From commentarymagazine.com, via honestreporting.com, Feb. 9, 2014

Tom Wilson weighs in on Uncle Sam’s double standards when it comes to Jerusalem:

First, it’s far from true that the State Department opposes unilateral moves by both sides. When it comes to claims in Jerusalem, they only condemn one side, the Jewish side. The municipality issues housing permits in east Jerusalem all the time, for both Jewish and Arab neighborhoods. Yet, it is only the permits for the Jewish neighborhoods that provoke any kind of reaction from the Obama administration. Furthermore, illegal Arab building is rife throughout many parts of Jerusalem. As in any municipality, the law must be upheld and construction without planning permission cannot go on unabated. Yet, in the past when the law has been enforced and illegal structures have been demolished, the State Department has protested Israel’s right to uphold the law. In this way the same State Department that claims to oppose unilateral actions by both sides has actively supported unilateral building by the Arab side, while opposing building homes for Jews–in Jerusalem.

Second, the very notion that this is somehow about “prejudging final status issues” is absurd. All of the building permits are for housing in existing Jewish neighborhoods. This isn’t about placing new neighborhoods in otherwise Arab areas of Jerusalem. More importantly, theWikiLeaks documents revealed that in 2008 the Palestinians already accepted that the “final status” of these neighborhoods would be Israeli.

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