The Capital of Israel: Jerusalem and Why It's Important to Jews

Nadene Goldfoot                                                             

What city is the capital of Israel? It's what has always been our capital.   It happens to be Jerusalem, of course. Today, Jerusalem is a united city of which has 64% Jewish population.   According to Zechariah 8:3, Jerusalem shall be called "The City of Truth."  (Thus said Hashem, Master of Legions:  I have become zealous with great zeal on behalf of Zion (Zion is another name for Jerusalem) ;  I have become zealous with great wrath on its behalf.  Thus said Hashem (another word for G-d) :  I have returned to Zion, and I have made my dwelling in the midst of Jerusalem;  Jerusalem will be called "the City of Truth" and the mountain of Hashem, Master of Legions, "the Holy Mountain."  Thus said Hashem, Master of Legions:  Old men and old women will once again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with his staff in his hand because of advanced age;  and the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets. 

  It has been Israel's capital since 1948, when Israel was reborn again.  In 1973 there were 300,000 people living there.  This isn't the first time it has been the capital of the Jewish people.  It was their capital between 1000 BCE and 586 BCE, and again between 516 BCE and 70 CE.  In 70 CE it was overtaken and destroyed by the Romans.

About 5 minutes after Israel was declared a state via the radio on May 14, 1948, the people were attacked.  Jerusalem was divided into 2 parts. The UN had partitioned Jerusalem and had a resolution pertaining to this made on November 29, 1947 which provided for the creation of an independent area of Jerusalem under UN administration.  However, Arabs attacked Jews which soon reached the dimensions of a regular war between the Haganah and the Arabs who first showed up as the local bands of fighters and then the Arab Legion of Transjordan which put an end to the internationalization scheme.  The struggle lasted from from December 1947 to July 1948.

 During this period the Jewish quarter in the Old City had to be evacuated and was destroyed.  All the New City  but not the Arab quarters north of the walls fell into Jewish hands.  The Arab Legion tried to shell and starve the Jews of Jerusalem into surrender but this was foiled by the fortitude of the Jews and the opening of the Burma Road which restored the connection between Jewish Jerusalem and the coastal region.  So even though the USA and other countries have not recognized it as Israel's capital, Israelis always have.

 The west and south part  went to the new state of Israel as the whole city should have.  Israel also was able to hold onto Mount Zion and an enclave on Mt. Scopus.  The city extended westward by the construction of the Knesset and Government quarter (Ha-Kiryah) with the National Museum and University campus nearby.  New housing projects of which Kuryat Yovel, the largest, were constructed.  Herzl and other Zionist leaders were re-interred on a mountain west of the city on Mt. Herzl.  The slopes were laid out as a cemetery for soldiers who died on active service.  New rabbinical centers were also erected.  A number of factories were set up, but the city was the administrative center of the country.

Many rulers have occupied the country, but only for the Jews has Jerusalem been the capital of the nation living in this land which the Jews refer to as Eretz Yisrael (The Land of Israel).  In Psalms, 122,3, which we associate with King David's writings, he wrote that Jerusalem, which is bound firmly together..."  and so it is.  The wall that separated east from the rest of Jerusalem has been taken down and the city is whole and one again. So it was that on June 5, 1967 the outset of the Six-Day War, Jordanian troops in the Old City and Jordanian sections of the city bombarded the New City.  The Israel army reacted and 2 days later the entire city came under Israel's control. Jews had been denied access to the Western/Wailing wall for 20 years so that's the first place they went to and the end of this war.  On June 29, 1967, Israel formally united the 2 sections of the city and the barriers were removed.

 The built- up Jerusalem is like a city that is united together, for there the tribes ascended, the tribes of G-d, a testimony for Israel, to give thanks to the name of Hashem, for there sat thrones of judgment, thrones for the house of David.  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; those who love you will be serene, May there be peace within your wall, serenity within your palaces.  For the sake of my brethren and my comrades, I shall speak of peace in your midst.  For the sake of the House of Hashem, our G-d, I will request good for you.  

The Jews living there today are the people with the longest unbroken historical association with the city which dates from the time, nearly 3,000 years ago, when King David (1010 BCE-970 BCE) made it his capital.  Only the Jews have made Jerusalem the focal point of national and religious aspirations.  It is the seat of the President of the State, the Knesset, the Government, the Supreme Court, the Chief Rabbinate, and Hebrew University and the Israel Museum.  So even though the USA and other countries have not recognized it as Israel's capital, Israelis always have. Israel is being truthful.  How can they possibly have returned to have a Jewish National Home without having Jerusalem as its rightful capital?  The state of Judah had Jerusalem as its capital and from Judah comes the name, Jews.  The Jews have returned and of course Jerusalem is their capital.  Not recognizing this right is the problem of the countries unwilling to see this, not Israel's problem. It's already written in the Bible.  Tel Aviv is not the capital!

What is the holiest shrine in Israel for the Jews?  It is the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) that dates back from the time of the 2nd Temple.  This is the place that the Pope just chose to visit.  He followed custom and wrote a note and placed it between the rocks of the wall to G-d.  This wall is in eastern Jerusalem, the area that the Palestinians now demand to make part of their new state of Palestine.  This is the city that they have no connection with, either religious or culture, expect that many have lived here from 1948 to 1967 when it was held by Jordan.  Though it was to be part of the Jewish Homeland, Jordan helped themselves and took it when Israel had to fight for the rights allocated to them by the League of Nations in having this land.  Jordan lost it in 1967 when all the Arab states attacked Israel and lost the battle of which Israel was outnumbered completely.  Logically, there was no way they could have lost such a fight, but they did, and so Israel's history is following the prophets of old; that Israel would be reclaimed and that Jews would return and Jerusalem would be its capital.

Jerusalem is also important to the other religions as well.  For Christians, they regard the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as their holiest place there.  For Moslems, Jerusalem is 3rd in holiness after Mecca and Medina.  It is 3rd because they believe that Mohammad made a trip there on his flying horse.  The name "Jerusalem" is never mentioned in the Koran.  It is mentioned 154 times in the Christian Bible and Zion is mentioned 7 times.   A mosque has been built on the Temple Mount where King Solomon's Temple once stood, the mosque of Al Aqsa and is one of the holiest shrines of Islam.  Holy places are each administered by the religious bodies to which they belong and have been since 1967.

Jerusalem has been called by many names.  Zion is one.  Others are the City of David, city of righteousness, the faithful city, the city of G-d, the holy city, city of truth, Ariel, and in Latin was Hierosolyma;  Yerushalayim in Hebrew, Aelia Capitolina by Hadrian which he dubbed his Roman colony that sat on the ruins of Jerusalem.  The Arabs call it el Quds (the Holy), or Beit el-Makdes (the house of Holiness, and in Hebrew it is Bet ha-Mikdash (Temple).

In 1967 the population of eastern Jerusalem was 139,000 Moslems and Christians and was added to the rest of the population making 493,500 by 1990.  Jerusalem Law of 1980 extended Israel's sovereignty over the entire city.  Excavations had been carried out at the site of the City of David were now supplemented by diggings around the western and southern walls of the Temple enclosure.  It is important to preserve artifacts  before our history is all destroyed by those that deny we ever existed there, which would be the Palestinians.

The population of Jerusalem today is 464,527 Jews and 228,690 Arabs which makes a total of 693,217. El Paso, Texas has more than 700,000 and Portland, Oregon has 583,776.  Cairo, Egypt has 6.76 million.  Amman, Jordan has a population of 2,842,629 of which half Jordan's population  are Palestinians.  Syria, a country that had over 22 million, has been so destroyed that the number in Damascus now is not known.  It had had about 5 1/2 million population and was Syria's 2nd largest city.  Aleppo was the largest  before the Civil War.

