Monday, January 25, 2010

My Letter in Today's Jerusalem Post

Why should Jews be discriminated against?

Sir, - Dan Izenberg asserts in his analysis ("Arabs, Jews don't have equal rights to recover pre-1948 properties," January 20) that while the Sheikh Jarrah property of Jews which has been returned to its owners "is legal in the formal sense of the term," nevertheless "Israeli law discriminates between the Jewish and Arab residents of Jerusalem" with regards to the recovery of property owned before the 1948 war.

The "formal sense of the term?" What does that mean?

One side launched a war seeking to destroy a state called into being by a UN recommendation, and lost. Why should Jews be discriminated against for being victorious in their war of defense, and indeed existence, and why should the aggressor be rewarded? I would suggest that the Arabs evicted from Sheikh Jarrah were most assuredly "not in exactly the same positions as the Jewish owners of the land," as Izenberg would have us believe.

YISRAEL MEDAD
Shiloh



I had originally included this last bit that got edited out:-

Moreover, in the specific instance, not only did Arabs receive a gift from the Jordanian occupier, but the individuals involved neglected to pay the rent. Even in New York, a renter who defaults on his payments will lose his property as will a homeowner who fails to pay his bank mortgage.

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