Tag Archives: Jerusalem

Making Anti-Semitism Official

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Last week the Daily Caller reported that the European Union has forbidden its member states from funding Israeli individuals or organizations based in the contested territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The article states:

In new guidelines that were originally published on June 30 and are scheduled to go into effect on Friday, the 28 nations that make up the E.U. are no longer allowed to contribute financially to or cooperate in any way with organizations that are headquartered beyond the historic “Green Line” that divides the West Bank from the rest of Israel.

Significantly, the guidelines also define East Jerusalem as one of the illegal Israeli settlements that cannot receive future funding. East Jerusalem includes Old City landmarks like the Temple Mount and the Western Wall that are central to thousands of years of Jewish faith and history, making Israeli agreement with the ruling very unlikely.

It’s amazing sometimes how some organizations rewrite history. In April 2011, the American Thinker posted an article stating:

…Except that there was no “border” on Israel’s eastern flank from 1948 until 1967 — only a 1949 armistice line that marked the farthest westward military penetration by Jordan during Israel’s War of Independence when half a dozen Arab armies unsuccessfully tried to exterminate the nascent Jewish state.

The 1949 armistice line was never recognized internationally as a “border.”  Neither of course were Jordan’s aggression and illegal occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem since  they occurred in flagrant violation of the 1947 UN partition plan to divide British Mandate Palestine between a Jewish state and an Arab state.

Israel needs defensible borders. Israel lives in a tough neighborhood where its neighbors won’t even admit that it has a right to exist there. The European Union is definitely coming down on the wrong side of history.

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United Jerusalem Day Celebration

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Today I had the privilege of attending a United Jerusalem Day Celebration at the Victory Assembly of God in Sharon, Massachusetts. The event was sponsored by Rabbis and Ministers for Israel; Pastor Joe Green; Victory Assembly of God; Pastor Dick Ingram; Christians and Jews United for Israel; Rev. Fumio Taku; Friends of the IDF; Lior Zommer; Russian Jewish Community Foundation; Alex Koifman; The Irwin M. and H. Ethel Hausman Memorial Speakers Series; Rabbi Jonathan H. Hausman.

The featured speakers were Shai Bazak, Consul General of Israel to New England, Cathy Lanyard, Executive Director, American Friends of ALYN Hospital in Jerusalem, Col. Amnon Meir, I.D.F. Liaison Offer to TRADOC, and Dr. Pat Robertson of CBN.

The day was a celebration of Israel and its eternal capital, Jerusalem. Rabbi Hausman spoke of the need for Christians and Jews who support Israel to travel to Israel to see the country for themselves. He pointed out that less than one quarter of American Jews have ever visited Israel. The Rabbi reminded us that Israel is the only country in the Middle East where Christians live freely.

Cathy Lanyard spoke of the work being done at ALYN Hospital in Jerusalem, Israel’s pediatric and adolescent rehabilitation facility. ALYN treats children with a wide range of congenital and acquired conditions including cerebral palsy, neuromuscular diseases, spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, burns, terror and motor vehicle accident victims. The goal of the hospital is the equip children to go home and lie with their families.  Ms. Lanyard spoke about a Guardian Angel program to help Americans support this hospital and the work that they do.

Shai Bazak, the Consul General of Israel to New England, spoke of growing up in Israel and learning the history of the country and of the Jewish people. His father fought in the 1948 war for the liberation of Israel. In listening to him speak, I began to understand the role of the Western Wall in the life of an Israeli Jew. He described the Wall as a place for prayer and thanksgiving.

