Middle East Politics.Net » Jerusalem http://middleeastpolitics.net Facts, News, Trends, Analysis Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:56:32 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Joint US-Palestinian Education in Jerusalem http://middleeastpolitics.net/2009/02/15/joint-us-palestinian-education-in-jerusalem/ http://middleeastpolitics.net/2009/02/15/joint-us-palestinian-education-in-jerusalem/#comments Sun, 15 Feb 2009 21:54:07 +0000 davidhulme http://middleeastpolitics.net/?p=4082 I welcome the news that New York state’s Bard College and Jerusalem’s Al Quds University will offer joint programs beginning next academic year. According to the New York Times, “The plan, relying largely on outside financing, includes a liberal arts honors college and a master’s degree program in teaching, both located at Al Quds and granting joint degrees, as well as a model high school to serve as an educational laboratory. The starting date for the first two is September; the high school is to open in 2010.”

David Hulme

]]> http://middleeastpolitics.net/2009/02/15/joint-us-palestinian-education-in-jerusalem/feed/ 0 Middle East Peace Through Jerusalem or Tehran? http://middleeastpolitics.net/2009/01/16/middle-east-peace-through-jerusalem-or-teheran/ http://middleeastpolitics.net/2009/01/16/middle-east-peace-through-jerusalem-or-teheran/#comments Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:00:15 +0000 davidhulme http://middleeastpolitics.net/?p=4026 Ethan Bronner is Jerusalem bureau chief for the The Times. Here he reviews a new collection of scholarly essays on how to resolve the ME’s various critical problems. The authors, who work in two ME think tanks deal in “nuance and realism, despite small lapses.” The two policy research groups also have close relations to the incoming Obama administration. The road to peace may lie not so much through Jerusalem, but through Tehran.

David Hulme

]]> http://middleeastpolitics.net/2009/01/16/middle-east-peace-through-jerusalem-or-teheran/feed/ 0 Jerusalem Chooses Secular Mayor http://middleeastpolitics.net/2008/11/19/jerusalem-chooses-new-mayor/ http://middleeastpolitics.net/2008/11/19/jerusalem-chooses-new-mayor/#comments Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:48:03 +0000 jbhughes http://middleeastpolitics.net/?p=2616 Nir Barkat, a former high-tech business executive, has been elected Jerusalem’s mayor and is “determined to save the city.”  He has brought new hope, because he is a secularist and not Orthodox, unlike his predecessor.

He was born in Jerusalem and has degrees in computer science and business management. He later founded the BRM group, which was a pioneer of anti-virus software. He joined the Jerusalem City Council in 2003, where he led the opposition. He also founded Startup Jerusalem, which seeks to promote private investment in the city, and New Spirit, which supports students in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is proclaimed as Israel’s capital although other countries refuse to recognize it over Palestinians’ competing claims.  However, it is also one of Israel’s poorest cities and is experiencing desertion by many young, secular residents.  Jerusalem is also facing a period of job shortages and soaring housing prices. Secular communities have been worried about the expansion of ultra-Orthodox communities into new neighborhoods.

The former mayor, Rabbi Uri Lupolianski, was widely perceived to favor the ultra-Orthodox Jews of Jerusalem, as he was part of this group.

Nir Barkat has promised to draw investment back to the city and build it up as an international tourist destination.  He has said he hopes to build more Jewish homes in Palestinian and Israeli-Arab areas in the east of the city – occupied by Israel in 1967 – and is adamant that the city should not be divided.

The possible division of Jerusalem under a future peace deal is one of the most explosive issues in peace talks. It was over this issue that Barkat left the centrist Kadima party that is currently engaged in discussions with the Palestinian Authority.

Jamie Hughes


]]> http://middleeastpolitics.net/2008/11/19/jerusalem-chooses-new-mayor/feed/ 0 Jerusalem Bus Stop Incident “not deliberate” http://middleeastpolitics.net/2008/09/25/jerusalem-bus-stop-incident-not-deliberate/ http://middleeastpolitics.net/2008/09/25/jerusalem-bus-stop-incident-not-deliberate/#comments Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:36:22 +0000 davidhulme http://middleeastpolitics.net/?p=919 The family of the 19 year old Palestinian, Qassem Mughrabi, who drove into a bus stop and injured 19 Israelis claim that the driver was not intending to carry out a terrorist attack. After driving into the bus stop, the teen was shot dead by soldiers who were waiting at there. The family asserts that the driver was not a legal driver and could not drive well. He was also distraught because he had proposed to his cousin, who had refused his offer.

Israeli police claim that they are 100% positive that the boy was indeed trying to carry out a terrorist attack and allege that his cousin refused to marry him because he was going to carry out the attack. Police have been on the lookout for attacks of this nature since a Palestinian went on a rampage in July in a mechanical digger and killed 3 people.

The consequence for such an act is the demolition of the attacker’s home. Human Rights groups call this punishment ineffective and illegal as it is punishing people for the crimes of others.

Jamie Hughes

]]> http://middleeastpolitics.net/2008/09/25/jerusalem-bus-stop-incident-not-deliberate/feed/ 0