Pisgat Ze’ev Firebombings Take Place Under the Radar

Firebombs rain down on the residents of Yerushalayim’s Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood night after night, and nothing is done to stop it.

That’s what Yerushalayim’s Deputy Mayor Yael Antebi, the representative of Pisgat Ze’ev in the Municipality, told Arutz Sheva on Sunday: Palestinians throwing firebombs at the Jewish houses has become routine.

The latest incident was just before Pesach, on April 20, when firebombs caused a large brush fire that that threatened the homes of residents. A number of buildings were evacuated while firefighters brought the fire under control. B’chasdei Shamayim, no one was harmed.

Like so many other incidents before it, media coverage was virtually nonexistent. “It goes under the radar in the papers and reports. They don’t talk about it seriously. They are unequivocally abandoning Yerushalayim residents,” Antebi charged.

“Recently it has become routine. They (Arabs) throw firebombs. They climb up on the separation fence, a fence that is not effective, cross over it freely and throw firebombs, causing fires in the area between Pisgat Ze’ev and Shuafat, and present a serious danger,” said Antebi.

The deputy mayor further said that the violence is symptomatic of a broader problem: the influx of some 50,000 new Arab residents into the capital from Ramallah and elsewhere.

Residents of Shuafat in northeast Yerushalayim who have the financial means to do so are moving into the western part of the city, while their homes in Shuafat are used to house Arabs who illegally enter sovereign Israeli territory from Shechem and other parts of Shomron.

“The passage between Ramallah and Shechem into the Shuafat neighborhood is a free passageway without any checkpoint, and the illegal entrants can easily move into Shuafat,” explained Antebi.

“There is no vacuum. Hamas members are entering to provide services. You see Hamas flags flying there freely.”

Antebi accused the government of ignoring the problem, apparently in hopes that it will go away by itself. On the contrary, she argues, the official silence actually encourages the phenomenon to continue.

“They may be areas that are called Yerushalayim, but in practice it is the division of Yerushalayim,” she said.