The infrastructure improvements, in ordinary circumstances, would be welcome news in a poor and neglected neighborhood like Silwan. But in the charged atmosphere of East Jerusalem, which Israel seized from the Jordanians in the 1967 war and later annexed, some perceive even municipal road works and new traffic arrangements as part of a larger plan.Soft pedal? Ignorance? Lack of sleep? What happened here?
Since when have residents of poor neighborhoods anywhere ever seen "infrastructure improvements" as "welcome news"? I mean, I get the jobs argument, but it didn't happen that way in the South Bronx. Or Columbus OH, where I-71 cuts off the East Side from the rest of town, or Richmond VA where I-195 excises basically all the poor neighborhoods from the monied core of the city, or indeed anywhere in America.
"New traffic arrangements"?? Like Jews-only access roads? I mean, what to us are mere "traffic arrangements" are the means of repression in E Jerusalem and the W Bank.
Not to hyperventilate here, but this Robert Moses attitude towards the people on the ground is not doing the State of Israel any favors, either in terms of pure PR or more seriously, in terms of preserving peace. And all these "construction projects" are handled neutrally in the NYT, as if Palestinian anger over them is utterly incomprehensible.
Man. Flashing fuck fingers at the NYT today, y'all...
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