LIVING IN JERUSALEM’S OLD CITY
BBC NEWS
iddle_east/7566775.stm
2008/08/29 07:00:34 GMT
The Old City of Jerusalem – containing sites sacred to Judaism,
Christianity and Islam – is often viewed as being at the heart of
the Arab-Israeli conflict. Divided into Jewish, Christian, Muslim and
Armenian quarters, it is an ethnic, cultural, political and religious
mix. Here, some of the Old City’s residents describe life behind its
ancient walls.
ELI GEORGE KOUZ, 55, SHOP OWNER, CHRISTIAN QUARTER The Old City is
full of crazy and fanatical people, and the Jews and Muslims are
getting more and more fundamentalist.
You see them walking round in their costumes, as if their way of life
is the only right one. I don’t like that. We should all be the same.
I belong to the Syrian Orthodox Church but life in the Old City can
be very difficult for Christians. The fighting is between Jews and
Muslims but the Christians get caught in the middle. It is far better
to keep out of it.
I don’t like living in the Old City – it’s very difficult to make
a living.
People here depend on tourism. It’s okay if you’re a tour guide –
you get a big commission – but there are too many store owners who
work like gangsters. Because of them tourists are scared to enter my
shop because they think they’re going to get hassled.
I work 12 hours a day because you don’t know when customers are going
to come and buy. In the Old City business is bad, but if you go outside
the walls to the new part, the shops there are doing really well.
Life here is not good either – there’s too much hatred between Muslims
and Jews. I have to pass through all the other quarters to get to my
house and I have to hope I’m not going to get caught up in any trouble.
In the future I’d hate to see the Old City divided. It should be an
open place, with no shops or houses even – like the Vatican – just a
place for tourists to visit. But how can it be the City of God when
there are police, soldiers and weapons everywhere, and people are
always getting pushed around?
ADNAN AWEIDH, 53, HOTEL WORKER, MUSLIM QUARTER I was born in the Old
City and my family here goes back 700 years.
It’s such an important place for Muslims – it’s the second holiest
place after Mecca. Jerusalem is like our water and we are like its
fish – we can’t live outside it.
The Muslim Quarter is very special but it can sometimes be like a
big prison – it was more open and free in the 1960s and 70s.
We don’t feel very safe here. Violence can happen here anytime, even
with the police – if you even look like an Arab they will always ask
you for your ID and question you, and if you don’t have your ID card
they will take you away.
Apart from that, life is very good here. I have my coffee and nargillah
and sit with my friends. I go to all the different quarters and I
have a lot of friends in the Armenian Quarter in particular.
Relations are also very good with the Christians – we eat and socialise
together – but it’s not so good with the Jews. Politics makes a
difference between people here. Before 1948 we lived with the Jews
like one big family, but since then there has been a lot of hatred.
I like living in the Muslim Quarter – it’s always busy and everyone
from around the world passes through.
We have everything we need here, nothing is missing. But it’s very
expensive in the Old City – you have to have at least two jobs and
your wife must also work just to make ends meet.
GARO SANDROUNI, 53, SHOP OWNER, ARMENIAN QUARTER The Armenian community
has been in Jerusalem since the fourth century.
There are only about 1,500 Armenians here now but the advantage of
that is everyone knows everyone else.
We have schools, museums, churches, seminaries and institutions here –
we’re very well-organised for such a small community.
Living in the Old City has got worse and worse. It’s attractive to
three major religions but there’s not enough space. Whenever there
are religious festivals – which is all the time – thousands of people
come here, which makes life difficult. You can’t move, you can’t take
your car out and you really have to plan in advance how you’re going
to get around.
I have seen lots of changes here in my lifetime. There have been too
many renovations in the Old City. It was completely different when
I was young.
Even the entrances to the Old City were different in those days.
There have been political changes too – the intifadas [Palestinian
uprisings] changed the atmosphere here. People went on strike and
shops closed down.
It has become more and more tense, people have become more fanatic
and everyone is pouring towards the Old City – so we end up getting
all the problems here.
We can live freely as Armenians though – there is no problem with
worshipping, for instance.
The Armenians are friendly with all the other quarters – we border
the Jewish and Christian Quarters and we have good relations with them.
Of course, everyone tries to get you on their side – sometimes we
sympathise with the Arabs, sometimes with the Jews, but as Armenians
we always try to stay neutral.
KITTY SEVILLA, 80, RESTAURANT OWNER, JEWISH QUARTER I moved here from
Tel Aviv in 1976. My father was born in the Old City and had always
told us what it was like, but we couldn’t visit here before 1967.
I love everything about living here. It’s a very special place because
it is where Jews had the Biblical temples. Being here now goes all
the way back to our ancestors and you really feel that. We can be
free and be Jewish here.
The only problem with living here is the restrictions during festivals.
Sometimes it’s difficult to get around.
We don’t keep separate from the other quarters. We used to go to the
other parts a lot but what we don’t like is the threat of terrorism,
so now we only go when we have to. There’s no hostility between Jews
and Arabs here but you never know when something might happen.
The Old City has changed a lot in the 30 years I have been here. In
1976 they were building a lot in the Jewish Quarter – there were lots
of donkeys carrying the materials because in those days the streets
here were very narrow. It’s also become a lot more expensive to buy
property here.
There are many more people here now too. Even just 10 years ago a
lot of people were too afraid to come here, but that’s changed now.
I feel safe living here – there are lots of police and soldiers around,
but that’s not unique to the Old City – it’s the same all over Israel.
I like the different people in the Old City. It’s a peaceful place to
live – all the nationalities get on here. I don’t want to see Jerusalem
divided, regardless of what other people say. If you want peace here,
things should stay the way they are.