1. "A New War"- Bob Kunst
2. Abbas Visit- Dr. Doug Miller
3. Another War- Jackson Diehl-Washington Post
4. World Leaders Ignore Int'l Law- Hanna Erez
5. Jerusalem for Sale by Olmert- Aaron Klein
Dear "Chosen" Acitivsts:
So here is the latest. There are actually Jews out there who aren't 'tired', aren't 'giving up', do care and are willing to rally for G-d, Torah, Israel and a United Jerusalem, our Eternal Capital, when Bush allows Abbas into the White House and insults every Jewish and American casuality against these Islamic terrorists.
We're also catching on for the protest at 9AM against Abbas at the White House, who wants to destroy the Jewish state. Spoke to many from N.Y. today and also folks are coming up from Miami.
We are speaking to two Shuls for early morning prayers in the D.C. Metro area, then to the 9 AM protest and then the 2P.M. protest at the illegal PLO headquarters.
Since we led the rallies and protests at "Annapolis", 4/24/08, will be our 29th and 30th 'events' and 162 media.
We do it honor of and memory of all Jews and Israelis and Americans, who have given life and limb, all who are MIA's and POWS, all who FINALLY understand the dangers we are in and the potential losses if we remain silent.
Remembr the Rebbe's words: "Silence Is A Sin". Abbas like Arafat, like Hamas, is the extension of the committment to destroy Israel and propped up to be this phoney leader.
Bush's "War on Terro" is a joke when he is rewarding Abbas with recognition and land that isn't Bush/Rice to begin with.
Why doesn't Bush just invite Bin Laden for the same impact of insulting all the victims of these tyranical Islamic Nazis, who have yet to contain the violence on any level, but are cashing in on Bush/Rice anti-semitism and Saudi Arabia politics?
How can anyone excuse Bush's behavior in this matter when he is also pushing the James Baker (FU the Jews) from Bush I times.
When we said in 8 cities and 26 rallies that "Annapolis" was a "War Summit" and Olmert with no ounce of self-respect had to come in a side-door for this 'peace' insanity, now we see Abbas coming in the front door of the White House, with so much Jewish blood on his hands and not a peep from Bush/Rice and the media to continue this insult. Afterall, they're only Jews. Who cares?
Unless we care and we do and why we'll be in front of the White House at 9 AM on April 24, 2008, to tell Bush/Rice/Abbas that their betrayal of the Jewish people and the Jewish State of Israel will come back to haunt them with a new Middle East War they are responsible for and will be blamed for.
Rice is the female version of Obama. Bush and oil and Carlyle Group and Bin Laden group are all tied together and we need to expose this unholy alliance responsible for '9/11' and global terrorism.
Below is a very important article from the Wash. Post on the new war coming and also a key article on how the League of Nations rules on a Jewish homeland are being turned on its head by the UN with Bush/Rice/EU and of couse that curse, Olmert.
All of this is formenting anti-semitism, anti-zionism, anti-Israeli and anti-US politics and violence.
We need your help on all of this. If you can come on our bus from NY to DC, please let us know immediately as we will be making history and much media.
If you can't come but can sponsor someone who can, please contact us.
If you can get fabulous art work on Jerusalem by Eva Deutsch which I sent out on Fri. please order and we'll get a donation from that effort.
If you can get 50 of our bumper stickers for $50, this is vital for continual visibility and movement.
Please go to www.defendjerusalem.net and put your donation on paypal and by mail: "Defend Jerusalem", P.O.Box 402263, Miami Beach, Fla. 33140.
Remember, for thousands of years we Seder and remember our oppression from the Egyptians and going from slavery to liberation with G-d's help. Today, the Egyptians(our 'peace' partner), allow the monies and rockets to flow to Hamas, to attack Israelis with.
Remember, that today we still have to battle those enslaved Jews who have no self-respect and keep allowing this groveling to our enemies that keep the crimes against us, getting greater with this weakness...again.
Like in the 1930s, our leadership is impotent, telling us not to worry while the clouds of horror grow more infamous.
In the Miami Herald, 4/2/95, (13 yrs. ago), The Algerian Government announced that it had killed 2800 guerrillas in a two week sweep of Islamic militant strongholds and practically eliminated the Armed Islamic Group. The world cared less. Arabs killing each other and Islamic Nazis is no big deal. Hamas killing Fatah gets the same 'ho hum.'
