This Haaretz article is one of many current explorations of Israel’s persistent efforts to head off US criticism of its planned Jerusalem settlement construction, so-called “neighborhoods” across the Green Line:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is criss-crossing the Washington power grid in a bid to explain Israel’s position on plans to construct 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem. Netanyahu had a meeting scheduled with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) a day after holding talks with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. He plans to meet later Tuesday at the White House with President Barack Obama.The diplomatic effort comes after Netanyahu on Monday told thousands of participants at AIPAC’s annual conference that Jerusalem is not a settlement.
The prime minister met Monday Clinton in an attempt to put an end to the crisis that began when the report broke of plans to build 1,600 new units in Ramat Shlomo in East Jerusalem two weeks ago during the visit to Israel of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. Before Netanyahu left for Washington he asked Housing Minister Ariel Atias not to participate in the dedication ceremony for a new neighborhood in Pisgat Ze’ev in East Jerusalem. Netanyahu made the request in light of the recent tensions between Israel and the United States over construction in East Jerusalem. Atias canceled his participation and the festive ceremony, which could have overshadowed Netanyahu’s Washington visit.
One point not made often enough in the commentary I’ve seen is that references to Ramat Shlomo and, in this article, Pisgat Ze’ev, being in East Jerusalem are accurate politically but less so geographically. Both settlements are north of historic Jerusalem rather than to the East; the curving Green Line marking the 1948 border kept West Jerusalem under Israeli control but the south, east, and north in Jordanian hands. This might be a small point, but it helps clarify Jerusalem’s Jewish expansion in all directions as part of Israel’s long-time practice of creating facts on the ground. As I’ve noted here before, this effort has always been open, proudly advocated as the only way to make sure there would never be a viable Palestinian state. Increasingly it looks like Israel has succeeded.
I didn’t visit Ramat Shlomo during my three visits in the past few years, but I did see Pisgat Ze’ev on my 2008 walk from Ramallah to Jerusalem. This “neighborhood” is plunked down on scenic hillsides, surrounded by other new settlements far from what most people think of as Jerusalem – East Pisgat Ze’ev, North, and South.
When Netanyahu says almost half of Jerusalem’s Jewish residents now live in East Jerusalem, these are some of the neighborhoods he’s talking about, massive housing developments with thousands of people a short commute from downtown on the almost-complete light-rail system but a world apart from what arguably is the actual city.
Technorati Tags: Israel, Jerusalem, Jewish Settlement, Palestine, Pisgat Ze’ev, Ramat Shlomo, Zionism