arabs streaming inside capital fence! why?

Amazing.....they hate us so much yet they can't wait to get back inside and live in Israel.....Why don't they want to stay with their Palestinian saviour, Arafat?

Read on......I've bolded one particular paragraph...........Looks like they prefer the good free Israeli tax payer gives them.......???

Snooker

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Nov. 23, 2003
Arabs streaming inside capital fence
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH


Thousands of Jerusalem-area Arab families have abandoned their homes outside the security fence to move into the capital in the few weeks since Jerusalem police chief Cmdr. Mickey Levy announced that the fence would separate several Arab areas from the rest of the city.

Levy's announcement was highlighted in a front-page red-banner headline in the Palestinian daily Al-Quds, alongside a map showing how the Arab neighborhoods would be left outside the fence.

It is estimated that thousands of families have abandoned their homes in the neighborhoods of A-Ram, Dahyiet al-Barid, Kalandiya, Kafr Akab, Bir Naballa, and Samir Amis, and are moving to neighborhoods expected to be included inside the fence. The influx has resulted in a sharp rise in the value of real estate and rental fees in areas like Beit Hanina, Shuafat, the Old City, Wadi Joz, Isawiya, Ras al-Amoud, and the Mount of Olives.

Those who are returning to Jerusalem are permanent residents of the city with Israeli ID cards. Most of them went to live in the suburbs as a result of the severe housing crisis in the Arab neighborhoods – some of which are not included within the municipal boundaries.

Israeli and Palestinian officials believe that some 75,000 Jerusalem residents live in these areas, where there is no need for obtaining construction licenses from the Jerusalem Municipality.

Moreover, many of these residents were able to rent apartments for relatively low prices and were not required to pay municipal taxes (arnona).
Now, however, even those families who own large villas and spacious flats in these areas are searching for small apartments in neighborhoods inside Jerusalem.

"People are afraid of being left on the other side of the fence," said Muhammad Jadallah, a Jerusalem merchant. "The fence will make our lives much more complicated."

Jadallah, who has been living in Ram for the past 20 years, has offered his six-room apartment for sale so he can move back to one of the Arab neighborhoods inside the city.

"My house was worth about $200,000 before Levy made his announcement," Jadallah said. "Today, I'm being offered only $50,000, and I would be lucky if I find anyone to buy the house."

Talal Abu Afifeh, who moved out of the Shuafat refugee camp 14 years ago to live in a 135-square meter apartment in Samri Amis, said he, too, is planning to return to one of the neighborhoods inside the city.

According to Abu Afifeh, director-general in the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Sports and Youth, talk of building a fence in northern Jerusalem has prompted at least half of the residents living in Samir Amis to abandon their homes.

"Most people here are Jerusalem residents who are afraid of being cut off from the city," he explained. "You have thousands of people who send their children to school and work inside Jerusalem. If Israel goes ahead with its plan to build the separation fence, they would not be able to continue living here."

The cases of Samir Amis and Kafr Akab are unique because, although they are part of Jerusalem, the two neighborhoods would be left behind the planned fence. The proximity of the two neighborhoods to Ramallah has kept away any sign of Israeli sovereignty there. Since the beginning of the current violence, the Jerusalem Municipality has stopped collecting garbage and providing other basic services to the thousands of Arabs living in these areas.

Paradoxically, some Palestinians see a positive element in Israel's decision to "slice off" several Arab neighborhoods in northern Jerusalem.

"Thanks to Mickey Levy, thousands of families who left Jerusalem are beginning to return to the city," said an official at Orient House, the former PLO headquarters in Jerusalem. "Many families are prepared to live in basements and garages inside Jerusalem to avoid being stripped of their status as permanent residents of the city. They don't want to lose their Israeli ID cards. This will enhance the Arab character of Jerusalem."

Ishak Kawasmeh, a photographer, is one of the thousands who abandoned their private homes in Samir Amis. Today, together with his wife and six children, Kawasmeh lives in a 36-square meter flat in Wadi Joz, where they pay $600 in rent.

He said IDF checkpoints along the Jerusalem-Ramallah highway led to a 40% drop in the value of his house in Samir Amis. The talk about building a security fence resulted in another 30% decrease, he added.

More than 200,000 Arabs from Jerusalem carry Israeli-issued ID cards, enabling them to move around freely and enjoy the same privileges as the rest of the citizens of Israel. These privileges include, among other things, National Insurance payments, health insurance, and free education.

Shalom Goldstein, Arab Affairs advisor to Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski, said the authorities are aware of the plight of the residents, but the three-year terrorism campaign "has left us with no other choice."

"It should be noted that, three years ago, there were no barriers or fences in Jerusalem," Goldstein told The Jerusalem Post. "This is an attempt to deal with the problem of terrorism, which has claimed the lives of 170 residents of the city over the past three years. Another 1,400 people have been wounded in this terror campaign.

"Both Jews and Arabs in the city are suffering as a result of the inconvenience caused by the tough security measures. But we have a duty to defend the lives of our citizens."