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Jerusalem Unplugged

Jerusalem Story with Kate Rouhana

Season 4, Ep. 76

In this episode I have interviewed Kate Rouhana, Founder and Director of Jerusalem Story. As we unpacked the mission and structure of the website, we also delved into some of the stories told by the contributors of the website. Jerusalem Story aims to tell the story of a unique city through a new lens—that of the city’s large and diverse indigenous Palestinian community. This community has deep historic roots in Jerusalem and holds the strongest attachment to and love for their city. Yet, they have been subjected to unrelenting efforts to erase their presence in, and potential claim to, the city—past, present, and future—in the service of cementing Israel’s imperative of claiming sole sovereignty in perpetuity over a “united Jewish Jerusalem.” This effort, targeted through an overriding demographic imperative to maintain a Jewish majority to ensure control over the city, started decades ago and has taken myriad highly destructive forms, continuing to the present day, as is openly acknowledged by Israeli officials and decision-makers, and as the website and many other sources amply document.

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