Nadene Goldfoot Jerusalem, capital of Israel
Of course, the BBC omitted Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel in their list of Olympic games website. They are using Tel Aviv as the address instead. Facebook has a campaign going on to let people know that Jerusalem is its capital. Israel's Knesset, the parliament building is located in Jerusalem, created in 1949. Their permanent building was built in 1966. BBC had the chutzpa to list East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian Arabs Olympic team. After a complaint from Israel, they merely wrote that Jerusalem was the seat of Israel's government.
Situated in the center of the Judean mountains is the capital of Israel. The land area was occupied by ancient Judah and by the old city of Jerusalem. An ancient shekel found from 68 CE is made of silver with the inscription, "Holy Jerusalem" along with 3 pomegranates. King David captured the city in 1010 BCE and made it his capital. We know that Joshua had captured the land of Canaan by 1320 BCE and defeated Adoni-zedek, king, but his city had remained an independent enclave between the tribal areas of Benjamin and Judah. It had maintained its independence with some Philistine help until then. David dealt leniently with the Jebusites, and then established himself in the city. King David's son was the very wise King Solomon.
King David had brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and made it the religious center of Israel. His empire reached from the Red Sea to the Euphrates. The Olympic games had started in neighboring Greece in 776 BCE. Since 70 CE Jews have prayed to return and have promised not to forget Jerusalem lest they lose the use of their right hand.
The Jerusalem Law of 1980 extended Israel sovereignty over the entire city. The city had been divided in 1948 into two parts between Jews and Arabs due to Jordanian takeover of the eastern part, and it was liberated in the June 1967 War by Israel and made one city again. It seems that the international community didn't bother to condemn Jordan for the takeover of what was to be the Jewish National Homeland, the land Jordan is sitting on, and is not willing to accept Jerusalem as Israel's capital, either.
Israel has participated in the Olympics since 1952. They won a medal finally in 1992 in Barcelona.
The Olympic games of 1972 will be remembered as the time 11 Israeli athletes were murdered in what was called the Munich massacre. The team was taken hostage and then killed by the Palestinian terrorists, Black September, who then demanded 234 terrorists be freed out of Israeli jails.
Resource: Facebook
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4258329,00.html
http://www.olympic.org/
http://www.olympic.one.co.il/ all in Hebrew
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_massacre
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/sports.html
http://www.nostos.com/olympics/ history of Olymics
http://www.aish.com/jw/s/Olympic_Silence.html
Israel’s Olympic team has decided to respond to the BBC’s assertion that Jerusalem is not Israel’s capital, by preparing a video in which Israeli athletes are seen saying they are proud to represent Israel “and its capital Jerusalem.”
ReplyDeleteThe British broadcast authority, which has often been charged with bias against Israel, has come under fire for listing “East Jerusalem” as the capital for the “Palestinian Olympic team" while leaving Israel listed without a capital.
After Israel and Jews around the world complained, the BBC partly corrected its mistake and stated that Israel’s "seat of government is Jerusalem" while still omitting Jerusalem as the capital. Just to get its point across, it added, "Most foreign embassies reside in Tel Aviv."
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Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai has also come to the rescue in a YouTube video, in which he says that although his city is “one of the coolest cities in the world and Israel’s financial and cultural center, we are not Israel’s capital. Jerusalem is Israel’s capital.”
Huldai invited Britain’s Jews to visit Tel Aviv and enjoy its beaches and tourist sites. Putting aside the longtime contest between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv residents over which is the better city, he stated categorically that after tourists finish visiting all of the city’s attractions, “you are welcome to visit the historical and religious sites of the capital of Israel – Jerusalem."
Arutz Sheva