Israel's leaders always say that Jerusalem is the united, eternal capital of the Jewish state. For the most part, however, Israeli politicians' statements about a united Jerusalem are mere lip service. In reality, the holy city is deeply divided. This division is clearly evident between the city's Arab and Jewish neighborhoods. Jewish neighborhoods, including the ones built following the reunification of Jerusalem during the Six Days War, are generally much more well-off than their Arab counterparts. In fact, city services and infrastructure in the Arab neighborhoods are substantially inferior when compared to services and infrastructure in Jewish neighborhoods.
Why is this? Well, one reason is that a lot less money and resources are spent in Arab neighborhoods than in Jewish ones. Israel's critics would contend that the failure to dedicate money and resources to areas of Jerusalem that are predominantly Arab smacks of racism. But it's not that simple. For one thing, although the Arab residents of east Jerusalem have the right to vote and be represented in the city's municipal government, very few have taken advantage of this right. The reason is that they are abiding by a PLO directive to boycott municipal elections since the Palestinian leadership does not recognize Israel's control over east Jerusalem. Arab residents in east Jerusalem who dare to breach this boycott do so under the threat of being harassed and even killed. And since these Arabs refuse to use their potential voting power to achieve representation on Jerusalem's city council, their needs are neglected. In other words, since east Jerusalem's Arabs don't vote, the city's leaders have no incentive to serve their needs.
Jerusalem is not even completely united in a physical sense. Now, of course, there is no hard border in the middle of the city dividing it into east and west as there was before the Six-Day War. There are, however, areas in some neighborhoods that fall within Jerusalem's city limits, but are physically cut off from the rest of the city by the security barrier. These include parts of Kafr Aqab, Qalandiya, Shuafat, and Anata. By cutting these areas off from the rest of the city, Israel's leaders have clearly indicated that they have no intention of keeping Jerusalem united.
Another indication that Israeli politicians don't really care about the unity of Jerusalem is the lawlessness that is now plaguing the city's Arab neighborhoods, which have lately become the site of frequent clashes between Israeli authorities and local residents. Hence, our leaders may claim total control of all of Jerusalem, but the facts on the ground tell a different story. I think it's time that our leaders stopped lying to us about how united Jerusalem is, and start acknowledging the reality that is an extremely divided city.
But acknowledging Jerusalem's reality is not enough. Israel's leaders also have to work within that reality. How, exactly? By changing the way the holy city is governed. It would be appropriate, for example, to create a separate municipality that would include most of Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods. Thus, Jerusalem would be divided into two municipalities, and its Arab residents could govern themselves. The city itself would remain physically united, with the exception of the parts of it mentioned above that are already cut off by the security barrier, and that could potentially form part of the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Jason Shvili is a freelance writer in Toronto, Canada.
