Troubled Shrine

Jerusalem, shrine of three faiths, has been divided and harassed by military occupation ever since the Arab-Jewish war in Palestine ended over a year ago. Between the Arab-held Old City and the Israeli-held New City, lies a narrow no man's land cluttered with shell-torn ruins. Only the foolhardy would cross the narrow strip without special permission from both sides.

Last week, with thousands of pilgrims preparing to travel to Jerusalem during the Holy Year of 1950, Israel and Jordan reached a boundary agreement after lengthy talks. There will still be a frontier in the middle of the city, but, presumably, Christian pilgrims will now be able to cross the dividing line freely and safely.

Corpus Separatum. The Israel-Jordan agreement was spurred by U.N. action. On the eve of adjournment at Flushing Meadows last week, the General Assembly approved a plan to internationalize Jerusalem. By its terms the city would become a corpus separatum governed by the U.N.'s Trusteeship Council. The area would embrace the walled Old City, the bustling New City and such nearby holy places as Bethlehem (see map).

The plan for Jerusalem had overwhelming support--38 nations for, 14 against, 7 abstentions. It was passed by an odd alliance of forces: the Catholic Latin American countries, which followed the Vatican line, voted with the Communist bloc, which wanted to win friends among the Arab states. The U.S., Britain and Sweden opposed the plan as- unrealistic because U.N. has no way of enforcing it against opposition from Israel and Jordan. The U.S. had favored a Swedish resolution--providing for more limited international supervision of the holy places--which had a clear chance of being accepted by Jerusalem's occupying powers.

As the U.S. had foreseen, Israel bitterly defied the U.N. action. Foreign Minister Moshe Sharrett announced that his government would never give up Jerusalem: "To the Jewish people [Jerusalem] has been and is the very heart--the symbol of its past glory, the lodestar in its wanderings . . ." Jerusalem's Israeli Mayor Daniel Auster warned: "We shall stand at the city's gates to keep out any pretenders." A spokesman in Tel Aviv threatened passive resistance: "I don't know if a U.N. governor will find a house to work in. If he does and sets about establishing public services, no one will avail himself of such services." Jordan also objected. Said its Foreign Minister Ruhi Abdulhadi: "Jordan will oppose the execution of whatever is decided contrary to its rightful wishes."

The Holy Places. In spite of its truculent attitude toward U.N., Israel went ahead with preparations to receive pilgrims. On the Israel side visitors will see such Christian shrines as the Dormition of Mary on Mount Zion, the Cenacle where the Last Supper was spread, the Ein Karim home of John the Baptist, and Nazareth.

On the Arab side, the Old City still looks much as it appeared to Godfrey de Bouillon, "Defender of the Holy Sepulcher," when he marched in with the First Crusaders almost 900 years ago. The Holy Sepulcher still stands, though in altered form. Everything around it has remained intact, including the Via Dolorosa along which Jesus climbed to Calvary.

But the Old City has few hotels to shelter visitors. It lacks adequate water or electricity. Three miles to the south in Bethlehem, Christmastide promises to be sad and bitter. The village where Christ was born is jammed with Arab refugees; 55,000 hungry, homeless, hopeless outcasts of war live in an area that normally supports 12,000. The one good road (10 minutes by motorcar) to Jerusalem is in Israeli hands; the only other road is hardly more than a tortuous trail through the desolate Judean hills.

The village is in wretched straits, practically isolated from the outer world save for Red Cross trucks bringing in emergency food. It hopes and prays that large numbers of pilgrims might visit it between Christmas and Easter. For the faithful, it would still be a troubled journey to a troubled shrine.

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