However, if Israel strikes at this same Islamic Nazi insanity, to defend ourselves from them, the Jew-hating world goes beserk.
How have we reached this level of 'enslavement'? Why haven't we told our story and 5000 yr. history? Why are we taken for granted to play Saudi Arabian politics with the Bush gang?
The purpose of condeming Abbas and Bush in bed with him, is to capture the media, tell our story, enlighten the masses, bring this issue to the national presidential election and also show the Israelis that we do care and are willing to voice this opposition and then ask the Israelis what they are doing to also be as visible and as caring about these issues.
If you understand this, please act on the above on any and all levels.
Yours in Shalom,
Bob Kunst
Pres., Shalom International
305-864-5110
Coalition to Defend Jerusalem www.defendjerusalem.net
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To: mb <shalominternational@mindspring.com>
From: Douglas Miller
Sent: Apr 7, 2008 1:48 PM
To:
Subject: Abbas visit
4/7/08
President George Bush
The White House
Washington, DC
Dear Mr. President,
I am outraged that PA boss, Mahmoud Abbas, has been invited to the White House later this month. Abbas is first and foremost a terrorist. He is an employer of terrorists, a financier of terrorism, a dispatcher of terrorists and a defender of terrorists. He is responsible for the murder of many Americans. He has no business stepping foot on our sacred soil let alone be a welcome guest in our nation's capital.
Please let you better judgement overcome political expediency and pull the plug on this shameful travesty. Please don't let Mahmoud Abbas contaminate the White House. America will pay a heavy price for this attempt at appeasing an unappologetic terrorist. I beg you to reconsider.
Sincerely,
Douglas Miller
2301 Meridian
MB, FL 33140
H: 305-674-1591
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: A washingtonpost.com article from: wmrnews@msn.com
This page was sent to you by: wmrnews@msn.com
Road Map to a Gaza War
By Jackson Diehl
Bush's last minute peace push will lead to another Israeli-Palestinian war.
Road Map to a Gaza War
An Israeli tank returns from an operation in Gaza last week. (By Ariel Schalit -- Associated Press)
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Who's Blogging» Links to this article
By Jackson Diehl
Monday, April 7, 2008; Page A17
Seven years ago George W. Bush's incoming foreign policy team blamed the Clinton administration for an eleventh-hour rush for a Middle East peace agreement that ended with the explosion of the second Palestinian intifada. Now, with less than 10 months remaining in office, Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are engaged in a similar last-minute push -- yet they don't seem to recognize the growing risk that their initiative, too, will end with another Israeli-Palestinian war.
Rice visited Jerusalem again last week to press for visible Israeli fulfillment of commitments made at last year's Annapolis conference, and she appeared to win some incremental steps, such as the dismantlement of a few dozen of the several hundred military roadblocks in the West Bank. Yet a more significant Israeli signal may have been delivered by the stream of senior officials who have quietly been visiting Washington in the past month: Israel, they have been saying, is on course for a major conflict with the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip.
That battle seemed on the verge of beginning a month ago, when Hamas for the first time began firing Iranian-made missiles at the Israeli city of Ashkelon -- in addition to the volleys of homemade rockets it has been aiming at the smaller town of Sderot for several years. After a punishing series of Israeli airstrikes the fighting subsided, and with the State Department's encouragement Egypt began to broker discussions about a more enduring truce. In previous columns, I've argued that such a cease-fire in Gaza is the least bad of Israel's limited options.
But officials portray Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak as having little interest in a deal with Hamas. They acknowledge that a suspension of attacks by both sides might make the ongoing peace talks easier -- and that the outbreak of an all-out conflict would almost certainly kill the Annapolis process. Yet, increasingly Israeli officials see the confrontation in Gaza with Hamas as more important in strategic terms than the talks with moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The view in Jerusalem, as more than one official put it to me, is that there is no alternative to a military collision with Hamas in Gaza, probably before the end of the Bush administration.
The grim Israeli view is driven to a large degree by what officials say is the massive and continuing smuggling of weapons into Gaza, sponsored by Iran and tacitly allowed by Egypt, which despite considerable pressure from Washington shrinks from actions that might trigger its own confrontation with Hamas. Hamas is building hardened bunker systems and stockpiling missiles in imitation of the infrastructure built in southern Lebanon by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement. The Israelis say hundreds of Hamas militants have traveled to Iran for training in targeting and firing Grad missiles, Iran's version of the old Soviet Katyusha.
