Barkat: 'Just Say No' to Splitting Jerusalem

 

Barkat a retired businessman and now Mayor of Jerusalem spoke on Monday in Atlanta at the annual Jewish National Fund conference saying no to splitting Jerusalem. For the last decade the Palestinians have tried to take Jerusalem back. Recently Palestinian Authority has demanded that Israel hand over all parts of the city that were under Jordanian occupation between 1948 and 1967.  They want this land to become the capital of a new Arab State. The city has been unified for decades, since annexed after the Six Day War of 1967.

The Mayor is adamant that Jerusalem must remain the united capital of Israel. In august Barkat released an outline of his vision for Jerusalem's future, stating "The vision I have for the city is to return Jerusalem to the role it played two and three thousand years ago as a world center - a destination for pilgrims and believers throughout the world." Barkat strives to develop Jerusalem to a great leave of tourism that he feels will help create jobs and help Jerusalem to get out of the poverty its suffers today. The separation of the city would only create hostility in a place that Jew’s and Arabs live relatively well together.

He is clear in his speech, Monday that they must simply say “NO” to the Arab request and move on. He believes that the division of Jerusalem would never work. Khaled Abu Toameh a Muslim Arab journalist also shares Mayor Barkat’s view on not splitting Jerusalem. He wrote a piece himself on the issue in which he talks about how many Arabs in Jerusalem prefer Israeli rule rather than Palestinian Rule. Toameh points out that Arabs are in titled to many of the Israeli benefits that perhaps would not be in the case of Palestinian rule. He further states that the division of the city of Jerusalem would be a “ nightmare of traffic snarls surrounded by security barriers, check points and border crossings.” More importantly Toameh in his article asks that the 200,000 Arabs living in Jerusalem be asked what they want.

The author of the article is Maayana Miskin who is a journalist for the Israel National News and is a part of other news blogs. She has written and published many articles generally focusing on the Israel and Palestinian events. The article is straightforward and she leaves her personal view to herself, I found no content that she is pro or against the splitting of Israel. She also provides links to both the Mayors vision for Jerusalem’s article as well as Journalist Toameh piece on the issue as well. I used both the articles is my review of her article and found them helpful in getting more information in regards to the issue.

Phyllis Chesler: Potentially, Israel Faces a Second Holocaust

 

Israel facing the second Holocaust can be an attention catcher. In the article professor Chester gives her take on the anti-Israelworld view and is quite passionate about it. More than an Article it’s an opinion piece advocating for the search of the truth about Israel. Today in Rome there is a “For the truth for Israel” movement organized by Fiamma Nirenstein journalist a vice-president for the committee of affairs to the Italian, the article was commissioned for the cause. Chester’s voice is quite passionate about the unjust hatred and lies that are advocated all over the world against Israel and is appalled by it. She states that the media has been “Palestinianized and Stalinized” she references President Ahmadiejad’s view that Israel should be wiped out and will soon be in statement made in 2005. She feels that not only does president Ahmadiejad statement but the worlds anti-Israel view is turning to the second Holocaust. In 1975 the UN resolved that Zionism as a form of racism and has since passed 322 resolutions condemning Israel and not one condemning any Arab country. She believes that these resolutions as well as the boycotts on Israel industries from European and Americans are unjust and unfair. In her eyes its fifty-seven Islamic nations against one democratic state. Israel is wrongly blamed for the failed peace talk by U.S. Pres. Obama and the western intelligentsia. They feel that asking the Palestinians to accept Israel, as a Jewish state is Islam phobic. Nevertheless she finishes her piece with “Big Lies and monstrous hatred have gone global. Stand against this. Stand for the values of the Enlightenment, stand for truth over lies. Otherwise, we will all be bombed back into the Arabian 7th century, the women who survive will wear burqas, and theocratic barbarians will rule us all. More than the lights will go out, and not just over Europe; this time, the lights will dim over the entire world.”

Phyllis Chester is a PHD. Professor and well known author because of it her arguments are legitimized. Her piece deals with a variety of topics in which she proves how Israel has been condemned by the world in different aspects. Her voice and opinion are very present and because of it a bias point of view. Her peace is very passionate and she is advocating for Israel. I found the piece inspiring and also interesting because it’s a challenge to find out the real story about many of the issues in Israel and Palestine today. The search for the truth is very much important not only for Israel but the Middle East in general. Part of this class is to be aware of bias opinions and to really look for the truth of the situation to enable us to talk about such hot issues as Israel and the Middle East and why I liked the article it advocates the search of the truth.