Thursday, November 19, 2009

JTA: What's missing from the Gilo construction coverage

The Gilo announcement—more than just an announcement

Lara Friedman at Americans for Peace Now writes in to correct me about the nature of Israel's Gilo announcement...Lara makes another important point:

I know this may see far down in the weeds but it is important stuff and worth getting right, especially when we are dealing with an issue where people rely mostly on gut impressions (like, "but this is just construction inside Gilo! How can that be a problem?!") rather than facts (like, "this is construction on new ground that expands the footprint of Gilo toward Wallajeh and dovetails with another plan for a huge new settlement straddling the Jerusalem/West Bank line")

This is fundamental: There are plenty of arguments over how to define Gilo and other "new" neighborhoods, but this expansion appears to have little to do with how one defines Jerusalem's borders; it's about spilling over into the West Bank.

Posted via web from davidfcooper's posterous

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