But Israel nourishes itself, not from its “Israeliness” but br

from its Jewishness. Its very right to exist is based on that Jew- br

ishness. It was because of the Jewish people’s ancient claim to br

the land that the existence of a majority of Arabs was rightly br

termed irrelevant. It was because of a Jewish claim that Lord br

Balfour and the British government issued the proclamation br

supporting a Jewish national home in Palestine. It is because of br

its Jewishness that world Jewry supports Israel. How much mon- br

ey would world Jewry give to a United Appeal that raised money br

for an “Israel” whose Arab population was the majority and br

whose entire identity had changed overnight?

Of course Israeli Arabs were demanding “integration.” Of br

course they wanted “more.” Of course they wanted social and br

economic benefits. But not because that would satisfy them, not br

because that was all they wanted. They wanted to be exactly like br

the Jews, including having the right to create an Arab “Zionist” state br

when they become a majority, just as the Jews imposed their Zionism br

on them.

But how does one get through the head of a Teddy Kollek br

that his demand for water, electricity, and phone service for the br

Arabs of East Jerusalem may win him Arab votes but is irrele- br

vant to the fact that they mock and hiss at his pathetic insistence br

that Jerusalem is “one unified city”? How does one persuade br

Kollek that his plan to “satisfy” the Arabs of Jerusalem by es- br

tablishing a system of “boroughs” that will give them autonomy br

will only whet their appetite for full independence, jeopardize br

Jewish tourists in the “autonomous” areas of Jerusalem, and br

convince the Arabs of Jewish weakness?

To understand fully the mind of Teddy Kollek and his com- br

patriots, one must consider an “event” that Kollek conceived of br

and carried out in April 1980. Fully aware of the emptiness of br

his “one Jerusalem” claim, Kollek, in conjunction with the br

American Jewish Congress, conceived of a “conference” of br

mayors from multi-ethnic American cities. Clearly, Kollek br

wished to tell the world: We have invited the mayors of Chicago, br

Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and other cities to Jerusalem, because we br

all have a common problem. We all have people of different back- br

grounds and there is always a certain amount of friction. But br

just as Pittsburgh and Chicago solve their ethnic problems, so br

can Jerusalem, because our problems are similar.