It is clear from reports in recent weeks that the Olmert government, contrary to the views of the Israeli and American publics, is planning to divide Jerusalem by conceding large parts of the city to the control of the terror-sponsoring Palestinian Authority (PA) regime of Mahmoud Abbas. Two Olmert government ministers, Vice Premier Haim Ramon and Strategic Threats Minister, Avigdor Lieberman (Israel Beitenu), have spoken publicly of major Israeli territorial concessions in Jerusalem to the PA.
These proposals contradict Kadima's platform and the explicit statements of its founder, former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, made in an April 2005 meeting with American Jewish leaders that "No serious steps have been taken by [Mahmoud Abbas], and we can't get to the Road Map plan until the PA fully implements their obligations ... Jerusalem will never be divided and Israel will not negotiate on Jerusalem. Since 1860 the Jewish population of Jerusalem was larger than the Christian and Muslim population combined."
The idea of dividing Jerusalem that the Olmert government has foreshadowed in recent weeks has led even the far left-wing, former Meretz representative on the Jerusalem City Council, Meir Margalit, to warn that handing over eastern Jerusalem to the control of the PA, coupled with an end to Israeli payments and transfers to its Arab residents, would turn Jerusalem into another Gaza.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is presently in the Middle East, seeking an agreement that includes the division of Jerusalem. Asked specifically if the agreement she is seeking to produce includes dividing Jerusalem and other major issues, Rice replied that "I do think it's important that they address the core issues in some fashion. I also think it's important that the document be substantive enough that it points that there is a way forward toward the establishment of a Palestinian state."
It is vital that people call, email or fax Secretary of State Rice, Prime Minister Olmert, Foreign Minister Livni and your Member of Congress (see contact info. below), urging them not to discuss or approve any Israeli concessions under prevailing conditions and to rule out, in particular, any concessions that divide the city and tear out the historical heart of Judaism from the Jewish people.
In your message, the points you might like to make include the following:
* Jerusalem is the religious, historical and cultural heart of the Jewish people.
* Jerusalem, in particular the Old City and Temple Mount, contain the holiest sites in Judaism while containing sites of only lesser significance to Islam.
* Jerusalem is mentioned hundreds of times in the bible, but not once in the Quran.
* Throughout history, Jerusalem has never been the capital of any nation other than the Jewish people.
* Since the mid-1800s, Jerusalem is the only city in the word to have had a Jewish majority.
* When eastern Jerusalem was occupied by Jordan, all Jews were driven out and the city became a backwater that no Arab leader other than King Hussein visited.
* Under Jordanian rule, every one of the Old City's 58 synagogues were destroyed and the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives was desecrated, with tombstones used to pave roads and Jordanian army latrines.
* Only under Israeli rule have all adherents of all religions represented in Jerusalem been able to worship freely and access their religious sites.
* Handing over part of Jerusalem to the PA will render the rest of Jerusalem uninhabitable and even more vulnerable to terrorist, rocket and mortar attacks.
* The world lived through the horror of a divided Berlin. We dare not re-live that horror by dividing Jerusalem; and there should be no discussion of any other concessions until and unless the PA fulfils its 14 year old obligations under the Oslo agreements to arrest terrorists, end the incitement to hatred and murder in the PA-controlled media, mosques, school and youth camps, and abrogate the Fatah Constitution whose clauses call for the destruction of Israel and promotes terrorism as an integral part of the struggle to achieve that goal.
Prime Minister Olmert can be reached at:
Email: pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
Phone: (001-972-2) 675-3333
Fax: (011-972-2) 652-1599
Foreign Minister Tzippi Livni
Email: sar@mfa.gov.il
Fax: (001-972-2) 530-3367
Secretary Rice can be reached at:
Email: secretary@state.gov
Fax: 202-647-2283
Phone: 202-647-6575 – Comment Line
U.S. Congress:
Phone: 202-224-3121 & ask for your Member of the House or Senate.
No comments:
Post a Comment