Daoud Kuttab The history of the city of Jerusalem is full of tragedy and pain. One conqueror after another has taken the city, only to lose it to someone else. Defeat has met each ruler attempting to govern the city in an exclusive way. While many formulas and suggestions have been floated as to how … More »

Haim Ramon As the Minister-in-Charge of Jerusalem Affairs and a person who has met, negotiated, and dealt with Palestinian leaders for more than a decade, I assume that a final agreement regarding the issue of Jerusalem is not feasible at the moment, neither now nor in the near future. The government of Israel, like former … More »

Joseph Alpher The conventional wisdom is probably right: Jerusalem is indeed the most difficult final status issue and should be left for last on the negotiating agenda. There appears to be no way to reconcile Israel’s near-consensus position regarding a united Jerusalem as its capital (more or less all of Jerusalem within the boundaries drawn … More »

Jerome M. Segal At one and the same time, Joseph Alpher is too pessimistic about the possibility of resolving the Jerusalem question and too optimistic about halfway measures. The core of the Jerusalem issue is the question of sovereignty over East Jerusalem’s three regions: the historic walled city; the downtown areas surrounding the Old City … More »

Carolyn Green Virtually no words draw more sustained applause from American Jewish supporters of Israel than the resolute declaration of successive Israeli leaders that a united Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty will remain the capital of the Jewish state. This government policy reflects Israeli public consensus, and the organized American Jewish community has consistently backed this … More »

Danny Seidemann In the almost 33 years that have passed since Israel physically reunited the city of Jerusalem, virtually all that has transpired in the city has been dictated by the bitter national struggle between Israelis and Palestinians. Jerusalem has been the quintessential arena in which the mutually incompatible claims of each national movement clash … More »

Scott A. Bollens The emotional scars and physical and psychological separation one faces in politically contested cities such as Jerusalem, Belfast, Johannesburg, Nicosia, and Sarajevo present us with urban characteristics that all-including North American-cities share: fear, separation, exclusivity, and denial. We divide here, too, but history, territoriality, and religion have less tangible effect on us. … More »