Behind the Headlines: Twenty Years After the Reunification of Jerusalem, Invisible Barriers Remain

The 20th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem will be celebrated on May 27. On the equivalent Hebrew date in 1967, Israelis, euphoric over their stunning victories in the Six-Day War, saw their capital city whole for the first time.

So it has remained during the past two decades, united physically and politically. The barriers and barbed wire which once separated west Jerusalem from the Arab (Jordanian)-controlled east Jerusalem have long been removed. Urban planners have been busy integrating the two parts of the city, and architecturally they have achieved much success.

Yet invisible barriers remain, all the more troublesome to contemplate because they seem to be hardening, becoming more intractable. They separate Arab from Jew. And even more ominous, there is an increasing polarization among Jews with grave portents for the future of the city.

Jews and Arabs meet daily here but are as far apart as they were 20 years ago. A road runs from the Jerusalem City Hall in the west to Damascus Gate and the Rockefeller Museum in the east — a few minutes’ walk — but between different worlds.

INCIDENTS OF TERRORISM AND FANATICISM

The majority of the population — Jews and Arabs — may wish to coexist peacefully. But political, cultural and social differences work against them. Add to that the frequent incidents of terrorism and fanaticism:

A bomb explodes in a busy street or on a crowded bus.

An Arab stabs a Jew on the way home from prayers at the Western Wall.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews stone Sabbath motorists or threaten a Jewish restaurant open on Saturday.

The delicate structure of coexistence collapses.

Arabs and Jews live together within the perimeters of the city, but they don’t communicate. Each morning, hundreds of young Arabs pour into western Jerusalem to work at construction sites, in the kitchens of restaurants, to mop floors and make beds at the hotels. But there is no social intercourse between them and the Jews they encounter on the job.

Political theorists have said the Israeli and West Bank economics are so intertwined as to obviate any future political changes. But it is not a true economic partnership because the Israeli economy relies heavily on low-wage Arab labor from the administered territories.

There is no economic integration here. Very few businesses are run jointly by Jews and Arabs. Economic ties here too are based on Arabs offering cheap labor and the Israeli economy “exporting” goods to the Arab sector.

At nightfall, the busy alleys of the Old City become deserted. The shops on Saladin Street, the main shopping center in East Jerusalem, are shut behind iron gates. Few Arabs dare venture into western Jerusalem for fear they may be stopped and questioned by tough border police, possibly arrested on some vague suspicion.

Secular and religious Jews in the city are not much closer. The fight over Sabbath observances is far from over. The steadily increasing religious population insists that as long as traffic is permitted on the Sabbath, as long as one Jewish restaurant is allowed to operate, as long as swimming pools are not segregated by sex and more money is not allocated by the municipality for religious institutions, what they consider the unique nature of Jerusalem has changed.

The secular population feels squeezed. It watches its neighborhoods become surrounded by Arab communities or ultra-Orthodox enclaves. Secular Jews fear that soon their freedom of movement will be even more restricted by closure of some parts of the city on the Sabbath and religious holidays and the banning of public transportation.

Moreover, the lack of employment opportunities prompts young educated families to leave the city to try their luck elsewhere. In the best of cases they move to another part of Israel. But many join the growing community of “yordim”–Israelis who settle permanently overseas.

FAILED TO SEIZE THE MOMENT

On the day of unification 20 years ago, the defeated Arab population slowly, nervously crossed the lines that had once divided the city. They wanted to get acquainted with the Jews, to see the homes they fled during the War for Independence in 1948.

There was a spirit of optimism in the country then. Some believe it was a moment of opportunity which both Jews and Arabs failed to seize.

The total defeat of Arab armies, almost every Israeli believed, left the Arabs with no option but peace. Defense Minister Moshe Dayan declared that he was waiting for the “telephone call” from King Hussein of Jordan. Premier Levi Eshkol appointed a committee to prepare Israel’s positions in peace talks with Jordan.

Twenty years have elapsed and the telephone has not rung. The issue of an Israeli-Jordanian dialogue has divided the government. Jerusalem has grown three-fold but the problem of true unification remains.

Perhaps it is because Jerusalem is central to so many different groups of people and faiths. Each is reluctant to recognize the attachment to Jerusalem of the others. Very few people seem to understand that Jerusalem is a pluralistic city and its problems will be resolved only if each group gives up something for the benefit of the entire community.

Yet it takes only a visit to the Temple Mount — to watch Jews praying at the Western Wall, to hear the muezzin call the Moslem faithful to prayer at the mosques, and the sound of church bells — for one to fall in love with Jerusalem all over again.