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By

gordon bennett

Opinion

Ethnic Cleansing in East Jerusalem

January 18, 2010 21:44
1 min read

Panorama will no doubt be slammed by the usual suspects for being "anti-Israel", but it spoke to Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat and someone from the extremist settler group Elad -- which is funded to the tune of $40 million a year by Irving Moscowitz, the US casino tycoon, and others -- who made it clear that Israel discriminates against Palestinians in the allegedly united capital.
This is what they said:
Nearly 10 times more building permits are given to Jews in west Jerusalem than to Palestinians in the east of the city.

"You are right," said Nir Barkat, the Mayor of Jerusalem. "There are gaps in the planning system - both in east and west Jerusalem."

But he was adamant that the municipality had to act when houses were built illegally in what Israelis Jews consider to be parkland that has strategic importance in terms of the religious archaeology in the area.

[Silwan]"is a goldmine," Doron Spielman, from Elad explained. "The cornerstone of the archaeology of the Bible throughout the world."

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