5. “Arab refugees would be able to return only to the new Arab state.” The Arabs have never agreed to anything remotely similar to this clause. In fact, several Israeli negotiators have already been forced to agree to allow some Arab refugees into Israel.
6. “The Arab state would be demilitarized.” The PA has never agreed to anything remotely similar to this clause.
8. “The large Israeli settlement blocs would remain under Israeli sovereignty.” On paper it sounds good, but how many settlement blocs and Jewish residents are actually involved? What standard of living would they enjoy surrounded on two or three sides by a hostile entity? And again, what percentage of Palestinian terrorists would actually accept this arrangement?
9. “The Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem would be under Palestinian sovereignty.” How exactly is the division of Jerusalem to be implemented on the ground? Is there to be a wall down the middle, as there was before 1948? Alternatively, will armed PA policemen patrol alongside Jewish families walking from Ramat Eshkol, for instance, to the Old City? Will PA policemen give tickets to Jewish motorists who drive from Gilo to Talpiot via Beit Tsafafa? The capital’s Jewish neighborhoods that border the Palestinian entity – will they be able to continue to grow, or even hold their own? In general, the plethora of question marks hovering over the concept of dividing Jerusalem renders the plan unsafe, illogical and unjust on the local, national and even international levels.
10. “The Old City would be run jointly by the U.S., Israel and the Palestinians.” Need more be said?
Despite all the above, misleading surveys of this nature have important lessons for us. They teach us that those pushing for the division of Jerusalem have the resources and the will to continue fighting for their catastrophic cause. And they teach us that we still have an uphill battle to convince our neighbors, not to mention the rest of the world, that Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh cannot and must not be divided again.
Let us redouble our efforts to make sure that Jerusalem remains united, in word and deed, under Jewish-Israeli rule. To learn the facts via bus tours of critical parts of Jerusalem, or to receive updates on the battle to keep Yerushalayim, send an e-mail to [email protected] or visit the Keep Jerusalem-Im Eshkachech website at www.keepjerusalem.org.