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Jerusalem: City of Walls
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 event featured a wide array of performances, concerts, and panels discussing and honoring the achievements and challenges of Jerusalem in the educational sphere.
It seemed, however, that the evening's lofty title belonged to another event altogether. It soon became evident that schools serving the Palestinian third of Jerusalem's population were conspicuously absent. It seemed, in fact, that despite the optimistically entitled event, Jerusalem's walls were strong, intact, and higher than ever.
As was apparent that evening and over the four decades of Israeli control, Jerusalem has never become a united city. East and West Jerusalem are divided along lines of both political and national aspirations, as well as by deep socioeconomic disparities. Jerusalem's population is further divided by cultural orientation: Israelis look west toward Tel Aviv while Palestinians look toward Ramallah in the West Bank. Nonetheless, both Israelis and Palestinians see Jerusalem as their capital city. Negotiation efforts have made it clear that no political resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will come to pass if it does not include a mutual resolution on Jerusalem.
Though Israeli politicians seek popularity points by accusing each other of dividing the city, Israelis themselves seem to be more sanguine about the complicated realities of Jerusalem. A public opinion poll commissioned by Ir Amim revealed that 78% of Israelis see life in the city as effectively divided. A further 65% would be willing to forego Israeli jurisdiction over Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem for the sake of a peace agreement, as long as the holy sites remained accessible. These numbers point to the need for leadership that will move toward a negotiated settlement in Jerusalem; leadership that will build a city in which both nations can live in dignity, a city which honors and protects the three religions and two national narratives within it. (See "State of Affairs: Jerusalem 2008" for analysis and research on Jerusalem life and politics.)
Meanwhile, Jerusalem's walls are being reinforced. The separation wall courses around and through the city, and cuts off Palestinian Jerusalemites from their cultural and economic environs in Ramallah, Bethlehem, and the West Bank. In some areas, the wall even cuts off Palestinian Jerusalemites from the very city in which they live, work, learn, and pay taxes. Those who remain within the walls of Jerusalem suffer from municipal neglect: they face a shortage of over 1500 classrooms and over 70 km of sewage mains. They find it nearly impossible to obtain building permits in their own city, and as residents, not citizens, know that leaving Jerusalem for the West Bank may cut them off from the city forever.
The challenge for today is to create two effective political communities in the urban space now known as Jerusalem. The answer -- a path toward a stable and secure future -- will look less like a series of performances and concerts, and more like a reckoning of the contradictory realities of Jerusalem and the city's centrality in both Palestinian and Israeli political life.
In the new political climate created by the Obama administration, the Israeli government may find itself pushed to working toward a lasting resolution. As Jerusalemites find themselves increasingly surrounded by walls, the need is more pressing than ever to transform the city into a fulcrum for the resolution of the conflict -- and not a spark toward its conflagration. It is upon us to seize this chance for the future of the city cherished by Israelis and Palestinians, and by Christians, Jews, and Muslims around the world.
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This article makes it clear that extremists want to deny Jewish religious connection to the temple mount.
Whenever I speak with Palestinians they express their throbbing desire for "a reckoning of the contradictory realities of Jerusalem" and their eagerness "to transform the city into a fulcrum for the resolution of the conflict".
Their passion is palpable.
Concordance of International Community with Palestinian Sentiment:
High
UN Resolution 478:
2. Affirms that the enactment of the "basic law" by Israel constitutes a violation of international law and does not affect the continued application of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since June 1967, including Jerusalem;
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The UN resolution is not the same as international law. In fact, it is contradictory to international law. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, there is nothing to argue.
Wow.... You can't imagine just HOW impressed I am that the UN passed an anti-Israel resolution!
I am just shocked! If the UN really said that, then I'm convinced. Absolutely.
Because the UN decides what's right and wrong. It's a fair and unbiased arbiter of international order. No bias there.
Yep.
Perhaps the Israelis would be willing to share more sovereignty in Jerusalem if the Arabs apologized for what they did when they held sovereignty over Jerusalem from 1948-67. The ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Arabs in 1949 included open access to holy sites. Instead Jewish synagogues were destroyed and the wailing wall was used as a garbage dump. Contrast that with the fact that one of the largest Mosques in the world has been built in "soloman's stables". Also, when the city was liberated in 67, there were 75,000 Muslims living there, now there are 3 times that number.
Israel will always remain in control of Jerusalem, and Muslims and Christians will always have access to their holy sites, as they should. Muslims need to get used to this fact.
Distortion:
...and Muslims and Christians will always have access to their holy sites...
Correction:
Israel restricted Palestinian access to Jerusalem to men older than 50 and women over 45, angering would-be worshipers eager to reach Islam's third holiest shrine for prayers on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
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They did this to prevent stoning of the worshipers at the Wailing Wall.
Jerusalem is NOT central to Palestinian life, as this misguided article says. Jews all over the world face Jerusalem when they pray. Muslims -even those living in Jerusalem.
Israeli claims are illigitimate. The Israeli occupation is illegal.
You are absolutely wrong.
Could you please put my pro-Israel posts up in response to the anti-Israel LIES posted by SuoerSam and others???
Thanks!
WHAT T-W-O NATIONS??? Jerusalem is the capital of only one nation....
keep dreaming..
I know the truth and reality just hurts you sooooooooooo bad!
