Why Does The "World" Promote Apartheid Against Jews?

I've lived in Shiloh for thirty-six 36 years already, and from day one, I've been hearing that we Jews can't stay. We should expect to leave.

It's rather ironic, that besides some remains of churches and mosques down at the Tel, built on the foundations of much older synagogues, the area of Shiloh was totally deserted when we Jews returned to live here in early 1978. Besides the occasional tourist, pilgrim or archeologist, Shiloh had been empty for millennia.

Gush Shiloh aka the Shiloh Bloc of Jewish Communities is probably the fastest growing in Judea/Samaria. We're equidistant to Jerusalem and the Petach Tikvah/Hod Hasharon area and just a few minutes' drive to the Jordan Valley. Yes, we are the true "Center" of the country. And bli eyin haraa, unlike many other Jewish communities in Judea/Samaria, we haven't been plagued by NIF Leftist lawsuits claiming Arab ownership, even after land had been purchased by Jews.

Why do these Leftists groups support Arab exclusivity over freedom for all?

Many Jewish cities and neighborhoods have Arabs living in them. This doesn't bother the same Leftist (including Jewish) groups that consider it immoral, illegal etcetera for Jews to live freely and safely in our Jewish Homeland. When Jews buy a building in Hebron, they are forbidden the simple right to live in it.

There are many Arabs today living in the Jewish neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev, Jerusalem, but Jews aren't allowed to live barely a kilometer away in the Arab neighborhood of Shuafat. Why should tolerance be demanded of Jews but not of Arabs?

New Bus Routes Between Jerusalem and Binyamin-Shomron Will Force More Tremping (Hitchhiking)

On one hand I can't argue with the numbers, because the massive overhaul in the public transportation between Jerusalem and the Jewish communities of Samaria and Benjamin, where I live, will have more buses, more routes, which will be more frequent etc.

New W. Bank bus lines to offer better service, security
(the Jerusalem Post's headline)

But like many seemingly good deals, this one has some tricks and lots of disadvantages. The rationale behind it, according to the article, is "security" by making "tremping" unnecessary, but that's the one thing it doesn't give us.

A big advantage to taking the bus, especially before a long trip of an hour or more, is that you can go to the bus station, a closed building, with toilets and shelter from the elements. With this new plan, we must wait outdoors. The nearby to the new bus stops' Pisgat Ze'ev Mall usually has a line to get in and the trip from Pisgat Ze'ev by train to the Central Bus Station, if anyone needs to travel to or from another Israeli city can take about an hour by the "lightrail." It can even take more when you take into account waiting for the train and the walk from the train to the bus station. The train isn't a direct route. It goes through Arab neighborhoods and there have been attacks there of late. At present there isn't a direct bus route from the Pisgat Zeev Mall to the CBS. That means taking a couple of buses, and even though our ticket will give us a transfer for 90 minutes, those 90 minutes will probably be finished by the time we need the local Jerusalem bus. And also many of the Shomron and northern Binyamin destinations/starting points are more than a 90 minutes ride.

If we have to stand outside waiting for a bus, we may as well choose to wait where we also have an option for a "tremp," like the boys when they were kidnapped by terrorists.

And another big draw to tremping is the fact that our last bus home is only at 10pm from Pisgat Ze'ev. At present it's 11:30, and there's a 10:30, also. To get to that 10pm bus, we have to leave the more central parts of Jerusalem well before 9:30, so more and more people will be forced to hitchhike home.

So, to put it mildly, the Ministry of Transportation and Egged management and our hapless local leaders are conning us and endangering us.

No surprise.  They all get cars from work.

A Visit to the Pisgat Zeev Mall

Cross-posted on me-ander

Pisgat Zeev is a Jerusalem neighborhood, a very big one, especially if you take into account that it's connected to Neve Yaakov.  Those two neighborhoods combined are larger and more populous than many Israeli cities.  Nothing can rile a resident of Neve Yaakov or Pisgat Zeev more than someone visiting saying:

"Now I'm going to Jerusalem."

"Mah pitome?!  What's all this?!  You're in Jerusalem!  This is Jerusalem!"

Yes, it is.  Residents vote in Jerusalem Elections, and there's even a local political party with a representative in the City Council.  The mess you can see in the street is from the the construction of the Jerusalem Light-rail.  It will whisk residents and those from the Shomron, like myself, to downtown Jerusalem by avoiding the sedentary traffic of cars, buses and trucks.  (At least that's the plan.)

As you can see in the picture, there's a lovely modern mall in Pisgat Zeev in addition to lots of small neighborhood shopping areas.  In addition, there's a very good Matnas Community Center with a wide variety of activities, including the Neve Yaakov Pool, which I try to get to weekly.

The mall has the same variety of chain stores and restaurants you'll find all over Israel.  A couple of weeks ago, I met Voices Editor and good friend, Sharon Katz, for lunch and a tour of the neighborhood.  Sharon's from Efrat, and even though she had passed Pisgat Zeev many times she wasn't really familiar with it.

We had salads in Cafe` Cafe`, as you can see.  They were delicious!  All of the Israeli restaurants and coffee shops seem to be competing for creative salad ideas, which is great for those of us who love vegetables cooked and raw.

The Pisgat Zeev mall is a real meeting place for Israelis of different backgrounds and cultures.  It's no secret that many Arabs from northern and eastern Jerusalem also shop and work there.

For me and my Shiloh neighbors, there's really no need to travel to the much larger and more distant Malcha Mall, because, whether by car or public transportation, it takes barely half the time to get to Pisgat Zeev.  Many of my neighbors also work in Pisgat Zeev and Neve Yaakov in all sorts of jobs. 


I must admit that I don't really know all of the Jerusalem neighborhoods.  For me, Gilo is as foreign a place, if not moreso, than Pisgat Zeev-Neve Yaakov is for many.  Yes, Jerusalem is a big city.