00:13

A new dawn in Jerusalem. The city of three global religions is awakening.The Al-Aqsa mosque is at the heart of Islamic faith. For centuries Jerusalem has been the heart

of the world's three most significant religions.

00:26
Jews, Christians and Muslims rub shoulders in it's narrow streets. Living an uneasy existence in Jerusalem is all they share. The Israelis took charge of the old town and other parts of East Jerusalem after the six day war in 1967.  Now Palestinians make up less than half the population.

00:48

Morning rush hour at the checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Jewish soldiers monitor Arabs as they enter the city. Tight security restricts freedom of movement from Palestinian -controlled Bethlehem into Israelis-controlled Jerusalem.

01:05 Yasser

Yasser is a Palestinian from the West Bank and is without an entry pass. Since  the Israelis put up the border 6 years ago , Yasser has had to get to Jerusalem illegally.

01:17

Yasser
West Bank Palestinian

If the situation is normal, and not bad, it's fairly easy to get through
the checkpoint. It depends what sort of mood the soldiers are in. If
they're in a happy or normal mood, then we don't have to go over the top, we can just go round.

1:40
The checkpoint and controls are supposed to prevent terrorist attacks. However determined Palestinians can evade check points and scramble over  walls and barbed wire to gain entry but they risk fines or arrest if caught.

However the checkpoint is soon to be dismantled and a new fence is supposed to stop illegal access in the future. Yasser managed to get through this time but next time he may not be so lucky.

2:04

Yasser gets on a bus and drives of

2:10
Matthew Brubacher,

 NGO worker.

"Well before the policy of closure the Palestinians had free access -historically speaking they have always had access to Jerusalem. Bethlehemand Jerusalem are linked together historically, economically and politically.The military closure has put up a barrier between Bethlehem and Jerusalem.  So the Israelis keep East Jerusalem as a part of Israel and Palestinians
can no longer enter East Jerusalem.

2:37
Soldiers watch over a  ring of twenty settlements which have sprung up in the last decades in and around Jerusalem and the West Bank.

New Jewish roofs spread out in front of crumbling old Arabic settlements.
With a massive building program he Israelis will soon be in the majority in East Jerusalem . The Palestinians were allowed to develop only 13% of the area, under strict conditions and with specialpermits.

An American millionaire is having 130 Jewish flats built in the middle ofan Arab area. Jerusalem is growing. But at Arab expense.   Even the inhabitants themselves often can't make out the city boundaries.The demarcation line goes right through these Arab houses.

3:30

 Naim Abu Saad

Displaced Palestinian

We were boys - we used to play up there, hunt birds and look for snakes.We were like kids.

3:47 Question:Are you shocked to see this settlement here?

3:49
No, no. The political side of it is very horrible. But as people, no, we don't care. We want to live together in peace.

4:14

 Youval Jonasoff

I'd put it this way. We already live in peace. Israel is one of thesafest countries in the world. - Really? - Of course. We're stood here andno-one is disturbing us. We can go in the street and feel safe.  They work here, they have money. Sometimes I invite them round to my house for a coffee. The Arabs and us are good friends.

"So you don't have a problem with it?" - No, I don't have a problem with it.

4:40 woman

"I don't want to stand in the sun any longer. If you're not going to let usin, just say so."

4:48
Palestinians queue anxiously in front of the Israeli home office. This is where the permits for a stay in Jerusalem are granted- documentation which unites families and registers children.  The passis of the greatest importance, without it there's no social security, employment, or access to Jerusalem.TO get the pass Palestinians must wait for hours.

 5:15 Man Queuing

'After 30 minutes they close the door and that's it for the day - you cancome again tomorrow. We're not just the working class here - we'reacademics and doctors, and they treat us like animals. Look at thisbarrier - it's like a cattle market.

5:50
Empty properties have been occupied by those made homeless by draconian Israelis laws. Around  15,000 Arabs have lost the right to stay in Jerusalem . They now squat . A new generation of refugees. Their poverty is made worse by Israeli bureaucrats who refuse  them basic services.

6:14

Woman Squatter:

The Jews want to get rid of us, but we don't want to go, in spite ofeverything they've done to us. Even if they throw us out of the camp, Iswear I'll take my tent and live on the street. We'd rather live on thestreets of Jerusalem than leave Jerusalem altogether. We were born here,and can't imagine leaving.

6:40
The number of Palestinian families forced to live in tents, caves or overpopulated houses is rising. The Palestinians complain that the Israeli settlement and permit policies are driving Arabs out of Jerusalem.

6:57
If people stay, it's because of their children. They hope for a better future for them. Yet the future does not look good. The health system in East Jerusalem is poor, education unsatisfactory, there are hardly any leisure facilities and large families are forced to live in less and less space .

7:23
 An Austrian project set up to inspire children to photograph each other in Jerusalem . Young Palestinians face the prospect of their culture vanishing.  They experience strong inner anguish as they see their fathers and mothers helpless before the Israel state .

7:49

Terry Bulata,

leader of the Austrian Social Centre.

'They shouldn't carry out violence - yet if violence is present and you aresuffering from it, then you can learn how to cope with it here. You learnhow to turn the violence into something else, and how to handle violencetowards you. Violence channelled at you because you don't have any room,because you are on the street. Against you on a social level becauseeveryone here is stepping on each other's toes. You don't even have asquare metre of space to yourself where you can let off steam.

8:23
It is the Children who hold the key to the future of Jerusalem. If they can learn to respect one another and live together in harmony .Then Jerusalem may learn to sleep quietly once more.

8:59  End inserts:
>
> report: Marie-Theres Euler-Rolle
> camera: Raid Alhelou
>editing: Astrid Conrad
>
> Music:
>
> 1) Koran recital
> 2) Amr Diab: Awaduny
> 3) Hamastasch: Lissa