Well that simply won't do. It's one thing for the German Chancellor's office to make a statement regretting that Jews can't live where they want in Israel, it's quite another to get her geography completely wrong! So I wrote a letter to the Chancellor's office.
Madame Chancellor,Not my most eloquent work, but passable. Do I expect a mea culpa? Why yes, I do.
With all due respect, as someone who I admire as a stateswoman, it grieves me to learn that your government "greatly regrets the recent decision to allow the construction of new homes in east Jerusalem" referring specifically to the Gilo neighborhood. It must be terribly embarrassing to learn that Gilo is not anywhere near the area commonly referred to as "East Jerusalem" or more accurately, the area of Jerusalem under Jordanian control from 1948-1967.
The neighborhood of Gilo is located at the extreme southern end of Jerusalem. Gilo is part of the contiguous municipality of the City of Jerusalem. It is analogous to confusing Lichtenrade with Kaulsdorf.
Gilo is also the neighborhood that came under sniper fire from Palestinian terrorists in an adjacent village in December 2000 (http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2000/12/Pictures%20from%20Gilo-%20Community%20under%20Siege%20-%20Decemb)
I hope you can correct this faux pas in a statement in the near future.
To contact the chancellor's office:
http://www.bundeskanzlerin.de/Webs/BK/En/Service/Contact/contact.html
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