Muqata - Solving the Housing Crisis

JoeSettler
The Muqata
23 July '11

http://muqata.blogspot.com/2011/07/solving-housing-crisis.html

Call me cynical, but with the tent cities popping up protesting the “housing crisis”, I’d like to propose a number of ideas that can solve this problem.

1) Massive construction in Judea and Samaria.
It costs a lot less to build in Judea and Samaria and it can be done much faster than in the built up areas of Gush Dan and Jerusalem. In fact, there are plans ready for 100,000 apartments that can be built within a year, if only permission were given. And best of all. The Shomron is a 15 minute drive to Gush Dan, and Judea is a 15 minute drive to Jerusalem. Wide spaces, empty areas, great air.
What more could you ask for?

2) What about those illegal refugees?
Did you know that they are estimating that some 40,000 illegal refugees/immigrants live in southern Tel Aviv. Something like 10% of Tel Aviv is made up of illegal residents. Even at 4 to an apartment, we’re talking about freeing up 10,000 apartments right there. And from what I hear, southern Tel Aviv was supposed to be developed for student/young housing. If only those illegal immigrants hadn’t moved in. If you want to point fingers…

3) More construction in Gilo, Har Homa, and Eastern Jerusalem.
Thousands more apartments could be built, if only the government had the support of the people stop the virtual freeze of Jewish housing.

4) Support Netanyahu.
While I have some problems with it, Netanyahu’s land reform bill would have freed up lots of state land for housing. Show your support for Netanyahu.

5) Stop destroying outposts and Migron.
You would expect to see a little solidarity here. All these people want is a place to call their own, just like you. Meanwhile the government/IDF comes along and instead of providing that final signature that would make everything legal, it destroys people’s homes leaving them homeless. What kind of sympathy are you looking for, when you don't care about their going homeless?

6) Stop blaming the Settlements
For some reason the settlements have been dragged into this, claiming that they siphon the money away from building in Gush Dan!

Well, the way I see it, with somewhere between 350,000 to 750,000 settlers (depending on who you count), that’s a lot of housing to be built, not to mention schools, kindergartens, shuls, mikvahs…. Where exactly would these people live otherwise? You say yourselves complain there’s no housing anywhere.

You want to send them to the Negev? But you yourselves don’t want to go there!

And how much more does it cost to build a home in Gush Dan compared to a Settlement? 3 times the price? 4? 5? Do the math. Settlements are saving the country space and money. You should be kissing the Settlers feet, because if 700,000 of us (who work for a living) were forced to move, we’d certainly buy up prime housing in Gush Dan and definitely force you out to the periphery. Davka.

7) Stop your violence.
A number of politicians made their way to the tent city to listen and speak to the protesters. Only they found themselves physically attacked. Well only those not associated with Meretz and the Arab parties. If you want to have the people in charge hear you, it doesn't really make sense to pelt them with eggs and beer bottles, now does it?

The conclusion?

Since it’s allegedly the New Israel Fund and the “National Left” that have apparently been buying the tents and helping organize the protests, you’ll never hear these points raised as a solutions to the problem, because the agenda isn't housing (as real as the problem is), the agenda is apparently just another attempt to topple the government.

If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.
.

A small slip (again and again) by the BBC but it has consequences

A

Arnold/Frimet Roth
This Ongoing War
28 September '10

Our headline says "slip" but we don't believe that's what has happened.

Israel's self-imposed ten-month long moratorium on construction in Judea and Samaria expired on Sunday. If its purpose was to encourage the Palestinian Authority leadership to join discussions with Israel on a peace process, it was no great success. For most of those ten months, Mr Abbas the head of Fatah and of the PA flatly refused; then agreed to indirect talks where the Israelis would not be permitted to be in the same room at the same time as the Israelis; and then - just a few weeks ago - consented to actual face-to-face talks which started earlier in September.

Large parts of the Israeli public never understood why we would be expected to stop constructing houses, schools and communities in towns that we regard as our home. And having nevertheless agreed to do exactly that, many of us never understood why the other side's refusal to then sit down and talk was accepted at large (by the media, by international agencies, by most countries' diplomats) with almost complete equanimity. But that's how it was.

Now the parties are talking, and every rational person hopes they will find a way to reach common ground and a basis for peace.

Which brings us to the BBC.

(Read full post)


If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page. 
.

US pressure only works one way

Fresnozionism.org
28 September '10

More than a year ago, Barack Obama stalled the ‘peace process’ by suggesting that construction inside existing Israeli settlements was ‘an obstacle to peace’.

The Palestinians immediately agreed with him, and refused to talk until ‘settlement activity’ stopped.

Obama applied pressure to Israel and succeeded in forcing it to agree to a 9-month freeze on construction in Judea and Samaria late last year. But it wasn’t good enough for the Palestinians, who still would not agree to negotiate.

In March of this year, the US administration took advantage of an announcement by a low-level clerk in Israel’s Housing Ministry that there were plans to construct 1,800 apartments in a Jewish neighborhood of East Jerusalem to orchestrate a rupture in relations with Israel. After Obama’s widely publicized humiliation of Benjamin Netanyahu (which he later denied), Israel agreed to freeze construction in East Jerusalem too, although no official announcement was made. There were further concessions, but the Palestinians still weren’t satisfied.

Finally, last month, the Palestinian Authority (PA) was persuaded to agree to direct talks with Israel. The talks so far have consisted of the PA making demands while refusing to agree that the outcome of talks will be “two states for two peoples.”

(Read full post)

  If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page. 

.

'Settlers harass Druze soldiers'?

This photo from the Ynet article is appropriately mis-captioned as these are not Border-Police and what is being described in the article is not connected to the photo. In general, you will not see even Yassam Police handling Arab women, Druze, Bedouin, or others, as this is tolerated or encouraged only towards Jewish women.

Yosef
Love of the Land
11 July '10

Today's Ynet carries an article entitled 'Settlers harass Druze soldiers' by Hanan Greenberg, and to which I have added a question mark, given the source.

A couple of points are in order. Ynet is not exactly known (and I'm being polite) for the truthfulness or accuracy of it's articles, as is known by the general population, including beyond our circles. One could ask, how many times has this occurred to make it newsworthy and what was the agenda of whoever raised this? I've heard on occasions, taunts by individuals towards Border Police/Police concerning why they allow Arab unit members to either beat or remove Jews, or destroy their property.

What I don't hear is when some members of the Druze communities rioted in large numbers this year and last, and injured Border Police/Police, plus substantial property damage, that what they called out, was disgusting or that their violence and the numbers involved was worthy of but a passing mention.

Update 11 July '10: Angry mob attacks police in Druze town. Residents of Majdal Shams say nine injured as police assist officers besieged by 1,500 people

Because realistically the magnified scale of violence directed towards security forces by the more anarchic elements of the Druze and Beduin communities must be appeased, irrespective of the justice, or lack of justice of their complaints, and surely must not be reported, for fear of the further violence they promise.

If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.
.