Jerusalem has been a bone of contention between Israel and Palestine. The holy city is often the unholy battleground for these two forces, and blood of innocents is spilled in the city frequently.
Israel sees the city as its undivided capital, but for the Palestinians, it is a symbol of hope and prosperity. Even under increased international pressure no solution to the Middle East problem has been outlined. But after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s speech at a Knesset ceremony to commemorate the assassination, six years ago, of the right-wing minister Rehavam Zeevi, it looks as if a gleam of hope is starting to seep in.
Mr. Olmert wasn’t quite overt about it, but he did hint that he would be ready to split up Jerusalem among Israel and Palestine should that end the persistent fighting between the two sides. He questioned the addition of certain villages to the geography of Jerusalem and this questioning has led many observers to believe that a division of the city is on the horizon.
Jerusalem is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian problem and once its future is finalized, the entire crisis could be solved easily. It now looks likely that the issue, whether Jerusalem is indeed split up between Israel and Palestine, would be a key one at the forthcoming Middle East conference in Annapolis, Maryland.
US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, has already stated that the solution to the crisis lies in the creation of a separate Palestinian State. Although Israel would be hotly voicing its firm opposition to this proposal at the meeting in Maryland, it appears more and more likely that the Palestinians would get a country of their own before long.
Image Source: Synergise
Source: The Independent, UK
