Jerusalem

Correspondent Daniel Williams has intelligently presented the political and intercommunal tensions in Jerusalem today (Jan. 9). However, I must object to the headline--”A Fading Vision in Holy City”--and also to being described as “Jeremiah, the voice of doom.” This I surely am not.

In 1967, when the city was reunited, we were predicted to become Belfast or Beirut. This did not happen. But every city, and certainly a poor city with a heterogeneous population embracing conflicting nationalism, has its ups and downs. Williams correctly described my frustration, but I do not see recent events as the last act of the drama, only as another development--if an unfortunate one--in a long process.

Let me bring an example from an area Williams mentioned briefly in his article. The visions and demands of the ultra-Orthodox and secular sections of the Jewish population have often been sharply antagonistic, regarded as our most intractable arena of kulturkampf , and requiring no less an exercise of my political skills than any other conflict in the city.

I felt it was a reasonable desire of the secular majority that there be a proper sports stadium in Jerusalem, even though, in Orthodox Jewish terms, this was an anathema guaranteed to cause Sabbath desecration. For almost two decades, I fought with local Orthodox groups and even the national government. Earlier this month the new stadium was inaugurated, without any accompanying protest. This is one of a number of signs of progress toward mutual accommodation.

So, I take the long view and I am deeply confident about the future of Jerusalem.

TEDDY KOLLEK, Mayor of Jerusalem