Jerusalem Still Divided

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31922, 25 February 1969, Page 6

Jerusalem Still Divided

JERUSALEM, Feb. 21. A thick stream of workmen flows down the long hill from west to east Jerusalem every afternoon— Arab labourers returning from jobs in the Jewish sector, reports James Feron of the New York Times i News Service. The Hill, near the Old City wall, used to be part of Suleiman Road. For nearly two decades it stood unused and overgrown in the noman’s land between Jordanian and Israeli Jerusalem. In 1967 the city that had been divided in one ArabIsraeli war was reunified in another. The street was cleared, repaved and renamed by the victorious Israelis— Paratroopers Brigade Road. The Arabs do not bother with that name and it is not the only change they ignore, if they can. Nearly two years after the six-day war. Jerusalem stands whole, but still divided. An East Jerusalem schoolteacher, Joseph Nasri Nasr, put it this way: "There’s a difference between removing the physical barriers between the two halves of the city and removing the barriers between the people themselves. “It is true that most parts of the populations of East and West Jerusalem go into each other’s sector quite frequently. But I don't think they like each other very much. “When I go to West Jerusalem I have to look over my shoulder, if I go to a coffee house, I have to watch what I say. Perhaps I try to hide the fact that I, am an Arab.” Nasr continued: “I know what happened to me on several occasions when they found out that 1 was an Arab. They started looking at me and feeling apprehensive about my presence." There was apprehension, too, on that morning three weeks after the battle for Jerusalem had ended when the dividing barriers were torn down and the enemy populations were allowed tc mingle

They poured into each other’s sector and each others’ hearts, meeting tentatively at first and then, in greater and: greater numbers, freely and; joyously. A 19-year-old wari-| ness was gone.. i Now a sense of reserve has! returned. The two cities, are I linked administratively and | there are no restrictions on free movement, but something! is missing. The Mayor of Jerusalem,! 'Teddy Kollek. who has had 1 to fight the Israeli Government almost as .vigorously as Arab leaders to encourage in-1 tegration, knows what he is I up against. In Jerusalem, there is no social integration, he said. “It’s a matter of two entirely different societies,” the Mayor asserted. “I know of very few I instances of friendship." ! But Kollek wanders without guards through the Old City, | listens to Arab complaints and I intercedes on their behalf in I the labyrinth of Israeli administration. The longer the Arabs and 'Jews of Jerusalem, can live (together in peace, he says, ! the stronger Israel’s claim on | the city will be. “The political I battle for Jerusalem hasn’t [even started. I think it will ■ i be the major battle eventuI ally." ’ Israel’s decision to retain 1 East Jerusalem was an-

nounced even before the,: shooting ended on June 7,11 1967. 1< The first official move was- - made on June 28, when Par-li |liament approved a bill en-j abling Israeli Jerusalem to ex-i tend its municipal bound-' larifes. • • I Last August, Parliament: ! passed another bill requiring i East Jerusalem shopkeepers | j and professionals, who are - ' now Israeli residents although ‘ ' not citizens, to register under i Israeli law within six months' or be deprved of legal status. Last week Jordan called, I for an urgent meeting of the, Security Council to consider I the law, which she said was' “designed to destroy the character of the city and incor- j '{porate Arab life and institutions into Israeli life” , The Israelis have now dell cided to delay the deadline , - for three months, until May 1123, for technical reasons. II In the nearly two years -■since the war, Israeli authorities have made a distinct im1 - pression on East Jerusalem, ' mainly in areas where Arab , co-operation was not required, i Two of the first moves, the 1 bulldozing of the slum quart ter in front of the Wailing 1 Wall and the clearing out of the Arab residents in the j Jewish quarter, created an ati- mosphere of bitterness and

suspicion that many- later’, beneficial acts 'jj.eu.ld. not erase. Israeli officials fiaid con* pensation for those who lived in what is now a vast plaza before the wall, and they' found housing for thos» forced to leave the Jewish quarter, but the Hi feelink, remained. i The Israelis provided daily I water service for East Jeru*>4 ‘ lem residents, who had bees;. accustomed to getting it twice. I a week. Municipal servicer were extended in full to th 6 i former Jordanian quarter. ; More than 3000 East Jerusalem women now collect* ! quarterly family allowances. ' The Israelis have opened Gov- ’; ernment employment offices, and recognised all rights and benefits accumulated by Arab. civil servants. Israel also has offered assistance for repair of all wartime damage and provided SUSLSm grants to a score of churches and religious institutions damaged in Arab- , Israeli strife.