Jewish Settlers Announce Plans for More Housing in Arab Enclave

Militant Jewish settlers, branded “hooligans” by Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek, announced triumphantly Thursday that they are expanding their presence in the East Jerusalem Arab enclave of Silwan, with the Likud government’s blessings.

The announcement came a day after the 80-year-old Kollek, who has been mayor of united Jerusalem since 1967, participated in a demonstration protesting the occupation of Arab homes by Jews in Silwan.

Kollek joined about 200 academicians, writers and other prominent figures outside Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s office Wednesday to demand that the settlers relinquish the Arab homes they have already taken over.

Observers said it was unprecedented for a highly respected mayor to take sides publicly in this sort of controversy in his own city.

The settlers began moving into Silwan on Dec. 12, occupying buildings they claimed were owned by Jews more than 60 years ago, which they said they had purchased legally.

Kollek explained that in recent weeks, he has been flooded with appeals from the public to “do something” to halt what many Israelis consider a provocative act that could derail the Arab-Israeli peace talks in Washington, which opened Dec. 10 and are set to resume Jan. 7.

Yigal Cana’an, a spokesman for the E1 Ad settlement organization, announced Thursday that Jewish settlers will occupy four more houses in Silwan and build dozens of new apartments for Jews there.

He stressed that this was being done in “full cooperation with the government.”

According to Cana’an, some of the Arab families who sold their property to the settlement organization were given alternative accommodations in Israel.

EXTREMISTS URGE JEWISH INTIFADA

But Kollek observed that at least 180,000 Jews have settled in East Jerusalem since the Six-Day War, in an unprovocative manner.

“And here, a few hooligans come out, each one holding a flag, and only cause trouble,” the mayor said.

Meanwhile, trouble seemed to be brewing for Shamir’s government from Jewish extremists in the administered territories who oppose even limited autonomy for Palestinians.

They have formed a new group called Yesha 92, an acronym for Judea, Samaria and Gaza. It met for the first time this week and aimed most of its criticism at Shamir, for agreeing to peace talks, and at the right-wing parties, for not quitting the government over that issue.

There were also exhortations to violence.

Yesha 92 was established outside the framework of the Council of Jewish Settlements, the representative body of Jews in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, made up of elected mayors.

At the meeting, Knesset member Elyakim Haetzni of the pro-settlement Tehiya party said he admired the Arabs’ devotion to the intifada and urged Jews to resort to the same means to prevent autonomy.

“No one will pay attention to us if Yesha does not spread riots in the same way that Palestinians riot,” Haetzni said.