Jewish villages were built in the place of Arab villages. You do not even know the names of these Arab villages, and I do not blame you because geography books no longer exist.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I feel that the Jews have always had a special connection to this part of the world, which in geographical terms was called Palestine for so many centuries.
Jews have been in Egypt since Biblical times, and Alexandria had once been, at least partially, a Jewish city.
You still can't find Israel on a map of the Middle East in a Palestinian schoolbook.
I don't know how it works with the Jews, but here in Beit Safafa, as in every self-respecting Arab community that is respected in turn by the state, there are no street names and no house numbers.
Israel and our vicinity is an area that traditionally has little industry. The area is known for history, it's known for religious stories, it's known a bit for agriculture, but... neither was the Jewish population thinking about export industry, nor the Arab or Palestinian population.
The Land of Israel needs to build and be built, period.
The whole Land of Israel is a single bloc. There are those who say we can build inside the settlement blocs, and others who say we may not be able to hold onto the towns outside the blocs. I have come to tell you what the Arabs already know - that the Land of Israel is one bloc.
Israel has a security concern involving geography. But geography does not have the same value it did in 1967.
Jewish and Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem are interlaced one with the other.
I do not recall a Jewish home without a book on the table.