THE PALESTINIAN leadership sees all of formerly-Jordanian Jerusalem, including the Western Wall, as territory illegally occupied by Israel and demands recognition of east Jerusalem as its capital, while contending that the status of west Jerusalem is a matter for permanent status peace talks. And although the Palestinians have signaled a theoretical willingness to accept west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, whenever the issue arose in actual negotiations – Israeli prime ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert tabling concrete ideas to redivide the city – such proposals never proved acceptable.
To buttress its position, the Palestinian leadership claims that Jerusalem’s Palestinians are united in demanding an end to Israel’s rule. But though widely accepted across the globe, this narrative is not reflected in a series of public opinion surveys of Palestinian Jerusalemites.
Do Palestinians want to move to Jerusalem?
Though by no means Israeli patriots, Jerusalem’s Palestinians – like Arab Israelis – see the advantages of living in a successful, pluralist democracy with a Western standard of living and social services, over those of the authoritarian, corrupt and poorer Palestinian alternative.
In contrast to the much-propagated narrative, while not publicly celebrating 55 years from to the unification of the city, most Palestinian Jerusalemites would nonetheless elect to remain under Israeli jurisdiction. Of course, those who champion Palestinian rights are under no obligation to take into account the views of Jerusalem’s Palestinians.
