IRL 16, March 22, 2010

URL; http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1155171.html

This is an article from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, and much of it comes from the perspective of Joe Biden, our Vice-President, relating to the Israeli decision to approve 1,600 new homes in an ultra-Orthodox East Jerusalem neighborhood. This article is significant to what we were discussing in class today because our class is transitioning back into discussions about the Arab-Israeli crisis, and the mention of the plan to build Israeli homes in East Jerusalem, the traditionally Muslim part of the city, came up in class today. According to the article and Joe Biden, this plan to build Israeli homes in that area is "precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now", and the article also states that this action undermines Middle East peace talks. I believe that the Israelis are building homes here for a number of reasons; 1. to expand into other parts of the region and 2. to assert their authority in the area, and both of these ideas were brought up in class today. It is interesting to think that such an action like this could make problems worse in Jerusalem or the country as a whole, but it's very probable and the Israelis don't seem to care. I also found it interesting that Joe Biden says this, given that the United States traditionally supported everything the Israelis did. However I agree, I think that such an act will anger the Muslim/Arab/Palestinian population of East Jerusalem and will prevent cooperation. One limitation of this article is that it only gives one perspective, and it does not give the perspective of East Jerusalem residents to either back up Biden's claim that the Israeli homes being built will disrupt peaceful cooperation, or refute the idea.