Jerusalem Divided or Reunited (Ilana Sussman & Marissa Tons)

Jerusalem Divided or Reunited
29 July 2008
Tour report submitted by Ilana Sussman & Marissa Tons

The first stop of this tour started at a memorial site for a terrorist attack on a bus on February 2, 2004. Eight Jews were killed on Bus 14 aleph. This was during a period of time when Israelis were scared to ride the buses but continued to ride them out of necessity. Ironically, February 2, 2004 was the very day of the opening of the discussion about Israel's separation fence at the Hague and Barak recounted the mental calculus he went through on that day as he decided to board the bus, thinking that given the international critique, terrorists would not want to upstage events by planning an attack that day.

We later walked along the 1948 border between Israel and Jordan in the Abu Tur neighborhood of Jerusalem and Barak talked about whether there could be a peaceful resolution to the Jerusalem problem. At the end of the British Mandate, under the terms of the 1947 UN Partition Plan it was proposed that Jerusalem should be under international control, but the UN did not try to implement this once the British left. In 1948, in the midst of the fighting in the remainder of the country, General Moshe Dayan signed what became known as "the "Honest Ceasefire" for Jerusalem only. Both sides of the conflict wanted this and they laid out a map of Jerusalem on the floor of the UN Headquarters. With a grease pencil Dayan drew a blue line where Israeli posts connected, and Abdullah drew a red line where the Arab posts connected. The areas in between the two lines became no-mans land. It was then stored in the safe of the UN Headquarters on the (where it apparently remains to this day). This was the only copy ever made. Not only were the lines thick (due to the choice of implement), but also, there were places where the line became interrupted (due to its being drawn on the floor) and over time and with the native heat it also smeared, leaving much ambiguity as to where the line actually lay. Barak explained to us that the discussion even extended to the question of who controlled the space under the pencil line itself. The sides were only able to agree that this belonged to the country of the corresponding line when Israel pointed out that since the line passed on top of the Old City walls, this would mean that the Jordanians would have to remove their soldiers from these ramparts. Barak pointed out to us the funnel-shaped area leading south to the UN Headquarters that was no-mans land--and left empty space for the beautiful park and promenade overlooking the Old City that now sits atop this area, and which was the site of our next stop and overview of the whole of the city.

When visiting this particular section of the Abu Tur neighborhood, Barak had us look around for any indication of where the border had been. Glancing overhead, we are able to tell it was Jewish due to the eruv surrounding it. An eruv is a string surrounding the town/community that permits Jews to carry items within the boundary on Shabbat (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eruv). In this area Israelis and Jordanians were very close to each other and Barak said there were often cases of escalation ranging from name-calling to rock throwing to actual firing of weapons. Barak read to us from the contemporary Israeli rules of engagment, which specified what the Israeli soldier's response should be in each case--from making faces to firing weapons. However, Barak also showed us a picture of a Jordanian man handing a Jewish soldier a small cup of Arabic coffee. We continued up the road a few meters to visit Asa'el Street where the border used to run. The width of the border is the width of the street. The close proximity and the ambiguity led to problems and risk of escalation. Barak related how on the eve of Yom Kippur, an Israeli seeking to install a modern bathroom instead of an outhouse, built the new addition so that it encroached on the border. This became an international incident. Jordan complained and Israel was condemned for building the bathroom and expanding the line. (The bathroom still exists to this day.)

After the 1967 War and the annexation of East Jerusalem by Israel, the Arabs in East Jerusalem chose not to take Israeli citizenship because they didn't recognize the state of Israel. We took a drive through the village (now Jerusalem neighborhood) of Jabel Mukabber and saw there the extremely poor infrastructure that Barak explained is due in large part to the fact that the Palestinian residents choose not to vote in municipal elections. This was the same village that the terrorist from the Yeshiva attack in March came from. We also saw that the security fence was not completed in parts of East Jerusalem. East Jerusalemites pay the same taxes as West Jerusalemites yet have a different bus system and bus station. (The East Jerusalem buses are white buses or sherut's with green or blue diagonal lines on the side.)

We stopped at one particularly imposing section of the Security Fence where the cement sections rise 5 meters high and are covered with graffiti posted largely by European visitors condemning its existence. It is clear that there is the situation is very complex: Israel erected the barrier in order to protect itself from terrorist attack, and in this, it has been very effective. However, in doing so, the line cut off Palestinians from family, friends, and sources of livelihood. East Jerusalem, due to the density and the fact that Israel over the years did not choose to enforce the construction of illegal Palestinian housing which led to buildings in areas which previously had been empty and were a natural boundary. Interestingly, the security fence has had a paradoxical effect: It has caused Palestinian families to migrate to of the other side of the fence (towards West Jerusalem) and inhabit neighborhoods such as French Hill. These vacated homes, which have declined dramatically in value, are then populated by Palestinians who come from the West Bank and move closer to Israel for convenience. The most difficult problems arising out of the construction of the fence arise in East Jerusalem and that is the reason it is not completed in some parts.

After driving through much of the length of East Jerusalem up to the Mount of Olives we met with a young Israeli settler named Aviyahu. Aviyahu took us to a section of the vast Jewish cemetery there to meet 'Abed, the Arab caretaker who has worked here since the age of 16. 'Abed is now 80 years old and knows where every single grave is located. He has been the caretaker since 1948 and was good friends with Henrietta Szold, the creator of Hadassah. He promised Szold that he would take care of her grave and he has kept up his agreement. After 1948, Jordan ran a highway to Jericho through the cemetery to Jericho and desecrated the cemetery and used the tombstones to pave roads. 'Abed buried the bones of some tens of bodies in a mass grave, but discovered the tombstones of Ms. Szold and the famous (and eccentric) German Jewish poet, Else Lasker-Schüler (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Else_Lasker-Sch%C3%BCler), several kilometers away in the area that is now the site of the Jewish settlement of Ma'alei Adumim. He replaced the stones in the area where they had been and planted rosemary around Ms. Szold's grave as she had requested.

Next Aviyau began to tell us about himself. After being born at nearby Hadassah Hospital on Mt. Scopus, he has come back to Mt. of Olives to live. In response to our questions, he answered that he believes that people came to Mt. of Olives to live, and not die. He wants it to be the place of life and redemption. We then went to the Intercontinental Hotel which was the very place where the PLO was formally established in 1964. When asked about what it is like living under perpetual guard, Aviyahu said that an Israeli flag in an Arab neighborhood means safety and is not an offensive symbol to the majority of Arabs who live there and have come to accept the settlers' presence. It is supposed to give strength to the Arabs to live without terrorist groups and to not give in to Hamas' pressure. Aviyahu was born in Israel and he has family in the United States which often come to visit him. He likes to bring his family back to Israel and the Mt. of Olives. He said that he doesn't feel unsafe and wishes he didn't need security. The Palestinians were welcoming for the most and they warmed up as time went on. Only the religious leader of the neighborhood objected to his presence and said Jews cannot live there.