Ir Amim says its executive director, Yehudit Oppenheimer, is a “long-time human rights activist” who served for six years as Executive Director of The Jerusalem Feminist Center. Her associate director, Sarah Kreimer, founded the Center for Jewish-Arab Economic Development, which she co-directed with an Israeli-Arab colleague for 14 years.
Let this be known: Over the last 15 years there have been considerable shifts of Israeli public opinion away from once-accepted Zionistic “strongholds.” Many polls, especially those whose questions emphasize the word “peace,” show an increasing number of Israeli Jews who support any kind of division of Jerusalem. Such shifts can be attributed in no small measure to well-oiled and professional radical left organizations such as Ir Amim, which has taken tens of thousands of political and other civil leaders from both Israel and abroad on tours of eastern Jerusalem. Their post-Zionist messages have gone almost unchallenged for years, as they work relentlessly to sway public opinion away from one of our nation’s greatest achievements – the liberation and unification of Yerushalayim.
Finally, two years ago, Keep Jerusalem-Im Eshkachech was established, to counter these activities and fill in the vacuum of pro-Jerusalem advocacy. Keep Jerusalem’s public diplomacy efforts work to educate politicians, journalists and other opinion shapers, as well as regular citizens and tourists, regarding the rights of the Jewish People to Jerusalem and the dangers inherent in dividing our eternal capital. Only a united Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty can guarantee the rights and free access to all citizens of all religions, and the world must be made patently aware of this.
If you would also like to be part of this effort, by volunteering and/or supporting Keep Jerusalem’s efforts, contact [email protected] or visit the website at www.keepjerusalem.org.
Chaim Silberstein is president of Keep Jerusalem-Im Eshkachech and the Jerusalem Capital Development Fund. He was formerly a senior adviser to Israel’s minister of tourism. Hillel Fendel, past senior editor at Israel National News/Arutz-7, is a veteran writer on Jerusalem affairs. Both have lived in Jerusalem and now live in Beit El.