I first arrived in Israel 21 years ago – in the middle of the Intifada. The violence was horrific, but it eventually returned to normal. As we all know, terror in Israel is said to come in waves. While this is true, there are neighborhoods where the Intifada is as fresh now as it was 21 years ago.

The Shiloach neighborhood in Jerusalem is made up of 42 Jewish families surrounded by a sea of Arabs, For the young families there – every day is the Intifada.

In this last week there have been 55 attacks on Jewish cars. 9 molotov cocktails and more. While the police provide some sort of defense – it is the perseverance of the Jewish pioneers that is the true defense against the unabating violence.

The Shiloach is the last frontier in Jerusalem’s long term land reclamation campaign. It poses both a historical correction and a strategic necessity. Historical, because it was essentially a Jewish village of Yemenites until 1938, when the Jews were displaced by violent Arab mobs – many of whom have descendants that are still squatting in Jewish property today.

It is strategic because it creates Jewish continuity from Maale Zeitim down to the City of David and a buffer zone that blocks “palestinian” connection from Abu Dis. Only Kidmat Tzion further to the South East achieves something similar.

The never ending Intifada rages in the Shiloach. It rages, because the squatters that live there have no real legal or moral right to stay so they resort to violence in an attempt to drive the Jewish population away.

It has not worked. In 1994 there was one Jewish family in the Shiloach – today there are 42. That number really is only a beginning, but it is the best weapon against the squatters and the violence that surrounds the Jews of the Shiloach and it is the only way the Jewish people will bring their collective sovereignty to the Shiloach and all of Jerusalem.