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World Jewish News
Rightists, leftists square off in J'lem
17.08.2009
Dozens of right and left-wing activists squared off outside the Shepherd Hotel on Monday evening as former US presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, joined by a number of MKs, attended a private reception inside the compound, which has become a central point of contention between the US and Israel over Jewish building rights in the annexed parts of the capital.
Huckabee, who is focusing his current tour of Israel on visits to east Jerusalem, the West Bank and meetings with settler leaders there, has positioned himself in direct opposition to US President Barack Obama and his administration's demands that Israel halt all construction over the Green Line.
Earlier on Monday, Huckabee told reporters, "It concerns me when there are some in the United States who would want to tell Israel that it cannot allow people to live in their own country, wherever they want."
While the reception on Monday evening was closed to the press and Huckabee made no formal statement, his participation was widely seen as an endorsement of plans by the Ateret Cohanim organization to build housing units at the site, which was purchased in 1985 by American millionaire Irving Moskowitz, and was once home to the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini.
The US has called on Israel to suspend the building plans, as part of its larger demand for a freeze on all construction in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.
On Monday evening, left-wing protesters outside the gated compound heckled Huckabee as he arrived, yelling at him, "Go Home!" and "Racist!", while a contingent of right-wing protesters, separated from their left-wing counterparts by border patrol and police officers, waved Israeli flags and blasted "Hatikvah" through a bullhorn.
Members of the left-wing camp said they had come out in the name of peace, and that the nearly 100 guests gathered inside the reception were only fomenting violence and the continuation of strife in the capital.
"They don't want peace," said Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, who works with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. "They are full of hatred and teach their children to hate. It's very far away from Judaism."
The right-wing protesters however, said they were defending Jewish rights in the capital, and would not allow the left-wing protesters to "promote the division of Jerusalem" unabated.
"We're here to represent the majority of Israelis, who believe that Jerusalem should not be divided," said Amit Barak, whose student organization, Im Tirtzu, arrived outside the hotel to support Huckabee and counter the left-wing protesters who congregated nearby.
"If you look at the [left-wing protesters], you'll see that many of them are foreign, anti-Semitic international activists or older Israelis, calling for the division of Jerusalem. We, on the other hand, are the youth of this country and we want our voices to be heard."
MKs who arrived at the reception were also supportive of building plans at the hotel site, along with other construction projects in east Jerusalem.
"Today, in 2009, it's about time that the world knows that the Jewish people will not divide Jerusalem," MK Tzipi Hotoveli (Likud) told reporters outside the hotel. "Jerusalem will stay and remain undivided and united."
As the event concluded, left-wing protesters again heckled guests from the reception, and broke into an uproar when Huckabee was seen departing from the hotel.
"Racist pigs!" the crowd shouted at Huckabee's entourage, drawing a heated reply from the right-wing protesters.
"You have killed Jews and are leftist traitors!" right-wing protesters yelled back.
While police were able to keep the two sides separated during the event, they two groups clashed later, when both sides descended to the nearby Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, where two Arab families were evicted from their homes over two weeks ago.
According to police, three Jews and one Arab were arrested during disturbances near the homes about an hour after the crowds had left the Shepherd Hotel. No injuries were reported, and police spokesman Shmulik Ben-Ruby said that quiet had been restored to the area just before 10 p.m.
By ABE SELIG
Источник: JPost.com
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