Jerusalem Mayor: U.S. criticism won't halt construction in city

"the demand to halt construction in jerusalem only for jews"... as if the palestinians are building right and left? kind of hard to do without a permit; which aren't issued to them; isn't it? what a lying hypocrite!

Legally Jews are allowed to live in what is now Jordan (historically Eastern Israel) on called the East Bank. If one million live in Israel proper then one million Jews must be allowed to live in Jordan while 2 million Jews must live in Judea Samaria to make things Just, equal and legal.

Its good to see that one brave, just man is standing up for the civil rights of Jews who are suffering from discrimination and harassment.

The Arabs started and lost 6 wars over this "disputed land". Let me emphasize... LOST! Israel is now the ruler of the land. Palestinians are lucky they can still live there. Israel fought and won. Now they get to decide. That's the way the world works! Arabs never wanted this land and never wanted Jerusalem until the Jews took it back. There are millions of square miles of land in the ME for the palestinians to live on. Do me a favor...

usa should reconsider who is friend and who is foe. arab world has done a 1000 times more for us than israel. israel only takes! us bombs belong onto its real foes!

America doesn't let anyone tell us where to build settlements, Israel has the right to build on their land! Lebanon and some of the other Arab countries have plenty of land that the Arab people in Israel can move to. If it was any other country, this would be expected. It should be the same for the Jewish people of Israel. The land has been given to them, and fought for by them. Let them build!

West Bank never was another country that can be occupied. There is no border between Israel itself and West Bank - only the armistice line that was agreed without prejudice to future borders.

Yeah you dont need support now do you? You have received enough handouts like welfare bums that you were able to secretly produce nukes, while lying to those who were feeding you. I think Isreal should be sanctioned...I thionk it against international law to support terrorist groups anyways

"the territories are disputed just because the media and countries start using occupation doesnt mean it is correct" The territories are occupied. Illegally, according to the Fourth Geneva Convention. Don't say you didn't know that!

Let a million Jews live outside it. No discrimination.

The White House is run by a bunch of Arab sympathizers. The hobby of today's world is a continuation of Jew-bashing and of past antisemitism. Wherever Jews are, now is the time for Jews to defend themselves and do what is good for Jews. Maybe someday, when the world can get its act together, there will be some type of tranquility and evenhandedness. Until then, Israel should strengthen itself and disregard criticism and pray for peace.

...the question is, indeed, whether that support can be lost (or at least actively called into question). What would have to happen for the US to make its aid to Israel dependent on the extent to which Israel's actions promote US policies? The only answer I can come up with is this will happen only when our corrupt politicians feel that there is more for them to lose than to gain by maintaining the same blind-eye/blank check policy.

Share the same values. You're having a laugh aren't you . The only value you get from the U.S. is billions of undeserved aid from U.S. taxpayers. Israel is a burden on the west and we should all wash our hands of you. Trying and trying ever so hard to drag the whole of North Amrica and Europe into your wars, like Iran. Our MPs in England have said enough and revealed just how much they are involved in pretecting your warmongering state. Enough is enough and the west is waking up to it.

" Barkat said that the demand to halt construction in Jerusalem only for Jews would not be legal anywhere in the world." By Geneva conventions such a demand is legal everywhere outside Israel. Palestinian Jews of course can built, Israeli Jews cannot.

Just halt construction in Jerusalem period. Both west and east Jerusalem. A last tribute to the unitedness-that-never-was of the Jerusalem you have augmented with more and more bits of the West Bank. That'll give you time to think and to come back to earth. You aren't a religious man, you do not think yemei hamashiah allow you to bully and brutalize non-Jews and the irreligious in the holy city. Think about the justifications you imagine you have and realize that there are none.

Are you kidding? How did you write that with a straight face Avi? The US and Israel do not share the same values. When has oppressing, abusing, demonizing, terrorizing, etc, etc an entire population ever been a US value. We may be ignorant in the States Avi, but we definitely are a humane society...something I'm afraid most Israelis have lost.

Are you mentally challenged my friend? Can you please give me the name of one Palestinian allowed to build in Jerusalem? On the contrary, you will find several names of Palestinians having their homes demolished along with more land grabs in Arab Jerusalem. Quit speaking with that double talk and be truthful for once.

It has nothing to do with values, it has alot to do with AIPAC controlling the US congress but this too is coming to an end.

Israel has taken the homes and the land of the Palestinians. That land is not Israel. Most of the people who lost their homes did not fight Israel. They just tried toget away from the fighting and were not allowed to return. Now that Israel has all their land and those Palestinians are pushed into over crowded ghettos, where will they live? WIll they ever have a nation? What is their crime that they should be treated so badly? Why is Israel so greedy?

the USA supplies Israel with money and weapons, they did so for the past 3 or 4 decades. the USA has BOUGHT the right to tell Israel what to do. imagine Israel without US backing, there wouldn't be an Israel.

Jewish money re-elects American politicians. America will never -- NEVER -- get tough with Israel because it requires American politicians to do it.

.... (Yes folks, those elections are around the corner.) Israel repeatedly violates internatinal law, so how does every American "condemnation" start? "Neither party should engage..." Never once singling out Israel. (Well, except ALL THE TIME.)

