After 1,897 years, the capital of the Jewish people was finally whole. For Jews to be able to pray at Judaism’s holiest site – the Kotel – after 19 years of being barred from doing so under Jordanian rule was the culmination of a collective peoplehood dream. The importance of Jerusalem as the focal point of Judaism through the ages cannot be overestimated.
On May 12, 1968, the government proclaimed that Jerusalem Day would be celebrated on the 28th of Iyar, the Hebrew date on which the divided city of Jerusalem became one. And in 1998, the Knesset passed the Jerusalem Day Law, making the day a national holiday.
Since the heady days of 1967 and the actualization of Jewish aspirations to redeem their eternal capital, there has been a somewhat rocky collision with reality. Anyone crossing the invisible line that still in essence separates the western Jewish part of the city with its eastern Arab section realized that for all the platitudes about Jerusalem being united and undivided, there is a clear delineation.
There are currently more than 350,000 Arab east Jerusalemites, around 37% of the capital’s population. Only a small percentage of them are Israeli citizens. The rest are labeled as permanent residents, a designation under which they pay taxes and are entitled to certain benefits from the state including healthcare and bituah leumi. They are excluded from voting in national elections and obtaining Israeli passports. Although they’re eligible to vote in municipal elections, most choose not to out of protest over Israeli sovereignty.
Mayor Moshe Lion has made efforts to achieve some form of parity between the Jewish and Arab sectors in Jerusalem. He launched an NIS 2 billion five-year plan for east Jerusalem after taking office, focusing on educational projects including the building of classrooms, renovating and equipping educational buildings, constructing computer labs, and the opening of an entrepreneurship center.
However, as demonstrated in recent weeks, the issue of who represents the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem has not been resolved 54 years after the city’s reunification.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced on Thursday night that the Palestinian elections have been postponed until Israel allows the vote to take place in Jerusalem.
“We have decided to postpone the parliamentary elections until we ensure the participation of the people of Jerusalem,” said Abbas. “The elections must be held in all the Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem,” he added, blaming Israel for preventing Palestinian Jerusalemites from being able to vote.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that there had been no formal Israeli announcement on whether it would allow Palestinian voting in Jerusalem – as it did during the last elections in 2006 – and Israeli officials said that there had been no change.
However, the lack of clarity over the status of the Palestinians living in Jerusalem and the lack of a vision making Jerusalem a truly undivided city remains elusive. The last couple of weeks have seen frightening riots and protests in the capital sparked by extremists on both the Palestinian and Israeli sides that have left hundreds injured.
On Jerusalem Day next week, thousands of nationalistic-minded Israelis are planning their traditional march through Damascus Gate and Jaffa Gate into the Old City before ending up at the Western Wall. With the Muslim holiday of Laylat al-Qadr on Sunday, Eid al-Fitr on Wednesday, Quds Day on Friday, Nakba Day on Saturday, and compounded by frustrations among Palestinians over the cancellation of the PA elections, it won’t take much for the situation to spiral out of control.
Israelis have every right to celebrate the unity of Jerusalem and the resurgence of the capital of the Jewish people. It really is a miracle during our lifetime. At the same time, until a way is forged to make Jerusalem unified in reality and not just in words exploited for political aims, then there will always be cause for some trepidation amid the celebration.