Israel Accused of Trying to "Judaize" Jerusalem
Episcopal News Service. April 15, 1999 [99-046A]
(ENI) Dr. Emil Jarjoui, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization's higher ministerial commission for church affairs, was speaking to the media on March 24, after talks in Geneva with senior officials of the World Council of Churches (WCC), when he strongly criticized Israeli policy towards Jerusalem, accusing the Israeli authorities of trying to "Judaize the city."
Jarjoui, an Orthodox Christian born in Jerusalem, said, "The Israelis have declared that [Jerusalem] is their eternal capital. They are trying to Judaize the city, to change its geography and demography, cutting it off from the rest of the [territory administered by the] Palestinian government."
The status of Jerusalem was one of the issues of the Oslo peace accords signed by Israel and the PLO in 1993. Under the accords, Jerusalem's status was to be resolved during further discussion on a final peace deal.
According to the report, Israel refers to both West Jerusalem and the city's eastern part, which Israel captured in 1967, as its undivided capital. Most countries reject Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem, saying the city's status is unresolved. Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a future Palestinian state.
"We feel that Jerusalem is our city. It is our roots. We were born there, we will stay there," said Jarjoui.
He praised the WCC for its statement on Jerusalem issued by its eighth assembly held in Harare, Zimbabwe, last December. The assembly stated that Jerusalem's status must be decided under international sponsorship and as part of, rather than after, a comprehensive settlement on the Middle East. The assembly also said that access to the holy places of Jerusalem must be secured for all faiths and that Palestinians must have assurances on their rights to free access, property, building and residency.