In preparation for the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, Arutz Sheva, together with Ateret Cohanim, are presenting a special project that will focus on the renewal of Jewish presence in eastern Jerusalem, the Old City and the village of Shiloah.

Part four of the special project takes us to the Yemenite Village in Jerusalem.

“I realized that people actually live beyond Jaffa Gate,” said Nira Rabinowitz, a resident of the Yemenite Village. “When I married my husband, our goal was to come and live in eastern Jerusalem, and when Ateret Cohanim told us that there’s a house in which we can live in the Yemenite Village, for us it was life mission, and it remains that way to this day.”

“We believe that settling in eastern Jerusalem is continuing what started in 1882, when the Yemenites first came to live in Jerusalem. They came through the desert, and they came specifically to Jerusalem. They didn’t want to be anywhere else. And they lived here in very hard conditions, until Jews from all over the world helped them to build their homes. There were over 100 families living here. All that ended during the riots.”

“We are not against the Arabs. They are not the issue,” she stressed. “We are here for Jerusalem, and that’s our mission and ideology. Coming here is in order to build, not to ruin.”

Despite going through rough times, with ongoing terrorist attacks, Rabinowitz said, “We pay a high price in order to live here, but what keeps us going here is opening our eyes and seeing Jerusalem being rebuilt.”

For more details about Ateret Cohanim's activities and to join the “Building Jerusalem together” project, click here.