The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, much like any clash of civilizations, has a history rife with significant dates and anniversaries, many of which in retrospect proved to be decisive.
From the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement to the 1929 Arab riots on through the 1947 UN Partition Plan, the 1967 Six Day War and the 1993 Oslo Accords, the struggle over the Land of Israel has known many crossroads, each of which has played a part in sketching the reality on the ground.
This week is shaping up to be just such a tipping point.
After years in which a virtual freeze was imposed on Jewish construction in parts of post-1967 Jerusalem, the government has finally de-iced the levers of Israel’s bureaucracy and begun to advance a series of important building projects. Indeed, over the past few days, the Jewish state has taken a number of steps that may prove essential to preserving Jerusalem as the united and eternal capital of the Jewish people.
At a meeting of the District Building and Planning Committee on Monday, a proposal was approved to erect 1,500 apartment units in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo. Just take a look at the map and you will see why this is so significant. Ramat Shlomo lies between Ramot and French Hill, thereby creating an uninterrupted strip of Jewish neighborhoods to the north of the Old City.