Regardless of whether the world wants to accept the truth that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel or not, it is in every aspect; religiously and according to the nation, it is the heart of Israel.  For we promised to pray to return to Jerusalem  when we were in exile or we would lose the cunning of our hands. We were never to remove Jerusalem from our  hearts and minds.   Psalms 137:5  If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.  Let my tongue adhere to my palate.  If I fail to recall you, if I fail to elevate Jerusalem above my foremost joy, Remember, Hashem, for the offspring of Edom, the day of Jerusalem; for those who say, Destroy, Destroy! to its very foundations.  ...

Resource:Facts About Israel, Division of Information, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
Tanach, The Stone Edition (Bible)
http://www.danielpipes.org/84/the-muslim-claim-to-jerusalem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_history_of_Jerusalem
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/newpop.html
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/155939
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Syria

So, You Want to Talk About the Six Day War of 1967?

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                 

The Palestinians are talking to Netanyahu and Kerry only on the basis of talking about the pre-1967 borders of Israel.  In other words, they want to get what Israel has after being attacked by all the Muslim countries in 1967's June 5th to June 11th Six Day War.  They lost that terrible attack and now they want to erase that fact because it cost them.  Secretary of State John Kerry had to give Mahmoud Abbas a letter saying that the meeting is centered on this.

They had lost face again and they lost the rights to Judea and Samaria which rightfully was not theirs to be had in the first place.  Jordan had illegally just taken it over and occupied it in 1948 when Israel was battling for its very life.  It had been awarded to Israel as part of the Jewish Homeland by the League of Nations which every country in the world had signed onto.  As it turned out, Israel had to be satisfied with 20% of the promised Holy land while the Arabs, who have more land than they can handle, got 80% of it.  Why?  Oil.  The land they sit on has oil that the rest of the world needs.  Therefore promises have been broken in the name of economics and greed. The 67 war allowed Gaza, Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem to come into Israel's hands as they did not start this war.  That must have been quite a picture:  4 large Arab nations with help from other Arab states against the only Jewish state of infinitesimal size who has the audacity to win!

So far, the Arabs have lost every battle they've started with Israel, and so they also blame the USA for that because Israel has bought weapons from the USA.  However, there never has been an American soldier fighting in America's name; only Jews, and mostly have been Israelis.  Jews entered Canaan under G-d's directions.  We feel we have still had G-d help. After all, the odds were all on the Arab's side to win in 1967, and they didn't.
                                                                       

   Where the 12 Tribes of Jacob Lived in Israel on 17,500 square miles; 45% being in Trans-Jordan.
    Israelites lived here under King David and son King Solomon (I Kings 5:4)Moses had led the Israelites out of Egypt.  Moses (1391 BCE-1271 BCE)  Jerusalem fell to the Romans in 70 CE.  Jews have been suffering from anti-Semitic actions ever since.  Israel was re-established May 14, 1948.

What they should rehash is the escalation which resulted in the Six Day War which consisted of 5 stages so that they won't happen again.

President Nasser of Egypt threatened on March 8, 1965, "We shall not enter Palestine with its soil covered in sand.  We shall enter it with its soil saturated in blood."  This war was highly pre-meditated and was to be a bloodshed for the Jews of Israel.

1. Syria, Egypt and the Soviet Union spread false reports of concentrations of Israeli forces on the Syrian frontier. They ignored on the spot reports by the UN that no such concentrations existed.  They fabricated such lies to have an excuse to attack.  Their reason for attack was to destroy and take Israel's 8,000 square miles.  Syria has 71,500 square miles and Egypt has 387,048 square miles already.  The Soviet Union had 8,144,228 square miles.

2.  The false reports were used by Egypt as a pretext for concentrating the bulk of its army in Sinai- 90,000 men and 900 tanks.

3. Egypt demanded that the UN Emergency Force withdraw on May 16th and they did which concluded the barrier they had been between Egypt and Israel.  Therefore Israel can never depend on outside help.They had been there since the 1956 Arab attack.

4. Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran  on May 22, 1967 to all navigation destined to Israel and called for war.THEY DECLARED WAR AGAINST ISRAEL.

5.  The Arab States formed a war pact against Israel.  The armies of:
     EGYPT, -led the pack
     JORDAN
     IRAQ
    SYRIA  began to concentrate their forces along the frontiers with Israel.  The Jordanian army was under the command of an Egyptian officer.

Arab leaders made speeches during this period affirming publicly their intention to destroy Israel.
President Nasser said on May 26, 1967:
"The Arab people want to fight.  We have been waiting for the right day when we would be fully prepared.  Recently , we have felt strong enough to triumph with God's help if we enter into battle with Israel.  On that basis, we have decided to take the actual measures.  Taking this step makes it imperative that we be ready to embark on a TOTAL WAR with Israel.

President Aref of Iraq spoke on June 1, 1967 on Radio Baghdad and said,
"We are resolved, determined and united to achieve our clear aim of wiping Israel off the map.  This is the day to wash away the stain.  God willing, we shall meet in Tel Aviv and Haifa.

Leader of PLO-Ahmed Shukairi on June 4, 1967 on native born Israelis:
"Those who survive will remain in "Palestine," but I estimate that not many of them will survive."

Israel waited for 3 weeks from May 15th for international intervention to stop the escalation and remove the threat from its frontiers.  The Great Powers and the United Nations were incapable of effecting any change in the situation.  On June 5th, war broke out.

About 250,000 Arab troops with almost half in the Sinai, more than 2,000 tanks and 700 aircraft ringed Israel.  

In 6 days, Israel destroyed the armies that had massed along its frontiers and menaced its vital centers.  Cease-fire lines were established along the Suez Canal, the Jordan River and the Golan Heights.  The Straits of Tiran were once again open to navigation.  Jerusalem was re-unified.  Israel had conquered more than triple the size of the area it controlled from 8,000 to 26,000 square miles.  Israel won the Sinai, Golan Heights, Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria and unified Jerusalem.  Israel lost 777 soldiers and 2,586 were wounded.  It compares to the USA's 8 years of fighting in the war in Vietnam as far as population goes.  Cease fire was invoked on June 10th as Israeli forces broke through enemy lines and were in a position to march on Cairo, Damascus and Amman, Jordan.  The Arabs called "UNCLE!"

I would give them Bupkas!  Netanyahu is giving them back some of the killer Palestinians that have been in Israeli prisons. The Arabs want 350 of which 100 had been the deadliest of killers.   They are to be released in phases.  Their charges range from rock throwers, deadly assaults, shooting attacks to bombers.

Tzipi Livni, Israel's female negotiator, said she is hopeful after years of mistrust.

Resource: http://news.yahoo.com/palestinians-67-borders-basis-talks-201845747.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Day_War
Myths and Facts by Dr. Mitchell G. Bard and Joel Himelfarb, Near East Reports
Facts About Israel, Division of Information, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem
The Secret War Against the Jews-how western espionage betrayed the Jewish people, by John Loftus and Mark Aarons--oil
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/170080#.UeswkNKOTqE kerry, Palestinians

The UN with Ban Ki-moon and It's Israel Hate Day

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                   
"Unlike a treaty agreement, customary international law is usually not written."  So Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations,  is siding with those that say that Israel is not following international law about East Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria.   He, a north Korean, who attended U. of Washington and has a Doctor of Law from there and from Harvard, doesn't exhibit any knowledge about the problems between Israel and the surrounding Arab states who have kept attacking since 1948.  He started serving in the UN in this capacity in 2007 and will remain until 2016. Ban Ki-moon has a Masters in public administration from Harvard, but I don't see anything about him being an international lawyer anywhere.

