I obviously cannot let "Jerusalem Day" pass by without comment. First, a little history. 40 years ago, in the course of the Six Day War, in the wake of the Jordanian retreat to the far side of the Jordan river, the State of Israel took control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Prior to 1948 Jerusalem had been a single metropolitan area, under the sovereign control of many different powers in the course of 2000 years (since the fall of the second Jewish commonwealth). Until the 1800s very little development happened outside the walls of the "old" city, but overcrowding led to neighborhoods built outside the walls, and as a result of urban sprawl outlying villages became part of the expanded Jerusalem.
In 1948, in the aftermath of the British pulling out and the fighting that resulted between the nascent States of Israel and Jordan (accompanied by many other Arab forces, including local Christian and Muslim Palestinians), armistice lines were drawn through the modern city of Jerusalem, physically separating [newer] West Jerusalem, which was largely Jewish, from East Jerusalem (Christian and Muslim, all Jews had fled Eastern Jerusalem during the fighting). For 19 years,from 1948 until 1967, Israelis were cut off from the Old City, which fell on the Eastern side of the armistice lines -- Jordan refused to allow Israelis or visiting Jews access to the Old City, including the Western Wall (last remaining piece of the Second Temple), synagogues, cemetery at Mount of Olives, etc.
After the Israelis pushed the Jordanians back in 1967, one the first legislative acts was to annex the Eastern side of Jerusalem to Israel, and offer its residents Israeli citizenship (almost all refused, but did accept Jerusalem resident status, which gives same right of movement in Israel but is not Israeli citizenship).
Without going into details, while technically Israel annexed East Jerusalem, outside of the Old City, not much was done to really integrate the city. For 40 years we have continued to live in the shadow of 19 years...and on many levels Jerusalem remains divided.
Not so different than the 40 years the Jewish people wandered in the desert after the exodus from Egypt...takes time to get over certain frames of reference, mindsets, way of thinking. For 40 years we have mouthed "Unified Jerusalem" without ever really dealing with all that implies.
I do not want to go back to the 19 years, yet we cannot remain wandering in the desert. Change must come, and after 40 years I hope we are ready to enter into a new era.
Most importantly, we all (Jews, Christians, Muslims, Israelis,Palestinians) must come together as Lovers of Jerusalem, proclaiming that above all we want to restore Jerusalem to its rightful place as the center of the world, as a beacon of hope and inspiration, as a symbol of peace and harmony.
Below is information about one effort to symbolize this spirit...I hope you can join, physically or virtually, in re-invigorating a famous line: "From Zion shall come forth Torah and the word of God from Jerusalem." For me Torah and God are calls to repair the world, to bring peace to all people everywhere. Join me.
Hello friends,
Please be sure to join us for a historic 'Big Hug'
event around the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem this Monday, May 21. Ibrahim
Abuelhawa and I will be at the meeting point of Damascus Gate if you wish to
join us there. Please see details below and forward this invite to everyone you
know!
Shalom, Salaam,
Eliyahu McLean
Jerusalem Peacemakers

THE BIG
HUG
SURROUND AND EMBRACE THE OLD CITY OF
JERUSALEM
MAY 21
2007
Join thousands of people holding
hands with open hearts
Love for Jerusalem as the center of
the world unites people of all walks of life. After thousands of years of
dispute, and after 40 years of living together on one land, the time has come to
respect each other. We each have our own personal ways and ideas. The love we
share for Jerusalem can facilitate new ways to enjoy these differences and live
in harmony.
We, lovers of
Jerusalem , call everyone, lovers of Jerusalem around the world,
to come and gather together around the heart of the world. This is a call from
the center, from Jerusalem, to come and express our love in one big circle that
is connecting us all.
On Monday, May 21, 2007, at 1:00
PM, we shall meet, thousands of Jews, Muslims and
Christians from Israel, Palestine
and from around the world, at 4 different locations around the old city, in which
we will get to know each other, share our views, and enjoy joint activities
together.
At 4:00 PM, we shall spread, following drummers, around
the walls of the city, to create one huge circle, hand by hand, of a joint human
hug to Jerusalem, in which we shall express our pure intent ,each and every one of us, to give a
blessing of
love to the holly city, the heart of the world,
and know that we all
are doing it together.
Meeting
points:to the north-Damascus gate , to the east- yad avshalom(between mount of the olives and the eastern wall),
to the
south-Dung Gate and to the west-Hutsot Hayotser
lawn.
If you wish to help direct and guide please come at
11:00am
*we highly recommend that you bring hats and dinking
water
For more details: www.loversofjerusalem.org contact:
loversofjerusalem@gmail.com , Maya: 02-6731822 ,
Michal:054-6678029