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Illegal Construction in Jerusalem

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Justus Reid Weiner - Arab Jerusalemites claim they have no choice but to build their homes illegally since the municipality systematically rejects their applications for building permits, and then sends bulldozers to demolish their homes. A just-released study by human rights lawyer Justus Reid Weiner discredits this claim and documents a pattern of politically-motivated behavior and criminal profiteering that characterizes much of the construction in the Arab sector of Jerusalem. Illegal construction has reached epidemic proportions. A senior Palestinian official boasted that they have built 6,000 homes without permits during the last 4 years, of which less than 200 were demolished by the city. This frantic pace of illegal construction continues despite the fact that the city has authorized more than 36,000 permits for new housing units in the Arab sector, more than enough to meet the needs of Arab residents through legal construction until 2020. The Palestinian Authority and Arab governments have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in an intentional campaign to subsidize and encourage massive illegal construction in the Arab sector, seeing this as part of their "demographic war" against Israel. Despite accusations that the city's planning policy seeks to "Judaize" Jerusalem, the Arab population of the city has increased since 1967 from 27% to 32%. Moreover, since 1967 new Arab construction has outpaced Jewish construction.
2002-12-20 00:00:00
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