Jerusalem's centrality to the three monotheistic faiths - Islam,
Judaism and Christianity - lent the city its uniqueness, but also
made it the focus of strife throughout history. Jerusalem, today,
remains an issue of contention that is at the core of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Since their occupation and unilateral annexation in 1967 of the
Arab eastern part of Jerusalem, the Israeli authorities have been
exploiting their position of control in the city in order to change
its image and encourage its Judaization. Successive Israeli
governments adopted this policy, which is underpinned by a twofold
objective: to increase the Jewish population and to concurrently
diminish the number of the Palestinian inhabitants. Jewish
settlements were thus built within the municipal boundaries of
Jerusalem and around it; these are being continuously expanded and
increased, undermining any prospects for compromise over the city.
From zero on the eve of the 1967 war, the number of residents in
these so-called Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem has risen to
approximately 180,000.
In parallel, stringent restrictions are imposed on Palestinian
building and expansion in the city. Since the 1967 Israeli
takeover, the Palestinian inhabitants of East Jerusalem have been
given the status of "temporary residents," based on the Law of
Entry into Israel. The Israeli authorities have used this law to
bolster and justify their revocation of the residency rights of
Palestinian Jerusalemites. Thousands have thus been forced out of
the city in what can only be termed as ethnic cleansing. Yet,
despite these practices, the Palestinian population, estimated at
230,000, remains the majority in East Jerusalem.
From an international legal standpoint, Israel is considered an
occupying power in Jerusalem, and, with the exception of Costa Rica
and San Salvador, the international community does not recognize
the city as Israel's capital. Nonetheless, Israelis consider
Jerusalem as the "eternal, united capital of the Jewish people."
Palestinians, for their part, claim al-Quds al-Sharif as the
capital of the future Palestinian state - an emotionally charged
issue that fences each side within its stated declarations.
Former prime minister Ehud Barak was the first Israeli leader to
acknowledge the fact that Jerusalem had to be shared. But when
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in the Camp David summit (July
2000) came down to the crux of the matter, the talks stumbled. The
Israelis asked for sovereignty over areas in East Jerusalem that
would, in effect, fragment the Palestinian neighborhoods and keep
them under siege. They additionally called for the annexation to
the city of large Jewish settlements. If implemented, this would
reduce the Palestinian neighborhoods to mere spots within a huge
Jewish sea, and would block any territorial contiguity and access
between the Arab part of the city and the Palestinian Authority
areas slated to become the future Palestinian state.
While the Palestinians showed readiness to recognize Israeli
sovereignty over the Jewish Quarter and the Western (Wailing) Wall
complex in the Old City, this was perceived as quite insufficient
by the Israeli negotiators. Barak raised the issue of al-Aqsa
Mosque and proposed it be shared between Muslims and Jews, but that
it remain under Israeli sovereignty. Since the 1967 occupation, the
Mosque has always been de facto under Jordanian and Palestinian
control. The Israeli demand for exclusive sovereignty over the site
in a permanent settlement - a sovereignty that Israel has so far
been unable to impose or practice - is a highly explosive matter
that threatens to turn a basically Israeli-Palestinian conflict
into a Jewish-Muslim conflict.
Admittedly, Barak made a positive step forward. From an Israeli
perspective, it was even a huge and "unprecedented" one. From a
Palestinian viewpoint, however, the step fell short of what could
be construed as the acceptable minimum that would enable the
Palestinian negotiators to sell the deal to their constituency and
to Arab and Muslim public opinion. Jerusalem is the private
property of neither Yasser Arafat nor of the Palestinian people; it
has its Arab as well as Muslim-Christian dimensions. The Israeli
inability to appreciate Palestinian needs and delicate position
blocked the way towards any genuine breakthrough.
Sharing Jerusalem is the only way out of the present crisis. West
Jerusalem can be the capital of Israel; East Jerusalem the capital
of Palestine, and each state can exercise control over its
respective holy shrines. The city must have two separate political
sovereignties yet remain physically united. It might thus become a
model of coexistence and cooperation between the two states.
In 1995, the Palestine-Israel Journal published an issue also
focused on Jerusalem; it had for its title "Our Jerusalem." This
statement is as valid today as ever. Palestinians and Israelis need
a solution that will enable them to share on an equal footing the
city both peoples prize and that they can call "our Jerusalem." It
is only through tolerance, sharing, and mutual recognition and
respect that an equitable solution to the issue of Jerusalem can be
attained.