There are plenty of actual international lawyers who side with Israel in that they have the right to live and build in Judea and Samaria and to include East Jerusalem as part and parcel of all of Jerusalem, their capital today and past capital in their ancient history.

The Washington Times lists some excellent reasons why Israel is not acting illegally according to international law.
The San Remo Treaty of 1920, in which the victorious World War I allies dealt with the remnants of the defeated Ottoman Turkish Empire, created an entity called Palestine along both sides of the Jordan River. The powers intended it as the land on which Great Britain would turn its 1917 Balfour Declaration from aspiration to reality, assisting the Zionist movement in re-establishing the Jewish national home.

The Franco-British Boundary Convention of 1920 demarcated the French mandate for what would become Syria and Lebanon from that of the British in Palestine. This was in part to prepare for the Jewish state.

Article 6 of the League of Nations’ 1922 Palestine Mandate encouraged “close Jewish settlement” on the land west of the Jordan River. The mandate encouraged settlement only west of the river because Great Britain in the same year unilaterally severed Transjordan (today’s Jordan) from Palestine, creating a new Arab country. 

The Anglo-American Convention of 1924 saw the United States endorse British administration of the remaining Palestine Mandate lands, so long as London helped bring a Jewish state into being.

The 1945 U.N. Charter, Chapter XII, Article 80, continues Jewish rights recognized under the Mandate. It protects “the rights whatsoever of any states or any peoples or the terms of existing international instruments” and is sometimes known as “the Palestine article.”

Israel has followed the rules established by Emir Feisal and Chaim Weizmann and the mandate.  It was not Israel who turned against the Arabs but the Arabs who attacked the new state of Israel.  

Monday is "Hate Israel Day" at the United Nations. This is despicable. 

 "Israel will be absent, as it has been for the past year. The creation of the settlements probe -- the seventh one-sided inquiry on Israel since the council's supposed reform in 2006, during which time it generated but five probes on the rest of the world combined, and none ever on Iran, China, or Sri Lanka -- was the last straw for then foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, who decided Israel would no longer participate in, or with, the council."

"Headlining the program this time will be the presentation of a report by a "Fact Finding Mission" on how Israeli settlements are the direct cause of all Palestinian ills.  The probe was a sham, its verdict having been declared in advance. 

"Also on the program will be three additional UN reports condemning Israel, including one that devotes several pages to accusations by Cuba and Syria that Israel is grossly violating human rights in the Golan Heights. The world's worst abusers will then take the floor and emit vitriol."  The Golan Heights a part of Israel.  Syria is accusing Israel of abusing children.  Nobody is saying a thing about Syria killing off 70,000 of its own people, of course, including Ban Ki-moon.  Of all the nations in the world, Israel is the last to abuse its own children.  

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/9/rozenman-ban-ki-moon-wrong-about-israeli-settlemen/#ixzz2Np5gDDDK
Follow us: @washtimes on TwitterResource:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_law_and_the_Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_conflict
http://www.un.org/sg/biography.shtml on Ban Ki-moon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ban_Ki-moon
UN Watch www.unwatch.org

Part II On International Law Concerning Jerusalem

Nadene Goldfoot                                                      

7/5/12 FLASH: Supreme Court Judge Edmond Levy has ruled that Israel is not breaking international law.  See last reference below .  
Eugene Rostow, international lawyer, felt that Israel has the right to Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem as well. He was the Dean of Yale Law School and was also the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs under Lyndon B. Johnson.  He died in 2002.

According to some in talking about international law, they say that under UN Resolution 242, East Jerusalem is considered "occupied territory."  They also say that Israel's annexation of Jerusalem therefore violates the UN resolution.

A drafter of this resolution was then Arthur Goldberg, who sat on the Supreme Court of the USA and in 1965 left it to become the US Ambassador to the UN.  He says that it in no way refers to Jerusalem.  This was a deliberate omission.  Jerusalem was a discrete matter and not to be linked with the West Bank (Judea and Samaria.).  He has repeated several times that the 1948 armistice lines were temporary and particularly true of Jerusalem.  He never called or inferred that East Jerusalem was "occupied territory."  he died January 19, 1990 and was born on August 8, 1908, the same year my father was born.  

After 1948 the UN General Assembly voted on 3 resolution calling for the internationalization of Jerusalem but Jordan and Arabs refused whereas Israel said okay.  Then the 1967 war with 5 nations pouncing on Israel and Israel managing to win anyway happened like a miracle.  Here Jordan had occupied East Jerusalem illegally from 1948 to 1967 and Israel gained it in a defensive war but that hasn't stopped the Arab critics to come down on Israel for altering the status of Jerusalem.  .

Alan Dershowitz, great defender of Israel, Harvard criminal appellate lawyer and professor at the Harvard Law school,  in his book 2003 "The Case for Israel" notes on page 69 that the land allocated to the Jews didn't include Western Jerusalem which had a Jewish majority, or Hebron, two of Judaism's holiest and most historic cities.  Jerusalem had a population of 100,000 and was to be internationalized but was cut off from the Jewish areas.    Hebron was  in the Arab sector. and with no Jewish presence even though Jews had lived there for thousands of years until the Palestinian massacres of Jewish women, children and old men in 1929 and 1936 drove them out.  It was a bad deal all around for the Jews, especially to defend, with Arabs turning the deal down,  but the Jews  accepted quickly this UN partition and then declared statehood in 1948.

He noted in his 2008 "The Case Against Israel's Enemies"   on page26 how Jordan destroyed synagogues including the Jewish equivalent of the Dome of the rock and other Jewish institutions as soon as it conquered the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem in 1948.  To me it's terrible that they were able to continue until 1967 to hold it.  In 2005 Dershowitz wrote "The Case For Peace" where he suggests a happy peaceful solution where Palestinians were peaceful so that they would be in a compromising mode and would then have a condition where Israel would govern Jewish areas in the city while Palestine would govern Muslim and Arab areas.  The Mount would be divided or shared.  The Old City would be divided because it already is in quarters. and each under its own people.  I'm afraid that reality of 2006-2012 hadn't occurred then.  He may have changed his mind by now.

It was enough to keep the USA from never having their embassy in Jerusalem because of the American policy being that the final status of the city is a matter for negotiation.  They have a consulate in East Jerusalem to handle matters relating to Palestinians living in the territories.

1990 finally saw the American Congress passing a resolution saying that Jerusalem is and should remain the capital of the state of Israel and must remain an undivided city where the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected.  They disapproved of the status before 1967 anyway and are not about to return to it now.  So said President George Bush.  Secretary of State James Baker also realized the significance of Jerusalem and to people of all religions as well.  He said that Jews and others could live where they wanted, east or west and that the city should remain undivided.

Jordan had desecrated Jewish holy places.  King Hussein allowed construction of a road to the Intercontinental Hotel across the Mount of Olives cemetery instead of other accessible places.  Hundreds of Jewish graves were destroyed.  Then they used the gravestones as pavement and latrines in army camps.  You can see the inscriptions on stones there on the walls, pavements and latrine floors there in 1967.

The ancient Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem  was destroyed along with 58 Jerusalem synagogues, some being centuries old.  The Western Wall was covered by slum dwellings.  Other synagogues still standing were turned into stables and chicken coops.

Israel found in 1967 that hundreds of squatters had some type of shack in the Old City and Israeli civil engineers cleared the ruins to rebuild the quarter.  they first offered compensations or alternate housing to the squatters.  Jordan had neglected the Old City and East Jerusalem  didn't even have the most basic services like a steady water supply, plumbing or electricity.  Reunification meant that these services were now given to East Jerusalem as well.

Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_V._Rostow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_Goldberg-covers Resolution 242 and Goldfberg's statement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Dershowitz
http://www.dafka.org/news/index.php?pid=4&id=649
Myths and Facts:  a concise record of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Mitchell G. Bard, Joel Himelfarb
http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2011/08/israels-claim-on-judea-samaria-and-east.html
http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2012/04/un-violations-of-international-law-opts.html
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2141940009976831016#editor/target=post;postID=4710203977283863337;onPublishedMenu=overview;onClosedMenu=overview;postNum=605
http://israel-nadene.blogspot.com/2012/07/justice-edmond-levy-rules-israel-has.html

Importance of Jerusalem, Zion, or the City of David to Jews

Nadene Goldfoot
Over 3,000 years ago from 1,000 BCE to 960 BCE (Jewish Calendar from 2884 to 2924) King David lived and built Jerusalem which was the capital of Judea.  To Jews only, this city has been the focus of national and religious aspirations.  It's been Israel's capital since 1948 with a population of over 600,000.  It was also our capital of our Jewish nation between 1,000 BCE and 586 BCE and also from 516 BCE and 70 CE.  You can read about it in the "Old Testament."

The Bible, Psalms, 122,3, refers to:  Jerusalem, which is bound firmly together.   I take it to mean that it must not be divided, which is what the Muslims are demanding.  They want east Jerusalem as their future capital.  Psalms was written by King David. 

The Bible, Zechariah, 8, 3, refers to: Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth.  Let's be honest.  The only reason that the Muslims want east Jerusalem is that it has been unified with the western section and is now a part of Israel.  They have no G-dly reason to make it their capital. 

The Talmud, Berakhot, 58, refers to: Eternity means Jerusalem. written after 200 CE, from Babylonian and Palestinian Talmuds, all before Islam when Mohammed lived from 570 CE to 630 CE.  Little did the scholars realize that Jerusalem would play a world-wide part in politics in 2012.  They were right; it is an eternal city. 

Avot Derabbi Nathan, Talmudic Commentary: There is no beauty like the beauty of Jerusalem.  Does anyone doubt the love Jews have for Jerusalem? 

Jerusalem has been under many foreign rulers, but only with Jews was it a capital with its people living in the land.  Jews of Jerusalem are the longest living people with an unbroken historical association.  It is where the President of Israel lives and where the Knesset, the Government, the Supreme Court, the Chief Rabbinate, the Hebrew University and the Israel Museum reside. Yet the UN refuses to count it as our capital. 

To us it is the most holy city and contains the Western Wall, or Wailing Wall as some know it which dates back to the time of our 2nd Temple.  Christians hold it dear with Jesus of Nazareth and the story of his life and death, with a holy place being the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  Muslims consider it their 3rd holy place after Mecca and Medina.  Their holy shrine in Jerusalem is the mosque of Al Aqsa on the Temple Mount. 

Between 1948 and 1967, Jerusalem was divided in two-between Israel and Jordan, who had illegally occupied the eastern part.  The two parts were separated by barbed wire and concrete walls.  Jordan forbid movement of people from east to west.

After the Six Day War of June 5-11, 1967 Jerusalem was reunified on June 29th and barriers were removed.  Jordanian troops in east Jerusalem had bombarded the rest of the city.  The IDF came in and in 2 days the entire city came under Israel control.  The first thing they all did was go to the Western Wall, which had been denied access to Jews for 20 years.

The population of east Jerusalem at the time included 139,000 Muslims and Christians, so that by 1990 the population of Jerusalem was 493,500.  Today it is 693,217 with 464,527 being Jews.  Today it is a thriving city holding members of the 3 faiths with their religious and secular living.  It has many problems indeed with 12% of families having 7 or more children.  39% of the population are school age, and there has been a serious housing shortage.  Israel had a large building program in all parts of the city, Arab and Jewish.  Kiryat Yovel was the largest project.  Just to give you an idea, Portland, Oregon's population is 583,766. 

The Jerusalem Law of 1980 put Israel's sovereignty over the entire city.  Israel has suffered from sabotage which were encouraged by outside elements , especially after the beginning of the intifada in 1987. Some Arabs such as Hamas terrorists have wanted to go back to the 1967 situation. 

On October 34, 1995, the USA's 104th congress passed a law to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital but has yet to do it.  They have since withheld recognition until the Palestinian-Israel peace is completed.  Israel has had Jerusalem as its capital for 44 years anyway. 

Ofra Haza, originally coming from Yemen,  sings Yerusahalayim Shel Zahav, or Jerusalem, City of Gold so well.  When the sun hits Jerusalem, it looks like it's made of gold, and the way countries have coveted it, you'd think it was truly made of gold.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRijgRZmqvI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_history_of_Jerusalem
http://www.hebrewsongs.com/song-yerushalayimshelzahav.htm

Jerusalem, Undivided

Nadene Goldfoot                                                           

East Jerusalem and West Bank barrier 

"Israel occupied east Jerusalem in 1967 and annexed it later in a move never recognised by the international community. It considers the entire city its "eternal, indivisible capital."  
(AFP-European Union says Israeli settlements are "worrying."-reference below.)

After being attacked by all the surrounding Arab states, Israel miraculously won the  battle and in doing so, gained back east Jerusalem, which had been held by Jordan in an illegal move of occupation without permission.  Now Jerusalem is one again and enjoying the fruits of unification.

The European Union, forever not wanting to affront their Arab pals, is saying that Israeli "settlements", which are now becoming old villages, towns and cities, are   a "worrying" development.  At least they are for a 2 state solution.   They also state that the legitimacy of Israel must never be called into question.  

Where I question is "the right of Palestinians to achieve statehood".  Why?  I ask.  They were never a state of their own.  Jews have had to wait since 70CE to regain their own land, and at that they have but a drop in the bucket compared to their original land tract.  The Arabs have been given the opportunity to have their own state ever since 1948 when Israel was pronounced a state among the nations and they have refused, wanting the whole piece instead of their slice of the pie.  Instead, they answer Israel's pleas with bombing and killing.  So what is their right in getting their own state which is more demanding than other entities in the world who seem to be more deserving. 

Where does it say that Jerusalem is so important to the Arabs?  It's not a religious center at all.  At best, east Jerusalem does have many Arabs living there, but this is not reason to take it over as the capital of "Palestine."  The Koran does not address Jerusalem.  East Jerusalem contains Arabs because  Jordan had taken it in the War of Independence illegally; thus there are still Arabs living there.  Israel did not force them out.  Israel is trying to get along with its neighbors, and has hired them for work, not attacked them. 

Israel has been begging the Palestinians to "demonstrate their commitment to a peaceful solution" but instead, Fatah has joined Hamas; a terrorist group connecting with an even more evil terrorist group.  That's how they have demonstrated their "right to a state."

The EU accuses Israel of "systematically undermining the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem through the continued expansion of settlements."  Israel has dismantled cities that had developed with the results of having the areas become Muslim centers for attack.  Look at Gaza.  If the "Palestinians won't come to the peace talks and be serious about making friends with Israel, then why should Israel hold back in building needed homes for its people.  When they get serious about their attitude, decisions can be made about building. 

Right now there are several fatwas out to kill all Jews everywhere and destroy Israel from Hamas itself as well as Qaradawi, the religious leader who has gained prominence through Qatar's Emir.  He had been thrown out of Egypt by Mubarak for his outlandish attitude, but he has gained prominence and just spoke in Egypt to over a million Islamists.  This is not the climate that creates peace between Israel and the Hamas-led Palestinians. 

