Max and Facts http://blogs.jta.org/ENTRY_PERMALINK_HERE/max-and-facts/ Max Blumenthal, not actually wanting to argue over the place of theology in the political sphere, has issues with the facts. To set him straight: en-us rkampeas@jta.org Copyright 2009 2009-11-02T;18:58:00-05:00 Comment by Adam Horowitz adamh2@gmail.com Got it, thanks. Got it, thanks.

]]> 2012-02-10T;12:44:00-05:00 Comment by Ron Kampeas rkampeas@jta.org Adam- Forgive me for calling you a Stalinist. I know the BBC describes East Talpiot as a settlement, I’m simply not sure if that extends to the international community. Like Ramat Eshkol and a sliver of the Galilee south of the Golan, these are areas that Israel claims according to the 1949 armistice line but that were subsequently occupied by Arab powers. (Israel’s neighbors have similar counterclaims, beyond lands captured in 1967; Jordan and Egypt have resolved these.) In any case, I don’t object to the designation—like I said the neighborhood could be seen as being in dispute—as long as it relates to my coverage of Jerusalem and its neighborhoods which is why I disclosed it. What I object to is how it crops whenever someone objects to what I report—and not even how I report it—and no matter how remote the fact is from my reporting. Some of the best and most honest reporting I’ve seen on settlements and issues pertaining to them has been by reporters I know who indisputably live in settlements. Repeatedly invoking this status is, I think, a creepy means of impugning my credibility—and all the more insidious because I made the disclosure in order to sustain my credibility. Adam-
Forgive me for calling you a Stalinist.
I know the BBC describes East Talpiot as a settlement, I’m simply not sure if that extends to the international community. Like Ramat Eshkol and a sliver of the Galilee south of the Golan, these are areas that Israel claims according to the 1949 armistice line but that were subsequently occupied by Arab powers. (Israel’s neighbors have similar counterclaims, beyond lands captured in 1967; Jordan and Egypt have resolved these.)
In any case, I don’t object to the designation—like I said the neighborhood could be seen as being in dispute—as long as it relates to my coverage of Jerusalem and its neighborhoods which is why I disclosed it.
What I object to is how it crops whenever someone objects to what I report—and not even how I report it—and no matter how remote the fact is from my reporting. Some of the best and most honest reporting I’ve seen on settlements and issues pertaining to them has been by reporters I know who indisputably live in settlements. Repeatedly invoking this status is, I think, a creepy means of impugning my credibility—and all the more insidious because I made the disclosure in order to sustain my credibility.

]]> 2012-02-10T;12:44:00-05:00 Comment by Adam Horowitz adamh2@gmail.com Hi Ron! First off, you’re too sweet. So much for not getting personal. Second, the issue was whether East Talpiot is considered a settlement or not. I posted the BBC article to show that the international community does consider it a settlement. Similarly the international community does not recognize the Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem (and the no man’s land). I should also say that I really admired your initial disclosure of owning the apartment in East Talpiot. I just don’t understand why you want to pretend now that it doesn’t matter? Nobody is saying you’re off poisoning Palestinians’ fields with the settlers down in the south Hebron hills, but East Talpiot is a settlement nonetheless. Hi Ron!

First off, you’re too sweet. So much for not getting personal.

Second, the issue was whether East Talpiot is considered a settlement or not. I posted the BBC article to show that the international community does consider it a settlement. Similarly the international community does not recognize the Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem (and the no man’s land).

I should also say that I really admired your initial disclosure of owning the apartment in East Talpiot. I just don’t understand why you want to pretend now that it doesn’t matter? Nobody is saying you’re off poisoning Palestinians’ fields with the settlers down in the south Hebron hills, but East Talpiot is a settlement nonetheless.

]]> 2012-02-10T;12:44:00-05:00 Comment by Ron Kampeas rkampeas@jta.org Adam, my little Stalinist enforcer, The plan for the additional homes has been in the hopper for years. The Peace Now objection, as framed here—http://www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=3&id=1174—has to do with how the homes will be positioned; they would, according to Peace Now, erase a natural line between an Israeli neighborhood —East Talpiot—and a Palestinian one. East Talpiot: At the end of December 2007 Israel published tenders for construction of 400 new units in East Talpiot. The construction would establish Israeli housing only footsteps from the Palestinian neighborhoods of Sur Baher and Jabal Mukaber. Such construction will make any future separation between these Israeli and Palestinian neighborhoods more difficult. This is in all likelihood one of the goals of the project. Adam, my little Stalinist enforcer,
The plan for the additional homes has been in the hopper for years. The Peace Now objection, as framed here—http://www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=3&id=1174—has to do with how the homes will be positioned; they would, according to Peace Now, erase a natural line between an Israeli neighborhood —East Talpiot—and a Palestinian one.

East Talpiot: At the end of December 2007 Israel published tenders for construction of 400 new units in East Talpiot. The construction would establish Israeli housing only footsteps from the Palestinian neighborhoods of Sur Baher and Jabal Mukaber. Such construction will make any future separation between these Israeli and Palestinian neighborhoods more difficult. This is in all likelihood one of the goals of the project.

]]> 2012-02-10T;12:44:00-05:00 Comment by Adam Horowitz adamh2@gmail.com Ron has said where his apartment is, it’s in East Talpiot. Here’s what the BBC had to say about his neighborhood in April, 2009 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8020825.stm): Construction has begun on approximately 60 new homes in a Jewish settlement in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, the Israeli campaign group Peace Now says. The work, in East Talpiot settlement, is aimed at creating a belt around East Jerusalem that would sever it from the rest of the West Bank, the group says. Sounds like a great place Ron! Ron has said where his apartment is, it’s in East Talpiot. Here’s what the BBC had to say about his neighborhood in April, 2009 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8020825.stm):

Construction has begun on approximately 60 new homes in a Jewish settlement in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, the Israeli campaign group Peace Now says.

The work, in East Talpiot settlement, is aimed at creating a belt around East Jerusalem that would sever it from the rest of the West Bank, the group says.

Sounds like a great place Ron!

]]> 2012-02-10T;12:44:00-05:00 Comment by David david.ehrens@gmail.com Sorry, Ron, publish your Jerusalem address and let objective observers decide if it’s in a settlement. Sorry, Ron, publish your Jerusalem address and let objective observers decide if it’s in a settlement.

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