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JERUSALEM: FOR NO ONE AND FOR EVERYONE
by Joharah Baker
Media Monitors Network
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/95958
May 23 2012
"What Israel does not yet realize is that people who love Jerusalem
will not go down without a fight. It is not only about politics and
declaring east Jerusalem and the capital of a future Palestinian
state; even that is lacking in honoring the universal significance
of the city. This should be a city for all to adore, to worship in
and to interpret in their own way."
Yesterday was the dreaded "Jerusalem Day". Tens of thousands of
belligerent right-wing settlers marched through the city, in the
narrow alleys of its Old City, singing, dancing and carrying huge
Israeli flags, pledging their undying loyalty to a Jewish Jerusalem.
Some wore t-shirts with the words "Jerusalem Forever" embossed on
them and all of them pranced through the Palestinian areas of the
city pompously claiming it as their own. Unfortunate Palestinians who
found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time were made to
stand for hours behind a police barricade as the obnoxious marchers
made their way towards the western wall, taunting the Palestinians
with their flags and their loud singing and just waiting to pick a
fight. One did break out at Damascus Gate between settler youths and
Palestinians who organized a counter demonstration with Palestinian
flags. Pictures later posted on media websites show Israeli police and
soldiers arresting and attacking Palestinian youths including children.
Anyway, this year was no different from the years before. The actual
march is nothing more than a manifestation of Israel's official
policies in Jerusalem and its racist philosophy that Jerusalem is
exclusively Jewish. This premise alone is absolutely absurd. For any
faith, government or political movement to exclusively lay claim to
a city like Jerusalem is not only racist, it goes against the most
fundamental principles of civilized and democratic society. Jerusalem
is a city that embraces so much more than just the physical
representation of God's three religions. It is a city of history,
of civilizations come and gone and of peoples who have called it
their home for hundreds of years.
The Old City walls tell so much. Where I live, in the
African-Palestinian neighborhood of the Muslim Quarter, the very homes
were used as prisons during the Ottoman Empire. The house, which is
meters away from the Aqsa Mosque Compound, is the property of the
Muslim Waqf and leased for extended periods to its tenants. Inside the
700 year old room originally built to house African pilgrims coming
to the Aqsa, the large stone arches still show the faint indents of
prison bars.
This is just one example of history in Jerusalem, which is home to a
myriad of ethnicities and religions. The Armenians, one of the oldest
and smallest ethnic groups of Jerusalem, have been in the city before
the birth of Christ. Today, the Armenian Quarter, adjacent to what
is now the Jewish quarter (previously the Moroccan quarter prior
to 1967) is known by its beautiful pottery, one of the group's most
prominent trademarks.
The significance of Jerusalem lies not only in its Christian, Muslim
and Jewish history but in the history of the people who have lived
there for centuries. It is a city full of beauty and contradictions
but if it is anything, it is universal. A cave underneath the Old
City walls is reportedly used by spiritualists to meditate, a rock is
revered because it is said Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven from
it, another tucked away cave in a majestic church is said to be the
spot where Jesus was buried and then resurrected three days later.
But Jerusalem is also the spot where my great grandfather was born
and raised, in a little home in Sheikh Jarrah. It is where Abdel Qader
Husseini fought for the city in the Battle of Qastal, not because he
wanted to be a hero but because Jerusalem coursed through his veins.
He was not fighting for an idea, for a supposed promise from God but
for the land of his forefathers.
This is not to say that Jews cannot hold Jerusalem dear. Jewish history
is also present in Jerusalem but what Israel must accept is that it
is not only Jewish history which is valid. Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday on the occasion of Jerusalem Day,
"We come with a united government to a united Jerusalem." It's
alleged 'Jewishness' has been accepted as fact by Israel alone, its
exclusive claim to the city apparent in the policies implemented on
the ground. Israel works night and day to transform Jerusalem into a
purely Jewish city, hoping to change the very architecture that may
point to the contrary.
What Israel does not yet realize is that people who love Jerusalem
will not go down without a fight. It is not only about politics and
declaring east Jerusalem and the capital of a future Palestinian
state; even that is lacking in honoring the universal significance of
the city. This should be a city for all to adore, to worship in and
to interpret in their own way. Palestinians who were kicked out of
their homes from what is now west Jerusalem will not easily forget
the orange groves or the cactus plants that marked their land. The
African-Palestinians will continue to pledge their loyalty to the Aqsa,
which they have defended for hundreds of years, and Armenians will
continue to fire up their pottery in the Old City's ancient stoves.
