West Jerusalem would be the capital of Israel while east Jerusalem would be the capital of a Palestinian state, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently told reporters in Jordan.

According to a report two weeks ago in Palestinian Authority daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, “Abbas said that during his talks with Olmert, ‘it was agreed that east Jerusalem would be the capital of the Palestinian state, and that it would have its own municipality, and that west Jerusalem would be the capital of the Israeli side, and it would have its own municipality, and that there would be coordination between the municipalities. Thus there would be no need to return to a divided [city], and it would be open to all religions. But we will not relinquish it [Jerusalem].’”

In an interview three weeks earlier with another PA daily, Al-Ayyam, Abbas claimed that during the 2007 Annapolis conference he had reached a three-way agreement with the Olmert administration and then-US secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The east Jerusalem skyline.

“With regard to borders, we agreed that the borders to be discussed were [those of] the occupied territories. This was a tripartite agreement between ourselves, the Israelis, and [Rice]. We agreed – and it is all written down and documented in the protocols – that the occupied lands are the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including eastern Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, and the Holy Basin [i.e. the Old City of Jerusalem and its environs]. Based on this precise definition of the occupied lands, Olmert and I began to discuss, and we exchanged corrective percentages and maps, and we were perhaps very close, such that each side knew exactly what the other side was getting.”

Abbas also told Al-Ayyam that progress on the border issues is a precondition for advancing from the current Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks to direct negotiations.

Assuming such progress is made during the coming four months, in direct negotiations “we will not forget the other final-stage issues: Jerusalem, the settlements, the refugees, and water, and to this we have added a section about the prisoners, that is, their release from Israeli prisons,” Abbas added.

During a three-hour meeting with US envoy George Mitchell in Ramallah on Saturday, Abbas rejected an American request to restart direct peace talks with Israel and introduced a new precondition that would make resuming direct negotiations nearly impossible.

The PA leader insisted that he will not sit down with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu until the latter agrees to permanently halt all Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria – including east Jerusalem.

The 10-month building freeze is scheduled to expire in September.

Jerusalem city hall dimmed the lights that illuminate the walls surrounding the Old City last night as a gesture of solidarity with Jonathan Pollard, who has been imprisoned  at the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina for almost a quarter century.

During the event a special message calling on US President Barack Obama to release Pollard was projected onto the darkened walls.

Dozens of Pollard supporters demonstrated earlier Tuesday beneath the new Light Rail Bridge, calling for his release. The protest was part of a three-day rally to mark Pollard’s “9,000 days” in jail.

“If [US President Barack] Obama wants to prove he is really a friend of Israel, he must release him immediately,” said organizer Avi Ginzburg.

Pollard is serving a life sentence for providing thousands of secret documents about US spy activities in the Arab world to Israel between May 1984 and his arrest in November 1985. He pleaded guilty and was  sentenced to life in prison.

According to CNN reporter Wolf Blitzer, Pollard and his supporters claim that the information he provided Israel had been authorized for release as part of a secret annex to the 1983 US-Israeli agreement enhancing the two countries’ strategic cooperation.

Pollard’s second wife, Esther Pollard, criticized the Israeli government for not working to get her husband released.

In an editorial published in the Jerusalem Post, she argued that securing her husband’s release should be given high priority. “If the public is capable of ignoring Pollard, an Israeli agent in captivity for 25 years, but devoted heart and soul to returning Schalit home, its concern for Schalit is as corrupt as its lack of concern for Pollard,” she wrote. “It reflects the same moral schizophrenia that the government has implemented as policy – a policy that damns Schalit, every bit as much as it damns Pollard.”

“Netanyahu is burying Jonathan alive,” she told Hebrew radio station Arutz Sheva.

“Since Yonatan was arrested in 1985 Israel has not managed to return a single live soldier from captivity – only bodies,” she said.

Esther Pollard also pointed to the recent release of 10 suspected Russian spies in the US to demonstrate that Israel could secure her husband’s release. “The Americans have proven that they can easily release [prisoners] when they want to maintain good ties with an ally,” she said.

But according to an editorial published in Hebrew-language newspaper Maariv this week, Russia is better positioned to bring its spies home. Israel “has nothing to offer the US,” read the editorial, “and it can neither threaten American interests, nor cause damage to Americans, nor arrest Americans in Tel Aviv, so that there will be someone to exchange for Pollard. It has no ability to exact from the Americans a price for the release of one spy or ten, even if they are all beautiful redheads. Indeed, Israel has nothing left to do but beg for Pollard…”

Israel will work to increase the number of young Diaspora Jews who visit Israel through the Taglit-Birthright program to 50,000 by 2013, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced at this week’s cabinet meeting.

