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THINK-ISRAEL |
There's been a tempest in America. Two weeks ago, Fox News had to apologize for reporting that Europe had 'no-go zones', where police fear to go.[1] These 'zones' are typically Muslim areas where local, militant Muslims enforce their own law in place of existing national law.
Militant Muslims rule these zones with an iron fist. Western authorities have no control over them.
Fox News was called ignorant and Islamaphobic for reporting that Europe had no-go zones. It had to recant.
Western journalists have been writing about these lawless 'zones' since at least 2005.[2] All across Europe, militant Muslims terrorize citizens [ibid]. European authorities are so paralyzed, they cope by staying away from the zones as much as possible.
Nevertheless, no one is allowed to reveal how helpless the police are. Officially, no-go zones don't exist. The mayor of Paris even threatened to sue Fox.[3] A few days ago, writer John Hayward reminded us that as soon as the Fox News tempest had erupted, "liberal media outlets forgot their own years of reporting on those zones to bash their hated right-leaning cable news adversary."[4]
Well, Europe isn't alone. Israel follows Europe. If you ask officials in Israel about 'no-go zones', chances are they'll tell you they don't exist.
But they do. To a great extent, much of Arab East Jerusalem is a no-go zone. If you drive into Jerusalem from certain directions, you'll even spot a 'no-go zone' sign or two.
A 'no-go zone' sign is easy to spot. It's red, with white letters. It warns Jewish drivers that the road they enter at this or that turn-off goes into an Arab 'village'. Going into this village is dangerous for Jews. You enter at your own risk.
That's Israel's version of a 'no-go zone' sign. Like the no-go zones of Europe, the Muslim populations in these Israeli enclaves are simply too dangerous for non-Muslims. If Jews enter, the police cannot protect them.
The problem is, Israel isn't Europe. For Europe, 'no-go zones' tear at the fabric of social order. For Israel, they threaten Israel's ability to survive.
Jerusalem is ringed with Muslim no-go zones. You may have seen some of the names of these 'zones' during last summer's Gaza-Israel war, where Arab rioting exploded: Shuafat, Beit Hanina, Qalandia, An Nabi Sanwil, Issawiya, Abu Tur, Al Sawana, Beit Iksa, Silwan, Ras Al-Amoud, Beir Safal, At Tur.
Like all no-go zones everywhere, the Israeli zones are hot-beds of militancy. If Jews live there, they do so at their own risk.
Emergency and city officials who enter these zones can be attacked.[5] Jewish vehicles can be stoned.[6] Public buses can become 'Israeli targets' [ibid]. Even security forces are at risk.[7]
These enclaves are mini- 'Muslim territories'. They aren't just neighbourhoods scattered randomly in Jerusalem. They surround Jerusalem. They threaten Israel's existence.
Their growing independence from Jewish control will soon make it easier for Muslim residents to identify themselves as part of a Muslim 'greater Jerusalem'. That sense of a 'greater Muslim Jerusalem', in turn, will make it easier for Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority to claim that Jerusalem is the capital of 'Palestine'.
Abbas might even be able to claim that Jerusalem is already his. The Muslim no-go zones could be his proof.
Once Abbas feels comfortable with that claim, he can demand the Temple Mount. After all, the Temple Mount sits on the Western side of East Jerusalem. It's near all those mini 'Muslim territories'.
European nations will see nothing wrong with such a demand. It makes sense: Muslims already control Arab East Jerusalem. The Temple Mount is part of East Jerusalem. Why shouldn't the Arabs have it?
Given the EU's pro-Palestinian bias, it'll be easy for it to support such a demand. It'll be difficult for Israel to resist it.
With the help of the EU, Abbas will fight to divide Jerusalem. In Biblical terms, this is Edom helping Yishmael to conquer Jerusalem.
While Abbas turns his attention to the Temple Mount, Hamas will start its own battle. Hamas is the other half of the Hamas-PA unity government. Hamas will announce that it will now conquer Jewish Jerusalem.
That's what will happen if Israeli authorities continue to abandon East Jerusalem to Muslim rule. It's what will happen if authorities continue to abandon, neglect or ignore Jews who live in or near these zones.
Already, these Muslim enclaves begin to morph. Slowly, they grow from neighbourhoods to no-go zones to mini Muslim territories.
If Jewish leaders refuse to defend Jerusalem, Jerusalem's Jewishness will continue to be eaten away. Militant Islam will devour it.
Ask Mahmoud Abbas. Ask Hamas.
Footnotes
[1] "No No-Go Zones? Really?", Front Page Mag, January 20, 2015.
[2] "Urban Islamic terror—and you", Arutz Sheva, January 20, 2015.
[3] "Paris mayor: I'm suing Fox News over false report on Muslim 'no-go' zones ", The Guardian, January 21, 2015.
[4] "Mark Steyn Pushes Back on the Media's Denial of No-Go Zones", Breitbart.com, January 30, 2015.
[5] "Israeli ambulance stoned in East Jerusalem", Times of Israel, August 6, 2013
[6] Amir Cheshin, et al, Separate and Unequal: the inside story of Israeli rule in East Jerusalem, 2009, p. 162.
[7] "Border Police stoned by e. J'lem Arabs", Jerusalem Post, May 30, 2010
Tuvia (Philip) Brodie, Ph.D., is an American who made aliyah in 2010. He
blogs at http://tuvianinil.blogspot.com. This article appeared
February 3, 2015 in Arutz Sheva and is archived at
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Blogs/Message.aspx/6719#.VND6SDWVs5u