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August 22, 2008
Capital city is a main issue
There are many complexities to the problems in East Jerusalem.
RHONDA SPIVAK
The bulldozer attacks carried out by East Jerusalem Arabs last month has focused attention on Israel's security problems vis-a-vis the 270,000 Arab residents of the capital who live within its borders.
Walking in East Jerusalem, near Damascus Gate, I flinch every time a tractor-type vehicle makes its way down the narrow streets of the Old City and dash out of the way. East Jerusalem Arabs really are not all that friendly to the few Western tourists who still come here. One young man I encounter comes up to a tourist, aggressively flashing postcards in his face, distracting him so that he doesn't notice that the man unzips his money belt and steals his wallet. It could happen anywhere, but as there are so few tourists, it is probably easier to be targeted than it was before.
An Arab woman who begs for change isn't thankful when I give her some coins and stands around to harass me for more. Another Arab woman tells a tourist, "You are taking advantage of an old man," when the tourist refuses to give money to an Arab man who gave her an unsolicited kiss on the lips. And so, while on one hand, Palestinian shopkeepers complain that not enough visitors are coming to East Jerusalem, other Palestinians can make it quite unpleasant for the people who do.
According to Yuval Diskin, head of Israel's Security Agency (Shin Bet), in addition to the known terrorist attacks in Jerusalem in 2008 – that have left 30 people dead – 12 other planned attacks have been thwarted. The Shin Bet believes that East Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods, especially those that lie outside of Israel's security fence, such as Abu Dis, Azariya and Beit Sahur, have become Hamas hotbeds. There appears to be a connection between the situation in Gaza and the violence in Jerusalem, as terrorist groups in Gaza are trying to export terrorist attacks to Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Israel's options for dealing with increased terrorism from East Jerusalem are very limited and each problematic in its own way.
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, former head of the Shin Bet, has called for house demolitions and deportations to the West Bank for East Jerusalem residents, a suggestion that is supported by Defence Minister Edud Barak. Barak backs the razing of terrorists' homes, even if family members in the home were not involved in the attack, claiming that this is an important deterrent and Israel must use everything in its power to stem the tide of violence. Left-wing critics of this policy say that the destruction of family homes subjects East Jerusalem to a policy that Israel has stopped using in the West Bank and that, in any event, it will not solve the situation, but rather breed more revenge and violence. As Ha'aretz columnist Akiva Eldar has written, the terrorists with bulldozers reflect "the mood of thousands of residents in the capital," and only shows that Jerusalem will never be transformed into a "united city." As such, Eldar says that any peace accord with Palestinians will have to give them East Jerusalem as their capital.
During the Camp David talks with then-U.S. President Bill Clinton and then-Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, Barak, who was then prime minister of Israel, endorsed returning East Jerusalem to the Palestinians. However, of late, Barak has not reiterated this position and it is unclear today what his position is on this point.
Nabil Abu Rudineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has said that Jerusalem is a "red line" for Palestinians, who will not accept any accord that excludes East Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital.
According to vice-premier Haim Ramon of Israel's Kadima party, rather than razing family homes of terrorists, Israel must rid itself of East Jerusalem's neighborhoods and villages, as they were never Jerusalem, and they now endanger the Jewish and Zionist nature of the state.
Most Israelis that I encountered do not believe that giving Palestinians parts of East Jerusalem will enhance Israel's security situation at this juncture. They do not think that Abbas can exercise control over Hamas, and they fear that if the turnover happens, East Jerusalem will become like Gaza and West Jerusalem will become like Sderot.
Rhonda Spivak is a Winnipeg freelance writer.
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