Silwan is changing, to rightist glee and Palestinian chagrin
Local residents say hundreds of Jews are expected to move into their neighborhood after Yom Kippur
ILWAN, East Jerusalem — Elias Karaki awoke at 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning to a loud banging noise coming from the house next door, formerly owned by his son Nabil
“I saw settlers go into the house, and asked one of them what he was doing. He said, ‘This is my house,'” Karaki recalled. “We argued with them and my son scuffled with the police, but it was all in vain. My son still has furniture inside.”
Three months earlier, Nabil had sold the house to an Arab Israeli named Farid Hajj Yahya, whom he met outside the Islamic Endowments office on the Temple Mount. Hajj Yahya — who was distributing food to worshipers breaking their fast on Ramadan — claimed to be working with the Islamic Movement in Israel, headed by Sheikh Raed Salah.
Hajj Yahya apparently sold the house to the City of David Foundation, better known by its Hebrew acronym Elad, which has been purchasing houses in the Arab neighborhood and inhabiting them with Jewish families since its establishment 25 years ago. Before the new purchases, some 500 Jews were living in Silwan.
“They don’t want to leave any Arabs in Silwan, or in all of Jerusalem, for that matter,” Karaki said.
But Doron Spielman, Vice President of Elad, said the vision of his organization was the exact opposite.
“From its inception, our organization has always understood that the success of the City of David is tied to the success of both Arabs and Jews,” he told The Times of Israel. Elad currently employs “dozens of Arabs,” and local residents have benefited from the roads and street lighting introduced to the neighborhood.
“I’m very proud to say that in general, the relations between Jews and Arabs in Silwan are friendly, neighborly relations,” he added. “People say hello, people say Salam Aleikum.”
Spielman added that local Palestinian residents may be scared to publicly admit cordial relations with Jews for fear of reprisal, but those exist, despite “exceptions to the rule.”
Read more: Silwan is changing, to rightist glee and Palestinian chagrin | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/silwan-is-changing-to-rightist-glee-and-palestinian-chagrin/#ixzz3FPrxQI1C
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