Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Undivided Jerusalem
Jerusalem's new mayor, a successful businessman and secular, is Nir Barkat, 49 years old. He won on the stand of not dividing Jerusalem. His role model is New York's mayor, Michael Bloomberg. The Religious parties voted for him also, though he had left the Kadima party after learning about their plans to divide Jerusalem. Nir wants to make it a center of international renown, the undivided capitol of Israel. It is the eternal capitol of the Jewish people.
The Palestinians want East Jerusalem, or all of Jerusalem, as the capitol of their state. Nir is planning on expanding Jewish neighborhoods to the eastern section. " The status of Jerusalem is a main sticking point in the US-brokered Middle East peace talks." 250,000 Palestinians live there. Though most Palestinians boycotted the election, there were those that voted.
"Jerusalem has to stay unified," he has told AFP.

No comments: