Good News! Building On The Mount Of Olives

13 of the Tenth Month 5771

My comments are in blue italics.

YNET: Construction of Jewish Neighborhood in East Jerusalem Underway

Year after building project approved, bulldozers begin infrastructure work atop Mount of Olives Ridge; housing units to serve married students attending nearby yeshiva. Rabbi: Project strengthens Jewish presence in united Jerusalem

Ronen Medzini, Kobi Nahshoni, December 2010

Construction commenced on Wednesday on a new residential Jewish neighborhood atop the Mount of Olives Ridge in east Jerusalem, near Hebrew University.

The neighborhood will be an extension of the Irving Moskowitz Yeshiva & Campus - Yeshivat Beit Orot – named after the Jewish-American millionaire who purchases land with the purpose of "Judaizing" the eastern part of the capital. In early 2010, the Jerusalem Municipal Planning and Construction Committee authorized the construction of 24 housing units at the site. The project is likely to draw harsh condemnation from the US and Europe.

Good! The U. S. and Europe will have yet another opportunity to show their true colors. Actually, they have many times, but we Israelis never seem to get it.

In any event, the Netanyahu government will invariably feel guilty about upsetting our goyshe "friends," and give up something else in return,…assuming, of course, that Netanyahu has not already planned out this very strategy. It seems that he has been banking on maintaining broad support from the people, by making a united Jerusalem the actual "red line" he is not willing to cross, as opposed to so-called "settlement blocks."

The Beit Orot website said the building project, which will include 3 new residential buildings, each 3 stories high, is intended to "provide housing for married (yeshiva) students and to enhance the development of the educational complex. Heavy equipment began excavation and infrastructure work this morning and construction is expected to be complete in one year."

The website quoted the head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Dani Isaac, as saying, "We are joyful and honored to commence the construction of our new neighborhood which strengthens the Jewish presence in united Jerusalem and stresses the fact that Jerusalem is the home of every Jew in Israel and throughout the world."

Shlomo Zwickler, executive director of Beit Orot, said, "These new residential buildings are an anchor to connect all areas of Jerusalem together. One of the goals of Beit Orot is to reconnect people to the historic areas of Jerusalem, including the Mount of Olives Ridge and Mount Scopus. This new construction makes major headway toward this goal."

Furthermore, a Jewish presence in this area may eventually serve to stem to increasing number of incidents of vandalism, vandalism of Jewish tombstones. An increased Jewish presence may help deter Arabs from vandalism. However, the newly increased, Jewish presence will undoubtedly be tested by the Arabs. Hopefully, this will then lead to an increase in formal, Jewish patrolling of the area.