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Distorted View of Arab Population Growth in Jerusalem
[Boston Globe] Andrea Levin - James Carroll's "A Shared Jerusalem" (Boston Globe, July 27) distorts facts and omits key information regarding Arab population growth and home-building in Israel's capital. Carroll deplores "the steady Jewish population increase in the disputed part of Jerusalem," yet Jerusalem's Arab population grew much faster than its Jewish population, rising from 25% of the total in 1967 to 35% in 2008. Likewise, Arabs have enjoyed a building boom in the city. Arabs and Jews have equal access to building permits, pay the same costs, and experience the same waiting period to get approvals. Some in both groups sidestep the law and build illegally, then face removal - just as in Boston or any other city with zoning laws. Carroll also neglects to mention concerted Arab efforts to alter Jerusalem's demographic and housing realities. Natan Sharansky, then minister of housing, reported in 2002 that at least 40,000 housing units had been built with Saudi money for political purposes. The writer is executive director of CAMERA - Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.