'Jerusalem Day is an illusion'

JERUSALEM - A senior Palestinian official said Israel's 38th annual Jerusalem Day marked a "black day in Palestinian history," even as thousands of Israelis celebrated on Monday to mark Israel's reunification of Jerusalem. "This is an attempt to forcibly celebrate a reality that does not exist - the illusion of the city's unity," said Ahmed Ghanem, a Jerusalem-based senior leader of Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah Party. Israel recaptured east Jerusalem and united the city during the 1967 Six Day War. Palestinians want east Jerusalem, home to thousands of Palestinians, as the capital of a future independent state. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has vowed to keep all of Jerusalem united as Israel's eternal capital and U.S. President George W. Bush has endorsed his plan to retain its largest settlement blocs around the city, calling them "existing realities." "East Jerusalem, economically and socially, is different and separate from west Jerusalem. It's strange how this city has settlements, which are illegal," Ghanem said. Palestinians 'excluded' He also criticized a claim by Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski that many Palestinians want to be part of the "Israeli" Jerusalem, and cited how Palestinians are excluded from Israeli activities in the city and from a municipal vote. Mohammed Hussein, director of the al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount compound, a flashpoint shrine in Jerusalem holy to Muslims and Jews and a frequent scene of Israeli-Palestinian violence, said Palestinians did not recognize "Jerusalem Day," or a united Jerusalem. "What is 'Jerusalem Day'? Jerusalem is an occupied city like all the territories," he said, referring to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "Jerusalem is conquered Muslim land. Israelis don't understand that Jerusalem, especially the al-Aqsa mosque, is part of the religion of Islam. It is the place where the prophet Mohammed flew to the sky and any threat on Jerusalem and the mosques is a threat against Muslims all over the world."

'Jerusalem Day is an illusion'

Palestinian officials slam 'Jerusalem Day' as illegitimate event in 'occupied' city of 'settlements'