Arab MKs boycotted Monday a special meeting of the Knesset plenum held to mark “Jerusalem day” on the 38th anniversary of announcing the unification of the city following the 1967 war.
MK Abdulmalik Dahamshe (United Arab List) said ‘Jerusalem Day is fictitious. Jerusalem is not united but occupied and this occupation must end.’
Opposition head Yosef Lapid (Shinui) proposed on Monday appointing a Palestinian deputy-mayor to be in charge of Palestinian populated areas in the city, saying it would reduce tensions between Jerusalem’s Palestinian population and municipal authorities.
Lapid said that ‘more than a third of Jerusalem’s population is Palestinian”, calling for finding ways to allow all to live together peacefully.
Jerusalem municipality has recently issued orders to demolish 88 homes belonging to Palestinian residents of Silwan neighborhood.
Palestinians consider East Jerusalem an occupied Palestinian territory, demanding that the city be the capital of the future Palestinian state.
Israel considers the unification of the western and eastern parts of the city under Israeli sovereignty as final, eternal and not subjected to negotiations with any party.
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