What is the current legal statusofBeit Yehonatan? Can you describe your vision for east Jerusalem? Can aJewish and democratic state of Israel exist between the Mediterraneansea and the Jordan river?This week's 20 Questions hosts Daniel Luria, the executive director ofAteret Cohanim or JRP (Jerusalem Reclamation Project), an NGO whichaims to reestablish Jewish life in and around the Old City.When asked about equal rights for both Araband Jewish evictees to return to their homes, Luria asserts that acomparison cannot be madebetween the two scenarios. A Jew who is kicked out of his homefollowing riots and pogroms is a radically different case from aPalestinian who leaves his home at the behest of his own leaders whooperate under the belief that they will eventually win it backtwo-fold.Two sets of refugeesdoes not make for moral equivalence.Accordingto Luria, there is no such thing as East Jerusalem because the arealabeled as such contains too many exclusively Jewish neighborhoods andfurthermore, Jerusalem cannot and will not be divided.Luria insists that he is not against Arabs moving intoany Jerusalem neighborhoods, so long as they agree to live peacefullyand side by side in a unified Jewish capital. However, Luria stronglyobjects the international community’s “hypocrisy and gall” in sayingthat Jews do not have the right to move into certain neighborhoods, andfurther posits that in doing so they are no less guilty than those whopropagated racial segregation in America.Luriastates that the goal of this country was not to simply be a utopia oranother America, rather it is supposed to be the Jewish state for theJewish people and anyone who wants to live here must accept thatfact.According to Luria, the idea thatPalestinians may have sovereign rights to the land is absurd; the veryconcept of a Palestinian nation is a relatively new one that wasinvented by various leaders and by Oslo.20Questions is a JPost Premium Zone initiative empowering our readers toshape the content they would like to see. Reader participation is vitaland we encourage your feedback. Please submit all comments, questionsand suggestions in the fields below or alternatively, send them tojpost20questions@gmail.com
The full interview can be seen here, in the 20 Questions segment of the week.