If any building should be demolished …

Today’s demolition of an East Jerusalem building reveals how difficult it will be for the Israeli government to undergo future demolitions in the disputed area of Sheikh Jarrah.

Constructed in the 1930s, the Shepherd Hotel formerly belonged to the mufti of Jerusalem Hajj Amin Al Huseini, who, during World War ii, facilitated the extermination of Jews.

According to Daniel Lurie, executive director of the Eterate Cohanim Association, “This building is a symbol of genocide; Husseini was practically a full-fledged Nazi; the British arrested him for starting pogroms in the 1920s, and he established on his own a unit that murdered hundreds of thousands of Jews in Yugoslavia during World War ii.”

After undergoing several transfers of title, the building was legally purchased in 1985 by Jewish-American businessman Irving Moskowitz. While technically in East Jerusalem, the building is not surrounded by any Arab homes and is closely neighbored by official governmental buildings. Also, to preserve its historical value, a whole facade of the building is going to remain.

It seems if any building had the right to be demolished it was this one!

And yet, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat still condemned the project, saying, “As long as this government continues with settlements and acts like the demolition of the Shepherd Hotel there will be no negotiations.”

This attitude of disregarding logical arguments and facts on the ground can only mean hostilities will intensify during future demolitions of illegal Arab homes in the neighborhood.