Pat Robertson spoke of God’s blessing on the Jewish people and the need for Christians to support Israel. Dr. Robertson spoke of the recent terrorist bombing in Boston. He reminded us that Islam divides the world into two categories–dar al-Harb, the house of war, and dar al-Islam, the house of Islam. There is no in-between. He pointed out that Islam is a political system with a goal of world domination. Dr. Robertson pointed out that in World War II we knew our enemy–we knew it was the Nazis–not all of the Germans–and we fought that enemy and won. He stated that we have to do that with Islam. He reminded us that David purchased Mount Moriah in order to make a sacrifice to God after he disobeyed God by taking a census. Solomon built his temple in Jerusalem.  As both Christians and Jews, we need to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The final speaker was Col. Amnon Meir, I.D.F. Liaison Officer to TRADOC. He stated that he was born in Israel and that his parents were born in Israel. He spoke of a visit to the concentration camps of the Holocaust. In speaking with a survivor of a camp in Austria, he said that the man said that the three most important moments of his life were–the day the U.S. army freed his concentration camp, the day the state of Israel was established, and the day that Jerusalem was unified. He reminded us that Israel is a peaceful nation that desires peace, but Israel lives in a rough neighborhood and needs to hold a big stick (a strong army).

It was an amazing day. Listening to the speakers who were raised in Israel talk about the Western Wall and what it was like to grow up in the midst of such incredible history was awesome. It was a celebration of Israel and Jerusalem. It was also a celebration of the unity that can exist between Jews who love Israel and Christians who love Israel.

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Why The Two-State Solution Will Not Work

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Arutz Sheva posted an article regarding a speech PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas gave today when he returned to Ramallah after the United Nations granted Palestine status as a nonmember observer state.

The article quoted the speech:

“We were threatened with punishment and sanctions from various sides,” Abbas continued, in a reference to attempts by the United States and Israel to dissuade him from proceeding with the application.

“And if we had listened to those threats we wouldn’t have gone to the U.N.

“One day, a young Palestinian will raise the Palestinian flag over Jerusalem,” he vowed, “the eternal capital of the state of Palestine!”

There was a time when some people believed in a two-state solution. There are some people that still do. The problem is that the Palestinians believe in a one-state solution–they want Israel destroyed. You cannot make peace with people who want to destroy you.

This is the equivalent of living next to a neighbor who keeps threatening to kill your family and take over your house. The appropriate behavior would be to notify the authorities, get a restraining order, and arrest the man if he sets foot on your property. Unfortunately, Israel is the only country taking the neighbor’s threats seriously.

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What Have They Done ?

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Yesterday the United Nations posted an announcement:

The General Assembly today voted to grant Palestine non-member observer State status at the United Nations, while expressing the urgent need for the resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians leading to a permanent two-State solution.

The resolution on the status of Palestine in the UN was adopted by a vote of 138 in favour to nine against with 41 abstentions by the 193-member Assembly.

“We did not come here seeking to delegitimize a State established years ago, and that is Israel; rather we came to affirm the legitimacy of the State that must now achieve its independence, and that is Palestine,” the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, told the Assembly before the vote.

Mr. Abbas noted that the world was being asked today to undertake a significant step in the process of rectifying the “unprecedented historical injustice” inflicted on the Palestinian people since 1948.

This statement works only if you don’t know your history.  In 1919 a formal agreement was signed in London regarding the Jewish homeland. The agreement was signed by His Royal Highness the Emir Feisal ibn-Hussein, representing and acting on behalf of the Arab Kingdom of Hedjaz, and Chaim Weitzman, representing and acting on behalf of the Zionist Organization. A Jewish state was to be established as soon as Jewish immigration and development was sufficient in the wilderness known as Palestine. The boundaries of the nation were codified and approved unanimously by the League of Nations. The land included in this agreement included what is now Jordan and much of the land won back by Israel in the 1967 war.  In 1921, 75 percent of the land given to Israel was taken away from her by the British and given to Abdullah, the brother of Feisal ibn-Hussein. Abdulah was a Hashemite. The Hashemite tribe had just been driven out of Mecca and Medina by the Wahabi Muslims, so the Hasemites took over what was to be the Palestinian homeland (Jordan). So as you can see, the historical injustice against the Palestinians took place in 1921 and was perpetrated by the Wahabi Muslims–not the Jews. But facts are so inconvenient.

