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Jerusalem: Delusions of Division

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Nadav Shragai - A recent opinion survey shows that more than half of Jerusalem's Arab residents prefer to obtain Israeli citizenship with equal rights rather than live within the framework of a Palestinian state. However, 60% of Jerusalem Arabs also support armed struggle against Israel, and Hamas is very popular among this group. Over the course of 48 years, numerous patterns of Jewish-Arab cooperation have emerged in the city of Jerusalem in areas of commerce, employment, tourism, business, health, and leisure. Dissolving those patterns of unity would damage the existing urban fabric. In addition, Jerusalem enjoys common networks of infrastructure in the areas of transportation, water, electricity, telephone, sewage, and health. Separating such networks is impossible without causing suffering to the city's residents. Moreover, dividing Jerusalem and subtracting its Arab neighborhoods is likely to cause much worse security problems and hamstring the work of Israeli security forces in thwarting Palestinian terrorist attacks. Furthermore, a division of the city is likely to diminish Jerusalem's Jewish majority. Jerusalem expert Nadav Shragai, a veteran Israeli journalist, is a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center.
2015-09-25 00:00:00
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