One of the interesting aspects of the original 1947 partition
plan that the United Nations had envisaged and decided for Palestine, (UN Resolution
181) was the concept that it had for Jerusalem. It called for a corpus
separatum, a special international regime, to be established for the city
of Jerusalem.
As we know, this UN resolution was accepted by the
Jews and rejected by the Arabs. That was the death of the boundaries set by
that resolution.
Last week there was again an outbreak of violence in
the holy basin, an area that both Jews and Muslims consider to be holy. The
incident was badly handled by Israel’s right wing prime minister, who is
besieged by competing populists in his cabinet, whilst the Arabs managed to play
their cards cleverly. Israel lost face in this latest round. It had to
dismantle, sensible but not sensitively installed security measures it had put
in place (metal detectors and security cameras), and return to the status quo
ante, hoping to lower the flames, which the Muslim waqf, the Islamic
trust that manages the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, has been fanning.
The land issues between the Arabs and the Jews in Palestine
are complicated enough without the incendiary qualities of religion and sites of
worship, which one or more groups consider to be sacred. It would be better to
take religion out of the equation. The corpus separatum solution was a
good idea.
As things seem now, Israel will not agree to give up
its status in Jerusalem. It should.
Israel's climbdown regarding the metal detectors probably occured - not because of the protests in Jerusalem - but because of a stabbing and shooting incident at the Israeli Embassy in Amman. The agreement, i.e not to follow up the incident on the one hand and to take down the detectors on the other, was brokered by the American government.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the German press would be loathe to report this all too prominently.
How much more popular it is to report a Jewish, nay Israeli, defeat, a Palestinian victory, and castigate general American clumsiness in all matters!
And perhaps it would be appropriate to simply tell the Palestinians not to murder policemen nor other civilians, rather than advise the Jews to give up their Wall.