We as Jews must not stand idly by when a grave injustice is done in a country and a city we love. We believe that Jews have a right to a state and so do Palestinians. We stand with Israeli organizations like Ir Amim that “envisions a city that ensures the dignity and welfare of all its residents and safeguards their holy places, historical and cultural heritages – today, as well as in the future. Ir Amim aspires to a sustainable political future for Jerusalem as the shared capital of two sovereign states – achievable only through a negotiated Israeli-Palestinian peace process.”

Displacing hundreds of Palestinians from Jerusalem is done in the hope of insuring that two states would no longer be an option. It is intended to make annexation an official de facto occupation state.  We do not know what will be the long-term consequences of the horrible events in Jerusalem, with hundreds of Palestinians injured, and violence on both sides.  The violence must end, but its root causes must be addressed as well. We must end the ongoing efforts to expel Palestinian families from homes in East Jerusalem they have occupied for generations.  There is no other way but to acknowledge the feeling of powerlessness and despair felt by most Palestinians. We as Jews need to recognize that though Israel has been sovereign in all of Jerusalem since 1967, it has remained a bitterly divided city.  The time is long overdue for Jerusalem to become a city in which all of its residents and citizens have equal, civic and religious rights, and are treated with respect and dignity.  Following our Jewish tradition we draw on Isaiah’s prophetic promise, “For my House shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”