Sobered by the bloody nose it suffered when it attacked Hezbollah's Lebanese base in 2006, the Israeli army has been training against Hamas's Gaza strong points. But officials say that the longer the army waits to take on what is now viewed as a strategic threat, the greater Hamas's chance will be to inflict heavy casualties or strike southern Israeli cities with missiles. The cease-fire Egypt seeks (and that Hamas sometimes says it wants) would only make the problem worse, in the Israeli analysis, by giving Hamas the opportunity to accelerate its buildup.
Bush and Rice would like Israel to hold off against Hamas until Olmert can complete an agreement on principles for a final Israeli-Palestinian settlement with Abbas. While Olmert still wants that deal, it's become increasingly clear to the Israelis that an Abbas-led government will never be able to implement it. Despite extensive international aid, the West Bank Palestinian administration remains little more than a shell kept in power by Israel's troops. Hamas, the Israelis say, can stop the peace process at any time by resuming missile attacks against Ashkelon. And whatever happens in Gaza -- whether an Israeli-Hamas truce or all-out war -- Abbas stands to be further damaged. His prime minister, Salam Fayyad, has hinted privately that he might favor an Israeli attack on Hamas, because it would allow Abbas's Fatah movement to take control of Gaza. But Abbas's security forces are unlikely to be strong enough to control Gaza's population of 1.5 million anytime soon.
The Israelis say the coming confrontation won't necessarily involve a full-scale reoccupation of the Gaza Strip. Given the predictable international backlash against any Israeli offensive, and the inevitable satellite television coverage of suffering Palestinians, Olmert is likely to wait for a clear provocation from Hamas. Perhaps it won't happen for a few more months. But what concerns some Israelis is the lack of readiness by the Bush administration for the possibility that its drive for Mideast peace will be overwhelmed by a Mideast war.
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Hanna Erez
Sent: Apr 7, 2008 11:24 AM
To: shalominternational
Subject: Fw: WORLD LEADERS IGNORE INTERNATIONAL LAW-INCITING ANTISEMITISM AND ANTI-ZIONISM
Subject: WORLD LEADERS IGNORE INTERNATIONAL LAW-INCITING ANTISEMITISM AND ANT-ZIONISM
MANDATE FOR PALESTINE PAMPHLET JUST PUBLISHED. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO HELP FIND WAYS TO DISTRIBUTE THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY.
THOUSANDS OF COPIES EXPECTED IN OUR POSSESSION WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS.
World Leaders Ignore International Law
Inciting antisemtism and anti-Zionism
March 17, 2008 | Eli E. Hertz
The Jewish People's Right to the Land of Israel
The "Mandate for Palestine " & the Law of War
Ban Ki-moon, Condoleezza Rice, and Javier Solana became victims to the 'Occupation' mantra their own organization has repeated over and over in their propaganda campaign to legitimize the Arab position.
The "Road Map" vision, as well as continuous pressure from the "Quartet" (U.S., the European Union, the UN and Russia) to surrender parts of the Land of Israel are contrary to international law that firmly call to "encourage ... close settlement by Jews on the land, including State lands and waste lands not required for public purposes." It also requires "seeing that no Palestine territory shall be ceded or leased to, or in any way placed under the control of the government of any foreign power."
Any attempt to negate the Jewish people's right to Palestine - Eretz-Israel, and to deny them access and control in the area designated for the Jewish people by the League of Nations is a serious infringement of international law.
International Law - The "Mandate for Palestine "
The "Mandate for Palestine" an historical League of Nations document, laid down the Jewish legal right under international law to settle anywhere in western Palestine, the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, an entitlement unaltered in international law. Fifty-one member countries - the entire League of Nations - unanimously declared on July 24, 1922:
"Whereas recognition has been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country."
On June 30, 1922, a joint resolution of both Houses of Congress of the United States unanimously endorsed the "Mandate for Palestine ":
"Favoring the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.
"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That the United States of America favors the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which should prejudice the civil and religious rights of Christian and all other non-Jewish communities in Palestine, and that the holy places and religious buildings and sites in Palestine shall be adequately protected." [italics in the original]
Law of War - Arab Unlawful Acts of Aggression in 1948
Six months before the War of Independence in 1948, Palestinian Arabs launched a series of riots, pillaging, and bloodletting. Then came the invasion of seven Arab armies from neighboring states attempting to prevent the establishment of a Jewish state in accordance with the UN's 1947 recommendation to Partition Palestine, a plan the Arabs rejected.
