The Iron Law of Demographics....
June 18, 2002
Arabs upset neighbors in wealthy Jewish suburb
By Paul Martin
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
JERUSALEM - Well-heeled Israeli Arabs have begun buying homes in an upscale Jewish neighborhood in east Jerusalem, upsetting community leaders, who have begun urging real-estate agents to help preserve the "special character" of the neighborhood.
"It's not that I'm racist," said Uri Michaeli, the head of the committee controlling the nicest part of the French Hill neighborhood. "But just as I'm against ultra-Orthodox Jews living in the middle of a secular neighborhood, so I feel that Arabs should not come and live in the middle of a Jewish neighborhood. That's not healthy."
The normally quiet and refined neighborhood was built after its capture in the 1967 War on land that had been state property under the Jordanians. It became a fashionable Jewish suburb, with attractive apartment blocks amid greenery and spectacular views stretching as far as the Dead Sea.
In recent years, many Arab-Israeli professionals, including lawyers, doctors and teachers at the nearby Hebrew University, have bought or rented apartments. They say it provides a superior quality of life and better municipal services than are available in the large Arab population centers of east Jerusalem, which lie nearby.
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