Israel responded to the vote:

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, said his delegation could not accept today’s resolution. “Because this resolution is so one-sided, it doesn’t advance peace, it pushes it backwards,” he stated, adding that peace could only be achieved through negotiations.

“There’s only one route to Palestinian statehood and that route does not run through this chamber in New York. That route runs through direct negotiations between Jerusalem and Ramallah that will lead to a secure and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” he added. “There are no shortcuts. No quick fixes. No instant solutions.”

As I have said before, until the Palestinians begin to build the infrastructure of an ordered society and stop teaching their children to hate, they should not be given a state. Creating a Palestinian state in its current form would simply be creating a base for terrorism against Israel.

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There Really Are No Controls On Some Campaign Donations

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Today’s Daily Caller posted a story today that illustrates the problems with controlling the amount of money that flows into some political campaigns and the sources of these donations.

The article reports:

A Jerusalem journalist writing for a conservative website reported Monday night that he was able to make two small financial contributions to President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in the name of the late terror mastermind Osama bin Laden.

Aaron Klein, writing for WorldNetDaily, said he successfully made campaign donations of $15 and $5 through a “proxy” service that masked his location and provided the Obama campaign website with a Pakistani Internet Protocol (IP) address instead.

The Obama campaign, Klein wrote, accepted and acknowledged both contributions, made with a disposable credit card, and followed up with additional fundraising emails to a Gmail account set up in the dead terrorist’s name.

This is not good. On October 8, Breitbart.com reported:

Even though the Obama campaign is touted for its technological sophistication and sites run by top Obama technology advisers use the “CVV” feature, the Obama campaign itself does not use the “CVV” feature on its donation pages — even though it does use the feature on the merchandise pages where it sells campaign merchandise. 

This means someone who donates $2,500 to the campaign online has to go through less security than someone who goes online to buy an Obama campaign mug.

There are simple ways to prevent foreign donations being made online. The problem here is that some candidates are not willing to employ these measures. The answer is not more regulation–the answer is honest people running for office.

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Correcting The Public Relations Problem

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The Hill is reporting today that the Democratic National convention has reinstated language into its platform that recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. They have also gone back to the language of the 2008 platform which included the concept of God-given potential.

The Blaze reported yesterday on the change from the 2008 platform:

This is a departure from the past. In 2008, the platform read (emphasis added), “We need a government that stands up for the hopes, values, and interests of working people, and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential.”

With the words “God-given” removed, the 2012 platform sticks to a more secular script: “We gather to reclaim the basic bargain that built the largest middle class and the most prosperous nation on Earth – the simple principle that in America, hard work should pay off, responsibility should be rewarded, and each one of us should be able to go as far as our talent and drive take us.”

After three voice votes God and Jerusalem have been added back in. Frankly, I suspect the change had more to do with a focus group somewhere than any vote taken at the convention.

The article at The Hill tells the story of the three votes:

The additions were approved by a voice vote that seemed to split the crowd evenly and confused Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who was leading the proceedings. 

 Villaraigosa looked around the stage and appeared uncertain over how to proceed after an initial vote, in which the “nays” to adding Jerusalem and God back into the platform sounded just as loud as the “ayes.”

Villaraigosa called for a second vote with similar results. He then called for a third voice vote, and while it sounded evenly split, he proclaimed that two-thirds of the delegates approved the changes, which sparked some grumbling in the audience.

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said the platform was changed to reflect Obama’s views.

Of course it was. Please note that in a voice vote, no one is on the record for their vote. Essentially, all of the convention voted ‘present.’

Please watch the video to see how the Democrats count votes:

Look! A Shiny Object!

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I was listening to the news this morning and heard the criticism of Governor Romney’s speech in Israel. I wondered what he had said that had caused the problem. The press reported that the Palestinians were upset because the Governor commented that the culture of Israel provides a fertile ground for economic prosperity. That statement really doesn’t seem all that offensive. I knew that the Governor had stated that Jerusalem was the capital of Israel, and wondered if that were the real source of the problem. Anyway, I went to Governor Romney’s campaign website to read the speech. The attacks on the speech are another example of the mainstream press’s “Look–a shiny object over here! Don’t look there!” campaign for President Obama.

