8. The truth about Jerusalem
Sad ex-Jerusalemite , |
Ganei Tikva |
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(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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