An appeal by the Ucei President
Jerusalem Day

By Noemi Di Segni*

A day of celebration, Jerusalem Day, turned into a day of guerrilla warfare and terror. And only by a miracle, for the moment, no losses of life. All these upsets and worries us, also for the fear that the violence, not easily tamable, will spread to other cities in Israel and in the Territories. Responsibility, clarity, and consistency are now needed from everybody, also from governments, leaders, and international diplomacies.
This is not the time to launch one-way appeals, expecting only from Israel and its security forces something that is not only practically impossible but unfair and shortsighted: inertia in front of those who have interests in increasing chaos, hate, and violence. Accusatory attitudes towards Israel just add more fuel to the fire.
It is disheartening that on this very significant day, marked by the remembrance of a vital occurrence in the millenary Jewish history, celebrations must be curtailed and stifled. That a Jewish citizen of Jerusalem may not be able to move freely in his city, in his capital reunited after the many sacrifices that we remember today.

*President of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities.