יום יראשלים

Today, Jerusalem is celebrating 40 years of reunification since 1967. The media is all hyped up about it- issued a special magazine devoted to the War of 1967 and the "miracle" of reunifying Jerusalem after 14 years of East Jerusalem under Jordanian control. I felt very drawn into the history of this war- the excitement and ambivalence of the soldiers roaming their way to Jerusalem and being told that they needed to capture the Western Wall. The soldiers knew that something was up and they were about to go on a very important mission but chaos was everywhere- no one knew where to go. No one had been to Jerusalem and thus, did not know the streets and alleyways. The Jordanians literally put down their weapons and fled the Old City to the east. Hebrew University, the Temple Mount, and the Jewish Quarter were once again under Israeli control. The capture of Jerusalem was only one small part of the War of 1967 where Israel also took over the Sinai, the Golan Heights, West Bank, and Masada. This war certainly was a turning point for Israel in the face of international attention.



Today, Jerusalem boasts over 700,000 residents of nearly 70% of them Jewish and the other 30% being Arab. The sad truth is that by 2020, the percentage of Arabs will rise to 40% as there is an average of 6,000 Jewish residents leaving the city each year. Part of the eventual demographic changes is due to the Arabs having higher birth rate and the other part is that housing is becoming more expensive for the Israelis. There are lot of "absentee owners"- mostly Americans who buy up housing and only stay there for one or two months year and don't rent them out when they are not there. Jerusalem is also growing "blacker" each year because of American religious people settling in the neighborhoods. Soon enough, Jerusalem will not be filled with as many secular Israelis as it is today because of the wealthy religious Americans being able to afford the housing and having the desire to be in the Holy City.



I love Jerusalem because it is a very cultural city. At the same time, I felt a bit uncomfortable with the Israeli media and government campaigning for "4o Years of Reunification." How is Jerusalem reunifed? Physically, yes, it is all under Israel's control. With a deeper look and a passing through East Jerusalem and portions of the haredi neighborhood, there is a sense of trouble. For example, there is an effort to build a light rail system from Jerusalem to the rest of Israel. People are skeptical, not only because of the construction's timing but also whether it would be used to its full potential. Currently, the Arabs and the Jews do not ride together on the public buses. The Arabs have their own buses. If both population ride their own buses and generally live in separate neighborhoods, how is Jerusalem "reunifed"? This is may be a "wishful" thinking but that is the reality of how the Israeli government ignores the Arabs so much that they feel that they might be better off handling their own public transportation. East Jerusalem is horribly disgusting and filled with garbage everywhere. Arab boys run around loose, Arab men chain smoke and hang out in front of mini-marts, and Arab women and girls are hardly seen in the heart of East Jerusalem. The Arabs are in their own little world- the government gives them attention whenever necessary, including giving them garbarge pick-up service. Jerusalem reminds me so much of Germany during the Cold War. Israel is East Germany, occupying "Berlin" while the Palestinian Authority must deal from "West Germany" in the West Bank with its Arab population still "stuck" in East Jerusalem.



Therefore, to be celebrating Yom Yerushalayim with the Israelis and my friends, I just didn't feel the spirit. I did not want to. I only simply went to the concert with Wendy and Rebecca in the Sachar Park, right off Yitzchak Rabin and Yitzchak Ben-Zvi roads. The music was good- I was very disappointed that it ended only at 10 PM after starting at 8 (well, we were an hour late....). I thought the Israelis liked to PARTY!!! I definitely wished that I had stayed at the Independence Park where the Student Day concert was being held- only that I didn't realize that Wendy and Rebecca meant to go that other concert. I guess I didn't call up enough people as I discovered at the bus stop later that some of my other friends did go to the Student Day concert- ugh, could've met up with my Israeli friends there too....



By the way, Rebecca, Wendy, and I stopped in Nahalot- a small neighborhood behind Mehane Yehuda to visit a old high school classmate of Wendy's, Shaina. She is the craziest American I have ever met in Israel. She made aliyah right after high school and has been here for almost 3 years. She's religious Jew... I'm pretty intrigued by her so I'm going to get her number from Wendy. Just because... what kind of American girl who just picks up herself and leaves for Israel after a religious trip for a couple weeks? I think she's crazier than Sylvie.