Weekly Commentary: Biden Administration Opposes Meeting Needs of Sheikh Jarah Palestinians

Weekly Commentary: Biden Administration Opposes Meeting Needs of Sheikh
Jarah Palestinians
Dr. Aaron Lerner 23 January 2022

Last week the Jerusalem Municipality took action on the ground for the
construction of:

#1. A special needs school serving Palestinian children in the Sheikh Jarrah
neighborhood.

#2. Six kindergartens serving Palestinian children in the Sheikh Jarrah
neighborhood.

#3. Additional public facilities serving Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah
neighborhood.

The action? Evacuation and demolition of an illegal structure built in the
1990s by the Salihiya family, on land the family failed to demonstrate it
owned, after an exhaustive legal battle in the courts.

Again: An illegal structure in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem
was demolished by the Jerusalem Municipality in order to serve the needs of
the Palestinians residing in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

So what does US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, have to say
about meeting the needs of the Palestinians residing in the Sheikh Jarrah
neighborhood?

“To make progress [toward peace], …Israel…must refrain from unilateral
steps that exacerbate tensions and undercut efforts to advance a negotiated
two-state solution…That includes annexations of territory, settlement
activity, demolitions, and evictions – like what we saw in Sheikh Jarrah…”

That is right.

Not a word about meeting the needs of the Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah
neighborhood.

Because. apparently, as far as the Biden Administration is concerned, it is
better for the Palestinian residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood to do
without a special needs school, six kindergartens and more, than for the
Jerusalem Municipality to legally evacuate and demolish an illegal structure
built by Palestinians on land they did not even own.

Sick.
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