Hikind: Banning Jews from East Jerusalem ‘segregation’

New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind was trailed by dozens of American Jews today when he helped lay the cornerstone for the next phase of Nof Zion, a Jewish enclave scheduled to begin construction next spring.

Hikind quipped that he just might decide to buy an apartment in Nof Zion, which is located in an Arab neighborhood called Jebel Mukaber, located deep in East Jerusalem. Hikind’s high-profile real estate shopping excursion was intended to send a message in stark contrast to US President Barak Obama’s insistence that Jewish construction in Arab areas harms Middle East security.

“I think it embitters the Palestinians in a way that could end up being very dangerous,” Obama told Fox News this week.

Meanwhile Hikind argues that preventing Jews from living in certain neighborhoods constitutes “segregation.”

Critics charge that mingling the Jewish and Arab populations will destroy prospects for a two-state solution. In response to pressure by the Obama administration and Palestinian leaders to halt all settlement activity as a precondition for talks, the Israeli government has offered to slow down construction and refuses to include Jerusalem in any settlement.

Obama’s remarks referred primarily to an announcement that 900 additional housing units are slated for construction in Gilo. Though the neighborhood is located in South Jerusalem, not East Jerusalem, and has been a primarily Jewish neighborhood for decades, it has now come under the international spotlight as a source of contention.

Even a Meretz member of the Jerusalem City Council told Army Radio that Gilo is integral part of Jerusalem and that Israel has every right to build there, showing to what extent the neighborhood is part of the Israeli consensus.

Haaretz reported that MK Danny Danon (Likud) lashed out at Obama for his recent remarks. “President Obama should not interfere with the rights of the Jewish people to live in Jerusalem,” said Danon. This “is a racist demand, saying that Jews cannot live in Jerusalem, only Arabs.”

According to a report in the New York Times, Nof Zion is built on privately owned land that an Israeli developer bought over the years. In the first stage of the project, 91 apartments were built and 70 are already occupied. There are kindergartens, a small park with a jungle gym and plans for a large synagogue.

Tags: East Jerusalem, Gilo, Hikind, Jebel Mukaber, Nof Zion