Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., July 27, 2009 Av 6, 5769 | | Israel Time: 02:13 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Maccabiah Travel Week's End Anglo File
Share |
Last update - 06:47 24/07/2009
Arab Jerusalemite's plight is proof of two-faced policy
By Akiva Eldar
Tags: high court of justice, Arabs 

Thirty-one years ago, the High Court of Justice rejected a petition by Mohammed Said Burkan to lease an apartment in Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter on the ruins of his family's home which, he asserted, had been bought under Ottoman rule. The ruling put a legal gloss on the practice of blocking access by non-Jews to state land. After years of steady encroachment, Burkan now lives in the heart of a Jewish neighborhood.

The court not only rejected his petition but ordered him to pay court expenses to the state.

In July 1978 deputy Supreme Court President Haim Cohen, who was considered one of the most liberal justices, wrote in a landmark verdict, "There is no improper discrimination in allocating each quarter as a home to its own community ... Naturally the [Jewish Quarter's] rehabilitation is intended to restore the Jewish community's heyday in the Old City, so the Jews once again have their own quarter, beside the Muslim, Christian and Armenian quarters."
Advertisement
The justices saw no discrimination - on the basis of religion, nationality or any other kind - in the state's refusal to rent apartments to people who were not Israeli citizens.

Burkan, today 63 years old, subsists on a disability allowance. Until a few years ago he served as a janitor in the Ramat Rachel Hotel. His campaign for the house in the Jewish Quarter made headlines throughout the world. The idea to lease the apartment there occurred to him when he watched his small son sitting on the windowsill and chatting baby talk to a Jewish neighbor's baby.

"I told myself if the children can live in peace maybe we could turn back and build peace from the bottom up," he said.

When the rightist organizations first entered Silwan (City of David) and decreed that Jews may live in the heart of an Arab village, he considered petitioning for his family home again. This is why he never agreed to take compensation for the property.

"I still keep the ownership papers. Who knows, maybe one day there will be an Israeli government that will do us justice," he said.

"When Rabin signed the Oslo Agreement, I hoped my children and grandchildren would see the peace we didn't have. This appears to have been an illusion," he said.

After the Six-Day War, Burkan built a home in Beit Hanina, on Jerusalem's northern outskirts.

"Father's house in the Jewish Quarter was too small for all the children," he said. Besides, he didn't believe the Israelis would let him stay in the Jewish Quarter.

Ironically, over the years Burkan's stone house has been swallowed up by the white buildings of the new Pisgat Ze'ev neighborhood. Someone may yet point him out as proof of the Jews' generous hospitality.

Daniel Seidemann, founder and legal advisor for Ir Amim, a non-profit association dedicated to co-existence in Jerusalem, says a united and equitable Jerusalem exists only in Netanyahu's imagination.

"Burkan's Jerusalem is the one that preserves the Jewish neighborhoods' unique character on the one hand and the Jews' right to settle anywhere they want on the other hand," he said.

Related articles:
  • Palestinian PM to U.S.: Draft new Mideast peace plan
  • Gideon Levy / Israelis aren't paying price for injustice of occupation
  • Palestinian Authority lifts ban on Al Jazeera
    • PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
    Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    Swine flu deaths
    Health Ministry examines possible first two fatalities from swine flu.
    IDF success
    Watch: Israel Navy successfully test fires Barak anti-missile system.
      1.   Until short time ago even Danes couldn`t buy summer houses in Sv 12:04  |  Absolute Sweden 24/07/09
      2.   ToSv: Sweden does nor boast itself as the only 14:01  |  Democracy in the ME 24/07/09
      3.   If you think this is bad 14:12  |  Lynn 24/07/09
      4.   Re#3 16:32  |  Joe 24/07/09
      5.   In America 05:59  |  Rubicon 25/07/09
      6.   Re#3 That means Palestenians have to return to their Homes 14:39  |  Jhon 25/07/09
      7.   #5 00:25  |  RAK 27/07/09
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    hotel Jerusalem
    David Citadel Hotel, come stay at the finest of Jerusalem hotels.
    Handmade In Tel Aviv
    Itay Noy, Timepiece Maker
    ISRAEL ARMY SURPLUS STORE
    IDF insignia,Uniforms, Paladium Boots Watches, Israel Army T-shirts & Collectibles
    Dead Sea Salt Beauty and skin care
    From the Dead Sea Coupon cofe Haaretz for 10% off!
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
    Junkyard
    Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
    More Headlines
    20:45 Israel fears first swine flu fatality
    12:50 Mitchell to Barak: U.S. commitment to Israel security is 'unshakable'
    16:37 Clinton brands Iran's nuclear pursuit 'futile'
    19:39 WATCH: IDF successfully test fires Barak anti-missile system
    23:24 Iran ex-president Rafsanjani ignores hardliners' call on vote
    22:01 U.S. Professor: I told FBI about kidney trafficking 7 years ago
    18:56 Cockatoo stolen from kibbutz identifies owner, screeching 'Dad!'
    00:15 WATCH: Daily news round-up from Israel
    17:06 Egypt refers accused Hezbollah operatives to emergency court
    23:34 Sarkozy hospitalized after collapsing during jog
    12:06 Painting Obama as an enemy will hurt Israel badly
    10:54 Man suspected of killing daughter ordered to undergo psychiatric tests
    17:22 Group that exposed 'IDF crimes' in Gaza slams Israel bid to choke off its funds
    Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
    | Israel 2009 election results | Makom: Engaging on Israel
    | Search engine marketing
    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
    © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved