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Rivlin laments limited Jerusalem Day celebrations
Amnon Meranda
Published: 12.05.10, 13:42
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8 Talkbacks for this article
1. Jerusalem !!
Oren ,   Or Yehuda   (05.12.10)
Jerusalem is not Jewish. We lost it years ago. It is now Haredi, Arab or absentee. A lost opportunity. After 4000 years, you gave Jerusalem away
2. One way not to ill-treat Jerusalem.
Janice Cohen ,   ירושלים   (05.12.10)
By not giving up one inch of it. The ultimate disrespect.
3. If its not a day off, what do you expect?
Jared ,   London   (05.12.10)
The only reason that Israel Independence day is celebrated is because its a day off. Everything else in Israel is losing respect. Its the same as the leftist demonstrations -- if you dont have Aviv Gefen perform and free buses from the kibbutzim, no one will show up. If Yom Yerushalayim isn't a day off and people encouraged to visit Jerusalem, then its going to only be celebrated by those who care about it. And its pretty obvious who cares and who does not.
4. I could have told you that already.
Moshe Rosten ,   Israel, Ariel   (05.12.10)
After all, what is in Jerusalem anyway. A few buildings here and there. Horrendous traffic. Superstition amok, wild teenagers partying. It stopped feeling important to me once I left religion.
5. Rivlin's lament
Arn ,   Yehud   (05.12.10)
The same government that sent all the secular soldiers to sacrifice so much blood to redeem the Western Wall then delivers it to the Haredim as their exclusive property. Just as the Western Wall was taken from me so have I come to feel as an alien in all of Jerusalem. The Haredim made a power grab on Jerusalem and the monies in our treasury. They did it by absconding with my religion and turning it into a perverse political machine. Rivlin should deliver his lament to the mirror, not to me.
6. A doctor diagnoses symptoms then gives a cure
zionist forever   (05.12.10)
So far all I have heard from Rilivin is the symptoms and he has made no mention about what WILL be done to cure it. A good start would be to go back to the pre Camp David policy of Jerusalem is a red line we will not cross and it will not be divided. Barak without consulting either his advisors at Camp David, the cabinet or the Knesset took a unilateral decission to offer Arafat Jerusalem. Then we had Olmert ( former maypr of Jerusalem ) & Livni saying the best thing to do is divide the city. So far Bibi has not agreed to divide it publically but he has agreed to put it on the table with any negotiations with the palestinians. If it came to a choice between giving up the Golan or giving up Jerusalem a very large percentage of secular Israelis would say keep the Golan ditch Jerusalem. When our political leaders and a large part of the population are not interested in keeping Jerusalem what hope is there. Instead of dancing in the streets today how about reevaluating the modern political attitudes we take towards Jerusalem and instead of talking about all the things we have done wrong in the past get it right now and lets see more action and fewer words. We should learn from the palestinians When they say they will do something or want something they go all out to try get it not make empty speeches.
7. 1
zionist forever   (05.12.10)
You might not like the Haredi but they are jewish and they are also probably the jewish backbone of Jerusalem because they are the constant. To many seculars would rather live by the coast than Jerusalem or the housing there is to high for many ordinary families on an average wage. You want Jerusalem jewish then you need to solve problems like these.
8. The truth about Jerusalem
Sad ex-Jerusalemite ,   Ganei Tikva   (05.12.10)
24 years ago we emigrated from Jerusalem to the Centre. We didn't want to - we simply couldn't find jobs which were plentiful in Tel Aviv. Since then our beloved Jerusalem has entirely changed and we are very fortunate that we did not have to be there to see it happen. We grew up in open, tolerant, educated, cosmopolitan, beautiful Jerusalem of the 1970s. Today's bigoted, politicized, fanatic, clerical, dirty, deteriorating, poverty-stricken Jerusalem, surrounded by concrete walls and barbed wire, a budgetary black hole with an ever-decreasing, poor, Zionist minority and no economic viability (except for billions in government handouts for projects with megalomaniac names and endless social welfare) can hardly be called the capital of Israel. In fact, few Israelis regard Jerusalem as their capital and as a recent survey showed, virtually none ever visit it. My Gymnasia Rehavia class of 1979 has emigrated in its virtual entirety and the few who remained - almost entirely from lack of choice - have seen their children move to Tel Aviv and elsewhere in Israel. Until the 1980s, we loved Jerusalem and never dreamed of leaving. But our 1970s Jerusalem is as similar to the present one as Danzig is to Gdansk. Tel Aviv, however, is getting younger and more vibrant by the year. After years of being anti-Tel Aviv, today I must admit that it is one of the world's great cities, equalling gems such as Madrid and Prague. And clearly, for all intents and purposes, it is today the true capital of Israel. As Nachum Barnea writes elsewhere in this website, Jerusalem's status as the capital is today no more than a facade. When considering all the endless, empty government rhetoric concerning the city, I would even add - charade.
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