The Ir Amim blog seeks to establish a vibrant and open meeting space to discuss Jerusalem. Through our "Voices From Jerusalem" posts and our official organizational posts, we aim to illuminate little-seen aspects of life in Jerusalem for the Palestinians and Israelis, for Jews, Christians and Muslims who share the city; and who live their lives confounded by the ongoing conflict over the city. We seek to air a wide range of hopes, fears and aspirations held by Jerusalemites, and those who care about its future. We aim to generate a deeper awareness of the multi-layered issues in Jerusalem; and to stimulate an exchange of thoughts, feelings, experiences, analyses and beliefs.

We launch this blog out of a commitment to help Jerusalem relinquish its well-rehearsed role in igniting the Palestinian / Israeli confrontation, and become instead a fulcrum for resolving the conflict. Please join us on this journey.


About Ir Amim


Ir Amim (“City of Nations” or “City of Peoples”) is an Israeli non-profit, non-partisan organization founded in order to actively engage in those issues impacting on Israeli-Palestinian relations in Jerusalem and on the political future of the city. Ir Amim seeks to render Jerusalem a more viable and equitable city, while generating and promoting a more politically sustainable future.

Bearing in mind the symbolic and actual status of Jerusalem as a city of two peoples and three religions, as well as the city's pivotal role in reaching a political agreement, Ir Amim aspires to a stable Jerusalem, equitably shared by the two peoples; a city that ensures the dignity and welfare of all its residents and that safeguards their holy places, as well as their historical and cultural heritages.

Ir Amim offers its knowledge and expertise concerning the political, economic and social conditions in Jerusalem to a range of organizations and individuals, including governmental and municipal authorities who deal with the management of the city, and Track II parties who examine the sustainability of possible political arrangements.

Ir Amim has ongoing working relations with the Palestinian community in Jerusalem, as well as with key players in the international community active in Jerusalem issues.

www.ir-amim.org.il/Eng

Blog Entries by Ir Amim

Deteriorating Reality in the Shadow of Catastrophic Scenarios

Posted October 21, 2009 | 09:55 AM (EST)


By Orly Noy, Ir Amim Spokesperson

Recent events in East Jerusalem, especially at the site Jews call Temple Mount and Muslims call Haram el Sharif, have given rise to obsessive betting among Israelis about the likelihood of a third intifada breaking out soon. Such forecasts seem to depend on the...

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Voices from Jerusalem: Archeology and National Claims in Jerusalem

28 Comments | Posted October 13, 2009 | 04:45 PM (EST)


By Yonathan Mizrachi

The film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull -- the fourth in the Indiana Jones series--portrays an archaeologist who seeks to return a crystal skull of great importance to the place where it was found. As an archaeologist, Indiana Jones' role is not just...

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Voices From Jerusalem: A City of Delicate Balance

Posted September 29, 2009 | 07:20 AM (EST)


From a speech by Alice Shalvi at a demonstration against the expansion of Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem. Jerusalem, September 10, 2009*.


Jerusalem is holy ground to three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Therein lie its uniqueness, its magnificence, its beauty. And therein lies the...

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Voices from Jerusalem: Back to What School?

9 Comments | Posted September 9, 2009 | 01:50 PM (EST)


By Ziva Galili

September 1 was 'Back to School" day for a million and a half children and teenagers all over Israel. Schools opened in Jerusalem, too, but in East Jerusalem tens of thousands of students do not have the choice of attending a State school. A report by the...

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Voices From Jerusalem: An Interview with Khader Dibs

1 Comments | Posted August 31, 2009 | 04:13 PM (EST)


By Ilana Sichel
Like many short trips in this region, the 15-minute car ride from the busy center of downtown West Jerusalem to the Shuafat Refugee Camp is a quick jaunt from the first world to the third. Coming from the "new Israeli neighborhood" of

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Dangerous Developments in East Jerusalem

33 Comments | Posted August 17, 2009 | 04:11 PM (EST)


By Yudith Oppenheimer, Executive Director, Ir Amim

In the early morning on August 2, 2009, as residents of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem slept soundly, a group of Israeli settlers accompanied by a large police force broke into two homes, forcefully removing the residents and their belongings. Within hours,...

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VOICES FROM JERUSALEM: The City and the Dogs: A Psychedelic Tour through Jerusalem's More Peculiar Districts

28 Comments | Posted July 30, 2009 | 11:06 AM (EST)


A Special Report by Yizhar Be'er

You have to see it to believe it. The photographs that appear here document the murals that stretch dozens of meters down the length of the road that leads from the neighborhood of Silwan -- that is, the City of David -- along the...

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VOICES FROM JERUSALEM: What Is Behind Jerusalem's First Master Plan Since 1967?

19 Comments | Posted June 29, 2009 | 04:36 PM (EST)


A special report by Sami Ershied.

Jerusalem's first city plan since 1967 was slated to be deposited for public review but is currently being held up by MK Eli Yishai, purportedly because it allocates too much housing to the city's Palestinian population. The plan, "Jerusalem...

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VOICES FROM JERUSALEM: Obama: From Your Mouth to Jerusalem's Ears

1 Comments | Posted June 4, 2009 | 01:10 PM (EST)


A special report by Dahlia Scheindlin

Your heart would have to be made of basalt and dry ice would flow in your veins if you were not moved by Barack Obama's speech today in Cairo.

President Obama talked about seeking similarities, not differences; a world where people speak honestly,...

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Jerusalem: City of Walls

107 Comments | Posted May 23, 2009 | 03:00 PM (EST)


Yudith Oppenheimer, Executive Director, Ir Amim

Ilana Sichel, Research Fellow, Ir Amim

This past Sunday, Jerusalem celebrated the opening day of "Education Transcends Walls," a week-long focus on education in honor of Jerusalem Day -- the Israeli anniversary of the "reunification" of the city following the 1967 war. The...

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