Thousands of Israelis Live in Area A, But No One Condemns Them — Because They Aren’t Jewish
by Elder of Ziyon
When do the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Students for Justice for Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, J Street, and so many others, not condemn Israeli citizens living in the West Bank?
When they’re Arabs, of course.
From Haaretz:
Rawabi markets itself as a unifier of Palestinian interests and an actionable road map for statehood…
Located in Area A — placing it, on paper at least, under full control of the Palestinian Authority — and situated some 35 minutes north of Ramallah, construction began here in 2010, financed initially by the Palestinian-American entrepreneur Bashar Masri and aided by substantial Qatari funds.
During a recent visit, I sat down with the city’s first-ever mayor, Ibrahim Natour.
Asked about the presence and role of the Arab Israeli population in the city, Natour hastens to correct me: “We’re not looking at them as Arab Israelis: they’re Palestinians. To be Palestinian is not about having an [Israeli] ID card. I’m Palestinian, but I’m from Jerusalem. We don’t discriminate.”
Despite early hopes of attracting as many as 40,000 residents, Rawabi’s current population sits at a somewhat meager 5,000, of whom 70 percent consider the city their permanent home. A municipal official described the other 30 percent as “weekend/vacation” visitors. Except for wealthier Palestinians holding dual citizenship, it stands to reason that many of them are Arab Israelis — the only ones capable of passing through the border crossings uninhibited.
Any way you count it, thousands of Arab Israelis own houses and live at least part time in Area A — under Palestinian control.
They are “settlers” — in an area where Jews aren’t allowed.
Ken Roth of Human Rights Watch has said, “Each transfer of a settler to occupied territory is a war crime.”
Both Jews and Arabs voluntarily moved to the West Bank. But Roth only considers it a “war crime” if the residents are Jewish.
There is a term for that — antisemitic racism.
The Israeli Arabs who live in Rawabi can vote in Israeli elections — just like the Jews who live less than ten kilometers away in Shiloh or Eli. They can drive on every road in the West Bank — not only the mythical “Jewish-only roads,” but the “Arab” roads as well.
But the “Arab” roads are off-limit to Jews.
The more you look at the “apartheid” claim against Israel, the more you see that it is prompted by its own bigotry — against Jews and only Jews.
Elder of Ziyon has been blogging about Israel and the Arab world for a really long time now. He also controls the world, but deep down, you already knew that.