From the Cleveland State Vindicator
Volume 28, issue 12. April 20, 1998. 
	page 14
RONN TOROSSIAN SPEAKS IN CLEVELAND
In who’s hands is the fate of Jerusalem?
	by Binyamin Bresky

     Ronn Torossian, overseas coordinator of Yerushalayim Shelanu 
(Our Jerusalem) spoke to a receptive crowd of approximately eighty 
people at Park Synagogue East on March 25th. The event was sponsored 
by the Cleveland chapter of Betar and the Tagar Jewish Student 
Movement of Cleveland State University. Yerushalayim Shelanu is a 
new activist movement in Israel dedicated to keeping Jerusalem Jewish. 
Most recently, Yerushalayim Shelanu participated in the protest against 
British foreign secretary Robin Cook’s visit to Israel. Mr. Cook toured 
sites in Jerusalem with PLO officials, but not Israeli officials. "Would  
Robin Cook visit the British parliament with members of Irish Republican 
Army?" asked Mr. Torossian.
     Because of the Oslo Accords, Jerusalem is in danger of being divided 
and given to Yasir Arafat’s PLO. The signs of this happening are already 
in sight. The PLO headquarters is located "not in Gaza, not in Lebanon, 
but right in the middle of Jerusalem." Mr. Torossian said in reference 
to the Orient House. Although PLO activity in Jerusalem is against the 
Oslo Accords, the Orient House operates freely with three large PLO flags 
waving over it.
     Mr. Torossian was also involved in the Har HaZetim (Mount of Olives) 
issue involving the house purchased in Jerusalem by Jewish American 
Irving Moskowitz. "It’s a double standard. Why can’t a Jew buy a house 
and live in any neighborhood he wants to?"
     The most well known issue Mr. Torossian talked about is that of 
Har Homa. The media image of Har Homa is often that of a "settlement" 
that robs non-Jews of their homes. But this is far from the truth. 
Har Homa is nowhere near any non-Jewish neighborhoods. It is simply 
a new neighborhood being built in Israel’s capital for anyone who 
wants to live there. Non-Jews are trying to make an issue out of 
Har Homa to try and lay claim to Jerusalem. That’s why Yerushalayim 
Shelanu feels so strongly about the building of Har Homa.
     Mr. Torossian ended with a story about a young girl who asked a 
famous rabbi this question; "I am holding a bird in my hands. Is it 
dead or alive?" The girl thought, "if the rabbi says the bird is alive, 
I will crush it and he will be wrong. If the rabbi says the bird is dead, 
I will let it fly free and still prove him wrong." The rabbi pondered 
for a moment and then answered, "the fate of the bird is in your hands." 
By the same token, the fate of Jerusalem is in the hands of the Jews. 
     Yerushalayim Shelanu offers tours of Jerusalem. For more 
information you can contact them at: 011-972-53-510-214; by 
e-mail at: ourjrlm@netvision.net.il or on the world wide web at: 
http://www.ourjerusalem.org.