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Show Burly Teddy Kollek, 60, has been Jerusalem's mayor since 1965. Presiding over the reunification of the Holy City since 1967, he speaks out strongly about the city's future. The popular Kollek declares: "Jerusalem will never again be divided." by George Michaelson JERUSALEM. the history of man, no city has been more the focus of love or hate Inthan Jerusalem. It is the place where Jesus was crucified, where Mohammed rose to heaven, and where the Jews built their Temple. Destroyed 17 times, always it has risen again to attract man and to haunt him. Today, no less than before, Jerusalem finds itself on center stage. With the 26th session of the U.N. General Assembly now underway, the Holy City is a hot issue in the Middle Ease debate. It was discussed in the Security Council a few weeks ago and will shor'ly come up before the full assembly.Thequestion is whether the Israelis, who "reunified" the city after conquering the eastern half in June, 1967, now have the right to make all of Jerusalem as one Israeli official put it "an eminently Jewish city." This of course is not the first time that Israeli custodianship over Jerusalem (home of 21 5,000 Jews, 65,000 Moslems, and 12,000 Christians) has corne under the scrutiny of world opinion. The U.N. n alone has passed a separate resolutions "opposing measures taken by Israel to change the status of the city." The Pope has called for internationalization of the city (the Vatican, in fact, doesn't recognize the State of Israel). And the Arab world, seldom in half-doze- 4 agreement about anything, has repeatedly spoken in one voice against Israel's "annexation" of Arab Jerusalem. Yet, with all this criticism flying about them, Israelis are nonetheless determined to retain their hold on the city. Recent public opinion polls show that 93 percent of the 2.5 million Israeli Jews insist that Jerusalem not be returned to Jordan in any future peace negotiations. In support of their claim to Jerusalem, Israelis point out that Jews have been living in the Holy City almost continuously since the time of King David 1000 years before Christ. It is here that the remains of the Second Temple (destroyed in 70 AD) still stand, and it is here that Jewish pilgrims came for centuries to mourn the exile of the Jewish nati' .1. "Ha shanah haha'a b' Yrusha-layi(Next year in Jerusalem)": it is what exiled Jews said in prayer, generation after generation, in hopes, that someday it would come true. m Establish their claim And now that it has, the Jews have quickly begun to establish their claim in asphalt and concrete. Already some 5000 new apartments have been constructed across the prewar border. In addition. Housing Minister Ze'ev Sharef announced early this year that Israel will soon be constructing in formerly Arab Jerusalem another 20,000 units, accommodating some 100,000 people almost all Jews. "It is no secret what the Israelis are trying to do with all this building," says Mohammad f, editor of the influential Arabic newspaper published in east Jerusalem. "They want to give a Jewish face to the city. They have confiscated private property (some 4000 acres according to Israeli sources and offered very little compensation. They have put up apartment houses on Jordanian public property, and one look at them, and you know that they intend to stay here. And what can we do about it? Nothing, that's what!" Fatalistic and bitter as these sentiments are, they by no means summarize the Arab reaction to Israeli rule. Among Arab shopkeepers, workers, and housewives, there is at least a partial sense of gratitude for the higher wages, better health care and vastly improved municipal services they now receive under Israeli control. Moreover, even the more outspoken critics of Israel acknowledge that they are tasting more political freedom now than ever before. Concedes f: editor "I am much freer now to publish what I want than when Hussein ruled Jerusalem. It is sad but true that under Israeli occupation we are enjoying freedom of expression for the first time." With all these conflicting viewpoints Abu-Zala- hovering over the Holy City, one voice, probably the most influential voice on Jerusalem will not be heard at the U.N. For Teddy Kollek, the inMayor of Jerusalem, refuses to get volved in the U.N. debates, preferring to remain in Jerusalem, There, in his d modestly-furnisheusually office, dressed in slacks and short sleeves, he day as he has for the puts in an past six years. (From 1965 to 1967 he 18-ho- Abu-Zala- f, Mohammad outspoken editor of Arabic newspaper in Jerusalem, says Arabs favor internationalized city. Abu-Zala- PARADI (H TOBIR 10. 1TI |