Israel cannot erase that truth from the city no matter how many
settler marches it hosts or how many times Netanyahu or [Avidgor]
Lieberman say Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jews. Narrow
minded philosophies - regardless of the brutal measures that accompany
them - have never thrived for long. Israel's expansionist policies
in Jerusalem may continue unabated for a long time to come. But
not forever.
by Joharah Baker
Media Monitors Network
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/95958
May 23 2012
"What Israel does not yet realize is that people who love Jerusalem
will not go down without a fight. It is not only about politics and
declaring east Jerusalem and the capital of a future Palestinian
state; even that is lacking in honoring the universal significance
of the city. This should be a city for all to adore, to worship in
and to interpret in their own way."
Yesterday was the dreaded "Jerusalem Day". Tens of thousands of
belligerent right-wing settlers marched through the city, in the
narrow alleys of its Old City, singing, dancing and carrying huge
Israeli flags, pledging their undying loyalty to a Jewish Jerusalem.
Some wore t-shirts with the words "Jerusalem Forever" embossed on
them and all of them pranced through the Palestinian areas of the
city pompously claiming it as their own. Unfortunate Palestinians who
found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time were made to
stand for hours behind a police barricade as the obnoxious marchers
made their way towards the western wall, taunting the Palestinians
with their flags and their loud singing and just waiting to pick a
fight. One did break out at Damascus Gate between settler youths and
Palestinians who organized a counter demonstration with Palestinian
flags. Pictures later posted on media websites show Israeli police and
soldiers arresting and attacking Palestinian youths including children.
Anyway, this year was no different from the years before. The actual
march is nothing more than a manifestation of Israel's official
policies in Jerusalem and its racist philosophy that Jerusalem is
exclusively Jewish. This premise alone is absolutely absurd. For any
faith, government or political movement to exclusively lay claim to
a city like Jerusalem is not only racist, it goes against the most
fundamental principles of civilized and democratic society. Jerusalem
is a city that embraces so much more than just the physical
representation of God's three religions. It is a city of history,
of civilizations come and gone and of peoples who have called it
their home for hundreds of years.
The Old City walls tell so much. Where I live, in the
African-Palestinian neighborhood of the Muslim Quarter, the very homes
were used as prisons during the Ottoman Empire. The house, which is
meters away from the Aqsa Mosque Compound, is the property of the
Muslim Waqf and leased for extended periods to its tenants. Inside the
700 year old room originally built to house African pilgrims coming
to the Aqsa, the large stone arches still show the faint indents of
prison bars.
This is just one example of history in Jerusalem, which is home to a
myriad of ethnicities and religions. The Armenians, one of the oldest
and smallest ethnic groups of Jerusalem, have been in the city before
the birth of Christ. Today, the Armenian Quarter, adjacent to what
is now the Jewish quarter (previously the Moroccan quarter prior
to 1967) is known by its beautiful pottery, one of the group's most
prominent trademarks.
The significance of Jerusalem lies not only in its Christian, Muslim
and Jewish history but in the history of the people who have lived
there for centuries. It is a city full of beauty and contradictions
but if it is anything, it is universal. A cave underneath the Old
City walls is reportedly used by spiritualists to meditate, a rock is
revered because it is said Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven from
it, another tucked away cave in a majestic church is said to be the
spot where Jesus was buried and then resurrected three days later.
But Jerusalem is also the spot where my great grandfather was born
and raised, in a little home in Sheikh Jarrah. It is where Abdel Qader
Husseini fought for the city in the Battle of Qastal, not because he
wanted to be a hero but because Jerusalem coursed through his veins.
He was not fighting for an idea, for a supposed promise from God but
for the land of his forefathers.
This is not to say that Jews cannot hold Jerusalem dear. Jewish history
is also present in Jerusalem but what Israel must accept is that it
is not only Jewish history which is valid. Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday on the occasion of Jerusalem Day,
"We come with a united government to a united Jerusalem." It's
alleged 'Jewishness' has been accepted as fact by Israel alone, its
exclusive claim to the city apparent in the policies implemented on
the ground. Israel works night and day to transform Jerusalem into a
purely Jewish city, hoping to change the very architecture that may
point to the contrary.
What Israel does not yet realize is that people who love Jerusalem
will not go down without a fight. It is not only about politics and
declaring east Jerusalem and the capital of a future Palestinian
state; even that is lacking in honoring the universal significance of
the city. This should be a city for all to adore, to worship in and
to interpret in their own way. Palestinians who were kicked out of
their homes from what is now west Jerusalem will not easily forget
the orange groves or the cactus plants that marked their land. The
African-Palestinians will continue to pledge their loyalty to the Aqsa,
which they have defended for hundreds of years, and Armenians will
continue to fire up their pottery in the Old City's ancient stoves.
Israel cannot erase that truth from the city no matter how many
settler marches it hosts or how many times Netanyahu or [Avidgor]
Lieberman say Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jews. Narrow
minded philosophies - regardless of the brutal measures that accompany
them - have never thrived for long. Israel's expansionist policies
in Jerusalem may continue unabated for a long time to come. But
not forever.