Governor Romney’s speech outlined some of the political and cultural ideas that have allowed both America and Israel to prosper. Those ideas included democracy, the rule of law, God-given rights, and free enterprise. I can understand how the Palestinians would be upset at these concepts–generally speaking, these are foreign ideas to all of the Arab countries in the region.

One of the things that under-girds national prosperity is the rule of law as it applies to property rights. A man is less likely to improve his property if he does not own it. Also, property rights give the average citizen a means to acquire an asset that will increase in value (generally real estate increases in value) and gain some measure of wealth that he can pass on to his family.

Another thing not mentioned in the Governor’s speech that plays a very important role in a nation’s prosperity is the use of all human resources. When a country excludes women from participating in the work force and excludes the voices of women from government, it decreases by half the flow of ideas and innovation into the economy and into the government. I am not saying that every woman should work or be involved in government, but I am saying that every woman who has something to contribute should be allowed to contribute it.

The corrupt governments of the nations that surround Israel do not encourage prosperity for the average man. The well-connected steal the wealth of the country and the average citizen lives in poverty. The culture of respecting your fellow man and helping him become prosperous is not part of that society. That may be the biggest reason that the culture of Israel creates prosperity and the culture of the Arab nations surrounding Israel does not.

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Received In My E-Mail

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The information below is from Christians and Jews United For Israel. Consider it when voting in November:

2012 Presidential Scorecard on Israel

                    KEY: Candidate’s statements and actions are
                    Y:  Consistently affirmative
                    N:  Consistently negative             
                    –:  Not known or articulated at this writing

Scorecard2 

Why A Two-State Solution In The Middle East Will Not Work

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The Washington Free Beacon posted an article today about a puppet show seen recently on Palestinian television.

This is a link to a video recently translated and put up at YouTube:

The article at the Washington Free Beacon reports:

The video, obtained and translated into English by the Palestinian Media Watch research organization, was performed for children in East Jerusalem, and included puppets singing, “Jerusalem, whose youth are being killed by the Jews… Jerusalem, we will not surrender to the enemies or be humiliated.”

According to Burj al-Luq Luq’s [a Palestinian Authority social organization] website, the organization has been supported by several branches of the UN, including UNICEF and UNESCO, and also has been backed by a number of international donors.

How many parents helping their children ‘trick or treat for UNICEF’ are even remotely aware of how the money raised is being spent? This is totally offensive. We need to stop funding this sort of propaganda (and stop funding the UN).

As long as hatred is being openly preached to Palestinian children, there will be no peace in the Middle East. 

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Last Night In Stoughton Massachusetts

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Last night Ari Abramowitz, founder of www.LandofIsrael.org, spoke at the Ahavath Torah Congregation in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Ari Abramowitz and Jeremy Gimpel, soldier and commander in the IDF reserves, are the founders of TheLandofIsrael.com and the creators and hosts of “Tuesday Night Live in Jerusalem”.

Mr. Abramowitz has a number of videos up on YouTube. This is one video that has recently gone viral:

There were a number of things Mr. Abramowitz said last night that impressed me.  He reminded us that although the Holocaust is very important to Israel‘s history, it is not Israel’s justification for being in the land of Israel. He pointed out that although Yad Vashem (the Jewish people’s living memorial to the Holocaust) is the first place visiting dignitaries are taken in Israel, it should not be the center of Israel’s claim to the land. The deed to Israel was given to the Jews by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Israel is the only country in the world that can make that claim.

Mr. Abramowitz also reminded us of the words of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 2:3), “For the Torah shall go forth from Zion and the word of God from Jerusalem.” Mr. Abramowitz stated that Israel needed to repent and go back to its spiritual roots. Then the Israelis will again begin to see the miracles of God that have brought their country back to life and kept it safe. He pointed out that the battle against Israel is a spiritual one and that America needs to support Israel in order to get back to her spiritual roots. (America needs repentance too, but that’s another article!)

