Israel and Palestinians have conflicting visions for village's future

[Scurrilous]

Lifta is the last intact pre-1948 Palestinian village in Israel. The Israelis want to put apartments there, but Palestinians want the area preserved as an open-air museum.

<snip>

"The roofs and window shutters are long gone from the old stone houses, but decorative brickwork around the doorways and broken staircases bears witness to a bygone prosperity.

The freshwater spring was paved over years ago, but the water still gurgles down the main road, just as it did more than 60 years ago.

Homeless addicts sleep in the former mayor's house and sunlight floods through arched mosque windows, illuminating trash and debris.

They called it Lifta. Today, the abandoned village is the last intact pre-1948 Palestinian town in Israel. Hundreds of similar Palestinian communities were razed after residents fled during Israel's 1948 war for independence.

For reasons lost to history, Lifta's homes, cemetery and olive press were left standing, though its farmland was confiscated and is now the site of Israel's Supreme Court; its parliament, the Knesset; and Hebrew University.

After being forgotten for decades, Lifta is now the focus of conflicting visions of its future, and of its past. Israel wants to develop luxury apartments at the old village, while Palestinians hope to turn the ruins into an open-air museum devoted to their mass displacement in 1948, an event Palestinians call the nakba, or catastrophe."

more

[damntexdem]

1. Destroy evidence fo the Catastrophe and make bucks on apartments.

But don't stop stealing land in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Oh, yes, Israeli ethics on display.

[oberliner]

3. Israeli ethics on display?

You really believe that what you described represents "Israeli ethics" on display?

Can you summarize what you believe to be "Israeli ethics" and how they are different from, say, "American ethics" or "Jordanian ethics"?

[azurnoir]

2. the Israeli government has outlawed observing the Nakba

so if UNESCO were by some miracle to win out and this village be preserved, will we then be hearing about an illegal Palestinian settlement on Israeli soil?

[oberliner]

4. No it hasn't

Subject line is not true.

[azurnoir]

5. Lol I guess imposing a fine on municipalities or groups for observing the Nakba

isn't exactly the same as outlawing and we must be careful to be very exact here

[oberliner]

6. That's also not true

No fine being imposed on anyone.

[azurnoir]

7. Knesset adopts ‘Nakba Law’

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Communities or groups that hold events mourning the creation of the nation could be fined under a measure passed by Israel's Knesset.

With the "Nakba Law" passed late Tuesday, the state would be able to fine local communities and other state-funded groups for holding events that mark what the Arab community calls the Nakba, which means catastrophe, referring to the creation of the Jewish state of Israel. Fines, deducted from a group's operating budget, would equal up to three times the event's sponsorship cost; repeat violations would double the fines.

The law, which was enacted by a vote of 37 to 25, also applies to activities which deny that Israel is a Jewish state as well as the country's democratic character, and support armed struggle against the state or terror acts against Israel.

It is a softened version of the bill approved in July 2009 by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, which made participation in Nakba Day events punishable by up to three years in prison.

http://jta.org/news/article/2011/03/23/3086536/knesset-passes-nakba-law

the reason no one has been fined is it's a new law and Nakba day isn't until in May

[oberliner]

8. Only refers to state funded groups losing some of their operating budget

Read beyond the headline.

If you are not a state funded group, then this does not apply.

[azurnoir]

9. the state would be able to fine local communities and other state-funded groups for

holding events that mark what the Arab community calls the Nakba,

That's a direct cut and paste

[Shaktimaan]

10. right.

It's also not what you said.

There's a difference between imposing a fine on state-funded groups and outlawing something.

[azurnoir]

11. I f a fine is imposed for a certain action then that action

is not with in the law or it is outside of the law, so saying that Israel 'outlawed' observing the Nakba is not inaccurate that law apparently does nor apply to in home private observations unless of course an organized group is doing so.
You can parse and nitpick all you like, but it does seem a petty denial of fact

[Shaktimaan]

12. Hahahaha. If anyone is parsing it's you.

To say that government funded groups can't do something is in no way outlawing it! Hahaha. You know it too. Your position is absurd.
Individuals can observe the nakba. Organized groups can observe the nakba. Even unorganized groups can observe the nakba. In fact anyone can observe the nakba. You just can't use government funds to observe the nakba.

Big dif between putting a restriction on government funding and actually outlawing something.

In America you aren't allowed to use government funds to promote any specific religion. Would you say that is the equivalent of the US outlawing Christianity? You seem to really be swallowing a lot of Republican rhetoric lately. Are we going to start hearing about the "war on christmas" next from you? (Oh, let me guess, so maybe Christmas isn't "technically" outlawed in America but it's just parsing and being nitpicky to say so, right?)

It is the exact same hysterical argument that you are making.

[azurnoir]

13. wrong again I will give you a break go back and read the snip from JTA

it does not say that at all