Delving into the Daf

“It’s the

Capital City of the Jewish People”

TJH Speaks with Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem

BY SUSAN SCHWAMM

Fleur, it’s a pleasure speaking with you. Although you’ve been living in Israel for many years, you grew up in Gibraltar.

That’s right. I come from a traditional Sephardi family. My father, actually, was the chief minister, which is like the prime minister, of Gibraltar, for many years. He was the first chief minister of Gibraltar, and so I grew up in a political family. My father was a very humble man and tried to keep everything very simple for us. But I did learn from him, and my mother, of course, about public service.

I studied in England – I’m a lawyer by profession – and I made aliyah 20 years ago with my husband. Our children were born here. I was always a bit of a Zionist, and I’m so thrilled that I’ve spent most of my career serving the Jewish people. I worked in nonprofit for many years.

I was a Jerusalem city councilwoman for two-and-a-half years, and now, for two-and-ahalf years, I’ve been one of the deputy mayors of Jerusalem. I’m in charge of foreign relations, economic development, and tourism.

Those are interesting portfolios to hold, especially during a pandemic.

Absolutely.

It’s not only that tourism was affected during the pandemic. I would think foreign relations is so important now as well, along with economic development.

Agreed – especially in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is an international city. It’s a city that many people around the world love. Of course, it’s also the capital city of the Jewish people, not just the state of Israel, and I’m very, very cognizant of that. During the Corona, for example, there were many moments when we actually did a very good job at combatting the virus, and so it was a privilege to be able to share those best practices and experiences with lots of different cities around the world to see how we could help them. And so yes, it’s been an interesting year.

The last month [during the Gaza conflict] has been a very negative part of the year with conflict and with the terrible, terrible attacks in the press. We are watching from here all the anti-Semitic attacks in the United States and in Europe very helplessly. It’s very frustrating.

You’re involved in foreign relations for Jerusalem. Did the Gaza conflict and the situation in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbor-

At the signing of the UAE-Israel Business Council

hood make your job that much harder? Do you feel that there’s a perception around the world that Israel is the aggressor?

Absolutely. It was a very deliberate Hamas campaign. They made the linkage to Jerusalem very early on. They did this for political reasons, of course, because if you link it to Jerusalem, you justify conflict.

And of course, we were getting terrible press around the world, and I spent a lot of my time on foreign channels defending our position and explaining to people and to the press who were willing to listen what’s really going on and not what has been reported.

Have Hamas and their associates gotten better at the social media aspect of the fight?

Yes. They’re great at it, and then you have a world willing to believe anything that is against Israel. It’s a combination of them having great social media and the world giving them the narrative, agreeing with their narrative. Additionally, I think, Israel does not have good PR. We don’t have good social media, and that’s our fault. This is something that I feel very strongly about, and we really need to fix. can’t create a cohesive media strategy to fight the demonization and villainization of Israel. That’s one of the reasons why I decided to go into politics.

What’s are some of the biggest accomplishments that you felt you made in your position as deputy mayor of Jerusalem?

I think that the most important thing that I’ve managed to do, apart from some of the projects that I’ve done, is to tell the story of what’s really going on in Jerusalem. And what’s really going on in Jerusalem is the strengthening of the marginal population groups, like Arabs and ultra Orthodox Jews, who, many, live under the poverty line, through job opportunities, through development of educational programs, job placement, and infrastructural development.

We are the most diverse city in the country, and we are creating a shared society. It’s just that nobody sees it. Nobody knows about it. They see this as a city of conflict when, in fact, m’Zion tetzei Torah, from here, we will build true peace.

I do a lot of things with women and the women’s sphere of economic development, women in high-tech –charedi women, Jewish women, Arab women – we bring them together and help them develop in business.

We work together to bring investments to the city and to create great jobs in the city and to create cultural partnerships. It’s really never-ending, the energy in the city. I’m very proud of the story that we are telling the world about Jerusalem, the connection that we built with all sorts of cities around the world, and the main message is that Jerusalem is not just a special city, it’s also a regular city that is supposed to serve its residents.

Isn’t that ironic – that Israel is not good at social media but we’re known for our prowess in technology.

Yes. We are technological wizards, and yet we

A lot of people come from the U.S. to visit, and it’s an enjoyable tourism spot. But it’s also hard for us to realize that this is a place that a lot of people call home. How many people live in Jerusalem?

It’s the largest city in the country by double. Almost a million people live in Jerusalem. We’re 11% of the Israeli population, living in Jerusalem.

And so that’s very significant, and there’s a lot of work to do. But there’s a lot of great innovation here – cultural innovation, educational innovation. People are restless to save the world and fix society. We have the largest amount of NGOs per capita in the world; there is a huge amount of volunteers. It’s a city that is constantly changing, developed and built, and that’s something exciting.

What are some of your favorite spots in Jerusalem?

Well, there are a number of spots that I really love. Actually, today, I was just in the Aish HaTorah building in the Old City. The rooftop, I think, is the best view in the whole city. I love The First Station, which is a really fun, cultural hub with great restaurants. There’s always cultural activities going on, and it’s not far from my house. So we love going there.

And there’s all the various tourist sites – City of David, the Tower of David museum, all the places that you have to kind of pinch yourself to understand that this is a 3,000-year-old city that

“You have to kind of pinch yourself to understand that this is a 3,000-yearold city that is modernized and developed while still keeping the integrity of the history and the heritage of our city.”