Separate and Unequal: The Inside Story of Israeli Rule in East Jerusalem

by Amir S. Cheshin

This vivid behind-the-scenes account of Israeli rule in Jerusalem details for the first time the Jewish state's attempt to lay claim to all of Jerusalem, even when that meant implementing harsh policies toward the city's Arab population.

The authors, Jerusalemites from the spheres of politics, journalism, and the military, have themselves been players in the drama that has unfolded in east Jerusalem in recent years and appears now to be at a climax. They have also had access to a wide range of official documents that reveal the making and implementation of Israeli policy toward Jerusalem. Their book discloses the details of Israel's discriminatory policies toward Jerusalem Arabs and shows how Israeli leaders mishandled everything from security and housing to schools and sanitation services, to the detriment of not only the Palestinian residents but also Israel's own agenda. Separate and Unequal is a history of lost opportunities to unite the peoples of Jerusalem.

A central focus of the book is Teddy Kollek, the city's outspoken mayor for nearly three decades, whose failures have gone largely unreported until now. But Kollek is only one character in a cast that includes prime ministers, generals, terrorists, European and American leaders, Arab shopkeepers, Israeli policemen, and Palestinian schoolchildren. The story the authors tell is as dramatic and poignant as the mosaic of religious and ethnic groups that call Jerusalem home. And coming at a time of renewed crisis, it offers a startling perspective on past mistakes that can point the way toward more equitable treatment of all Jerusalemites.

288 pages, Paperback

First published May 10, 1999

Reviews

[Moshe Hollander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insightful yet had a very explicit agenda. To the authors' credit, they are at least upfront about it. To be read with an open mind and a critical eye.

[Elliot Ratzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

East Jerusalem with its holy sites and Arab villages was captured and annexed by Israel after the Six Day War in 1967. Over the decades the Arab residents have been encouraged, tricked or forced to leave. Their neighborhoods have languished without development or city services (yet city taxes were mostly the same) and their land expropriated on the thinnest of pretexts. The authors, two civic advisors on Arab affairs and a journalist, have the definitive inside scoop on the hapless efforts of famed mayor Teddy Kollack to improve the quality of life for Jerusalem’s Arabs. Kollack believed in a united city under Jewish rule and thought that fair treatment of Arabs would be good for the Jewish State. He is thwarted at every turn by central governments of the right and left who bumble every opportunity for peace, from simple soccer fields to street names and security. We read of Kafkaesque policies and bigoted practices bordering on Apartheid. The result? Two Intifadas and many lives lost.