The coronavirus has triggered a badly needed alliance in East Jerusalem. Al-Tajamu al-Maqdisi (the Jerusalem Alliance) was launched March 15 to confront the novel coronavirus by volunteers and Jerusalem-based nongovernmental organizations with the aim of raising awareness and providing emergency needs for the city’s 350,000 Palestinians. 

Ahmad Budeiri, the coordinator of the alliance, told Al-Monitor that the group is made up of 36 Jerusalem-based organizations and volunteers and is not a political entity.

 “We are dealing with the issue of the coronavirus strictly from a humanitarian point of view and we are basing all our efforts on sound advice from professionals, especially the World Health Organization [WHO], which is part of our alliance,” he added. A number of international NGOs are part of the alliance.

The alliance divides East Jerusalem into three sections: north, which includes Shufat and Beit Hanina; center, which includes the Old City and Silwan; and south, which includes Jabal Mukabar, Im Toba Sawahre and other neighborhoods to the south of East Jerusalem.