Light Rail in the Holy City

This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.

You think it’s hard getting Bellevue and Redmond to agree? Try building a light-rail line in Jerusalem:

Running about 15 kilometers, or nine miles, from Mount Herzl in southern and predominantly Jewish Jerusalem to Pisgat Ze’ev, via Shuafat, in the north, it touches on one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the ownership of the city that both Israelis and Palestinians claim as their capital.

Forty years ago this week, Israel conquered the eastern, Arab-populated half of Jerusalem from Jordan and declared that the city would be united for eternity.

The government expanded the city limits to take in outlying Palestinian villages, like Shuafat, and annexed them. The Palestinians were offered Israeli citizenship, but most refused, calling the occupation of the land illegal, and chose permanent residency instead.

The Israelis, of course, are still hoping that Tim Eyman will show up and lead them to the land of $30 car tabs.