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Likud head and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at Thursday's conference. Sign reads, "Above all, Jerusalem." (Tomer Appelbaum)
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Last update - 19:08 07/12/2007
Thousands come to J'lem to protest plans to divide capital
By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Israel, division, Jerusalem

It was with a sense of religious fervor that the thousands of people who came Thursday to the Jerusalem International Convention Center sang Shuli Natan's "Jerusalem of Gold." They came to protest against plans to divide Israel's capital.

After they finished singing with their eyes closed, gently rocking from side to side, the crowd enjoyed a laser light show projected on a giant screen. The same show had been projected a week before at the city's southeast, overlooking the Old City.

In the show, the lasers simulated Qassam rockets crashing in from East Jerusalem, and each time the crowd cringed in their seats. The stereo system added sounds of destruction.
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The organizers of the One Jerusalem event prepared very well for the event. They prepared equally well for all the previous events that are part of their initiative to prevent a division of the capital.

Yehoshua Mor Yossef, One Jerusalem's public relations man, said that opinion polls and surveys clearly indicated that the most effective tool to keep Jerusalem united was the Jewish majority's deep connection with the city.

The 50 buses that brought in the participants of One Jerusalem's event were part of an effort that included tour guides who gave lectures in areas such as history, poetry, heritage and security. The common theme was, of course, Jerusalem and the need to keep it united.

Last week saw a similar event, comprised of 50 buses. One Jerusalem plans to bring more people from all over the country to their program in the following weeks.

The politicians who came to the event Thursday conformed well to the mood at the conference. Likud head and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, for example, told the crowd that "the people of Israel did not sacrifice their soldiers so that the government would later give away Jerusalem."

He accused the government of being willing to give up both on security - by pulling out of the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem - and on heritage, by giving away the Temple Mount and the Old City.

Likud MK Reuven Rivlin remembered the days of the British Mandate, when Jews were forbidden to blow the Shofar at the Wailing Wall at the end of Yom Kippur.

Ze'ev Elkin of Kadima quoted statements made long ago by former and current prime ministers, Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert, about their undying commitment to the city.

Labor's Yoram Marciano read Psalms and said that had Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, seen today's leaders, he would have diagnosed them as suffering from insanity.

One Jerusalem was formed seven years ago, when a group of Israeli Jews, Jews from the U.S. and immigrants from other countries joined forces with Evangelist Christians. The organization launched a bid to block the prospect of a divided Jerusalem under then prime minister Ehud Barak, who was conducting the second Camp David talks with the Palestinians at the time.

The events then culminated in the Ani Nishba ("I swear") mass rally outside the Old City's walls. It was led by Ehud Olmert, then the mayor of Jerusalem, now the prime minister.

After Camp David talks collapsed and the threat of division seemed less imminent, One Jerusalem became just an Internet site. It seems that it has since been resurrected.

