The coalition against dividing Jerusalem: politicians, billionaires and evangelists

It was with a sense of religious fervor that the thousands of people who came yesterday 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.

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 yesterday 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.

MK Reuven Rivlin, who belongs to Netanyahu's party, reminisced about 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 by the previous and current prime ministers, Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert, a long time ago 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 the then mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert, now the prime minister.

After then Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat said no to Barak and the threat was lifted, One Jerusalem dissolved into a mere Internet site. It has since been resurrected to its current high profile - which has apparently not yet reached its full potential.