March 27, 2010

grubby triangles and immigrants


Paisley once led a successful community war against a foreign land grabbing housing developer who, in cahoots with some greased palmed toadies in government, intended to replace several sprawling old houses with a monstrous walled off apartment complex for wealthy immigrants; and, considering the sensitivity of the Israeli-Palestinian situation, she is incensed that other foreign land grabbing housing developers – and maybe some greased palmed toadies in government – have created a similar situation in East Jerusalem that could very well start WW3.

“We won our case by being able to prove corruption, but it was a long and nasty war of words, standoffs and a few stink bombs,” says Paisley, “and while corruption may be a lot harder to prove in the East Jerusalem developments, the Palestinians do have international law on their side as well as a whole load of ordinary people all around the world who are similarly being railroaded by greedy, grubby land grabbing housing developers, foreign or otherwise (as is the case of China), who are muscling into our beloved communities, displacing established families, building monstrous developments and filling them with a whole load of people who put serious strains on existing infrastructure as well as creating social disharmony.”

“We are told that these monstrous housing developments are necessary in order to house immigrants,” says Paisley, “and when we queried why the government was encouraging immigration and destroying our community we were told that it’s because of our aging population.”

“What a lot of lies,” says Paisley. “There is a very clear relationship between housing developers, government officials and extraordinary amounts of money, if not greasing palms then in Swiss bank accounts – and immigrants, rich and poor, are being blatantly abused as much as we are in this grubby triangle because they suffer the consequences of living where, en masse, they’re not wanted.”

“In our case, the foreign land grabbing housing developer was Asian,” explains Paisley, “and it is no coincidence that wealthy Asian immigrants would have been buying, off the plan, the apartments proposed to be built – the native population, us, either being unable to afford such luxury or not wanting to live in a towering box.”

“In other words, there was a deliberate and conscious effort on behalf of this developer and the government officials to replace the architecture and people of our community with something alien,” says Paisley, “and if this isn’t ethnic cleansing then tell me what it is?”

“Similarly, the situation in East Jerusalem has been precipitated by a foreign developer – a Jewish American and a gambling magnate, Irving Moskowitz, with close ties in the Netanyahu government – who intends to convert an old Palestinian hotel into 20 luxury apartments for wealthy Jewish immigrants; and another much larger development of 1,600 luxury units in the same area is causing even more trouble.”

“Firstly, the East Jerusalem land is in dispute and is deemed to become sovereign Palestinian territory – so any building is prohibited under international law; secondly, the projects are in Palestinian-dominated neighborhoods; and thirdly, the new housing is declared to be for Jews only. Talk about chutzpah!”

“Apparently, Moskowitz’s land grabbing in Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem has aroused controversy for years,” says Paisley, “and since many of these land grabs were approved by Netanyahu when he was previously in power it makes you wonder about their special relationship, doesn’t it?”

“Also, it may be no coincidence that Netanyahu is a qualified architect!”

“I’d be the first to congratulate Israel on turning a wilderness into an oasis,” says Paisley, “but if the Palestinians had been blessed with the same sort of massive financial aid as the Israelis attract then no doubt they would have done the same.”

“I don’t like seeing Palestinians being portrayed as backward people, poor farmers and stone throwing terrorists,” says Paisley. “That sort of portrayal could very well have been leveled at my community by the land grabbing housing developer who muscled into our territory.”

“We didn’t have to resort to throwing stones because we won our case, but if things had turned out differently we would now be walled off from a lot of new, wealthy Asian immigrants, and feeling as badly as the Palestinians do about their situation,” says Paisley. “Nobody knows until they are in that situation what desperate measures they are likely to contemplate, especially if they don’t have the opportunity or means to move elsewhere (as, I believe, is the case with the Palestinians – nobody wants them).”

“My heart bled when I saw newsreels of Chinese families, especially the elderly, being turfed out of their beautiful traditional old homes in Beijing on the orders of their communist masters so that yet another sterile tower can be built,” says Paisley, “and while the homes of the Palestinians may not have similar architectural merit, it was just as heartbreaking over the years to watch newsreels of them being bulldozed by Israeli tanks.”

“If there’s anything we all share it’s love of our communities and our homes, no matter how humble, and nobody, absolutely nobody has a right to muscle in and interfere with our security base,” says Paisley, “and maybe it’s this fear of ‘muscling in and interfering’ that has caused the international community to sit by, refusing to enforce with sanctions numerous broken agreements and lies, allowing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to fester for over 60 years.”

“If Netanyahu refuses to back down on Jerusalem, then all hell will break loose in the Islamic world,” sighs Paisley. “To avert WW3, I would expect President Obama to leave Israel to its own well deserved fate – but first offering refuge for those who wish to leave.”

“If it’s all about real-estate, which I think it is, then a two-state solution will only be a short-term affair because both communities are breeding like rabbits, there just isn’t enough land to sustain them right now, and long before every square inch of Israel is covered with towering apartment blocks the land grabbers will be eyeing Palestinian territory again.”

“Basically, Israel should never have been created and the poor Palestinians should never have been lumbered with a problem they had not caused,” asserts Paisley. “The dispossessed Jews after WW2 should have been repatriated to their homelands and given enduring protection and support and for those too afraid to return home, priority emigration should have been arranged on the same terms.”

“I believe that the majority of the world’s Jews live very happily outside of Israel, and the majority of Jews living in Israel have dual citizenship,” says Paisley, “so only a very few Israelis have a right of birth to remain in Israel.”

“I don’t believe in god-chosen people or god-given land rights and anyone who migrated to Israel on that basis needs a reality check, and it is very likely on the way,” says Paisley. “Just because we all came out of Africa millions of years ago does not give us the right to return there; and just because the Jews came out of the Middle East thousands of years ago does not give them the right to return there either – if for no other reason than, in the intervening time, our skin color and physiology has changed to suit another climate.”

“Also, communities of any ethnicity or creed that migrate, en masse, to another nation without good reason and hide behind high walls, refusing to integrate, make me think of fifth columnists – sleepers who will take over the nation when their land grabbing housing developers have cornered the market.”

“Look around, is what’s happening in Palestine happening in a neighborhood near you, too?”


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