The Annapolis conference convened today, bringing together delegations from around the world. Many expected (indeed, some hoped) that nothing would be accomplished at the conference. However, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has shocked everyone by pushing through his radical left-wing agenda of dividing Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people. Not only has the division of Jerusalem been ratified, but it has already been implemented in the space of less than a day, with an efficiency uncharacteristic for Israel.
From here in Jerusalem, we can look around and see what the peaceniks have wrought. Traffic was insane today with all the moving trucks driving around the formerly undivided capital, but now that everything has settled, the Jewish and Arab residents of Jerusalem are now living almost entirely in separate neighborhoods. (However, in an apparent concession to parties like Yisrael Beiteinu that had threatened to quit the coalition, Olmert has agreed that municipal services will be provided primarily to the Jewish neighborhoods.) In clear defiance of the will of the many Zionist organizations who opposed the division of Jerusalem, Jewish and Arab students are now attending almost entirely separate school systems. And the anti-Zionist left has shown that it means business, by placing some neighborhoods outside the separation barrier, to create a physical rupture in the everlasting unity of our 3000-year-old holy city. Construction crews have been working triple shifts to ensure that all of this is carried out as soon as possible, ever since the order arrived from Annapolis just a few hours ago.
The anti-Zionist left isn’t content merely with dividing Jerusalem; their agenda also includes weakening the city. To this end, they have begun encouraging Jewish residents of Jerusalem to move to fast-growing outlying neighborhoods on Jerusalem’s periphery, and away from the city center, to ensure that central Jerusalem (associated with the Zionist entity) will not see economic development.
In further evidence of a left-wing anti-Israel conspiracy, population studies show that Jews will soon be a minority of the total population of all land under Israeli control, posing a threat to the future of the Jewish state.
How will supporters of Israel respond to these latest provocations?
The fact that Israel made mistakes in dealing with the Arab parts of Jerusalem do not justify tearing it apart. Dividing Jerusalem means DESTROYING Jerusalem. Everyone knows that any areas turned over to Arab rule will be taken over by gunmen who will fire on the Jewish areas. This is what happened when Israeli forces pulled out of Bethlehem and terror groups starting firing on Gilo.
ReplyDeleteIn spite of the inequities you pointed out, Arabs in Jerusalem are still far better off than their brothers in the "liberated" Palestinian Authority areas. They know it and for this reason they oppose being turned over to the PA (Meron Benveniste pointed this out in an article in Ha'aretz).
Also, everyone knows the Christian Churches in Jerusalem would be the first victims of the division of the city, as happened in Beit Lehem. The fact that the Israeli Left, which now unanimously supports dividing the city (up until Camp David in 2000 they opposed it) shows them to be totally irresponsible and devoid of any remaining Jewish/Zionist identity.
Olmert's and Lieberman's inanane plans to only turn over Arab "some" neighborhoods is either inanity or demagoguery. First, the Palestinians would never accept any such partial withdrawal, and in any event, Israel would have to offer full Israeli citizenship to any Jerusalem Arab who requested it, so the argument that Israel would save money by "getting rid of the Jerusalem Arabs" is simply a lie.
I am convinced that the Jewish people of Israel and hutz la'aretz will make their voices heard and make it unthinkable for any Israeli government, no matter who deJudaized or post-Zionist to contemplate the historic crime of redividing the city.
Dear concerned Zionist Jew,
ReplyDeleteAs you said,
"In spite of the inequities you pointed out, Arabs in Jerusalem are still far better off than their brothers in the "liberated" Palestinian Authority areas."
Please do not try to justify iniquities by saying "at least they are not as bad as X." This is spurious, amoral reasoning. It's like justifying segregation by saying "at least it's better than slavery." I am not sure how I feel about the political ramifications of dividing Jerusalem, but I AM sure that if the Israeli government wants to rule over all of Jerusalem, then it needs to take responsibility for providing equal city services and infrastructure for ALL of the people living in the city.