Rival Oppenheimer on the parade of flags (Flash 90 photo/ Zack Wajsgras, Jamal Awad)
Jerusalem Day is a day of lies, it is not a holiday, and Jerusalem has never been and will never be united. On a day meant to mark the unification of Jerusalem, the city that was torn apart is filled with feelings of hatred, hostility, fear and enmity.
The insistence of thousands of religious Zionist young men and women to march with Israeli flags in front of Palestinian homes and closed shops, to sing racist songs and humiliate the Palestinian residents, is the most striking way to illustrate the power, violence and hatred that takes place in the “united” city.
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Not a march of peace, patience or love of the other, but a nationalist procession, saturated with racist slogans, designed to poke out the eyes of the city’s Palestinian residents, trample on their dignity and prove to them what Jewish supremacy is.
The parade of flags is the icon of Jerusalem Day, and to be honest – it is not appropriate for it to represent the reality in the city, it is good that it takes place, for everyone to see.
Most Israelis do not celebrate Jerusalem Day, are they not part of the celebrations of the occupation of the east of the city, most Israelis just wish that the holiday will come already, and that we will pass this explosive day in peace.
Jerusalem is divided, according to Israeli law, the Arabs of East Jerusalem are not Israeli citizens, the Israeli flag is not their flag, and even though they are not Israeli, they are not allowed to be Palestinians either, any sign of Palestinian sovereignty in the east of the city is a violation of the law.
The Jerusalem police will never allow a Palestinian flag parade in the streets of the city, certainly not in the streets of the Jewish quarter, the right to demonstrate power, sovereignty and supremacy is reserved only for the Jews, the Arabs can only look down and surrender, and under the look down, hatred burns.
Jerusalem is not united, that is a fact. There is no equality between its residents, while the Jews in the city are Israeli citizens, the Arabs are only residents, without the right to be elected and elected to the Knesset, without political power that protects their rights and allows them to live with dignity, conditional residency that can be denied.
There is no other capital city in the world that refuses to allow half of its residents, almost 400,000 people, to participate in the political game and vote for the parliament located on its territory. And in the absence of political power, the Palestinians in the city are always at the mercy and goodwill of the Israeli government. Construction permits, neighborhood expansion, construction enforcement, everything is in Israel’s hands, and the good will is never directed towards them, but always towards the Jewish neighbors. Israel approves and builds huge neighborhoods for Jews in general and ultra-Orthodox in particular, suffocates the Arab neighborhoods, destroys illegal construction and makes neglect and distress a hallmark of the eastern part of the city.
Jerusalem is divided, every Jerusalemite knows this, an Israeli who accidentally crosses the road and enters the Arab neighborhoods, Ras al-Amud, Jabal Mukabar, Issawaya, Shuafat, will immediately feel the difference and feel that he is no longer in the territory of Israel, the Palestinian neighborhoods feel Palestine, moreover, parts of them , were physically separated from the city by a wall, and are still considered “united Jerusalem”.
Jerusalem is divided, even on the Temple Mount, sovereignty over the Mount is not an Israeli monopoly and is divided between the Israeli government and the Jordanian Waqf.
Jerusalem is divided, legally, religiously, culturally, nationally, economically and socially, and maybe this is the solution, to tell the truth and divide the city. The west of the city and the Jewish neighborhoods – Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. And the Palestinian neighborhoods of the eastern city – Al Quds, is the capital of Palestine. Shared sovereignty on the Temple Mount and freedom of access to the holy places.
If this is the actual situation, it should be anchored in the agreement, and the city should be made a model of peace and reconciliation and not of occupation and war.
