Palestinians propose joint ruling of Jerusalem with Israel

The Palestinians proposed an understanding on a joint ruling of Jerusalem, as part of a permanent peace deal that would be reached with Israel in the future, officials said on Wednesday. Mahmoud al-Habash, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) minister of Waqf (Islamic properties) told Xinhua that the Palestinians don't oppose a joint administration of the city in the future, but insist that east Jerusalem should be the capital of the independent state of Palestine. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was the first to announce this initiative in a meeting with around 300 Israeli universities students in Ramallah this week. "East Jerusalem is part of the Palestinian territories Israel occupied in 1967 and we want this part of the city to be the capital of our state. We don't want to divide the city but to keep it open and to have two municipalities under one coordination body, " Abbas told the Israeli students. Abbas also said that this solution would be the best example of coexistence between the Israeli and the Palestinian peoples. The Palestinian proposal is made as the issue of Jerusalem is one of the permanent status issues in the current US-sponsored peace negotiations between the two sides. "The eastern part of the city is a Palestinian legitimate right, " said al-Habash, adding that the Palestinian sovereignty on east Jerusalem should include a sovereignty on all Islamic and Christian holy sites, including al-Aqsa Mosque. "Putting Jerusalem under an international mandate is also possible, but it should be debated through the negotiations and such a mandate has to be temporary, and the full jurisdiction on the eastern part of the city should be in the hands of the Palestinians," he said. Khalil Tafakji, the Palestinian director of maps in the Orient House in east Jerusalem told Xinhua that the Palestinian proposal to keep Jerusalem open for both Israelis and Palestinians "is not new, and it has been presented many years ago, but the problem is that Israel still rejects it." "The Israeli rejection to the proposal is the main obstacle for ending the conflict on the city, where Israel plans to annex all Jerusalem and this in fact is completely rejected by the Palestinians," he said. Jerusalem is an important city for Muslims, Jews and Christians. The conflict is not only between Israel and the Palestinians, but also between Muslims and the Jews. However, Palestinian observers believe that the Palestinian proposal on Jerusalem is another concession added to the concessions the Palestinians are offering to Israel. Zaher Deb'ei, a Palestinian writer specialized in Jerusalem affairs told Xinhua that accepting the idea of temporary keeping the eastern part of the city under international mandate" is a clear Palestinian retreat in their position." "I think that such a proposal only gives the Palestinians a formal control on the eastern part of the city, instead of giving them full sovereignty," said Deb'ie, warning that the Israeli policy has been always aiming at emptying the city of its Palestinian residents and turning it into Jewish.