Jerusalem, Divided
That ancient city of Jewish heritage does stand divided, tensely divided with hostility, with separate enclaves of the orthodox and the errant secular; the determined and the fanatics. The fabled city of monotheistic glory challenged as the birthright of Jews, by the theist-right of Muslims. Each claiming the city as their own. And of course, in the middle there is the Christian need to lay claim to their portion of that city that expresses their religious concerns.blockquote>
If I forget you Jerusalem, let my right hand wither!
At one time in its ancient history the city saw all three religions living together, if not in harmony, then in an uneasy stewardship of their holy religious sites, its population a living legacy of history. More latterly, under Jordanian control between 1948 to 1967, the Old City, East Jerusalem was off limits to Jews. No access to the Western Wall, the holiest symbol in Jewish history and religious observance.
During that period too the synagogue located in the Jewish Quarter was razed. The ancient cemetery on the Mount of Olives desecrated. Israel has firm control of all of Jerusalem now, and has had, since the 1967 Six-Day War. Under Israeli stewardship all three religions have free access to their most holy sites, from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Temple Mount and the Western Wall; accommodating Christians, Muslims and Jews, respectively.
In the ongoing bargaining acrobatics between Israel and the Palestinian Authority the critical issue of Jerusalem remains a stumbling block to accommodation. Each side desires mightily to retain Jerusalem as their capital. The global Muslim community has Mecca and Medina, among its holiest of sites, with the Temple Mount its third-holiest site. Whereas, for Jews, the single holiest site is the Wailing Wall. Under Jewish stewardship, great care is taken not to disturb others' sites.
In October 2000, Palestinians destroyed Joseph's Tomb in Nablus. In 2002, armed Palestinians occupied the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. There have been other holy Jewish sites that have vandalized by Arabs. Islam is famous for its radicalized branches viewing other religions' iconic sites as trash, and then proceeding to trash them. But then, nothing quite seems to stop fanatical Muslims from trashing their own holy sites, like the destruction of the Shiite al-Askari mosque in Samarra in 2006.
So why should Israel feel any comfort in the prospect of dividing Jerusalem between the two solitudes; one-half to represent as the Jewish capital, the other half for the Palestinians' nascent state? Now into the fray of agitated discussion comes the new U.S. Secretary of State, none other than Hillary Clinton, who as First Lady years ago, empathized with Suha Arafat on an official visit with her husband, while Yasser Arafat's wife railed against Israeli crimes against the Palestinians.
This time, Secretary of State Clinton has chosen to defend the illegal building of homes by Palestinians in areas of Jerusalem that have been pointedly set aside for other purposes. Palestinians deciding on their own initiative to ignore the country's laws, deciding not to procure building permits and setting about building illegal abodes, knowing full well they are disallowed, but having experienced the lax enforcement by the state particularly for Palestinians, feeling free to do so.
Now, when the Jerusalem authority finally decides it can no longer countenance the presence of illegal building in areas set aside for other purposes, and begins to clear out the illegal dwellings, Palestinians are up in arms, and they have this oblique support from the United States. Secretary of State Clinton takes it upon herself to accuse Israel of breaking international obligations, raising the issue of 'international obligations' out of a sorcerer's hat of incomplete knowledge.
Jerusalem's civic administration set out in detail its response to the unfortunate campaign of disinformation. Nir Barkat, mayor of Jerusalem, has committed his administration to upholding the law on building permits equally throughout the city.
"According to administration procedure, orders can be given to stop work on illegal construction at the beginning and throughout the process of construction. Often, illegal construction has come at the expense of public land designated for the residents themselves" explained a spokesman for the city.
The illegal buildings that were demolished represent those built without permits, and because the area has been set aside specifically for public recreational use, petitions filed by residents of the buildings were rejected for that reason. "The area of Emek HaMelech is one of the most important areas with regards to the history of Jerusalem with holy sites important to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. Its importance as a tourist destination to 'more than three billion people of faith around the world' makes it an area to be treated 'with the utmost strategic importance'."
The area is meant to be an open public space, and not for residential development.
In another area, Shuafat, empty, unfinished buildings were destroyed; "They had already been given instructions to halt construction, which were not honoured."
Additionally, the area in which the illegal buildings were located were meant to house public schools and other civic infrastructures for the use of the local residents.
The city bursts with people, many of whom feel they should be permitted to act as they wish, without notice to the authorities, without acknowledging the need to register their activities, and certainly without the perceived requirement to obtain legal permits. This is a complex and currently troubled aggregation of people with diverse interests and clashing ideologies.
Not too likely that dividing the city into two separate administrations will do justice to the status of the city as a cherished heritage site, one which should permit access to all those for whom it stands as a symbol of living history.
Labels: Israel, Traditions, Troublespots
posted by Pieface @ Monday, March 09, 2009
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