Face it, European Union.  The "Palestinians want east Jerusalem simply because it means so much to Jews.  If they ever picked up the "Old Testament" and read it, they'd see how Jerusalem plays a prominent role to us.  It goes back to Kings David and Solomon.  Hamas's own leader, Khaled Meshal, who chooses to live in Damascus, Syria instead of Gaza, is resigning but may do another term anyway as he is in demand.  This man has Jordanian citizenship and could return there if he gives up all political aspirations.  He will only be 56 in May, and is quite too young to retire. 

Israel was led to believe that they would receive  a fair size of their old land back in the Balfour Declaration of 1917.  Their high aspirations dwindled before their eyes but they accepted the token piece they were offered in the end.  If Hamas is serious about wanting their own state, they could easily choose another site for their capital being that they have a great deal of land already.  East Jerusalem is a subject that was to be discussed in peace talks that the EU seems to want decided before the discussion.  Can it be that Hamas knows they can't come up with rational answers?  The international community favors their Arab friends, owners of oil wells.  What sort of community is it that cannot see the logic of east Jerusalem remaining a united section of the rest of Jerusalem? 

Resource: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-says-israeli-settlements-worrying-192124301.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaled_Mashal
Oregonian newspaper, 1/22/12; page A10, Hamas leader won't seek re-election by Fares Akram NY Times

January 25th Peace Meeting of Israel/Palestine May Be Last

Nadene Goldfoot
The "Palestinians", so called Arabs whose ancestors were originally in Palestine along with the Jews before 1948 and up to then, want all of Israel and the death of Jews, but are going through the motions of coming to a few peace talks with Israel as ordered by the United Nations. 

A senior Palestinian official has been quoted as saying that there is to be only one more meeting on January 25th.  Then either they will schedule meetings involving negotiations or decide it has been a failure.

 Saturday was the day of a meeting between Saeb Muhammad Salih Erekat, former chief Jordanian- born Palestinian negotiator at Oslo Accords from 1995 to 2003 who resigned in protest from the PA but was later reinstated and now a member of the Israel-Fatah peace accords and  Yitzhak Molcho, Israeli lawyer and chief negotiator for Israel of which representatives from Jordan and the Quartet (US, EU, UN and Russia) did not attend.  What were they doing meeting on Shabbat?  Maybe they were just talking.  Hopefully they were alone. 

The fact is that PA President Mahmoud Abbas is in the process of getting international help in putting pressure on Israel to freeze construction in the "settlements" (towns and cities) in Judea and Samaria and east Jerusalem.  This building and the towns and cities are at the core of the Palestinian offensive stated a Palestinian official.  They think they undermine the foundations of the two-state solution. 

After reading Alan Dershowitz's 2005 "The Case For Peace; how the Arab-Israeli conflict can be resolved", I agree that this is a better plan than a one state solution where Israel would be swallowed up, but he presented his ideas before the present day situation of the Muslim Brotherhood's presence ,deadly threats and constant bombardment into this year of 2012, seven years after his book was published.  It isn't that the settlements are the end-all to the problem.  They are the result of the problem of the Muslims never making peace in the first place.  The more they fight and bomb, all the more reason why Israel shouldn't continue with working on these landmarks. (I have a friend who said that everytime the Gazans bomb Israel, Israel should take another foot of land in Judea and Samaria.)  Well, they haven't done that, but they are trying to keep up appearances in the towns that they have.   The Palestinians want "settlements" to be settled on their side without any negotiations with Israel.  They've been attacking Israelis since the birth of Israel in 1948 when there were no settlements to argue about. 

Rumor is that the USA and some EU people were putting heavy pressure on Abbas to keep talking.  The PA is arguing about the deadline not being in March, which is a date used by the Quartet.  They're also saying that it's the Israelis who are not serious about going forward with peace talks and are using the coming general elections in Israel as a reason for stalling.  I ask how Israel can move forward when the PA won't until Israel is forced to end control in the towns and cities in Judea and Samaria?  They want the cart to pull the horse!  To put it plainly, why should Israel give up towns and cities they developed on land they received after being attacked by many countries in which they came out the winner?  Since when do winners lay down their arms and become losers?  Attack Israel and you lose!  Live in peace with Israel and you will be a winner.  Plain and simple.  That's what I would tell them. 

Dershowitz's plan started with Israel withdrawing from all of the Gaza Strip which they did.  It turned into a shooting ground making it easier to hit southern Israel, and this had been a withdrawal made in good faith as a step to peace. 

Then Israel, seeing that the withdrawal from Gaza was successful (Ha ha) would "withdraw from nearly all of the "West Bank" a name I hate given by Jordan for Judea and Samaria, with territorial adjustments consistant with Security Council Resolution 242 and the existing realities on the ground."  The realities on the ground are worse, far worse than they were in 2005.  I'm wondering what this would get for Israel after the fiasco with Gaza.  And there we are.  Stuck. 

However, others don't see it as I do.  Jordan's King Adullah is behind the times and still is touting that Israel is practicing apartheid and he has the chutzpah to ask about democracy-he-a king!  Some democracy that is! 

Then Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told Israel that the settlements are deliberate vandalism.  I have no idea how he comes up with such adjectives that are completely off the subject.  Does he know where he is right now?  Somebody should buy that man a history book.  This is the atmosphere that Israel is in where they are trying to make some sense out of facts.  It's like being in Chelm, plus, it's one against the many all over again.   I wonder if he knows about the British White Paper where Britain's original plan for the Jewish Home was to be the land of Judea and Samaria as well before they realized that they had also promised it to the Arabs  and messed up the whole deal in the first place?  It was another case of "Whoops, we need oil more than we need Jews!"  Britain was spread so far all over the earth that they couldn't keep their deals straight with people. 

Update: 1/25/12: The PLO refuses to continue with the talks after today's 5th meeting. 
Arutz Sheva news@israelnationalnews.com
Resource: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=253727
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeb_Erekat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzhak_Molcho
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/jordan-s-abdullah-israel-realizes-need-to-revive-mideast-peace-talks-immediately-1.407769
http://articles.cnn.com/2012-01-17/middleeast/world_meast_jordan-abdullah-obama-meeting_1_jordan-s-king-abdullah-peace-talks-israeli-negotiators?_s=PM:MIDDLEEAST
book: The Case for Peace by Alan Dershowitz

Lies Our Neighbors Tell About Us: Leading to an Invasive March

Nadene Goldfoot
We are up against the constant lies that the Arabs tell their people about Israel.  Here's what they are advocating to do.

"They [Israelis] know for certain that our [Palestinian] roots are deeper than their false history. We are drawing our new maps. When they [Israelis] disappear from the picture, like a forgotten chapter in the pages of our city's history, we will build it anew (residential area). The Mughrabi Quarter will be built here (on the Western Wall Plaza)." [Palestinian Authority TV, August 10, 2011]

Notice "our city's history?"  Suddenly Jerusalem is "their city?"  That's one of the lies they tell their people. The Western Wall Plaza is in Jerusalem.  If anybody doesn't know yet, Jerusalem was built by the Jewish King David.  He reigned for 40 years from 1010-970 BCE in Jerusalem.  He created the city.  Jerusalem is a Jewish city and the capital.  Remember Solomon and Sheba?  Solomon was David's son and of course the next king and the Queen of Sheba visited from Ethiopia and was highly impressed. 

The Plaza is in front of the Wailing Wall in the Old City at the foot of the Western side of the Temple Mount.  The Wailing Wall (Western Wall) is one of the most sacred sites in Jerusalem.  This falls in the Eastern section of the city, which is the area that the Palestinians covet and say they want as their capital.  Today there is no division in Jerusalem.  It is one united city and Israel's plan is to keep it that way.  Jews pray at this wall.  It is a wall of peace and reverence and is truly awesome. 

