Jerusalemites today mark the 35th anniversary of their city's reunification as Israel's capital. Although the turnout for this year's Jerusalem Day celebrations is expected to be lower than usual, due to a year and half of continued violence, thousands participated yesterday in a colorful parade in the city's center and took part in additional festive events.

This year's celebrations include a memorial ceremony at Ammunition Hill for soldiers who fell during the Six Day War while fighting to liberate Jerusalem, and the March of the Flags, a citywide procession which will end at the Western Wall.

Months of terror and security threats have made their mark on the united city. Downtown Jerusalem, the scene of brutal terror attacks, has turned into a commercial wasteland, with restaurants, cafes and business suffering tremendous losses. A government plan for a 50% tax reduction for Jerusalem businesses is designed to boost the wilting economic climate.

"We have virtually no tourists, and the Israelis that come are looking for sales," clothing storeowner Asher Cohen told the Jerusalem Post.

Avraham Birenbaum, chairman of the Jerusalem Merchants Association, says that although there has been a recent increase in the number of people visiting the area, people are not making purchases: "We see more people and less fear than a month or two ago, but still sales are down, " he said.

But Jerusalemites are displaying the resilience and tenacity that enable them to live in the tense conditions of the current security situation, and say that above everything else, life must go on.

Esther Cohen, a mother of two, who admits that she has taken to entertaining friends at home instead of venturing to a downtown café, says that today she did not hesitate to partake in the Jerusalem Day celebrations. "Even though one needs to exercise caution, it is our city isn't it?"

Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert has been outspoken in his criticism of governments that are quick to talk of the importance of Jerusalem, but rarely back up those words with actions. Incentives for young couples to settle in areas like Maaleh Adumim or Modiin are much more attractive than incentives for Jerusalem neighborhoods like Pisgat Ze'ev or Neve Yaakov. Some 17,500 Jerusalem residents left the city last year due to exorbitant housing costs.

"Instead of encouraging young people to stay in the city, the government, by offering them incentives to buy outside of the city, did everything to encourage them to leave," Olmert said in a Jerusalem Post interview.

Olmert recently described his difficult role as Jerusalem Mayor in an editorial to the Wall Street Journal: "Responding to terrorist attacks and attending funerals are the two most dreadful public duties elected officials are called upon to perform. For the mayors of many Israeli cities, they have also become a routine part of our work."

The proposed "Jerusalem Defense Plan" promises to increase security in the capital. The plan includes the building of electric fences, trenches and roadblocks around the city, using video surveillance and thermal observation, and beefing up security forces.

Police already maintain a strong presence in Jerusalem, with forces increased for events like today's. Jerusalem Police Commander Mickey Levy says of his police force, "We are the 'defensive shield' of Jerusalem."

Elon attempts to solidify Jewish presence in east Jerusalem
Right wing activists led by MK Benny Elon (National Union/Yisrael Beitenu), continue in their efforts to reestablish a Jewish presence in the Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem. Yesterday Elon was present at the dedication of a new Jewish neighborhood called "Nahlat Shimon," near the Orient House and the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. The neighborhood once housed new immigrants from Yemin until they were forced to leave during Israel's War of Independence.

Elon has been instrumental in a campaign which plans for seventeen additional Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem, including in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, Silwan, Beit Orot, the Mount of Olives, and Ras el-Amud. Some of these areas, Elon claims, were established Jewish neighborhoods in the late 1890s until Jewish residents were forced out by the Arab riots of the 1920s and 30s.

Unlike his predecessor Ehud Barak, who proposed dividing Jerusalem at the Camp David peace talks and handing over control of the city's Arab neighborhoods to the Palestinian Authority, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is firm in his support for a united Jerusalem. Sharon rejects even the possibility of negotiating the future of the city. When government officials asked to discuss divisions they claimed already existed in the city, Sharon told them: "For me, gentlemen, you will have to work harder to unite it."

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