The Jewish state not only survived, it came into possession of territories - land from which its adversaries launched their first attempt to destroy the newly created State of Israel.
Israel's citizens understood that defeat meant the end of their Jewish state before it could even get off the ground. In the first critical weeks of battle, and against all odds, Israel prevailed on several fronts.
The metaphor of Israel having her back to the sea reflected the image crafted by Arab political and religious leaders' rhetoric and incitement. Already in 1948 several car bombs had killed Jews, and massacres of Jewish civilians underscored Arab determination to wipe out the Jews and their state.
6,000 Israelis died as a result of that war, in a population of 600,000. One percent of the Jewish population was gone. In American terms, the equivalent is 3 million American civilians and soldiers killed over an 18-month period.
Israel's War of Independence in 1948 was considered lawful and in self-defence as may be reflected in UN resolutions naming Israel a "peace loving State" when it applied for membership at the United Nations. Both the Security Council (4 March, 1949, S/RES/69) and the UN General Assembly (11 May, 1949, (A/RES/273 (III)) declared:
"[Security Council] Decides in its judgment that Israel is a peace-loving State and is able and willing to carry out the obligations contained in the Charter ..."
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arab Unlawful Acts of Aggression in 1967
In June 1967, the combined armies of Egypt , Syria , and Jordan attacked Israel with the clear purpose expressed by Egypt 's President: "Destruction of Israel." At the end of what is now known as the Six-Day War, Israel, against all odds, was victorious and in possession of the territories of Judea and Samaria [E.H., The West Bank], Sinai and the Golan Heights.
International law makes a clear distinction between defensive wars and wars of aggression. More than half a century after the 1948 War, and more than four decades since the 1967 Six-Day War, it is hard to imagine the dire circumstances Israel faced and the price it paid to fend off its neighbors' attacks.
Who Starts Wars Does Matter
Professor, Judge Stephen M. Schwebel, past President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) states the following facts:
"The facts of the June 1967 'Six Day War' demonstrate that Israel reacted defensively against the threat and use of force against her by her Arab neighbors. This is indicated by the fact that Israel responded to Egypt's prior closure of the Straits of Tiran, its proclamation of a blockade of the Israeli port of Eilat, and the manifest threat of the UAR's [The state formed by the union of the republics of Egypt and Syria in 1958] use of force inherent in its massing of troops in Sinai, coupled with its ejection of UNEF.
"It is indicated by the fact that, upon Israeli responsive action against the UAR, Jordan initiated hostilities against Israel . It is suggested as well by the fact that, despite the most intense efforts by the Arab States and their supporters, led by the Premier of the Soviet Union, to gain condemnation of Israel as an aggressor by the hospitable organs of the United Nations, those efforts were decisively defeated.
"The conclusion to which these facts lead is that the Israeli conquest of Arab and Arab-held territory was defensive rather than aggressive conquest."
Judge Sir Elihu Lauterpacht wrote in 1968, one year after the 1967 Six-Day War:
"On 5th June, 1967, Jordan deliberately overthrew the Armistice Agreement by attacking the Israeli-held part of Jerusalem . There was no question of this Jordanian action being a reaction to any Israeli attack. It took place notwith,standing explicit Israeli assurances, conveyed to King Hussein through the U.N. Commander, that if Jordan did not attack Israel , Israel would not attack Jordan .
"Although the charge of aggression is freely made against Israel in relation to the Six-Days War the fact remains that the two attempts made in the General Assembly in June-July 1967 to secure the condemnation of Israel as an aggressor failed. A clear and striking majority of the members of the U.N. voted against the proposition that Israel was an aggressor."
Israel Has the Better Title to the Territory of What Was Palestine , Including the Whole of Jerusalem
International law makes it clear: All of Israel's wars with its Arab neighbors were in self-defence.
Professor, Judge Schwebel, wrote in What Weight to Conquest:
"(a) a state [Israel] acting in lawful exercise of its right of self-defense may seize and occupy foreign territory as long as such seizure and occupation are necessary to its self-defense;
"(b) as a condition of its withdrawal from such territory, that State may require the institution of security measures reasonably designed to ensure that that territory shall not again be used to mount a threat or use of force against it of such a nature as to justify exercise of self-defense;
"(c) Where the prior holder of territory had seized that territory unlawfully, the state which subsequently takes that territory in the lawful exercise of self-defense has, against that prior holder, better title.>"... as between Israel, acting defensively in 1948 and 1967, on the one hand, and her Arab neighbors, acting aggressively, in 1948 and 1967, on the other, Israel has the better title in the territory of what was Palestine, including the whole of Jerusalem, than do Jordan and Egypt."
"No legal Right Shall Spring from a Wrong"
Professor Schwebel explains that the principle of "acquisition of territory by war is inadmissible" must be read together with other principles:
"... namely, that no legal right shall spring from a wrong, and the Charter principle that the Members of the United Nations shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State."
>Simply stated: Arab illegal aggression against the territorial integrity and political independence of Israel , cannot and should not be rewarded.
Professor Julius Stone, a leading authority on the Law of Nations, stated:
"Territorial Rights Under International Law.... By their [Arab countries] armed attacks against the State of Israel in 1948, 1967, and 1973, and by various acts of belligerency throughout this period, these Arab states flouted their basic obligations as United Nations members to refrain from threat or use of force against Israel 's territorial integrity and political independence. These acts were in flagrant violation inter alia of Article 2(4) and paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of the same article."
Thus, under international law Israel acted lawfully by exercising its right to self-defence when it redeemed and legally reoccupied Judea and Samaria, known also as the West Bank.
Legalities aside, before 1967 there were no Jewish settlements in the West Bank, and for the first ten years of so-called occupation there were almost no Jewish settlers in the West Bank . And still there was no peace with the Palestinians. The notion that Jewish communities pose an obstacle to peace is a red herring designed to blame Israel for lack of progress in the 'Peace Process' and enable Palestinian leadership to continue to reject any form of compromise and reconciliation with Israel as a Jewish state.
>----------------------------------------------------------
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>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
To: mb <shalominternational@mindspring.com>
Subject: jerusalem for sale by olmert
April 1, 2008
Exposed: Israel is negotiating Jerusalem
PM Olmert repeatedly denied holy city discussed with Palestinians
By Aaron Klein
Illegal Arab construction in Jerusalem (WND)
JERUSALEM Israel is negotiating with the Palestinian Authority regarding "all core issues," including the status of Jerusalem, PA President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday.
"[Talks deal with] all the core issues without exception: Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, borders and security. We hope to achieve a settlement in 2008; there are many obstacles but we hope they will be removed. We are all pressing to reach a settlement by the target date," Abbas said.
His statements fly in the face of recent claims by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who repeatedly has denied Jerusalem is being discussed. The ultra-Orthodox Shas party, a key member of Olmert's coalition, has pledged to bolt the government if Jerusalem is negotiated.
Shas has denied Jerusalem is being discussed during regular weekly Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which commenced after last November's U.S.-sponsored Annapolis summit.
"Nobody is talking about Jerusalem. The moment Jerusalem is being discussed, Shas will leave the government period," Shas spokesman Roi Lachmanovitch told Israel National News.
Abbas' statement yesterday was specifically referring to the weekly meetings between chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
The PA leader's comments are sure to result in increased pressure against Shas to leave the government, a move that likely would send Olmert's government into crisis and could result in the prime minister's downfall.
Last week, WND reported the son of the Shas spiritual leader demanded his father's party immediately bolt the government amid rampant media reports Jerusalem is up for negotiations.
Rabbi Jacob Yosef accused the Shas party of "selling Jerusalem" for 478 million Israeli shekels, or $138 million. Yosef's father, Rabbi Ovadye Yosef, serves as the spiritual leader of Shas, where he is also considered the party's most important and revered figure.
Earlier this month, the Knesset's Finance Committee approved $138 million in government funds to Shas' educational institutions as part of the party's coalition agreement with Olmert.
"How dare you sell out Jerusalem for 478 million shekels. Jerusalem is worth more than all monies in the world," said Jacob Yosef, rabbi of the Givat Mordechai neighborhood in Jerusalem, addressing his father's party.
Jacob Yosef is also a member of the Rabbinical Congress for Peace, a coalition of more than 350 Israeli rabbinic leaders and pulpit rabbis.
Yosef accused his father's party of staying in the government until a formal announcement regarding dividing Jerusalem is made, by which time, the rabbi said, it will be too late.