It was an amazing, thought-provoking evening.

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Stoughton, Massachusetts – Thursday, May 10, 7:30 pm

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Ahavath Torah Congregation’s

Hausman Memorial Lecture Free Speech Series

presents

Is it really as bad as it looks?
Israel at 64, A non-sensationalist look at Israel’s current state of affairs
 
a talk by
Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent for The Jerusalem Post
 

Thursday, May 10, 7:30 PM

 
$10 suggested donation
 
Bring your electric bill and sign up for Just Energy by Momentis and come as our guest.
 
Herb Keinon has been at the JPost for the last 25 years. He took over the diplomatic beat in August 2000, just after the failed Camp David summit and just before the outbreak of the Palestinian violence in September of that year.
 
Keinon is responsible for covering the prime minister and the foreign minister, often traveling with the Prime Minister on his trips abroad. He has followed Ehud Barak to Paris, Ariel Sharon to Crawford, Texas, Ehud Olmert to Annapolis, and Binyamin Netanyahu to Washington. As such, Keinon has up-close knowledge and an intimate perspective of the country’s political, diplomatic and strategic challenges – from Hamas to Hizbullah, Kadima to Likud. Keinon also writes a popular monthly “light” column on the trials and tribulations of life in Israel. During his years at the Post, Keinon has covered a wide variety of different beats, including Jerusalem, immigration and absorption, religious parties, the ultra-Orthodox, and the settlements. He has also been a features writer at the paper.
 
Keinon has lectured widely in Israel, the US, Europe and Australia on the political and diplomatic situation in Israel, and appears on a variety of radio and television programs around the world as a guest commentator on the subject. Keinon wrote a book published in 2009 and translated into Hebrew this year, Lone Soldiers: Israel’s Defenders from Around the World, which tells the tale of young men and women from the Diaspora who volunteer to serve in the Israeli army.
 
Originally from Denver, Keinon has a BA in political science from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and an MA in journalism from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. He has lived in Israel for 28 years, is married with four children, and resides in Ma’ale Adumim, just outside of Jerusalem.
 
Co-sponsored by Christians and Jews United for Israel, Rabbis and Ministers for Israel, ACT NH, ACT Framingham
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Stoughton Massachusetts – May 10th – 7:30 pm

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Ahavath Torah Congregation’s

Hausman Memorial Lecture Free Speech Series

presents

Is it really as bad as it looks?
Israel at 64, A non-sensationalist look at Israel’s current state of affairs
 
a talk by
Herb Keinon,
Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent for The Jerusalem Post
 

Thursday, May 10, 7:30 PM


$10 suggested donation

Bring your electric bill and sign up for Just Energy by Momentis and come as our guest.

Herb Keinon has been at the JPost for the last 25 years. He took over the diplomatic beat in August 2000, just after the failed Camp David summit and just before the outbreak of the Palestinian violence in September of that year.
 
Keinon is responsible for covering the prime minister and the foreign minister, often traveling with the Prime Minister on his trips abroad. He has followed Ehud Barak to Paris, Ariel Sharon to Crawford, Texas, Ehud Olmert to Annapolis, and Binyamin Netanyahu to Washington. As such, Keinon has up-close knowledge and an intimate perspective of the country’s political, diplomatic and strategic challenges – from Hamas to Hizbullah, Kadima to Likud. Keinon also writes a popular monthly “light” column on the trials and tribulations of life in Israel. During his years at the Post, Keinon has covered a wide variety of different beats, including Jerusalem, immigration and absorption, religious parties, the ultra-Orthodox, and the settlements. He has also been a features writer at the paper.
 