I was lucky to be able to first visit there in 1980 when I moved to Israel with my class.  Everyone puts their prayer on a little piece of paper and sticks it in between the stones of this ancient wall that Herod built.  Many people are invited for Shabbat dinners and lunches from this spot. 

Since Israel's freeing of Jerusalem in 1967, Muslims have been able to continue to visit their holy sites like the Temple Mount.  This is the only site that is holy to them.  The story is that Mohammad went up on his white horse to Paradise.  Actually, the Muslim holy sites are in Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia.

 Israel went out of their way to protect their religious rights and no Jew has been able to enter the Temple Mount at all.  Yet, a Muslim takeover will mean apartheid practice as they plan to have no Jew in their Palestine.  Jews would be kept from all their holy places as well as homes.  I can't believe the U.N. would even consider such a decision. 

About on the 20th of September, the Arabs are planning on an invasion by walking into Israel unarmed in a takeover of some sort.  They had called for an earlier one with the help of Facebook for May 15th and did.  That's why I shudder at what can happen this time around.  Remember this: Iran imprisoned 3 innocent young hikers who didn't realize they had wandered into Iran that day being it must have been rural countryside for a hike.  The result for these three is that they were held for ransom of a half million dollars each.  The one girl paid her money and was able to leave, but the two fellows are still there, even after being told they would be freed in a few days.  I imagine Iran is waiting for the checks to clear the bank first.  They have been in prison for 2 years already.

 Now, whatever happens in this invasive march, remember that no one in any country can just enter.  We can't do that to enter Canada or even Mexico.  They will not be entering as tourists.  They have one thing in mind; to destroy and take over Israel. 

Iran and Iraq had a monstrous war between them in the 1980's.  Iran tried the same thing.  They had a massive invasion of people walking towards Iraq.  Iraq used mustard and nerve gases on them, which could kill in 2 minutes.  That was their reaction. 

Resource: Honest ReportingCanada
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/David.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Wall
http://ruchoshelmashiach.blogspot.com/2011/03/will-millions-of-muslims-march-to.html
Arutz Sheva http://www.israelnationalnews.com/
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-temple-mount
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/148379

The True Facts About East Jerusalem

Nadene Goldfoot

In 1967 Israel won the war that was an attack from all the surrounding Arab countries and in doing so gained East Jerusalem that had been in Jordanian hands illegally.

The climate before this happened was full of lies about Jews and Israel as if working up to a pitch to produce fanatical soldiers against the fledgling state.  In 1962 Egypt's goverment reprinted an old text on the blood libel against Jews, "Talmudic Human Sacrifices"  for use in their schools.  Abdel Qati Jalal gave it an update saying that "the Talmud believes that the Jews are made of different material from the rest of mankind, those who do not share the beliefs of the Jews being animals devoid of sense or they are servants and chattels of the Jews.

The lies went on. "Their wise men laid it down that there is no law but their own desire."   It goes on to repeat many a story of other blood libels in history in which they seem to present truth to the children.  They also used the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion".  This was taught to Arab teenagers as a factual work, the Jewish admission of the conspiracy to dominate the world.  So the avenging army was all worked up against Jews.  With this horrible attitude being rejuvinated again, it is a miracle that Israel won.  What lying propaganda was used by the Nazis was again in vogue in Arab countries. 

In the war of 1948, the Arab League was under Abdallah, and with British guidance, they captured the eastern part of Jerusalem including the Old City.  so, by 1967 the previous 19 years Jerusalem had been under Jordanian rule.   They had tried to obliterate the Jewish presence and all signs of Jewish identity.  They had destroyed all the synagogues.  The Hurvah was the most famous.  There an Arab put in a small stable for his ass or goat.  There had been an ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives looking over the Old City.  They tore this up and used some of the tombstones for paving and some for lavatory seats in the Jordanian army camps.  Then all of a sudden they decided to show an attachment for Jerusalem.  They went about manufacturing facts to deceive themselves which resulted in their public passion for something not even in their Koran.  Because it was an important place to the Jews, this gave them cause to also declare it theirs as well. 

After the Israelis captured the Old City in 1967, they found that hundreds of squatters had made their homes in the district.  Civil engineers cleared the ruins to rebuild the quarter after offering compensaton or alternate housing to these squatters.  This happened because during Jordanian rule, the Old City was was badly neglected.  East Jerusalem lacked the most basic services as steady water supply, plumbing and electricity.  Reunification with the rest of Jerusalem, making it one city again, meant that such services were now extended into East Jerusalem as well. 

With 1967's freeing East Jerusalem, it came a whole city of freedom and friendship.  People could now move freely throughout all the city and had free access to the holy sites of Judaism, Christianity and Islam for anyone in the world.  It became administered fairly thanks to Teddy Kollek and his administration.  This was said by C.Witton Davies, Archdeacon of Christ Church in Oxford, England in 1979. 

By April 1990, the USA's House of Representatives debated a resolution declaring Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel.  Bill Emerson praised the record of Israel's government.  Dante Fascell said that "since Israel gained control of the Old City in 1967, it has been open to worshippers of all faiths".  Even Jimmy Carter said that religious freedom had been enhanced under Israeli rule.  He noted they did a better job than Jordan.  So what happened?  Why did the USA deny that Jerusalem, all of it, was Israel's capital?  Why is the USA embassy not there?  This is because of American policy being that the final status of the city is a matter for negotiation.  A consulate is located in East Jerusalem to handle matters relating to the Palestinians living in the territories of Judea and Samaria.  Otherwise, they have their embassy in Tel Aviv. 

In 1990 Congress declared that "Jerusalem is and should remain the capital of the State of Israel" and "must remain the capital of the State of Israel" and "must remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected."  George Bush declared, "We did not approve of the status quo before 1967; in no way do we advocate a return to it now."  Secretary of State James Baker stated, "clearly, Jews and others can live where they want, east or west, and the city must remain undivided."

The UN Resolution 242 came up with the statement that East Jerusalem is considered "occupied territory."  though Israel annexed it, this violates the UN resolution.  I note that Jordan had illegally occupied East Jerusalem.  In fact, all of Jordan was originally meant to become Israel in the beginning of British decisions. 

Arthur Goldberg, a drafter of this 242, has said that it in no way refers to Jerusalem.  He told the UN in 1967 that the armistice lines of 1948 were intended to be temporary.  This was particularly true of Jerusalem.  At no time in these many speeches did he refer to East Jerusalem as "occupied territory." 

After 1948 the UN voted calling for internationalisation of Jerusalem.  Then they dropped the matter until Israel gained control of the whole city.  For 19 years the UN ignored Jordan's occupation of the eastern part of the city but adoped numerous resolutions criticizing Israel for altering the status of their once ancient capital, Jerusalem.  The UN clearly does not see matters the way the United States does.  They do have many Arab states involved in their decisions which alters their thinking. 

And now we have our present USA government causing a heart attack to Israel in talking about going back to 1967 lines and renegotiating.  I do wish they would bone up on facts concerning Jerusalem.  Jerusalem was the ancient capital of Israel, deemed  so by King David in 1010 BCE,  and Jews have been living there for more than 3,000 years.  They have been the largest single group of people there since the 1840's.  It contains the Western Wall of the Temple, the holiest site in Judaism.  To Jews, the whole city is sacred.  It never was a capital under Muslim rule, or a cultural center.  The only part they consider holy is the Dome of the Rock.  The rest of the city is insignificant.  Under Israeli rule, all Muslims can visit the Dome. 

