Local Arabs broke into an abandoned building in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ein Karem, located in the southwest of the capital. In response, residents of the neighborhood turned to Jerusalem Councilman Aryeh King, who quickly took action to seal the building from further intrusion.

King, of the United Jerusalem faction, arrived Wednesday afternoon to inspect the sealing work on the building, located adjacent to the tourist site ‘Mary’s Well.’ He was accompanied by fellow councilman Yaakov Halperin (United Torah Judaism).

“We see here an unoccupied property owned by the Jerusalem Municipality. This fact was manipulated by a Muslim group that broke into the property, broke the wall, grating and main door,” noted King.

Speaking about the future of the site, King remarked “we arrived here today with Municipality workers, and I promise the site won’t remain abandoned; we’ll see a public-municipal group here using the property legally.”

Ein Karem is visited by tens of thousands of tourists annually, reports the councilman. “I don’t understand what caused the Municipality to abandon this place,” added King. “Under the property is a spring that is holy to the three religions, and I hope that from now on the Municipality will preserve and develop the site.”

No ‘right of return’ to Jerusalem

At the completion of work on the site, King remarked “the Muslims tried to fulfill their ‘right of return’ through the back door, and we closed the door to them. There’s no right of return, not to Jerusalem and not to the land of Israel.

The demand that roughly five million descendants of Arab residents who left Israel at the foundation of the modern state in 1948 must be allowed to “return” has been a major sticking point in the peace talks. Aside from other problems with the claim, such a “return” would demographically destroy Israel as the Jewish state.

In late February, King documented Jerusalem Arabs setting ablaze a police station next to the Lions’ Gate in the capital’s Old City. According to King, instead of stopping the attackers, police officers fled the scene.

“Unfortunately, the prime minister is instructing the authorities to avoid eastern Jerusalem, and these are the results,” charged King, noting the attack came during the funeral of a terrorist.

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