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Whose Jerusalem?

DIVIDED CITY from page 7

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today's Jerusalem to the
Palestinians.
"My feeling would be
nothing is going to be enough
--- nothing until we give
them all," Rabbi Bitran said.
The world headquarters
of Aish HaTorah, an apoliti-
cal international network of
Jewish educational c.enters,
is located across from the
Western Wall in Jerusalem.
"Make an economic
analysis," said Rabbi Tzvi
Hochstadt of the
Birmingham Aish Center.
"When the Jordanians were
in control, Christian sites
were not maintained. No
money was infused through
tourism. Accessibility was
minimal and Jewish sites
were destroyed. It's very hard
for us to so quickly forget
that, and assume that some-
body else is going to run it
better."
The Israeli government
has been
standard
Jerusalem's
groups, Rab bi
"And because we're hf
higher standard, m
is, we control it"
Rabbi Daniel Syme of
Tempk Beth El in
Bloomfield Township said,
"Jerusalem will always be the
capital of Israel. But the
sheer number of churches
and holy sites -- Christian,
Armenian Catholic, Muslim
-- in this little piece of Ian
is awe-inspiring," he said.
"Therefore, whoever con-
trols Jerusalem, it is almost
as if you tried to pitch a tent
in Times Square in the middle of the street. There is no
avoiding the number of pilgrims and aspirations and
dreams that are going to be part of those who want to
visit, to live there, and yes, those who want to have con-
trol of that area."
David Goldenberg, 21, an intern for the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), lived on Mt.
Scopus, overlooking Jerusalem, from January through
July 1999. "I'-ve always been a firm supporter of an
undivided Israel," said Goldenberg, a Huntington Woods
native studying at Michigan State University. HoiArever,
while working for the election of Prime Minister Ehud
Barak, he came to the conclusion that the desire for
peace is stronger than a lot of people realize.
"Jerusalem should always be the capital of the Jewish
state of Israel," Goldenberg said "But we have to recog-
JERUSALEM DILEMMA on page 12

Local views on the fate of the world's holiest a
reflect deep divisions.

DIANA LIEBERMAN

Stall niter

he issue of a Palestinian homeland _
and whether any sections ofjerusalem
would be incorporated into that
homeland — has been a major stum-
bliiig block in negotiations for peace in the
Middle East.
The controversy is reflected in the Detroit
area, where Jewish and Arab American leaders
have taken positions on every side of the issue.
The "Rabbinic Call for a Shared Jerusalem,"
signed by more than 300 rabbis in the United
States, was the first inkling for many American
Jews that a Palestinian capital located in east
Jerusalem was a very real possibility.
Among the signers was Rabbi Joseph Klein of
Temple Ernanu-El in Oak.,,,,.
the document does not advo i
Jerusalem to the Palestinians, b
already existing proposal for a
th ts capital
with
its in
i east Jerusalem.
This area is largely sprawling undeveloped
space with some isolated Arab villages, Rabbi
Klein said. Here is where the Palestinians could
build a compound as their capital, with access
into the Old City.
"The Palestinians insist on making Jerusalem
(or Al-Quds, as they call it) their national capi-
tal and will not enter final negotiations -without
it," Rabbi Klein wrote in the most recent
Ernanu-El bulletin. "And to those who object
with `Jerusalem is finally ours and always will
be!' I can only respond that sometimes we just
have to 'do the right thing.'"
Rabbi Sherwin Wine of Birmingham
Temple in Farmington Hills said both sides in
the peace process must feel they have a "win."
Each government has to go back to its own public, so
the Jews have to feel they have most or all of Jerusalem,
and the Palestinians have to feel they are `in' Jerusalem,"
he said.
Rabbi 'Wine said the idea of a Palestinian capital in
east Jerusalem could solve that problem.
Such talk infiiriates Rabbi Leonardo Bitran of
Congregation Shaarey Zedek B'nai Israel in West
Bloomfield.
"Jerusalem is the heart and mind of the Jewish peo-
ple. It is our spiritual center and it has been for 3,000
years," he said. "Words cannot describe the centrality of
Jerusalem to the Jewish people."
He said he would rather see Israel give up all the
Golan Heights before dividing Jerusalem. He agreed the
city's boundaries are not necessarily its biblical ones, but
warned there's a real danger in conceding any part of

T

care who controls the city, she said,
she just wants her rights to be respect-
ed and to live in peace.
"We need only peace. We want to
live all together, but everybody just
likes themselves and hates the other
people," she said.
Her friend Marlen Nasrawi, 45,
said she too doesn't care who runs
the city as long as she is given equal
rights. She is dreaming, she said, of
peace.
But then she added: "According
to the Bible, Jerusalem belongs to
the Jews and the Christians. The
Muslims were the last to come and
now they come to say it is theirs."
Another Christian, who asked not
to be identified, said outright that
he would prefer Israeli control over
the city.
"I want the Christians to be with
Israel. If the Palestinians were demo-
cratic it would be different," he said.
"If you want to solve the problem,
you have to let Jerusalem be open
for everyone. The (Muslim)
Palestinians could have their holy
sites and the Christians could be
protected under the flag of the
Vatican."
Amer, the accountant, takes a
direct position: " Jerusalem should
not be divided. This is holy land, and
it has to be international."

The Palestinians

Surprisingly, to many Palestinians —
especially in the Christian community
— the idea of an international city
rather than one under Palestinian
control is appealing.
But others, like a young Muslim
pharmacist in east Jerusalem who
asked that his name not be used, say
the city, and the entire country for
that matter, should ultimately be
Palestinian.
"All of Palestine is Palestine," he
said. "For the time being, if they want
to decide to go back to the 1967 bor-
ders that is okay. But separating east
and west Jerusalem is only a tempo-
rary solution. Jews can live here, but
they can't run the country."
It is a practical matter, he says;
they just don't do a fair job with city
services. For example, he says, the red
no-parking stripes painted on the
curb outside his pharmacy have faded
but people stilt get tickets for parking
there.
The Palestinians pay high tax
rates, he said, but do not get the
DIVIDED CITY on page 10

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2000

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