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    Divisible capital
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      1.   Divide J`lem. 15:13  |  POP 07/12/07
      2.   Jerusalem already divided into East and West Jerusalem 15:42  |  Ronen 07/12/07
      3.   What can`t be shared must be divided 15:51  |  Gil 07/12/07
      4.   israel illegally took over West Jerusalem after the 1948 war and 16:11  |  lakshmi 07/12/07
      5.   Divide Washington D.C. 16:14  |  utagawa 07/12/07
      6.   #1 16:26  |  Christian 07/12/07
      7.   It didn`t work in Berlin and won`t work in Israel 16:32  |  Joy 07/12/07
      8.   i dont want jerusalem divided either but it is prophesied 16:57  |  yahn goodey 07/12/07
      9.   Ronen, dangerously wrong statement 17:44  |  Jake 07/12/07
      10.   Gil, then cede Arab Lod, Arab Ramle, Arab Jaffa to Palestine 17:51  |  Jake 07/12/07
      11.   Let`s ne honest: Jerusalem was never re-unified 18:03  |  Rami 07/12/07
      12.   Israel IS a Jewish State 18:28  |  Brod 07/12/07
      13.   Jerusalem MUST BE Divided For PEACE! Extremists MUST NOT Win!! 18:31  |  Proud Pal Defender 07/12/07
      14.   lakshmi # 4 18:48  |  ChanahS 07/12/07
      15.   Thousands Protest Dividing Jerusalem 19:04  |  Darrell 07/12/07
      16.   Judaism is NOT a race 19:46  |  Tarek 07/12/07
      17.   YERUSHALAYIM SHEL ZAHAV 19:47  |  mary for jews 07/12/07
      18.   #2 Ronen 19:48  |  Boycott 07/12/07
      19.   Security Council and Jerusalem status 19:56  |  Boycott 07/12/07
      20.   Proudpaldefender 20:12  |  utagawa 07/12/07
      21.   Tarek: Jews are a people/nation; Judaism is a religion 20:14  |  Jake 07/12/07
      22.   Tarek, it is time you got your head out of the sand 20:18  |  Jake 07/12/07
      23.   Thank the municipality 20:58  |  East Jerusalemite 07/12/07
      24.   Mecca 21:04  |  Palestinian Brit 07/12/07
      25.   Its` all in vain 21:15  |  The Arab Hammer 07/12/07
      26.   #16 - there is no comparisom between Islam and Judaism ! 22:01  |  redmike 07/12/07
      27.   Are they retarted ! Jerusalem is already devided !!! 22:17  |  MowSow 07/12/07
      28.   Islam must be thrown out of Israel / J`lem, only way 22:21  |  Erdogan 07/12/07
      29.   Time to walk by the millions 22:26  |  Moshe Benzaquen 07/12/07
      30.   #26 REDMIKE 22:44  |  Debbie 07/12/07
      31.   Jerusalem of gold 23:58  |  akiva (zionist) 07/12/07
      32.   NPR interviews of Arab East Jerusalemites 23:23  |  Jake 07/12/07
      33.   To the Arab Hammer 23:32  |  Jake 07/12/07
      34.   Jerusalem: Home to 3 world religions 01:04  |  David James Vickery 08/12/07
      35.   #25 JERUSALEM WAS ALWAYS ARAB 01:06  |  danny 08/12/07
      36.   Israel has to stop playing games 02:26  |  Tarek 08/12/07
      37.   14.Chanah S.here`s what is illegal:you cannot keep territory 02:49  |  lakshmi 08/12/07
      38.   #24 - you contradict yourself 04:04  |  Steve 08/12/07
      39.   #25 - remind me. WHO built Jerusalem? 04:15  |  Steve 08/12/07
      40.   to 37, correction!! 05:39  |  Igor D. 08/12/07
      41.   Iakshimi 06:40  |  Daniel 08/12/07
      42.   #32 Jake - I wish I had listened to those interviews. It`s quite 08:48  |  Angie 08/12/07
      43.   Vickery Khalas to you 09:16  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 08/12/07
      44.   International law and Israel..... 09:29  |  Palestinian Brit 08/12/07
      45.   Jewish claims to Jerusalem 09:49  |  Palestinian Brit 08/12/07
      46.   Daniel 09:53  |  Palestinian Brit 08/12/07
      47.   Haifa 10:02  |  Michael 08/12/07
      48.   #43 Margie in TA 11:31  |  Boycott 08/12/07
      49.   Palestinian Brit#45:-part1 14:29  |  HS 08/12/07
      50.   Palestinian Brit#45:-part2 14:30  |  HS 08/12/07
      51.   ONE JERUSALEM FOR JEWS 15:35  |  Petra 08/12/07
      52.   Don`t want to share a place? Then leave it altogether! 15:41  |  zmogus 08/12/07
      53.   # 24 Pal Brit 15:42  |  Petra 08/12/07
      54.   The Arab Hammer 15:46  |  Petra 08/12/07
      55.   A Sharia section of Jerusalem? 15:53  |  Petra 08/12/07
      56.   This will doom the peace proccess, and doom Israel 16:19  |  Ivar 08/12/07
      57.   # 56 Ivar OR Israel could be like Mecca 16:34  |  Petra 08/12/07
      58.   Ivar from Estonia#5 17:00  |  HS 08/12/07
      59.   The Arab Hammer 17:49  |  dovid 08/12/07
      60.   # 13, The Word of God is pretty extreme. He will win. 18:11  |  Virginia 08/12/07
      61.   One Jerusalem. 18:31  |  sandra chitayat 08/12/07
      62.   When "Judaism" becomes the Word of God instead of 18:38  |  Virginia 08/12/07
      63.   This is NOT the example the Jewish Messiah set for us. 19:10  |  Virginia 08/12/07
      64.   As much as I hate to say it 19:48  |  Yonatan 08/12/07
      65.   More reasons for dividing Jerusalem 19:57  |  Yonatan 08/12/07
      66.   Misunderstanding Judaism - willfully? 20:02  |  Yonatan 08/12/07
      67.   Where is the devil? Who wants Jerusalem to be as one and who 20:03  |  wants it split? 08/12/07
      68.   # 45, I know it doesn`t seem fair does it? 20:32  |  Virginia 08/12/07
      69.   It is immaterial 20:39  |  Yonatan 08/12/07
      70.   Hey, Talkback Editor 20:40  |  Yonatan 08/12/07
      71.   50 years of peace 22:53  |  real vision 08/12/07
      72.   moderate arab peacemakers 23:04  |  real vision 08/12/07
      73.   You`ve got to give before you get 23:10  |  Natallie Durson 08/12/07
      74.   NatallieDurson,Somehow I don`t think it is Internat`l recognition 23:52  |  Virginia 15/12/07
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