognize the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem as a single political entity.

The demographic struggle for a Jewish majority in Jerusalem should be waged with an emphasis on staunching the emigration of Jews from the city. The steps required include building tens of thousands of housing units.

(Read complete report)
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