"When someone brings a rope to hang your child, will you say, 'Oh, it's nothing, he only brought a rope?' Or if a killer is only sharpening the knife, will you say, 'It's nothing, he's only sharpening the knife?' You will stop him right at the beginning, because by the time the knife is on the throat it will be too late. What is Shas waiting for? It must leave the government right now," Yosef exclaimed.
Olmert's government has hinted a number of times it will divide Jerusalem and reportedly has halted all Jewish construction permits for eastern sections of the city.
In December, Israeli Vice Premier Haim Ramon said the country "must" give up sections of Jerusalem for a future Palestinian state, even conceding the Palestinians can rename Jerusalem "to whatever they want."
"We must come today and say, friends, the Jewish neighborhoods, including Har Homa, will remain under Israeli sovereignty, and the Arab neighborhoods will be the Palestinian capital, which they will call Jerusalem or whatever they want," said Ramon during an interview.
Positions held by Ramon, a ranking member of Olmert's Kadima party, are largely considered to be reflective of Israeli government policy.
Olmert himself recently questioned whether it was "really necessary" to retain Arab-majority eastern sections of Jerusalem.
Israel recaptured eastern Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount Judaism's holiest site during the 1967 Six Day War. The Palestinians have claimed eastern Jerusalem as a future capital; the area has large Arab neighborhoods, a significant Jewish population and sites holy to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
About 231,000 Arabs live in Jerusalem, mostly in eastern neighborhoods, and many reside in illegally constructed complexes. The city has an estimated total population of 724,000.
Olmert to blame for dividing Jerusalem?
Ramon listed population statistics as the reason Olmert's government finds it necessary to split Jerusalem.
But WND broke the story that according to Jerusalem municipal employees, during 10 years as mayor of Jerusalem, Olmert instructed city workers not to take action against hundreds of illicit Arab building projects throughout eastern sections of Jerusalem housing over 100,000 Arabs squatting in the city illegally.
The workers and some former employees claim Olmert even instructed city officials to delete files documenting illegal Arab construction of housing units in eastern Jerusalem.
Olmert was Jerusalem mayor from 1993 to 2003. As mayor, he made repeated public statements calling Jerusalem the "eternal and undivided capital" of Israel. Jerusalem municipal employees and former workers, though, paint a starkly contrasting picture of the prime minister.
"He did nothing about rampant illegal Arab construction in Jerusalem while the government cracked down on illegal Jewish construction in the West Bank," said one municipal employee who worked under Olmert. She spoke on condition of anonymity, because she still works for the municipality.
One former municipal worker during Olmert's mayoral tenure told WND he was moved in 1999 to a new government posting after he tried to highlight the illegal Arab construction in Jerusalem. He also spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for his current job.
Aryeh King, chairman of the Jerusalem Forum, which promotes Jewish construction in Jerusalem, told WND an investigation by his group found Olmert's city hall deleted files documenting hundreds of illegal Arab building projects throughout eastern sections of Jerusalem. He said he forwarded his findings to Israel's state comptroller for investigation.
King also claims Olmert told senior municipal workers not to enforce a ban on illegal Arab buildings.
"Ehud Olmert gave the order not to deal with the problem and not to put Israeli security forces to the duty of taking down the illegal Arab complexes," said King. "Senior municipal workers told me Olmert said not to bother with the illegal Arab homes, because eventually eastern Jerusalem would be given to the Palestinian Authority."
King's report alleges Jerusalem municipal officials erased the files, which detail over 300 cases of Arab construction in eastern Jerusalem deemed illegal starting from 1999. The illegal buildings reportedly were constructed without permits and are still standing. According to law, they must be demolished.
Local media reports investigating King's charges alleged the files were erased by Ofir May, the head of Jerusalem's Department of Building Permits, with the specific intention of allowing the statute of limitation on enforcing the demolition of the illegal construction to run out.
The Jerusalem municipality released a statement in response to the allegations claiming the threat of Arab violence kept it from bulldozing the illegal Arab homes.
"During the years of the intifada, the municipality had difficulty carrying out the necessary level of enforcement in the neighborhoods of eastern Jerusalem due to security constraints," the statement read.
King said the hundreds of buildings allegedly detailed in the deleted municipal files house more than 20,000 illegal units.
"We're talking about perhaps 100,000 or more Arabs in eastern Jerusalem living in illegal homes with the government doing nothing about it," King said.
