Fakhri Abu Diab is one of 40,000 Palestinians crammed into Silwan, a dilapidated, over-populated village in East Jerusalem. Diab is irate. His home, together with more than 80 others, is slated to be demolished by the Jerusalem Municipality, which plans to develop the space into an archaeological park.
Thankfully for him, Diab has friends in high places, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. During a recent visit to Jerusalem, Clinton criticized Israel for its plans to develop an archeological park in Silwan, warning that the demolition of 88 homes would be “unhelpful” for the peace process. Diab’s other supporters include the entire Arab world, European governments, the European Union, Britain, the United Nations and the Vatican.
Legally, the case against Diab and the others is straightforward. These homes were not only constructed illegally, making their demolition entirely legal and justified, but Mayor Nir Barkat of Jerusalem is even working to relocate or compensate the inhabitants of the homes. But few things are straightforward in Jerusalem. Palestinian frustration, amplified by shallow and biased reporting by the anti-Israel media, combined with mounting pressure on Israel from the international community, has made Silwan a tense flashpoint in Israel-Palestinian relations....click here for more
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