[U.S. News] Larry Derfner - Palestinians in Jerusalem, by deed if not by declaration, are increasingly opting for life under Israeli sovereignty. Jerusalem is by no means happily unified, but it is becoming grudgingly unified. "It's not that the Palestinians here have become Zionists; it's not that they've fallen in love with the State of Israel," says an Arab attorney in Jerusalem. "They just want to live normal lives, with security, with a little money in their wallets. They want their kids to be able to go to school. They want what everybody wants." Many local Arabs are coming to terms with Israeli sovereignty. They are reporting crimes to Israeli police in greater numbers. There is also a big shift in the schools away from the PA-approved curriculum to the one approved by Israel - at the insistence of Jerusalem Arab parents. Only 15% of Jerusalem's Arabs voted in last year's PA elections - compared with a 78% turnout in the territories, notes Hillel Cohen of the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies. Except for aging members of the PLO, the locals no longer clamor publicly for al-Quds - the Arabic name for Jerusalem - to be recognized as the Palestinian capital. Notes the local attorney: "The saying you hear [from Arabs] in the city now is 'Give me hell in Jerusalem over paradise in the PA.'"
2007-06-08 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive