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A binational reality
By Akiva Eldar
Tags: bulldozer, Jerusalem, Israel 

How nice that this time, too, the terrorist was a "lone wolf," a drug addict or just a nut case. Just so long as Jerusalemite murderers are not acting on behalf of terrorist groups. "Wild weeds" can grow in any garden. We also once had a strange doctor who carried out a massacre in a mosque; his family erected a glorious tombstone in honor of the "saint." No one proposed razing the family's home for the purpose of "deterrence" - and justifiably so. If we assume that this was the case of a deviant, demolishing the home of his family will deter the next deviant in the same way that the death penalty deters people who decide to blow themselves up in a bus, in the hope of having fun with 70 virgins in paradise. Deterrence is relevant when it is applied to trends in the mainstream, not in the sidelines of society.

The murderer at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva and the terrorist with the bulldozer did not represent an organization. Worse still: They reflect the mood of thousands of residents in Israel's capital. A terror organization can be tracked down, declared illegal and its leadership can be arrested. Discontent that originates at the grassroots needs no guidance, is not controlled by anyone's decisions, and it is much more difficult to contain. This is the way it was in the first intifada, and to a certain extent also in the second intifada. The organizations did not create the wave. They rode it.

A young Palestinian living in one of the neighborhoods that have been left on the outside of the separation fence tells me that every morning, on his way to work, as he observes the masses of people waiting at the checkpoint, he wonders why there are so few terrorist attacks. And this from a man who sends his children to summer camp with Israeli youth.
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By coincidence, or perhaps not, both murderers involved in attacks in Jerusalem came from neighborhoods on the dividing line, where residents' lives have been changed completely by the fence, which was drawn short-sightedly and without sensibility. The wall enveloping Jerusalem, whose length totals 170 kilometers - more than the distance between that city and Haifa - has cut off most Jerusalem Arabs, primarily those living west of the fence, from their brethren in the West Bank. Some 60,000 people, left outside the fence, have been separated from their livelihoods, schools and hospitals in Jerusalem.

The steadily creeping annexation by Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, including the holy sites and the Old City - with complete disregard for the Americans' requests - blurs the difference between the reality in "unified" Jerusalem and the occupation in the West Bank. From a political point of view the situation of the residents of East Jerusalem is better than that of their neighbors in the West Bank. While in Ramallah there is an illusion of Palestinian rule, in Shuafat the Palestinian Authority has no hold. Israel is not fulfilling its commitments according to Part A of the road map, which requires that Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem be reopened, and it is undermining the formation of a local political leadership.

The public debate surrounding the razing of the family homes of the two murderers is distracting attention from a much more serious issue. The question is not why the families of Jerusalemite terrorists should be treated in a way that is different from that which Israel has shown families of terrorists from the West Bank. The question needs to be whether there is genuine justification for treating them differently. Is there really any difference between those who received blue (Israeli) identity cards, and the residents of the West Bank? Did the National Insurance payments on the one hand, and the supervision over Palestinian immigration on the other, actually alter the aspirations of Jerusalem's Arabs, or did the policy of "unifying Jerusalem" fail?

After 40 years, the time has come for politicians to understand that destroying more Arab homes and building more houses for Jews will not transform Jerusalem into a more united city. In Jerusalem, like any locale situated between the sea and the Jordan River, a binational reality exists, in which one ethnic group rules by force over another ethnic group. Historically, Israel's governments have treated Jerusalem's Arabs as hostile surplus. The policy of "enlightened occupation" was adopted in their case, even though it has been proven bankrupt in the rest of the territories, and these people were expected to appreciate this and become loyal residents of the Zionist entity.

Many years ago, a U.S. diplomat who served in Jerusalem said the following about the Arabs of the city: "You will not be able to break them or buy them."

