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 | CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
April 4, 1997 |
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Questions asked
in this forum:
Can Arabs and Israelis share Jerusalem? What can President Clinton do? What effect has Hamas had on the peace process? Can Israeli policy be compared to Hitler's? What role does AIPAC play in U.S. support for Israel? Can the United Nations contribute to acheiving peace and security?
NewsHour Links
March 24, 1997:
Margaret Warner talks withShlomo Gur of the Israeli Embassy and Khalil Foutah of the PLO.
March 4, 1997:
Charles Krause talks with Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Arafat advisor.
February 13, 1997:
Charles Krause discusses Clinton and Netanyahu's meeting with Dore Gold, foreign policy aide to Netanyahu.
January 15, 1997:
Jim Lehrer leads a discussion of the Hebron deal.
December 18, 1996:
Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski debate a critical letter sent by eight former U.S. foreign policy chiefs to Israel. -
October 15, 1996:
Warren Christopher talks about the peace process.
October 2, 1996:
A NewsHour interview with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk.
October 1, 1996:
A NewHour look at the emergency White House Peace Summit between Netanyahu and Arafat.
May 31, 1996:
Israeli Election Forum : The NewsHour's Charles Krause answered questions on Netanyahu's victory.
May 23, 1996:
Seeing the Future : a look at the Israeli elections.
Browse the NewsHour's coverage of the Middle-East.
OUTSIDE LINKS
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Palestine's Home Page
The Jerusalem PostPeter Schuck of Encino, CA asks: Future Status of Jerusalem
The question at hand is whether the Israelis will successfully attain a fait accompli in Jerusalem via their encirclement of the Palestinian eastern sector by means of a new settlement at Jabal Abu Ghneim prior to final status negotiations. The Newshour asks, "What are the possible outcomes?" I ask, what are the chances for a possible condominium arrangement in Jerusalem, whereby the municipal government remains whole, but the city serves as the capital of two independent states, or some such similar arrangement?
Muhammad Hallaj responds:
If the Israelis, through land confiscation and settlements, and through the isolation of Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and Gaza, succeed in imposing an accomplished fact, they will destroy the peace process, not only with the Palestinians but also in the Middle East as a whole. Jerusalem is the largest Palestinian city, where 150,000 Palestinian Arabs (Muslim and Christian) live. But beyond that the Palestinians bear the responsibility of safeguarding Arab, Muslim, and Christian interests in the Holy City.
Regarding the future of Jerusalem, there is more than one possible outcome. There is no reason why, within the context of a comprehensive peace agreement, the city cannot remain unified in terms of its municipal life and the freedom of access to holy places, and at the same time serve as the seat of government for both Palestinians and Israelis. It can also be redivided into Arab Jerusalem and Israeli Jerusalem. In fact, Jerusalem, under Israeli rule was never unified. Today, the city is divided and there is an Arab Jerusalem and a Jewish Jerusalem situated side by side but in every way worlds apart. So redividing Jerusalem, if that is the price of peace, changes nothing and is not the shocking thing that it may sound from far away.
Amos Perlmutter responds:
The solution of Jerusalem is very complex. Jerusalem will become an overarching municipality divided into five areas. In the west, Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. In the east, Al-Quds, the capital of Palestine, which is outside the present municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. Linked to al-Quds will be the Palestinian Dome of the Rock. The next area will be the Old City, commonly governed under special status, whose Palestinian citizens will be subject to the Palestinian Authority, and the Israelis will be governed by the Israeli government. The present Palestinians, which are either Jordanian or Israeli citizens, will automatically become citizens of Palestine subject to the Palestinian District Municipality. Indeed, a complex mosaic. Neither party has thought out carefully how to organize this complex mix of authorities. It is reminiscent of the city of Triest, whose arrangements were made after World War I, and finally became an Italian city. Although the Jews of Jerusalem at large currently outnumber the Palestinians three to one, one cannot foretell the demographic composition of Jerusalem at large, taking into account the higher Arab birth rate.
Netanyahu must restore Rabins strategy that strongly linked King Hussein to Jerusalem, which is being wrested by Arafat who continuously pushes King Hussein out of Jerusalem. Netanyahu, like Rabin must empower King Husseins role in Jerusalem.
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