The goal is for one of every two young Jews to visit the country.

According to data presented to the Government, Birthright Israel’s 10-day program reduces the intermarriage rate among in the Diaspora and fosters pro-Israel activism on campuses and in social forums.

The Cabinet also reviewed a proposal to cultivate Zionist leadership and action. According to the plan, a committee chaired by Prime Minister’s Office Director-General Eyal Gabai would award prizes to encourage young people who initiate activities that express the Zionist idea and would aid Government ministries in encouraging Zionist leadership projects.

“It’s important for young Jews around the world to get to know Israel and our wonderful people and heritage, with their feet,” said Netanyahu, who took place in framing the Birthright Israel program. “Such an experience would strengthen the bonds between Diaspora Jews and Israel.”

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Jerusalem has been voted the best city in Africa and the Middle East by the readers of Travel + Leisure, widely considered America’s leading travel magazine.

Cape Town took second place, with Tel Aviv in third. The last time Jerusalem won was in 2000. This year was the first time Tel Aviv appeared in the top three.

Arie Sommer of the Israel Tourism Commission said the top ranking “underscores the growing realization by sophisticated travelers that our two main cities are unique and extraordinary places to visit.”

Tourism to Israel in 2008 and 2009 broke all records, and early statistics show that 2010 will be the best year ever for tourism to Israel.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat says he’s not satisfied with the number of tourists who visit the capital each year, and wants to increase the number from 2 million to 10 million annually. “As a high-tech entrepreneur I know how to do it,” he said.

Reaching that goal would “create over 100,000 jobs to help Jerusalem’s economy and send millions of ‘Ambassadors of Peace’ from Jerusalem to the far corners of the earth,” noted Barkat.

Following his election in November 2008, Barkat began to turn the Holy City into a bustling tourist hub. The former businessman raised funds, revamped Sultan’s Pool, brought festivals to the capital, helped local hotels and initiated street parties.

He also promoted an international marathon, which will be held in the city next year for the first time, and launched the “Take Two Days for Jerusalem” campaign, aimed at encouraging Israelis to travel to the capital and stay overnight.

“Jerusalem has a tremendous advantage in the fields of culture and tourism, but this advantage has yet to be exploited,” he told Ynet in a recent interview. “My job is to cause the local market to think big, because the name Jerusalem is a 3,000-year-old brand. When you mention Jerusalem anywhere in the world, people’s eyes light up.”

Two large boats and eight smaller boats participated in the Flotilla, which sailed from the west side of Manhattan, passed the Statue of Liberty, rounded the tip of Manhattan and continued up the East River past the United Nations. Gilad Shalit supporters carried signs and waved flags to boaters and people on shore.

Friday marked the fourth anniversary of Gilad’s kidnapping and more than 1,450 days in which he has been held in total isolation, with no access to the International Red Cross or other humanitarian bodies.

Malcolm Hoenlein (right) and Gabriela Shalev (center) hand a care package for Gilad Shalit to Rosemary Mackey of the NY Chapter of the American Red Cross.

“The real siege in Gaza is against Gilad Shalit,” said Conference of Presidents Chair Alan Solow and Executive Vice Chair Malcolm Hoenlein. “According to international law, the Red Cross must be granted access to Gilad Shalit to ensure his well-being. However, no one from the international community has been allowed access to Gilad in order to ensure his welfare or that the conditions in which he is being held are according to international law. Just a week ago, officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross again were refused access to Gilad.”

The Conference of Presidents also provided a humanitarian aid package including food, books, underwear, socks, a sweatshirt and glasses to Rosemary Mackey, a senior official representing the American Red Cross, to be transferred to Gilad. “We have delivered a package of goods to the Red Cross in the hope that they can deliver them to Gilad, in accordance with the Geneva Conventions,” said Solow and Hoenlein.

Meanwhile, in Israel some 10,000 supporters took part in the first half of an 11-day march from the North to Jerusalem to pressure the Netanyahu government to meet Hamas’s demands for Shalit’s release.

The procession is currently in the Haifa area after setting off from Mitzpe Hila. Netanyahu has invited the Shalits to meet with him when they arrive in Jerusalem, but Netanyahu, like Ehud Olmert, has been reluctant to acquiesce to Hamas demands that he free over 1,000 terrorists, many with blood on their hands.

Noam Shalit said that he recognizes the problem, but that after four years, he just wants his son back.

The Obama Administration may help Netanyahu withstand the growing public pressure to engage with Hamas, but for the wrong reasons, say various commentators. They claim the White House is afraid that if Jerusalem capitulates, it would further strengthen Hamas in its rivalry with US-backed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Following the Gaza flotilla incident, 63% of Palestinians believe they came out the winners and most Israelis (50%) placed the blame for the grave results on the flotilla organizers, revealed the latest joint public opinion survey conducted by the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah.

Only 28% of Israelis believe that the Israeli political echelon that approved the operation is responsible for the results of the incident, and 13% believe that the responsibility lies with the military echelon that carried out the operation.

In the aftermath of the flotilla incident and while Turkish-Israeli relations worsen, Turkey emerges as the most popular regional country among Palestinians: 43% of the Palestinians believe that Turkey is the regional country most supportive of the Palestinian cause; only 6% pointed to Iran and 5% to Syria.

Forty-seven percent of Israelis support Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s decision to impose a 10-month freeze on construction in the settlements, while 44% oppose it — showing little change in public opinion since a poll in December 2009 shortly after the freeze was announced.

If the proximity talks fail, 65% of Palestinians endorse asking the UN Security Council to recognize a Palestinian State. The next most popular option (60% support) is to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state. Just over half of Palestinians polled (51%) supported non-violent resistance as a response, while 44% favored armed intifada.

Despite the increased willingness to compromise among the two sectors, neither Palestinians nor Israelis consider it likely that an independent Palestinian state will be established next to the State of Israel in the next five years. In both sectors two-thirds think that chances for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel are non-existent or slim.

Seventy-two percent of Palestinians support the boycott on products produced in settlements, but 60% oppose preventing Palestinians from working in the settlements.

The letter follows the following statement, issued early this week by Ban’s press office: “The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the decision by the Jerusalem municipality to advance planning for house demolitions and further settlement activity in the area of Silwan. The planned moves are contrary to international law, and to the wishes of Palestinian residents. The secretary-general reminds the Israeli government of its responsibility to ensure provocative steps are not taken which would heighten tensions in the city.”

June 24, 2010

Mr. Ban Ki-moon
Secretary-General
United Nations
New York, NY 10017
USA

Dear Secretary-General,

I, as the Mayor of Jerusalem, am committed to improving the quality of life of all residents of Jerusalem and decided from the moment I took office not to just talk about the plight of the Arab residents of Jerusalem. Rather, I decided to invest my time and the city’s resources into bringing proper planning, modern infrastructure, and new businesses to Arab neighborhoods throughout Jerusalem. I am renovating schools and community centers and bringing technology to classrooms throughout the entire city. I am creating jobs and improving the quality of life for all residents of the city.

It was with great dismay that I read your response to the Municipality of Jerusalem’s re-zoning plans for the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Silwan and the King’s Garden, areas that were never planned for residential use and lie just hundreds of meters from the Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock. Indeed, the re-zoning that we have put forward improves the quality of life of thousands of Arab residents of Jerusalem by providing them for the first time with proper sewage, drainage, electricity, roads, telephone lines, Internet, and other infrastructure.

Further, my plan gives the Municipality the ability to legalize hundreds of Arab homes built without permits, some of them on public lands with complete disregard to public safety codes, endangering the lives of the residents, and making Municipal services difficult to provide, while at the same time allowing for a thousand new apartments to be built legally in the neighborhood for the Arab residents.

Our new plans ensure the inhabitants of the area have the ability to live legally. The new plans include a 3,000-square-meter community center that the Municipality designed in partnership with the residents of Silwan that, with funding from the UN, could have an enormous impact on the residents of Silwan. The Municipality has spent the past year preparing these plans because they are the right thing to do. I am committed to improving the quality of life of all residents of Jerusalem – whether they voted for me, against me, or not at all.

Your response revealed a clear lack of understanding by the UN of our initiatives. Your office failed to ask pointed questions about the re-zoning, to request to see the plans, or even seek a basic understanding of my goals for the residents of Jerusalem. It is much easier to talk and criticize, than it is to learn, invest, or act. Unfortunately, the UN has never asked the Municipality of Jerusalem what it could be doing to improve the quality of life of the residents of Jerusalem.

It would be my honor to host you in Jerusalem or meet with you in your offices in New York so I can share with you our plans for opening up the city for the world to enjoy and improving the quality of life of all the residents, as well as the plans for the Silwan and King’s Garden neighborhoods.

If the UN was committed to promoting social progress and better standards of life, it could begin to translate that commitment into positive actions right here in Jerusalem in partnership with the Municipality of Jerusalem.

Warm Regards from Jerusalem,

Nir Barkat
Mayor of Jerusalem

The OECD (Organization for Co-operative Development) Tourism Conference will bring together 50 tourism ministers from Israel and around the world, as well as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, World Tourism Organization Secretary-General Taleb Rifai, as well as heads of the international tourism industry.

Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov said, “The committee’s decision to hold its annual meeting in Jerusalem and give it a festive and prestigious touch, together with the invitation to tourism ministers from the member countries, is an important vote of confidence with additional significance for promoting tourism and improving Israel’s image around the world.”

The conference will focus on numerous ways to promote green tourism around the world, including plans to establish an international green tourism product, identifying green business opportunities and discussing the ecological effects on tourism.

“We are thrilled Jerusalem has been chosen to host the highly anticipated OECD annual tourism conference,” says Israel tourism commissioner Arie Sommer. “And with tourism experts and officials arriving in Israel from around the world, the conference will help foster new ideas and opportunities in the field of green tourism.”

On Earth Day last month, Israel’s Ministry of Tourism, North America launched a 24-month promotion underscoring Israel’s pivotal role in the worldwide environmental movement. For the next two years, the Ministry of Tourism will make this a key message to prospective travelers to Israel.

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Geert Wilders, who leads the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) in Holland, said last week he believes Jordan should be renamed Palestine. The Jordanian government responded by saying Wilders’ speech brought to mind the Israeli right wing, according to a report on Ynet.

“There has been an independent Palestinian state since 1946, and it is the kingdom of Jordan,” said the outspoken politician. Wilders also called on the Dutch government to refer to Jordan as Palestine and move its embassy from Ramat Gan to Jerusalem.

The Saudi Al-Watan carried Jordan’s response to Wilders’ speech. The kingdom’s embassy in Hague was outraged, and said the Dutch ambassador would soon be summoned to explain.

Jordan’s minister for media affairs and communications, Nabil Al Sharif, asked for clarifications. He described Wilders’ declaration as “an echo of the voice of the Israeli right” and “crows’ screams.”

The People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVP) nearly tripled its power in the last election, going from nine parliament seats to 24 in the 150-member parliament. The conservative-liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), headed by Mark Rutte, won 31 seats while the leftist Labor party, headed by Job Cohen, came in second with 30 seats.

The PVV has called for a ban on minarets and Muslim scarves, and even says if Turkey joins the European Union, the Netherlands should withdraw.

“It will be very hard to form a coalition,” Dutch journalist Coney Moss, who is stationed in Israel, told Ynet. “The coalition will most likely be right-leaning, as we can see from the strengthening of the Party for Freedom,” he added.

Almost one million Muslims currently live in the Netherlands today – mostly from Morocco and Turkey – who who have assimilated relatively little into Dutch society. Many turn to crime, leading some observers to conclude the election results reflected fears among Dutch people who feel less safe in their own country.

Geert Wilders

The PVV platform calls for more policemen, ethnic registration of all citizens, deportation of criminals and harsher prison sentences.

Wilders supports Israel and is known for his good relations with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

The Freedom Party argues that the fight against Islam should be the cornerstone of Dutch foreign policy, saying Israel plays a key role in that fight.

“Israel is fighting for us,” the party has stated. “If Jerusalem falls, Athens and Rome are next. This is why Israel is the central front in the defense of the West. It is not a territorial conflict, but an ideological one; a conflict between the reason of the West and the barbarism of Islamic ideology.”

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In a meeting between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington last Wednesday (June 9), Abbas told the U.S. President that he opposes lifting the naval blockade in the Gaza Strip, since such a move would “bolster Hamas.” Abbas stated that it should not be lifted at this stage, and any reduction of restrictions should be gradual and cautious to prevent a perceived victory for Hamas.

Egypt is also in favor of maintaining the naval blockade because of arms smuggling concerns should it be lifted.

Iran-backed Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 in a violent coup against the forces of the Palestinian Authority, controlled by President Abbas.

Israel and the international community have repeatedly called on Hamas to renounce violence, recognize Israel, and release abducted soldier Gilad Shalit in order to ease the blockade but Hamas has refused to meet these terms.

Hamas has also refused to allow new presidential and legislative elections to be held which are now overdue. A recent poll conducted by the Palestinian Center For Public Opinion in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza in March 2010 found that if new legislative elections were held, Hamas would likely lose with Fatah receiving 42 per cent of the vote while Hamas would get just 28 percent. Hamas would also lose a presidential election. The same Palestinian poll showed that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh would take 40 percent of the vote and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas would get 50 percent.

Abbas also said to Obama that more goods and aid should be brought through the Israel-Gaza border crossings. Last week Israel eased a number of restrictions and allowed previously banned goods to enter Gaza as part of a policy initiated over the past six months in which Israel has gradually allowed more goods to enter the territory.

Since December 2009, the quantity of goods entering Gaza has increased by 20 percent and the range of items allowed in has also been expanded.