Keinon has lectured widely in Israel, the US, Europe and Australia on the political and diplomatic situation in Israel, and appears on a variety of radio and television programs around the world as a guest commentator on the subject. Keinon wrote a book published in 2009 and translated into Hebrew this year, Lone Soldiers: Israel’s Defenders from Around the World, which tells the tale of young men and women from the Diaspora who volunteer to serve in the Israeli army.
 
Originally from Denver, Keinon has a BA in political science from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and an MA in journalism from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. He has lived in Israel for 28 years, is married with four children, and resides in Ma’ale Adumim, just outside of Jerusalem.
 
Co-sponsored by Christians and Jews United for Israel, Rabbis and Ministers for Israel, ACT NH, ACT Framingham
 
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The Arab Spring May Lead To A Very Cold Winter

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The distinctive multiple-arched BYU Jerusalem ...

Image via Wikipedia

Ynet News reported yesterday on a Muslim Brotherhood rally in Cairo’s most prominent mosque Friday. The rally ended with those in attendance vowing to “one day kill all Jews.”

The article reports:

Some 5,000 people joined the rally, called to promote the “battle against Jerusalem’s Judaization.” The event coincided with the anniversary of the United Nations’ partition plan in 1947, which called for the establishment of a Jewish state.  

The article further reports:

Muslim Brotherhood spokesmen, as well as Palestinian guest speakers, made explicit calls for Jihad and for liberating the whole of Palestine. Time and again, a Koran quote vowing that “one day we shall kill all the Jews” was uttered at the site. Meanwhile, businessmen in the crowd were urged to invest funds in Jerusalem in order to prevent the acquisition of land and homes by Jews.

 Throughout the event, Muslim Brotherhood activists chanted: “Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, judgment day has come.”

I can understand the initial revolt in Egypt. There were a lot of young people who wanted freedom and the opportunity for economic advancement. Unfortunately, I think the so-called Arab Spring has been co-opted and turned into something that will be very ugly and will destabilize the Middle East.

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The Law Of Unintended Consequences At Work In The Middle East

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Inside the streets of walled old Jerusalem city.

Image via Wikipedia

Yesterday’s Jerusalem Post reported on the next step now that the Palestinian Authority has been admitted to UNESCO as a member state.

The article reports:

“We will take Israel to court for systematically destroying and forging Arab and Islamic culture in Jerusalem,” said Hatem Abdel Qader, former PA minister for Jerusalem affairs, after the UNESCO vote.

PA Minister of Tourism Khuloud Daibes alleges that Israel’s renovations of Jerusalem’s Old City walls and its intention to replace the crumbling Mughrabi Bridge at the southern entrance to the Temple Mount are hostile attempts to “change the Islamic and Arabic character of the city.”

There seems to be some distortion of history here–Jerusalem has been central to Jewish history since the time of King David and his son Solomon. Jerusalem did not become significant as an Islamic holy site until the rule of the Umayyads (661-750 CE). The Dome of the Rock was built in 688-91 CE on the spot where Jewish Temples had stood.

The article further reports:

If this weren’t so funny, it would be outrageous. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Israel set the international gold standard for unimpeded religious worship in Jerusalem, and for painstaking preservation of Muslim and Christian holy sites and archeological sites across Israel. In civilized and professional circles, Israel is recognized as having contributed enormously to the excavation, study and preservation of Holy Land historical sites and relics.

By contrast, there is no Arab or Islamic country in the Middle East where Christians or Jews can freely operate religious institutions. Under Palestinian Authority and Hamas rule, Christians in the West Bank and Gaza have been hounded, terrorized and driven out. Christian Bethlehem is, effectively, no more. The Church of Nativity was defiled by Palestinian Muslim terrorists who turned it into an armed refuge in 2002. Churches in Gaza have been bombed and burned. Can you imagine how the churches of Jerusalem might fare under Palestinian rule?

Please follow the link to the Jerusalem Post story. The article details some of the destruction of antiquities the Muslims have engaged in on the Temple Mount in order to erase the Jewish roots of the site.

