Jerusalem, all of Jerusalem, is ours and always will be.
Today is Yom Yerushalayim, which marks the reunification of Jerusalem on the third day of the Six Day War of 1967.
See here – and share widely – a stirring and beautiful historical recounting of that reunification:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wlPw3NUeb0
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More than 3,000 years ago, King David chose Jerusalem as his capital because it wasn’t in the allocated area of any one of Israel’s 12 tribes; it was to be for all of the tribes equally.
David’s son, King Solomon, subsequently built the Temple within the city in approximately 950 BCE.
That was eons before Islam was even founded in 610 CE.
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Following the destruction of the Temple of Solomon by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, a Second Temple was built in roughly 516 BCE. The Temple Mount today is the site of these temples. The Kotel is part of the retaining wall that was built to support the enlarged mount on which the Second Temple, expanded by Herod the Great, sat.
From the time that the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in 70 CE and gained control of the area, until modern times, Jews had no sovereignty over Jerusalem. For that period of almost 2,000 years, however, Jerusalem remained the holiest site for Jews. Jerusalem was always remembered in prayer, and there was always a Jewish presence in the city. By the mid-1800s, there was a Jewish majority in the city. Jews the world over face Jerusalem when praying.
The city was never declared the capital by any of the various groups (Ottoman, Byzantine, Crusader, Mamluk, etc.) that occupied the area over the centuries. In all of its existence, Jerusalem has only been the Jewish capital. It is within the borders of the Jewish homeland as set out by the League of Nations in the Mandate for Palestine in 1922.
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Jerusalem was divided in 1948, when Jordan retained control of the eastern part of the city at the end of Israel’s War of Independence – the only time in Jerusalem’s history that such a division occurred. The Temple Mount and the old Jewish Quarter were in Jordanian hands; Israel controlled the western portion of the city.
Jordan’s attempt in 1950 to annex eastern Jerusalem, along with Judea & Samaria, was recognized by only two nations in the world (Great Britain and Pakistan). It was not legal under international law because the area was taken in an offensive war of aggression.
There is no such thing as “East Jerusalem,” as a separate municipal entity. There is only the eastern portion of united Jerusalem. Eastern Jerusalem has a heavy Arab population only because during the years that it was under Jordanian rule, it was Judenrein.
Not only did King Abdullah destroy or desecrate 58 synagogues in eastern Jerusalem and desecrate thousands of tombstones in the ancient Jewish cemetery of the Mount of Olives, he also refused to honor a commitment written into the armistice agreement to allow Jewish access into eastern Jerusalem to visit holy places and to utilize the cemetery.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jordanian-annexation-of-the-west-bank-april-1950
This failure to honor a written commitment should, I would suggest, serve as a warning today. Israel must protect herself, and not rely on commitments that can be readily broken.
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The Hurva Synagogue, the largest synagogue in eastern Jerusalem, had been bombed by the Jordanians. Wonton destruction for the sake of destruction. It tells us a great deal.
For years after Israel regained control of eastern Jerusalem, there was discussion about the appropriate way to achieve restoration. People walking past the site of the synagogue, saw this landmark:
In 2010, the synagogue was restored. Its interior is magnificent and worth a visit.
The entire Jewish Quarter of the Old City – where the Hurva sits – was renovated extensively.
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Within the Muslim world, there is fierce hostility to the presence of Jews in land they maintain is theirs. That hostility is self-evident, as we are seeing its expression right now.
The best response to this, the only meaningful response, is a firm commitment by Am Yisrael to hold on to the land – to assert our rights and stand strong for them. Concessions do not work.
Those Arabs who claim the right to the Land of Israel are keenly aware of the central importance of Jerusalem. This is precisely because the city was Jewish over 3,000 years ago and at the heart of the Jewish kingdom. Thus, the attempts to undermine Jewish presence in the city and to maintain that Jerusalem must be the capital of a Palestinian state (in their dreams).
Please see a more extensive explanation of the Jewish history in Jerusalem and legal rights by Jews to the city.
https://41k.82b.myftpupload.com/a-unified-jerusalem-israels-rights/
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Nowhere is this Arab effort to undermine Jewish rights exerted more ferociously than on Har Habayit, the Temple Mount, the site of Solomon’s Temple and the Second Temple.
The Arabs, seeking to undermine the legitimacy of Jewish claims, maintain that there were no Temples. They understand very well what they are doing when they level this attack. Regularly there is incitement – most especially by that “moderate” leader of the PA, Mahmoud Abbas. There are fallacious claims that Jews are “storming” the Mount.
Evidence of the presence of the Jewish Temples abounds. There are extensive archeological findings – which the Arabs seek to destroy.
See here stunning evidence of the Temple Mount as Jewish. You may discover information that is new to you. My favorite piece of information is the fact that when renovation of the Al Aqsa Mosque on the Mount was done in the 1930s, it was discovered that beneath the Mosque are the remnants of a mikvah (a Jewish ritual bath):
https://41k.82b.myftpupload.com/the-temple-mount-whose-is-it/
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I am blessed on many levels. One of those blessings is the fact that I live in Jerusalem.
Today, I went out to see the beginning of the Flag March that is traditional for Yom Yerushalayim. I was astounded, and delighted, to see more people had come out than I remember having seen in years. This was uplifting, as people were showing support for the country.
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There is no definitive news regarding the “plan” for a ceasefire and release of hostages. Sources vary and confusion is the order of the day. This remains unsettling.
In the north, attacks from Lebanon have increased significantly. Large numbers of reserve soldiers are being called back into service.
There are difficult days ahead.
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Keep praying to Heaven for Israel. Pray that the tears might be lifted from our hearts.
Pray for the strength and wisdom of our leaders, for the safety of our soldiers, and for the rescue of our hostages.
Pray in a spirit of hope.
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©Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