In 1844 there were 7,120 Jews,  5,000 Muslims and 3,390 Christians living there.  In 1990 there were 378,200 Jews, 131,800 Muslims and 14,400 Christians. 

For 3,000 years Jews pray 3 times a day "to Jerusalem, thy city, shall we return with joy."  "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning."  No, we wish to remain with all of Jerusalem.  "Jews have loved her the most and have remained constant in that love throughout the centuries of their dispersion.  It is the longest, deepest love affair in history."

The group calling themselves "Palestinians" plan to have all of Jerusalem as their capital of their future state, and may have plans to start with East Jerusalem, again forcing all Jews out of their future lands of Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem (all ancient Jewish territory) .  Only because Jerusalem means so very much to Jews do they covet it.  With a Lebanese chairman in the UN to hear their cause in September, we will see what happens to Jerusalem. 

Update: Russia, and several European countries, are strongly against any Jewish presence in all of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and also are not enthusiastic about Israel's being recognized as a “Jewish state.”  I'm not surprised as Russia banned Judaism in Russia.  They are against religion, period.  The Arabs are refusing to have the same status as the Vatican. 

Reference:  Battleground: Fact and Fantasy in Palestine by Samuel Katz

Myths and Facts; a concise record of the Arab-Israeli conflict, by Mitchell G. Bard and Joel Himelfarb

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Jerusalem1.html

Arutz Sheva Newspaper

Palestinian Authority's Plans for Western Wall and Jews

Nadene Goldfoot

Just when I think things can't get any worse for Jerusalem, the situation only gets worse.  We Jews just can't come up with such evil ideas like our cousins, the Arabs that surround us can.

The Palestine Authority just broadcast a documentary on TV of their plans to build an Arab residential area in place of the Western Wall Plaza in East Jerusalem "when the Israelis disappear like a forgotten chapter in the pages of "our" city's history."  They are most likely hoping that this will happen shortly after September 22nd. 

The Western Wall is a remnant of the Temple Mount  which was the outer wall surrounding it which is the holiest and most important prayer site for Jews.  It's called the Kotel ha-Ma'aravi.  That's where the Jewish tourists head for when they come to Jerusalem.  That wall has my piece of paper with my prayer on it stuck in between the stones, which is what we all do. 

Muslims used it as a garbage dump just to humiliate any Jew that was to visit it.  From 1948 to 1967 Jordanians illegally occupied Jerusalem but had signed an agreement that Israelis could visit it.  They then refused to allow Jews there at all.  So much for their agreements. 

When the Six Day War of 1967 was over, Moshe Dayan was one of the first IDF soldiers to enter and go to the wall.  He inserted a prayer that asked that "lasting peace descend upon the House of Israel." 

That isn't all.  Hamas and Fatah reject any Jewish connection to Jerusalem calling it "their false history."  They call Jews praying there a "sin and filth." 

Well now, this just can't happen.  We'll all have to say a prayer to keep Jerusalem united as one city and in Israel's hands.  . 

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=5490 by Itamar Marcus & Nan Jacques Zilberdik

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/Western_Wall.html

The Palestinian Attempt in Autumn to Gain State Status

Nadene Goldfoot
The Arabs living in Gaza and Judea/Samaria and east Jerusalem  have been told that the U.S.A. will veto their attempt to gain a Palestinian state status in the UN.  They are unwilling to come to a peace agreement with Israel.  One of their hang-ups is not being willing to accept Israel as a Jewish state even though there are many Muslim countries and states. 

Their plan is that President Mahmoud Abbas will try to get their state of Palestine in Judea/Samaria, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem by going to the UN Security Council.  These are territories that Israel won in the war of 1967 when all the surrounding states attacked Israel when the minute state won despite their immense attack  in six days.  Israel has completely withdrawn from Gaza with the results that the Hamas terrorists have taken over the land and have turned it into a staging ground to attack Israel.  In making this peaceful act to help in bringing about a peace, Israel has only been hurt as a result.  Since 2008 Abbas has not come to any settlement with Israel and there has only been attacks from Gaza. 

The USA will veto their attempt, and they then plan to gain recognition through the General Assembly who most likely will support their effort, but this is really meaningless without approval in the Security Council, commented  John Bolton, past U.N. envoy for the Bush administration.

In the meantime, increased shelling from the Arabs in Gaza has been hitting southern Israel in another round of violence.  This causes Israel to retaliate and hit their smuggling tunnels and Hamas centers while at the same time Jerusalem had about a thousand marchers of mixed Arabs and Israelis  for peace going through the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah to voice support of recognition of a Palestinian state.  Their activism, called the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement,  is doing nothing to cause Hamas terrorists to consider such an idea as being peaceful.  The Hamas goal is to wipe out Israel completely, and evidently is now also Fatah's goal being they have joined up with Hamas.   Something for these marching peace activists to think about is that right now the two groups in this neighborhood are peacefully cohabitating, but what would it be like if this neighborhood were under the auspices of Hamas/Fatah as a Palestine?  Are they thinking that life would remain the same?  Have they forgotten that the notion of a Palestine means that the state would be devoid of all Jews?  They would not be allowed to remain as their idea of a Palestine is to house only Muslims.  

Resource: http://news.yahoo.com/former-us-official-derides-palestinian-un-effort-080037i846.html
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/ from arutz sheva

We Haven't Forgotten Jerusalem, Dr. Sanduqa

Nadene Goldfoot
Right from Psalm 137 in our Bible is the saying said since 586 BCE, over 2,500 years ago, "If I forget thee, Oh Jerusalem.....and we haven't.  Our religious people have been saying this every day of their lives.  Yet Dr. Sanduqa, Palestinian researcher,  is trying to rewrite history and says this is from Zionist propaganda.  Evidently he hasn't read anything but the Koran. What he's actually doing is trying to rewrite Jewish history.  His own people will fall for it but not the Jews nor most of the Christians in the world.  I think the others will be smart enough to research this on their own before they become so gullible. 

This was written as a lament of the Jewish exiles who were taken away into captivity to Babylon, which today is Iraq.  Actually, we had three different waves of Jews taken by them into captivity.  The first was in 597 with King Jeconeah.  The second was in 587/6 with King Zedekiah.  Our Yehud Province then had a Babylonian governor and we were dragged away in 582.  Our exile ended in 538 when Babylon fell to the Persian (now Iran) King Cyrus the Great who actually wanted Jews return to Judah with the plans of rebuilding their temple to restore their religion.  Many remained in Babylon as families had been there some 60 years and they were not prepared to be pioneers in a wasteland, for nothing had happened there. 

Psalm 137: By the rivers of Babylon we sat and cried when we remembered Zion (our land).  On the willows nearby we hung our harps.  Those who captured us told us to sing; they told us to entertain them:  "Sing us a song about Zion!"  How can we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?  May I never be able to play the harp again, if I forget you, Jerusalem!  May I never be able to sing again, if I do not remember you, if I do not think of you as my greatest joy!  Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did, the day JErusalem was captured.  Remember how they kept saying, "Tear it down to the ground!"  Babyon, you will be destroyed!  Happy is the man who pays you back for what you have done to us--......... from Book: The Psalms

This is not the only saying I've heard.  Another is " If I forget thee, Oh Jerusalem, may my right hand lose its cunning."  This is from the King James version of our bible and is the translation for Psalm 137.5. 

From our own Jewish Bible, called the Tanach, my Stone Edition: By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and also wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows within it we hung our lyres.  For there our captors requested words of song from us, with our lyres (playing) joyous music, "Sing for us from Zion's song!"  How can we sing the song of Hashem upon the alien's soil?  If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.  Let my tongue adhere to my palate.  If I fail to recall you, if I fail to elevate Jerusalem above my foremost joy.  Rememher Hashem, for the offspring of Edom, the day of Jerusalem, for those who say, "Destroy!  Destroy!  to its very foundation.  O violated daughter of Babylon, praiseworthy is he who repays you in accordance with the manner that you treated us.  ..........