Unfortunately, we have opened the door to a group of terrorists who want to rewrite history and obliterate the Jewish people from the Middle East.

 

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This Is Not A New Story But It Is An Important One

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The distinctive multiple-arched BYU Jerusalem ...

Image via Wikipedia

On May 9, Seth Lipsky posted an article at the Wall Street Journal regarding the case of a 9-year-old American citizen named Menachem Binyamin Zivotofsky. Known in the case as MBZ, Menachem was born in 2002 in Jerusalem. He wants the American Embassy in Tel Aviv to issue him a certificate of birth abroad stating that he was born in Israel.

The article reports:

The relevant law is the part of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 2002 that deals with “United States policy with respect to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.” The Supreme Court will adjudicate the provision stating that, for “purposes of the registration of birth, certification of nationality, or issuance of a passport of a United States citizen born in the city of Jerusalem, the Secretary [of State] shall, upon the request of the citizen or the citizen’s legal guardian, record the place of birth as Israel.”

The law passed the Senate and the House–the Senate by unanimous consent. Just for the record, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in the Senate at the time. When George W. Bush signed the law, the article reports:

…he issued a signing statement suggesting that he didn’t intend to enforce that part of the law. The measure, he said, “impermissibly interferes with the President’s constitutional authority to conduct the Nation’s foreign affairs and to supervise the unitary executive branch.”

Now the case is headed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

The article further reports:

Mr. Bush was challenged by the infant Mr. Zivotofsky?via his parents?not long after he was born. In the fight over whether the Supreme Court would take the case, Mrs. Clinton echoed Mr. Bush’s concerns, citing her department’s view that “any unilateral action by the United States that would signal, symbolically or concretely, that it recognizes that Jerusalem is a city that is located within the sovereign territory of Israel would critically compromise the ability of the United States to work with Israelis, Palestinians and others in the region to further the peace process.”

This is ridiculous. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. It has been the capital of Israel since Bible times. The historic record is clear. Aside from that, since when does America have the right to divvy up another country’s capital city? Menachem Binyamin Zivotofsky is not the only child of Americans in the position of having a birth certificate stating that he was born in Jerusalem without mentioning Israel. I think it’s time to stop playing silly games to placate terrorists and tell the truth. Israel has one tiny piece of land amid a sea of Arab countries. Arabs in Israel have more freedom and more economic success in Israel than they do in their own countries. The Arab countries around Israel have mistreated the Palestinians in order to use them as pawns in the war against Israel. We accomplish nothing by trying to placate the Arab countries around Israel. They will not be happy until Israel is destroyed. Until we realize that, all the negotiations in the world will accomplish nothing.

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Little Things Mean A Lot

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The distinctive multiple-arched BYU Jerusalem ...

Image via Wikipedia

Little things mean a lot–only this is not a little thing. One of the blogs at the Weekly Standard posted two pictures of an item on the White House website. The pictures are of a meeting between Vice President Biden and Israeli President Shimon Peres taken last year in Jerusalem. What is the problem? In the original picture, the caption states that the picture was taken in Jerusalem, Israel. The White House website later changed the caption to say “Jerusalem”–leaving out Israel. I believe this is the beginning of the move to deny that Jerusalem is the eternal, undivided capital of Israel. How would we as Americans feel if Mexico decided that half of Arizona was actually theirs and half of Phoenix was the capital of the new Mexican state formed? Somehow I don’t think we would take kindly to the idea.

Up until the Obama administration, America has been a protector of the existence and freedom of Israel. Unfortunately, that began to change after President Obama was sworn in. Support of Israel is an important part of America’s role in the world. Israel is the only functioning democracy in the Middle East. Israel is a country that has been a close ally of America since its founding in 1948. There is also the Biblical aspect–Genesis 12:1-3 states, “And I will bless those that bless you and curse the one who curses you. And in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Dividing Jerusalem in the name of peace in the Middle East will have dire consequences. It will eventually destroy the nation of Israel and the only hope for real freedom and democracy in the Middle East.

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