Residents of the Ir Ganim quarter protested today against the government’s policy of providing cheap housing on the West Bank in its drive to increase the Jewish population of that territory, allegedly at the expense of slum neighborhoods in Jerusalem which are in dire need of improved housing.
To dramatize their demand for equal treatment with West Bank settlers, about 50 Ir Ganim residents set up an “illegal” settlement on a nearby hilltop with several tents and an electric generator borrowed from Kibbutz Negba. They were mimicking the tactics used by the Gush Emunim who establish outposts on the West Bank without government approval. The demonstration was mounted with the help of the Peace Now movement and kibbutz volunteers.
The protestors distributed leaflets explaining that “Most of them came from Arab countries, where they lived in friendly relations with the Arab population, to live in a Jewish State and were forced to live across the Green Line through occupation of and deprivation of rights.” The Green Line is the unofficial boundary between Israel and the West Bank.
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