That is only in the minds of SOME Israelis. The world doesn't recognize it and if you think you don't need recognition from the world and its enough to be just valid in your minds. Then SOME Palestinians think Jerusalem is their capital in their minds and its just as valid.
Substantiation 1:
One-hundred and one states recognize the State of Palestine, and 21 more grant some form of diplomatic status to a Palestinian delegation, falling short of full diplomatic recognition.
http://en.
Substantiation 2:
2. Affirms that the enactment of the "basic law" by Israel constitutes a violation of international law and does not affect the continued application of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since June 1967, including Jerusalem;
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This poster is correct! Who is the "Other" nation??? Jerusalem isn't even mentioned ONCE in the Koran...so the "other" nation could NOT be an Arab nation. Is it ......the Cayman Islands?? Peru? Gambia??
LOL! who are you kidding nochaos? Both those monikers belong to you... you're not fooling anyone ;)
Considering that giving land and political power to Palestinians has only led to an increase in violence, why would Israelis want to cut their capital city in half? How would that contribute to "peace"?
Giving land? What land are you talking about? Please elaborate. Rewarding Gazans with a seige is not exactly giving land back.
Stop the rfevision of History! Israel UNILATERALLY pulled oput of Gaza ...and got rockets fired up their %$#@ as a thanks from Hamas!!! You KNOW that...why try and change the true facts...no
The land isnt Israels to give nor take.
Its a military occupation. It doesnt belong to the Israelis.
You could not be more wrong. Well, that isn't true. If moflard had written your posting it would have been more wrong. LOL
Capital of Israel is Jerusalem. Capital of Palestine Authority is Ramallah. That's what it is and will remain for foreseeable future. Regardless, few of Jerusalem residents want to live under Palestinian rule. Last year about 50 thousand Arabs escaped from Palestinian territories into Israel. Many want to become Israeli citizens. While their ideologues try to prevent it.
An undivided Jerusalem capital is not recognized by any country outside Israel. The claim is illigitimate.
No country recognizes Israels occupation and settlement as having legal basis. The whole world is in agreement that the seizing and settlement of occupied land is unlawful. Israel has no support anywhere and it doesnt have a mandate.
The Geneva convention and international law specifically forbids the seizing of land and the building of residential settlements under military protection. Public statements by right-wing Israelis wont change that fact.
The settlers must be removed and the land returned. It is the responsibility of an occupying army to protect civilians under the occupation. Not steal their land and resources.
That's why the Israeli government demolished the illegal homes built by Arabs with no building permits in Jerusalem! Yes-the illegal ARAB SETTLERS on lands won by the Israelis in wars ...must end! I guess you call for them leaving those Israeli-won lands ASAP..TOO!
"Not recognized"? Oh please! The existence of Taiwan isn't recognized by virtually any nation. Political recognition is hardly a basis for making a moral claim.
The "Geneva convention" says absolutely nothing regarding Israel's occupation of the West Bank. It was never intended to address a situation in which a country defensively captured land from an aggressor.
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Read carefully, talkative friend.
"Capital of Israel is Jerusalem.
who says so, not according to UN?
According to ...Israel.
"We came here to a country that was populated by Arabs and we are building here a Hebrew, a Jewish state; instead of the Arab villages, Jewish villages were established. You even do not know the names of those villages, and I do not blame you because these villages no longer exist. There is not a single Jewish settlement that was not established in the place of a former Arab Village."
—Moshe Dyan, March 19, 1969,
"Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English, or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs. What is going on in Palestine today cannot be justified by any moral code of conduct."
—Mahatma Gandhi,
"The cause of unrest in Palestine, and the only cause, arises from the Zionist movement, and from our promises and pledges in regard to it."
—Winston Churchill, House of Commons, 14 June 1921
"There is no Zionist settlement, and there is no Jewish State, without displacing Arabs and without confiscating lands and fencing them off."
—Yeshaayahu Ben-Porat
I assume you are ill informed or gullible and spreading disinformation and myths is something you are unintentionally doing ?
Some reading for you to perhaps look into since you seem to enjoy the subject
Sir John Troutbeck, British Middle East Office in Cairo, noted in cables to superiors (1948-49) that the refugees (in Gaza) have no bitterness against Jews, but harbor intense hatred toward Egyptians:
"They say 'we know who our enemies are (referring to the Egyptians)', declaring that their Arab brethren persuaded them unnecessarily to leave their homes…I even heard it said that many of the refugees would give a welcome to the Israelis if they were to come in and take the district over."
"The Arab states which had encouraged the Palestine Arabs to leave their homes temporarily in order to be out of the way of the Arab invasion armies, have failed to keep their promise to help these refugees."
--The Jordanian daily newspaper Falastin, February 19, 1949.
"It must not be forgotten that the Arab Higher Committee encouraged the refugees' flight from their homes in Jaffa, Haifa, and Jerusalem.
-- Near East Arabic Broadcasting Station, Cyprus, April 3, 1949
"The most potent factor [in the flight of Palestinians] was the announcements made over the air by the Arab-Palestinian Higher Executive, urging all Haifa Arabs to quit... It was clearly intimated that Arabs who remained in Haifa and accepted Jewish protection would be regarded as renegades.
-- London Economist October 2, 1948
You are so delusional. The Palestinians escaped Palestine, thats not how I see it, I see it as some Palestinians FORCED ISRAEL to do their obligation under International Law.
Another few million need to do the same thing!
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