proclaim Jerusalem as the capital of two states

Towards the EU ministers' meeting in Brussels, Gush Shalom calls upon them to proclaim Jerusalem as the capital of two states

Towards the meeting of the European foreign ministers, scheduled for tomorrow in Brussels, the Gush Shalom movement sent to the 27 foreign ministries and to the 27 embassies in Israel the text of the "Our Jerusalem" petition:

"Our Jerusalem must be united, open to all and belonging to all its inhabitants, without borders and barbed-wire in its midst. Our Jerusalem must be the capital of the two states that will live side by side in this country - West Jerusalem the capital of the State of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of the State of Palestine. Our Jerusalem must be the Capital of Peace."

The petition, initiated already in 1995 by the Gush Shalom people in cooperation with the late Feisal Husseini and other public leaders of the East Jerusalem Palestinians, was at the time signed by about a thousand public figures.

"The European Union's proclaiming Jerusalem as the capital of two states and an accelerated implementation of this principle in practice would be a desirable and positive act for Israelis, for Palestinians, for peace and the future of all who live in this region. The EU’s step would at last allow embassies to move to West Jerusalem. The government of Israel should have been the first to promote this idea" wrote Gush Shalom to the European foreign ministers.

Gush Shalom rejects as false the assertion that making Jerusalem the capital of to states would constitute "division" of Jerusalem, since Jerusalem in its present situation is a divided city whose two parts are divided by a deep abyss. "Jerusalem is not a united city. Nir Barkat is the democratically-elected mayor of West Jerusalem and the imposed ruler of East Jerusalem, where he is assisting Jewish settlers to throw Arab inhabitants to the street. Jerusalem can only be united out of the free will of the two peoples who live in it, which would only be possible after the end of Israeli occupation".

Jerusalem is ours, Israelis and Palestinians - Muslims, Christian and Jews.
Our Jerusalem is a mosaic of all the cultures, all the religions and all the periods that enriched the city, from the earliest antiquity to this very day - Canaanites and Jebusites and Israelites-

Jews and Hellenes, Romans and Byzantines, Christians and Muslims, Arabs and Mamelukes, Othmanlis and Britons, Palestinians and Israelis. They and all the others who made their contribution to the city have a place in the spiritual and physical landscape of Jerusalem.

Our Jerusalem must be united, open to all and belonging to all its inhabitants, without borders and barbed-wire in its midst.

Our Jerusalem must be the capital of the two states that will live side by side in this country - West Jerusalem the capital of the State of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of the State of Palestine.

Our Jerusalem must be the Capital of Peace
http://www.gush-shalom.org/jerusalem/index.html

ENDS

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