From: horen@netcom.com (Jonathan B. Horen)
Subject: Investment in Yehuda and Shomron
Lines: 40

In today's Israeline posting, at the end (an afterthought?), I read:

> More Money Allocated to Building Infrastructure in Territories to
> Create Jobs for Palestinians
> 
> KOL YISRAEL reports that public works geared at building
> infrastructure costing 140 million New Israeli Shekels (about 50
> million dollars) will begin Sunday in the Territories. This was
> announced last night by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Finance
> Minister Avraham Shohat in an effort to create more jobs for
> Palestinian residents of the Territories. This infusion of money
> will bring allocations given to developing infrastructure in the
> Territories this year to 450 million NIS, up from last year's
> figure of 120 million NIS.

While I applaud investing of money in Yehuda, Shomron, v'Chevel-Azza,
in order to create jobs for their residents, I find it deplorable that
this has never been an active policy of any Israeli administration
since 1967, *with regard to their Jewish residents*. Past governments
found funds to subsidize cheap (read: affordable) housing and the
requisite infrastructure, but where was the investment for creating
industry (which would have generated income *and* jobs)? 

After 26 years, Yehuda and Shomron remain barren, bereft of even 
middle-sized industries, and the Jewish settlements are sterile
"bedroom communities", havens for (in the main) Israelis (both
secular *and* religious) who work in Tel-Aviv or Jerusalem but
cannot afford to live in either city or their surrounding suburbs.

There's an old saying: "bli giboosh, ayn kivoosh" -- just living there
wasn't enough, we had to *really* settle it. But instead, we "settled"
for Potemkin villages, and now we are paying the price (and doing
for others what we should have done for ourselves).


-- 
Yonatan B. Horen | Jews who do not base their advocacy of Jewish positions and
(408) 736-3923   | interests on Judaism are essentially racists... the only 
horen@netcom.com | morally defensible grounds for the preservation of Jews as a
                 | separate people rest on their religious identity as Jews.
