Separate & Unequal – The Inside Story of Israeli Rule in East Jerusalem - Hardcover

Cheshin, Amir

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674801369 ISBN 13: 9780674801363

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1999

Synopsis

This behind-the-scenes account of Israeli rule in Jerusalem details 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 form the sphers of politics, journalism and the military, have themselves been players in the drama that has unfolded in east Jerusalem towards the end to the 20th century. They have also had access to a wide range of official documents that reveal the making and implementation of Israeli policy towards Jerusalem. This text discloses the details of Israel's discriminatory policies towards Jerusalem Arabs and shows how Israeli leaders mishandled everything form security and housing to schools and sanitation services, to the detriment of not only the Palestinian residents but also Israel's own agenda. It 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 major for nearly three decades, whose failures have gone largely unreported. But Kollek is only one character in a cast that includes prime ministers, generals, terrorists, European and American leaders, Arab shopkeepers, Israeli policemen, and Palistinian schoolchildren.

About this title

Review:

In "Separate and Unequal, Amir S. Cheshin, Bill Hutman and Avi Melamed wisely eschew the mystical, eschatological and ethereal realms to which many writers on the holy city ascend. They stick to mundane municipal detail: rubbish collection, sewage, potholes, parks and planning permissions. The authors are admirably qualified for the task...All three know the city intimately and have made exceptional efforts to bridge the schism that divides its Arab from its Jewish inhabitants. Their book is an indictment of Israeli misrule in east Jerusalem. It is all the more powerful because its authors come from within the Israeli establishment and write from a Zionist standpoint. This book is an indictment of Israeli misrule in east Jerusalem. It is all the more powerful because its authors come from within the Israeli establishment and write from a Zionist standpoint. The authors show that, more than three decades after its supposed unification in 1967, Jerusalem is more divided than ever. -- Bernard Wasserstein "Times Higher Education Supplement" Amir Cheshin, Bill Hutman and Avi Melamed argue that Israel has suffered from 'failure after failure, missed opportunity after missed opportunity' in governing Jerusalem. If only the Arab population had been fairly treated, given limited autonomy under a system of neighborhood councils or simply conceived of as a permanent partner, then, they argue, Israel would have control of a peaceful, united city. Cheshin and Melamed, onetime aides to former Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek, and Hutman, formerly of the "Jerusalem Post," offer a scathing expose of persistent Israeli discriminatory practices against Jerusalem Arabs...The point is well made that Israel could do more for at least those East Jerusalem Arabs who don't openly oppose the state, and there is much here that informs the debate on Israel's ground zero. Hutman and Melamed present an unusually frank and courageous account of relations between Jews and Palestinian Arab citizens in Israel's capital. As the title states, the two communities are separated, and their treatment is decidedly unequal in nearly all aspects of communal affairs--housing, education, health and sanitation facilities, availability of water and electricity. The author's conclude that 'Israel has treated the Palestinians of Jerusalem terribly...forced many of them from their homes and stripped them of their land...while lying to them and deceiving them and the world about its honorable intentions.' -- D. Peretz "Choice" In "Separate and Unequal," Amir S. Cheshin, Bill Hutman and Avi Melamed wisely eschew the mystical, eschatological and ethereal realms to which many writers on the holy city ascend. They stick to mundane municipal detail: rubbish collection, sewage, potholes, parks and planning permissions. The authors are admirably qualified for the task...All three know the city intimately and have made exceptional efforts to bridge the schism that divides its Arab from its Jewish inhabitants. Their book is an indictment of Israeli misrule in east Jerusalem. It is all the more powerful because its authors come from within the Israeli establishment and write from a Zionist standpoint. -- Bernard Wasserstein "Times Higher Education Supplement" (12/15/2000) Given their high-level access to key municipal and Israeli decision-makers, the authors succeed in exposing the horrific lengths to which the Israeli government went to prevent the re-division of Jerusalem and preserve its status as the united and external capital of Israel..."Separate and Unequal" does provide a healthy dose of realism from which to assess the latest round of Arab-Israeli peace negotiations, the so-called final-status talks and the 'Jerusalem question' in particular.--Peter McKenna "Washington Post Book World " [Hutman and Melamed] present an unusually frank and courageous account of relations between Jews and Palestinian Arab citizens in Israel's capital. As the title states, the two communities are separated, and their treatment is decidedly unequal in nearly all aspects of communal affairs--housing, education, health and sanitation facilities, availability of water and electricity. The author's conclude that 'Israel has treated the Palestinians of Jerusalem terribly...forced many of them from their homes and stripped them of their land...while lying to them and deceiving them and the world about its honorable intentions.'--D. Peretz "Choice " With access to all the papers of the former mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek, the authors--Amir Cheshin and Avi Melamed, to former aides to Kollek, together with Bill Hutman, a journalist for the English-language "Jerusalem Post"--tell a heart-breaking story of squandered opportunities.--Anne Applebaum "Daily Telegraph " One of the most important books on the Israeli rule in the territories in general and in Jerusalem in particular.--Tom Swgev "Ha'aretz " [This] book is an indictment of Israeli misrule in east Jerusalem. It is all the more powerful because its authors come from within the Israeli establishment and write from a Zionist standpoint. [The authors] show that, more than three decades after its supposed unification in 1967, Jerusalem is more divided than ever.--Bernard Wasserstein "Times Higher Education Supplement " In "Separate and Unequal", Amir S. Cheshin, Bill Hutman and Avi Melamed wisely eschew the mystical, eschatological and ethereal realms to which many writers on the holy city ascend. They stick to mundane municipal detail: rubbish collection, sewage, potholes, parks and planning permissions. The authors are admirably qualified for the task...All three know the city intimately and have made exceptional efforts to bridge the schism that divides its Arab from its Jewish inhabitants. Their book is an indictment of Israeli misrule in east Jerusalem. It is all the more powerful because its authors come from within the Israeli establishment and write from a Zionist standpoint.--Bernard Wasserstein"Times Higher Education Supplement" (12/15/2000) Their insights are primarily those of individuals who possess unique "insider" information about the Teddy Kollek administration (1966-93), and the book provides often intriguing material drawn from their experiences and sources. Well-written and engaging, "Separate and Unequal" is generally quite critical in its depiction of the Jewish state's rule over the territory it conquered in 1967.--Thomas Abowd "Journal of Palestine Studies "

About the Author:

Amir S. Cheshin, a retired Israeli army colonel, was Senior Adviser on Arab Community Affairs and Assistant to former Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek. Bill Hutman was a journalist with the Jerusalem Post. Avi Melamed was Deputy Adviser on Arab Affairs to Mayor Kollek and Adviser on Arab Affairs to Kollek's successor, Ehud Olmert.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0674801369
• ISBN 13: 9780674801363
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 282