While Abbas tries to stir up unrest regarding Yerushalayim, it’s noteworthy that the seeds of a mini-intifada have once again begun to sprout there. Violence – mostly rock attacks, often causing injuries to motorists – has centered around Arab neighborhoods such as Wadi Joz and Beit Hanina, but French Hill and others have seen incidents as well. Palestinian violence knocked out of service eight train cars of Jerusalem’s light-rail fleet. City police announced the arrests of hundreds of young Arabs suspected of having taken part in the attacks, but no significant improvement has been noted.
Asked if the police are doing enough, Deputy Mayor Dov Kalmanovitch Kalmanovitch – who still bears the facial scars of an attack during the first intifada in the late 1980s – said, “Most definitely not. Bragging about the large number of arrests only proves that the main thing is not being done: Showing sovereignty throughout the city.”
Mayor Nir Barkat, too, had a message for the police: “A heavy and uncompromising hand should be applied against all those who employ violence of any kind.”
Tourism to Jerusalem continues to soar, and the vast majority of the residents and visitors are barely aware of the above issues. But in order to keep it this way, the city fathers – and the national government – must remember their number-one priority: Keeping Jerusalem Jewish and undivided.
For information on how to help in keeping Yerushalayim united under Israeli sovereignty and taking part in bus tours of critical parts of Jerusalem, send e-mail to [email protected] or visit Keep Jerusalem-Im Eshkachech’s website at www.keepjerusalem.org.