This past Monday night (the night after 13 Teves), thousands
participated in a large, nonpolitical rally organized
nonetheless by the Right, opposite the walls of the Old City
of Jerusalem, mainly near the Jaffa Gate. At the rally, a
call was issued not to make political concessions regarding
Jerusalem. A very large police force guarded the rally.
The title of the rally was "Jerusalem, I Pledge Allegiance."
Torches in hand, masses of demonstrators stood around the
walls of the Old City and formed a human chain. They had
planned to form a chain around the entire Old City, but they
abandoned those plans when police said that the presence of
such a chain in the Arab sections may provoke violence.
Rally organizers said that 400,000 attended, though police
estimated 250-300,000. No politicians spoke at the rally and
no political speeches were given, but most of those in
attendance seemed to be from the Right. Over 1000 buses
brought people from all over Israel.
The organizers worked hard to ensure that the event have a
nonpartisan nature. As a result, no politicians spoke at the
meeting, except for one: the Mayor of Jerusalem. They also
worked to ensure that none of the posters displayed would
have a political message. However, many prominent Right-wing
politicians did participate in the rally, among them:
Binyamin Netanyahu, Dan Meridor, the chairman of the Foreign
Affairs and Security Ministry of the Knesset, as well as
many other well-known Rightist MKs.
The first speaker was former Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court Moshe Landau, who opened by saying : "The organizers
of the rally were correct in making certain that the rally
would be nonpolitical." He then noted that the principle of
an undivided Jerusalem is common to all of the Jewish
parties in the state. "We received a precious trust from our
predecessors, and are obligated to transmit it to those
after us intact. I turn to President Clinton with the
request that he stop his creative suggestions on the
sensitive issue of Har Habayis and the transferring of
sovereignty over it to the Arabs."
The Mayor of Rishon Letzion, Meir Nitzan (Labor) also spoke,
saying: "I think that many of the members of the Labor party
should really be here. There is no debate. Jerusalem is the
capital of Israel. We won't yield and won't submit. I am
against dividing the city. Peace isn't made by divisions,
but by living together. We have come here today to tell the
Palestinian nation that the Jewish Nation is united on the
issue of Jerusalem."
The Mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert, said: "The rally isn't
against any person or any element. We haven't come to fight
with anyone. We have come here in order to directly express
our deep link to our city and to what it symbolizes. I am
turning now to the President of the United States: For eight
years you were a good friend of the Jewish Nation. It's a
pity that the memory which will remain is one of Clinton as
the first president of the United States who proposed to
divide Jerusalem."
After him, the director of the Conference of Presidents of
Major Jewish organizations, Ron Lauder, spoke. Lauder said
that he is attending as a private individual since his
organization was divided over whether to officially
participate in the rally. Lauder told the gathering that
millions of Jews in the world stand beside those Israelis
who oppose dividing Jerusalem.
Natan Sharansky, the Yisrael B'Aliyah Party leader who quit
Barak's government last summer over expected concessions at
the Camp David summit, was one of the organizers of Monday's
rally. Sharansky said, "Jerusalem is not a question of
borders or security, but a question of the identity of the
Jewish people."
Before the beginning of the rally, former Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu told newspaper reporters that it is
forbidden to give up Jerusalem, and that we must express our
total opposition to dividing the city, as well as the right
of the Palestinian refugees to return.
The police brought large forces to the rally. Regional
Commander Nitzav Miki Levi said that prior to the rally the
police were prepared for every possibility, including
violence, Jewish provocation and provocation from East
Jerusalem's Arabs. In addition, the police prevented
Rightist activists from entering Har Habayis.
Many streets near the site of the rally were closed for a
long time, including the roads surrounding the Old city and
those of the center of Jerusalem. Highway Number One was
totally blocked until the national police headquarters near
Ramat Eshkol, as were many streets in the center of town.
Egged busses to the Kosel were directed to King George
Streets and Derech Chevron, and from there to Har Tzion.
In a stark reminder of the ongoing conflict, the southern
Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo once again came under
Palestinian fire Monday night. No one was hurt, but an
apartment was damaged.
