Netanyahu seizes the occasion to reassert Israel's unyielding grip on Jerusalem

AT THE central ceremony marking the 30th anniversary yesterday of Israel's capture of East Jerusalem and the Old City, the Prime…

AT THE central ceremony marking the 30th anniversary yesterday of Israel's capture of East Jerusalem and the Old City, the Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, insisted that "Jerusalem the united, the complete, is the capital of Israel, and will remain so forever".

Mr Netanyahu's determined rhetoric was clearly designed to emphasise his government's sworn commitment to prevent any dilution of Israeli control of the city. But behind the forceful assertions, the reality three decades after Israel's formal extension of sovereignty across Jerusalem is rather different.

As one of the more down to earth members of the government, the Internal Security Minister, Mr Avigdor Kahalani, acknowledged just a few days ago, the battle for Jerusalem is being fought just as fiercely now as it was in June 1967. Only the weapons have changed.

The main materiel today is not live ammunition but live bodies. And the Israelis are winning.

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Jews outnumber Arabs by more than two to one in the citywide population of 600,000; thanks to a sustained programme of Jewish neighbourhood building, initiated by the former Labour mayor Mr Teddy Kollek, and maintained by the incumbent, Mr Ehud Olmert Jews even outnumber the 180 000 Palestinians in the east of the city.

Palestinian dismay at this shifting demographic balance helps explain the furious reaction to Mr Netanyahu's decision, more than two months ago, to begin work on a 6,500 home Jewish neighbourhood at Har Homa, one of the last remaining areas of undeveloped land in the east of the city.

Since the work started Israeli Palestinian peace talks have been suspended, and the Palestinian Authority's announcement of the death penalty for Arab land dealers who sell to Jews has been followed by the brutal murders of three such dealers.

Israel's housing policy, though, has created such enmity as to make a mockery of its leaders' talk of a united city. Prior to the outbreak of the Intifada uprising a decade ago, Jews and Arabs did mix socially; watermelon stands outside Damascus Gate were among the most obvious symbols of reconciliation.

But those stands have long gone. Few Arabs venture deep into West Jerusalem, fewer Jews into the Arab neighbourhoods in the east, and the various communities inside the walled Old City live in tense proximity.

Ironically, while Mr Netanyahu's government has prided itself on blocking Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem, in the past year, Mr Yasser Arafat's influence has been felt there more than ever before - whether through the spiritual leadership of his Muslim city mufti, or the more subtle and gradually extending authority of his plainclothes security agents.

. Dr Nazih Eldin, a Palestinian who was born in Israel, is holding a vigil outside the Israeli Embassy in Pembroke Road, Dublin, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Six Day War. Dr Eldin asked all Irish political leaders to join him, and to call on Israel's leaders to seek peace.