Razing two homes in Jerusalem will destroy yet another superficial division between Palestinians and Palestinians. Perhaps this will help us understand that an accord in the West Bank, without a solution in Jerusalem, is a dangerous illusion.
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  1.   Another excuse for violence against Israelis 09:37  |  Shalom Freedman 07/07/08
  2.   Reality 09:38  |  Ralph 07/07/08
  3.   FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR OWN SOUL 09:48  |  indrajaya 07/07/08
  4.   Excellent Article 10:23  |  Sylvie 07/07/08
  5.   Creating Terror 10:26  |  Paul 07/07/08
  6.   LOL: Israel does not destroy Jewish terrorist homes? 10:35  |  Tupac 07/07/08
  7.   Sing Hatikva, or GO! 10:46  |  Harvey (Chaim) 07/07/08
  8.   WAKE UP ISRAEL.. 11:07  |  ravi 07/07/08
  9.   Question for Shalom (peace & #1) 11:31  |  Yitz 07/07/08
  10.   Akiva still peddling his 6 yr old granddaughter Tamar 12:06  |  Absolute Sweden 07/07/08
  11.   Palestinian aspirations. 12:28  |  sandra chitayat 07/07/08
  12.   `Zionist entity`? 12:52  |  Joseph 07/07/08
  13.   # 6 Definition of terrorist 12:57  |  Sherlock Holmes 07/07/08
  14.   The worst punishment for Jerusalem Arabs 13:10  |  Rick & TC 07/07/08
  15.   Justification for murder 13:25  |  Ofer 07/07/08
  16.   #6 Tupac 13:47  |  judith 07/07/08
  17.   EVERY DAY HAARETZ FINDS A NEW WAY TO SUBTLY SUPPORT TERROR 13:51  |  Freethinker 07/07/08
  18.   Go on Sylvie, dismiss reality as `right wing bile`, that should 13:53  |  Freethinker 07/07/08
  19.   The best argument against a binational state 14:01  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 07/07/08
  20.   12/ defintion of a terrorist 14:12  |  Ahmed 07/07/08
  21.   #11 Joseph - Eldar forgot to use quotation marks because 14:35  |  Freethinker 07/07/08
  22.   #11 Joseph - Eldar forgot to use quotation marks because 14:35  |  Freethinker 07/07/08
  23.   #11 Joseph - Eldar forgot to use quotation marks because 14:35  |  Freethinker 07/07/08
  24.   Jistified and Unjustified Punishment 14:48  |  Tzfonit 07/07/08
  25.   Remember the Israeli Bulldozers 15:53  |  Hank N Tennessee 07/07/08
  26.   Rationalizing Murder 15:55  |  Proud Israeli 07/07/08
  27.   Eldar`s zionist entity 15:59  |  peter 07/07/08
  28.   "You will not be able to break them or buy them." 16:29  |  newageblues 07/07/08
  29.   Judith # We here in America are not at war with the Palestians 16:49  |  American in NY 07/07/08
  30.   British and Arabs kicked Jews out of Jerusalem, but fence is bad? 16:55  |  David 07/07/08
  31.   19 Margie of TA this has to be one of the most hypocritical & 18:15  |  lakshmi 07/07/08
  32.   20 Ahmed,the problem here is that israel,unlike modern 18:20  |  lakshmi 07/07/08
  33.   Fitting emblem 18:23  |  David 07/07/08
  34.   Ridiculous argument 18:34  |  rschondo 07/07/08
  35.   I bet Proud Israeli rationalizes Israeli killing of innocent Pals 18:51  |  newageblues 07/07/08
  36.   Margie in TA 18:52  |  Boycott 07/07/08
  37.   The bulldozer driver was also a victim 18:53  |  Janice 07/07/08
  38.   Thank you for this piece of truth 19:13  |  Philipp 07/07/08
  39.   zfonit, lost your bearings? 19:43  |  sptz 07/07/08
  40.   Hank the Tank 19:48  |  sptz 07/07/08
  41.   #27 19:56  |  Anthony 07/07/08
  42.   I LOVE SELF DEROGATION 20:05  |  JOJO 07/07/08
  43.   Boycott 20:13  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 07/07/08
  44.   #29 Margie is right: look at memritv. education of hate must end! 20:22  |  Arthur 07/07/08
  45.   Shalom Freedman, Has it ever occurred to you ? 20:49  |  Dutch 07/07/08
  46.   #39 Margie in TA 21:12  |  Boycott 07/07/08
  47.   A political solution will not stop religious violence 21:21  |  Jeremy 07/07/08
  48.   GROW UP RAVI... 21:23  |  ZISD 07/07/08
  49.   Thank you Akiva! Next time a rocket lands next to me 21:26  |  Sima 07/07/08
  50.   They reflect the mood of thousands? 21:33  |  Question mark 07/07/08
  51.   Thousands of Rockets Fired on Gaza Jews. VICTIMS were PUNISHED! 21:47  |  Linda Rivera 07/07/08
  52.   Another definition for "terrorist" 22:02  |  Gray 07/07/08
  53.   Excellent propaganda...how about the truth instead 22:13  |  David 07/07/08
  54.   Dutch and the phony "illegal settlements" line 22:39  |  Joe Sittizen 07/07/08
  55.   The young pal 22:59  |  KUTW 07/07/08
  56.   Lakshmi here`s something I read in CiF in the Guardian today 23:02  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 07/07/08
  57.   #19 Ma in Ta ex SA RE BOYCOTT 23:05  |  Labhras not arab 07/07/08
  58.   The blame for checkpoints is on the terrorists 23:10  |  KUTW 07/07/08
  59.   Boycott 23:11  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 07/07/08
  60.   #47 Gray 23:14  |  Dogpile 07/07/08
  61.   Margie in TA; I understand... 23:20  |  Gray 07/07/08
  62.   Thousands want you killed, Eldar; does that make it justified 23:58  |  McQueen 07/07/08
  63.   If you can`t break them or buy them, you must propose expulsion! 00:01  |  McQueen 08/07/08
  64.   #54 Ma in Ta Ex Sa re boycott 00:10  |  Labhras 08/07/08
  65.   Joe Sitt izen #49 00:51  |  drew 08/07/08
  66.   Successful Zionism Requires Violence 01:04  |  Gray 08/07/08
  67.   Eldar, we reject your "solutions". This tiny land is ours! 01:27  |  Chaim 08/07/08
  68.   Eldar, we reject your "solutions". This tiny land is ours! 01:27  |  Chaim 08/07/08
  69.   "Free thinker"? 01:33  |  Gray 08/07/08
  70.   Gray, your brain is so tiny 01:59