For years, we have been fighting a battle over Jewish presence and Jewish rights to purchase and  live in every and any neighborhood of Jerusalem. This struggle is seen and felt on a daily basis in the old Yemenite of Shiloach (aka Silwan) which is a very hostile Arab neighborhood with many violent and hate filled Arab clans.

The proximity to the Temple Mount, and Old City has made this neighborhood, the LAST JERUSALEM FRONTIER for the Arab world and they will do anything and everything to stymie, stop and hinder the ever growing Jewish presence in the area.

The physical attacks on our families and buildings in the old Yemenite Village are second to none in Israel, with thousands of reported attacks over the years. In this last week alone, there were molotov cocktails thrown at all our buildings, pepper spray and a physical attack on our children being escorted, a van burnt, and two car windows smashed belonging to workers doing renovations in the Shiloach Heights.

One of the major flash points of Arab violence is the stairway being made to link Beit Frumkin and Beit Yosef of the Shiloach Heights, thus creating a safe passage for our residents.

The stairway – which is a public access route, also passes thru an Arab property (expropriated for public access) and he has done everything possible to try and stop these works.

After weeks of court appearances, meetings and Arab violence, the stairs are finally being done, but not without incidents. Arabs have smashed cars of workers, thrown stones, smashed equipment…etc.And these are our neighbors!