Urshalim: yisraelim vepalestinayim be-Jerushalayim, 1967–2017 by Nir Hasson (review)

"Urshalim," an early Islamic name preserved in Arabic translations of the New Testament, is the title Nir Hasson, Ha'aretz's correspondent for all matters Jerusalem, chose for his book on the half century of the city under Israeli rule. The name, unused, was recovered at the behest of the Israeli government that had already annexed East Jerusalem, but was aghast at the continued use of its age-old Arabic name, Al Kuds (the holy one). Urshalim, however, remains an artificial and pretentious appellation that refers to no real place.

Hasson brings the perspectives of the sociologist, historian, political scientist, and urban planner to his analysis. The book is divided into seven chapters. He begins with a history of Jerusalem, starting from Mandatory times, then he surveys Jerusalem as it is seen first through Palestinian and then through Jewish eyes. He follows up with chapters focused on the major apples of discord: the struggle over Temple Mount/Haram as-Sharif, the political uses of archeology within the city, the knifing intifada that started in the city in 2014, and a survey of alternative futures of Jerusalem.

Hasson reminds us that until 1967, Jerusalem and Al Quds were small peripheral towns at the end of narrow roads ending in barbed wire. (163) The Israeli annexation opened up "Greater Jerusalem" to unprecedented Jewish development and settlement, but has not created one city. In fact, in the hopeful Oslo years, East Jerusalem operated as a de facto Palestinian political and cultural capital. (64–5)

"Jerusalem united for ever and ever," and "Jerusalem is the beating heart of the Jewish people," are two of the most worn clichés of Israeli politics. (151) East Jerusalem—which includes 220 acres (1 square kilometer) of the Old City and a grab bag of Palestinian towns, villages, and even refugee camps that were never considered part of the city, as we learn reading the book—has never merged with West Jerusalem.

Whereas twelve Jewish neighborhoods were built on land confiscated from Palestinian residents in a ring around East Jerusalem, not one of the Palestinians neighborhoods has an approved zoning plan, leading to massive illegal construction. (87) Israel provides inferior services to its non-voting Arab inhabitants to maintain Jewish demographic superiority in the city. The textbooks used by Palestinian students in the schools of East Jerusalem contain many blank pages, as they are issued by the Palestinian Authority and censored by Israel, serving as a standing reminder to the students that they live under occupation. (96) "The bottom line," concludes Hasson, "is that even after half a century of occupation, unification, annexation, and endless efforts to erase the Green Line—this line is as sharp and evident as it was in 1967, both in planning and construction maps and in the residents' consciousness." (188)

Jerusalem is internally divided by the Separation Wall. In addition, the 40 percent of Jerusalem's residents who are Palestinians were never given, and the vast majority never asked for, Israeli citizenship. Palestinians do not recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli annexation, and devoid of citizenship, they remain in danger of losing their right of residence. Outside of Gaza, Arab East Jerusalem is the poorest community under Israeli control, fully 82 percent below the Israeli poverty line. (90) Concurrently, and along with growing Islamization, Palestinian residents have undergone a measure of Israelization, partly as they need to find employment in Jewish Jerusalem after being cut off from their economic hinterland and political leadership in the West Bank by the Separation Wall, and partly due to westernization and loss of faith in political processes. (108–116)

This book's greatest strength is its focus on the yawning gap between the city's actual and continued division and the larger-than-life and gate-keeping role it plays in Israeli politics. Ironically, Jerusalem has not been a central issue for the Zionist movement even though it chose to name itself after the city's pagan name. Theodor Herzl...