6 Jerusalem. Christians 3,390 7,470 8,748 13,000 16,400 14,699 19,335 25,000 12,646 11,500

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1 6 Jerusalem Jerusalem has been the central focal point of Judaism for nearly 3,000 years. During this period it has been the capital of the Jewish state for three separate periods but it has never been the capital of an Arab country. Jews have always lived in Jerusalem and, as the following statistics demonstrate, they have constituted the majority of its inhabitants for almost a century: Year Jews 7,120 12,000 28,112 40,000 47,400 33,971 51, , , ,000 Moslems 5,000 7,560 8,560 7,000 9,800 13,413 19,894 40,000 54,963 61,600 Christians 3,390 7,470 8,748 13,000 16,400 14,699 19,335 25,000 12,646 11,500 Total 15,510 25,030 48,420 60,000 73,600 62,578 90, , , ,000 The Old City of Jerusalem never belonged to Jordan, but was simply annexed by the Jordanians after the 1948 war, and with the exception of Pakistan no country recognised this unilateral annexation. In fact, a number of Arab countries threatened to use force to compel Jordan to relinquish its exclusive control of the city. Hussein's loss of Jerusalem was due solely to his conviction that he stood to gain by joining Nasser in attacking Israel. General Odd Bull, Chairman of the United Nations Truce Supervisory Organisation conveyed the following message to King Hussein from the Israelis on J u n e 5, 1967: 65

2 66 The Case for Israel We shall not initiate any action against Jordan. However, should Jordan open hostilities we shall react with all our might and he will have to bear the full responsibility for all the consequences. Convinced that the Arabs were about to overwhelm Israel, Hussein ignored this call and commenced bombardment of the Israeli section of the city. During the period that the Old City of Jerusalem remained under Jordanian control (from 1948 to 1967) all undertakings relating to religious rights and access were broken. Article 8, paragraph 2 of the Armistice Agreement signed by Jordan and Israel on April 3, 1949 stated that Jordan would assure the resumption of the normal function of the cultural and humanitarian institutions of Mount Scopus and free access thereto; free access to the Holy Places and cultural institutions and the use of the cemetery on the Mount of Olives. The Jordanians breached these commitments and for the first time since the Roman conquest of Jerusalem, Jews were denied the opportunity of worshipping at the Western Wall, the Tomb of Rachel, and the Tomb of the Patriarchs. The ancient and holy Jerusalem Cemetery was closed to them. The Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus remained empty because Jordanians prohibited their use. The Jordanians also denied Christians from Israel access to their Holy Places except at Christmas, and Israeli Moslems were entirely barred from the Holy City even for worship at the Mosque of Omar and the Al Aqsa Mosque. When the Israelis re-entered the Old City in June 1967 they found that 34 out of the 35 synagogues had been destroyed; religious schools of learning had been used by the Jordanians as stables; and the ancient cemetery on the Mount of Olives had been desecrated, with 38,000 of the 50,000 graves destroyed. Some of the tombstones had been utilized in the construction of Jordanian army camp latrines. During the Jordanian occupation Christians were also subjected to repression. Christian schools had to close on Fridays and were required to arrange for their students to be taught the Koran by Moslem teachers. Christian civil servants and army officers were discriminated against in promotions.

3 Jerusalem 67 All activities by Jehovah's Witnesses were banned. No new churches were permitted to be built and Christian institutions were prevented from acquiring land or property in Jerusalem. Mosques were built next to churches to prevent the expansion of churches. Under the circumstances, it is not surprising that during the twenty years of Jordanian occupation the Christian population of the Old City dropped from 40 per cent to 12 per cent. It is significant that during the nineteen years of Jordanian rule which involved desecration of Holy Places, breaches of signed agreements for free access to Holy Places, and discrimination against all denominations including Israeli Moslems, the world remained silent. Abba Eban, Israeli Foreign Minister, told the United Nations General Assembly (July 12, 1967): I have heard not one expression of dismay across the entire human scene when Jordan destroyed ancient synagogues in the Old City in an orgy of hate... No United Nations organ expressed any dismay when Jordan, for twenty years, refused access to the oldest and most revered of all Holy Places the Western Wall. Nor was there any expression of dismay when tombstones on the Mount of Olives were uprooted to build walls in secular buildings. The Rev. John M. Oesterreicher, an American Catholic priest wrote in the New York Times (May 26, 1971): While Christians and Moslems in Israel enjoy freedom of worship, this right was denied Jews under Jordanian administration. They were not even allowed to pray at the Western Wall though access to it and other sites was confirmed by Article 8 of the 1949 Armistice Agreement between Jordan and Israel. This treatment of Jews, as well as restrictions imposed on Moslems and Christians, violated the agreement, but no Christian bishop cried out against it. The end of Jordanian rule in the Old City brought about immediate and drastic changes. The rough walls cast up by the Jordanians in 1948 to divide the Jewish and Arab held sectors of the city were removed and Jews and Arabs now have freedom to move about Jerusalem without restrictions. Indeed, there is open access to Jerusalem for all denominations including Arabs from neighbouring countries, who can move freely in and out of the city. In 1970, 52,000 visitors from Arab countries came to

4 68 The Case for Israel Jerusalem; in 1971 more than 100,000 Arabs from neighbouring countries visited the administered territories and Israel. All Jerusalem Arabs have been given the option of assuming Israeli citizenship and enjoying equal pay and working conditions and social benefits with the Jews in the New City. There are over a hundred Arab members of the Jerusalem Police Force and the Arab daily newspaper, Al Kuds, is free from political censorship and frequently criticises Israeli policies. Arab high-school students can take either the Jordanian or Israeli matriculation examinations, or b o t h, for admission to Israeli universities. In addition Arab students from Jerusalem have the option of studying either at Israeli or overseas Arab universities. Genuine freedom of religion for all has also been introduced. On J u n e 27, 1967 the Israeli parliament passed the law relating to the protection of Holy Places: The Holy Places shall be protected from desecration and any other form of violation and from anything likely to violate the freedom of access of members of the various religions to the places sacred to them or their feelings with regard to those places. T h e law provides a p u n i s h m e n t of 7 years i m p r i s o n m e n t for any desecration of a Holy Place a n d ensures t h a t all t h e Holy Places remain u n d e r t h e jurisdiction of their own religious c o m m u n i t i e s : Israeli Foreign Minister, Abba E b a n, stated at the United Nations (October 8, ) : Israel does not seek to exercise unilateral jurisdiction in the Holy Places of Christians and Islam... Our policy is that the Christians and Moslem Holy Places should come under the responsibility of those who hold them in reverence. As a result J e w s are free to worship at the Western Wall, Moslems from East and West Jerusalem are free to worship at their mosques, and Christians worship freely in their churches and at their religious shrines. All religious communities control their own activities without interference. In the light of past experience it is highly unlikely that the Israelis will ever agree to another partition of the Holy

5 The Israeli Administered Territories 69 City. After nineteen years of artificial division during which Arab snipers terrorised innocent Jewish civilians, the gunfire has stopped, peace has been established, and the rights of all, irrespective of racial, national or religious origin, are guaranteed.