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Palestinian Investment
JerusalemlJTA — Diaspora Jews should
join Arabs in investing in the Palestinian
economy, Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S.
Jewish leaders.
The Israeli prime minister listed pros-
perity for the Palestinians among six
conditions for lasting Israeli-Palestinian
peace in a call on July 21 with members
of the Conference of Presidents of Major
American Jewish Organizations.
Netanyahu outlined steps he was taking
to facilitate commerce in the West Bank
and spur the Palestinian economy, which
he said could flourish with the coopera-
tion of the Palestinian Authority and with
the help of Jews and Arabs overseas.
Netanyahu's other conditions for peace
were Palestinian recognition of Israel as
a Jewish state; resolving the Palestinian
refugee issue outside Israel's borders; a
peace treaty that unequivocally ends the
conflict; effective demilitarization of the
Palestinian state, and arrangements for
the international community, led by the
United States, to guarantee the peace.
Netanyahu said demilitarization
would include Israeli control of air space,
Palestinian forces limited to light arms
and no military pacts with other coun-
tries.
The Israeli prime minister said he was
skeptical of Syria's intentions to make
peace, given its continued relationship
with Iran and with terrorist groups.

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Netanyahu added, however, that he is
ready for an unconditional return to
peace talks and would not make an end to
Syrian support for groups such as Hamas
and Hezbollah a precondition.
Netanyahu also emphasized that the
Obama administration is not linking
the containment of Iran to progress on
Israeli-Palestinian peace. President Obama
"never" conditioned cooperation with
Israel on strategies to keep Iran from
obtaining a nuclear device to U.S. efforts
to advance the peace process, he said.
But Netanyahu did say that he perceived
causal links between the two issues that
go both ways: A nuclear Iran would greatly
enhance its spoiler status when it comes
to peacemaking, and achieving peace with
the Palestinians would score a success for
moderates in the region who hope to tamp
down Iranian influence.

Diversity In Jerusalem
Jerusalem/JTA — Jerusalem Mayor Nir
Barkat said members of all faiths should
be allowed to own and develop property in
the city. Barkat, in New York for a private
visit, was reacting to the diplomatic row
between Israel and the United States over
Jewish construction in eastern Jerusalem
during a July 22 news conference.
"If Jews want to build at Shepherd
Hotel ... then I believe it is unacceptable"
to prohibit them from doing so, Barkat
said, referring to the site of a controversial

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Jewish-owned housing project in eastern
Jerusalem, which is largely Arab. "It would
be wrong and discriminating to allow to
build or not to build for any person based
on his religion."
Barkat reiterated his support for full
Israeli sovereignty over the city, which the
Palestinians claim as the capital of their
future state.
"I agree with [President] Obama
that Jerusalem needs to be open to all
religions:' he said, adding that "it is not
practical to divide a city, certainly not the
eternal city of Jerusalem:'
Barkat also spoke about his vision for
the future of the city, noting his goal of
increasing the number of tourists from 2
million to 10 million a year by 2019.
On the matter of recent Sabbath riots
by fervently Orthodox residents on a scale
not seen in more than a decade, Barkat
sounded an unapologetic tone, saying the
decision to open a parking lot in central
Jerusalem, which sparked the violence,
was made in accordance with police
advice. Asked if he would have done any-
thing different, Barkat replied, "Probably
not."

Nakba And Textbooks
Jerusalem/JTA — "Nakba," the Arabic
term meaning "catastrophe" used to
describe the creation of the state of Israel,
will be removed from school textbooks.
The announcement was made by Israel's

Education Ministry.
The term was approved for use in a
textbook for Arab-Israeli schools in 2007.
"After studying the matter with educa-
tion experts, it was decided that the term
nakba should be removed," Yisrael Twito, a
spokesman for Education Minister Gideon
Sa'ar, told Ha'aretz."It is inconceivable that
in Israel we would talk about the estab-
lishment of the state as a catastrophe."

Answering
Israel's Critics

The Charge
Alison Weir, a longtime American critic
of Israel, said this month that U.S. aid
to Israel causes poverty and a humani-
tarian crisis for Palestinians.

The Answer
Weir solely blames Israel for
Palestinian suffering, ignoring evidence
that implicates Palestinian leadership,
neighboring Arab regimes and indif-
ference from much of the rest of the
world.

- Allan Gale,

Jewish Community Relations Council

of Metropolitan Detroit

Jewish Renaissance Media, July 30, 2009

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