Israel bombs gaza after relentless rockets..israel bombs lebanon when hezballa which is now officially lebanon shoots at it...its called self defence that arab muslims dont seem to grasp....as their prophet never did when he slaughtered thousands proactively trying to claim selfdefence

america wont drop israeli support as they share the same values unlike the other arab countries in the region...israel in fact does not need the military aid they can produce weapons on its own...israel withdrew from gaza as an example as to why they should not withdraw from the disputed judea and sameria

how many times does someone like you need to be told that jerusalem is not occupied ..in fact the territories are disputed just because the media and countries start using occupation doesnt mean it is correct...east jerusalem is disputed however they never wanted it as a capital before they shouldnt get it now

Jerusalem since 1967. Look at the demographics then and now. How many building permits has Israel issued to Palestinians since 1967? If your logic is correct, then each Israeli family must have had 10 childrn and each Palestinian family one or none. Lets not play with words. Your and Berkat's arguments create more anti-Semitism than anything else.

Jerusalem Arabs are systematically discriminated against: They lack schools, housing, transportation, garbage collection, roads. Jewish ambulances won't venture into Arab Jerusalem. Our mayor, Nir Barkat, is the Jewish mayor of Jewish Jerusalem. His aim, like that of the Israeli government, is to force the Arabs out of Jerusalem.

"East Jerusalem, which is predominantly Arab and tapped by the Palestinians to be the capital of a future state." If we agree to that, then Pals will understand that it includes all Jerusalem. Gilo happens to be in the south of West Jerusalem

first, the jerusalem mayor is not the appropriate person to answer to the white house. Second, considering the very poor building and construction planning laws and regulations as well as the almost unknown environment management (natural right of forest and agriculture) of the area it sounds not to be a good opportunity to build such new buildings untill all others are fully feeded. Third point, being the mayor of jerusalmen, he could find innovative solution as the ancester did in their time; to increase the number of people in jerusalem without burning new holy ground as well as developping god familly skyscrapers house. This is a very important point to understand for every body in holy ground, the ground is the property of god only and using his property means the yield of faith as well as life needs to be increase. choose your area, olive threes and square, and draw the holy city of the 3rd millenium. Jean

Jerusalem is the only capital city in the Middle East with a democratically-elected mayor. If you do not like his decisions you can run for mayor yourself if you live in Jerusalem. If not you can mind your own business.

people. WHO is stopping the daily rocket attacks? No one, including the U.S. Who is stopping the daily Iranian threat to wipe out Israel? No one including the U.S.

palestinians, Iran, Hizballa and others. That's what you're doing. The world has been blind for years, but not anymore. Not with the current US administration. Not with nuclear Iran. Not with a powerful Hizalla. Not with a more powerful Hamas.

If you listen to the words coming out of Israel lately, it goes like this: We will bomb Gaza. We will bomb Lebanon. We will bomb Iran. We will expand the settlements intothe Arab areas. We will not accept American criticism. We want peace. One can only assume that Israel wants peace after all their enemies are dead, since Israel is busily making new enemies all the time. Without American support, Israel will fold like wet cardboard, nuclear bombs and all.

If they expect us to freeze our settlements in order to not "unduly impact future negotiations" then this should apply to Palestinians as well. Applying a freeze exclusively to Jews is nothing short of racism.

"the demand to halt construction in Jerusalem only for Jews would not be legal anywhere in the world." LOOL! No more legal than the US twisting Iran's arm over her nuclear development program. But when it comes to occupied Jerusalem, since when did Israel care about what is legal and what is not?

Criticism of Israel is worse than useless. On one hand it shows that America is displeased with Israel. On the other hand it gives Israel a chance to show that they don't care a damn. America has backed and supported Israel for years, politically, militarily and financially. Israel thinks that the talons of their lobby are sunk so deep into the American political system that Israel need never worry about continuing American support. Only when Israel understands that American support can be lost and, in fact, when America begines to stop that support, Israel will undergo a massive behavior change. At that point, a complete west bank withdrawal will look OK to Israel. If America never finds the nerve to deny Israel, then Israel will continue to direct American actions.

Speak softly and carry a big stick....

As these zionist leaders continue to defy and spit in the face of the US, I think it is time to calmly wipe the spit off, take them off the llist of allies and level sanctions against them, until they start showing a willingness to meet their commitments and cease their lies.

'Barkat said that the demand to halt construction in Jerusalem only for Jews would not be legal anywhere in the world. ' No -- the demand is that Israel stop building on occupied territory -- and that would be illegal anywhere in the world, by anyone. Israel manages to transmogrify the anti-semitic card so that it becomes a license to do anything at all. Any demand that Israel restrain itself in any way at all is anti-semitic, and therefore illegitimate. That really is the argument. It's incredible.

Kol Hakavod to Nir Barkat!! He is a leader and not a politican!!

All, The key is the diplomatic phrase '"Neither party should engage in efforts or take actions that could unilaterally preempt, or appear to preempt, negotiations". Extending the freeze to East Jerusalem forces Israel to admit that East Jerusalem is 'occupied' which Israel has never accepted in the past. EJ was covered by the 'corpus separatum' and Jewish presence was never forbidden there. The Intl Community never accepted Israeli annexation in EJ. However, extending the freeze there would 'unilaterally pre-empt negotiations' by undermining Israeli claims to EJ. Resolution of these claims are, after all, the purpose of final status negotiations. The solution is to allow both Israel and Abass to save face by agreeing that: 1. Israel can 'postpone' building in EJ during negotiations. Avoids 'freeze' but satisfies Pal demands. 2. A declaration by the Quartet that postponing construction in EJ doesn't negate Israeli claims to EJ during negotiations.