Babylon has played a major part of the Jewish history.  Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldeans, which was Babylonia   It had been known in the Bible as the land of Shinar or of the Kasdim(Chaldees).  Abraham migrated to Canaan where he later fought  Amraphel, King of Shinar.  Babylon was to the prophets a symbol of insolent pagan tyranny.  Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar II (604-561 BCE) had inherited the Assyrian Empire after his conquest of Judah (597, 586).  He's the one who caused the exile of Jews from Judah.  Members of the 10 Tribes were exiled before that and then became lost.  They either died or were assimilated into other surrounding nations.  . 

So, Dr. Sanduqa.  Don't try to rewrite our history.  You're doing this in trying to erase all connections Jews have with the land of Israel in order to take it from us.  You want Jerusalem and can't stand that we have a greater claim to this ancient city.  You're going to the UN in September in an attempt to claim Judea, Samaria and Gaza as your own without any plans of even making peace with Israel.  I remind you that Judea and Samaria and Gaza was once our land, and that we have much history there.  For the sake of peace, our leaders have always been for reliquishing our land to you.  Why aren't you ready to accept that we've come back home?  We've bought and paid for the property and we're not running away.  

 We've been documenting our history  for a long time.  Moses did a great job of writing and so did the prophets.  We've been a very old literal group ,  Jerusalem is from our history.  It's even more to us than New York is to the United States, for it's the center of our religion.  It's what Salt Lake City is to the Mormons.  Ever since 1948, the whole state of Israel has blossomed, but especially Jerusalem.  It shines in the sun like a city of gold.  It is our heart and soul. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_captivity
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Exile.html
http://blog.standforisrael.org/articles/palestinians-practice-psalm-denial?s_src=SFIEN&s_subsrc=EN31106XXEXXA
http://bible.cc/psalms/137-5.htm
Book: The Psalms for modern man from American Bible Society, NY
Book: the New Standard Jewish Encycloopedia

US Speaking With Forked Tongue Again

Nadene Goldfoot's take on situation.

First, the forked tongue spoke to the Indians and gave them a raw deal. Now it has been happening to Israel, over and over from the US.

Obama and Clinton both promised in AIPAC meetings to people concerned about Israel that Jerusalem would remain whole.

Last week they offered Netanyahu such a deal that he couldn't hardly resist; 20 Jet fighters free if he would only stop building in Judea and Samaria for three months in order to get the Palestinians to the peace table and talk turkey.

Now, suddenly, all the newspapers in Israel and the US seem to have reported this wrongly.

Obama officials are denying the November 11th pledged package deal. They were just misleading. Oh my. Now they say they agreed to nothing beyond US political support and diplomatic guarantees. Netanyahu had to remind Obama again that Jerusalem is a city and not a settlement and was never part of any deal. How can such smart people forget such things?

The translation of Clinton and Obama's words were simply wrong. Basically it was Clinton whose words were not exactly like those of Obama.

So really, verbal meetings just don't amount to a hill of beans. Everything must be in writing and gone over with a fine tooth comb with lawyers to be understood. Then again, there's the language barrier, even though Netanyahu speaks excellent English. Somehow, what is said and what is meant afterwards just don't match up.

Knowing this, Netanyahu was smart enough to ask for the promises in written form, which have never arrived. Netanyahu asked for 3 conditions;

1. Guarantee that this would be the last freeze asked of Israel (this would be the 2nd one)

2. Veto a demand of the Palestinians to become independent in the UN without peace talks with Israel.

3. Not to pressure Israel during the 3 month freeze

Israel had never asked for any freebies. They had already put in an order of 20 jets to the US before this had come up.

The US still demands that the building freeze must cover Jerusalem and Israel will not be rewarded with warplanes for free. Such a deal. My bet is that this understanding came about after the Palestinians announced they were sitting tight and not moving till Israel gave up East Jerusalem to them. Or would it have been when Clinton and Obama were reminded that they couldn't spend so much money anymore? Maybe both? Promises, promises....

Reference: http://www.debka.com/article/0158/printversion/

http://www.israelnewsdaily.com/
http://israelbehindthenews.com/bin/content.cgi?ID=4205&q=1 by David Bedein
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/140827

Jerusalem Needing Solomon's Wisdom Right Now

Our Israeli government states that Jerusalem is our eternal and indivisible capital of Israel.
The Palestinians want the Eastern sector of Jerusalem as their state capital. The middle East conflict is centering on this issue.

This difference has caused PM Netanyahu to ban all political events by the Palestinians in Eastern Jerusalem. He has received reports that the PM Salam Fayyad is opening two schools there and wants to have ceremonies for it. I imagine that the fear is that there will be demonstrations involved against Israel and they hope to prevent this.

I see this situation as problematic . The problem causing it is that the Palestinians are supposed to get permission before they do things in Jerusalem and they haven't. It's like the fact that we would have to get building permits to renovate or build in our city in the USA. the schools they have renovated needed it. Israel couldn't afford to do it right now and the PA had the money. Israel couldn't afford to do it because so much money has to be spent on security.

Of course, besides this fact, when you get down to it, Israel is not willing to divide Jerusalem.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101101/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansconflictjerusalem
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=193574

Homes For Israel in East Jerusalem

The United States is very disappointed that Israel has decided to go ahead with plans of building 238 homes in East Jerusalem. Everyone thinks that this is reason enough not to go ahead with any talks about peace.

Well, I'm disappointed with the United States in not understanding that we just may not be ready to give away East Jerusalem to a future Palestine. Ohama had said to us that Jerusalem should be united for Israel. How would he like to give away 1/4 of Washington DC?

We've been playing the give-away game for a long time, now, and the last mistake was Gaza. The Hamas are not about to make peace with us. They just want to destroy Israel, so, we're building Israel.

The reporters and peace-makers are quick to judge that Netanyahu is not interested in peace. Of course they are so wrong. That's exactly what we want. But we're not going to sacrifice anymore. We've had it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101015/pl_afp/israelpalestiniansconflictsettlerjerusalemus

Obama's Flippped Sides

Who is Obama trying to help out here? It's certainly not Israel. He appears to have gone over to the other side. The pot is all stirred up over the building process in Jerusalem with his help and rioting has ensued worse than people have seen in years. Trouble has brewed there completely out of bounds since he took this stand of demanding no building from Israel; and I note this is a demand that is not even on the table to be discussed. He wants settlement before discussion and arbitration. What kind of a deal is this? I just hope that Netanyahu doesn't take the bait and allow himself to be pushed into this corner.

The New Republic http:://www.tnr.com/article/world/the-crisis
Victor Sharpe and Stanley Goldfoot: http://www.thejerusalemconnection.us/news-archive/2010/03/18/an-open-letter-to-the-world-from-jerusalem.html

East Jerusalem-Belongs to Israel by Nadene Goldfoot

Evidently America has been getting so presumptuous about giving East Jerusalem to the Palestinians that their condemndation has actually aided the Palestinians into demonstrating hatred and causing all sorts of problems in Jerusalem. First it was Biden who was furious with the announcement of 1,600 apartments to be built. Then Clinton scolded very harshly. Netanyahu was in deep trouble because his interior minister told the truth at the wrong time.

To me it sounds like everyone but Israel takes it for granted that East Jerusalem is to be the capital of Palestine. Was the announcement ill-timed? Perhaps it was a desperate move to tell these outsiders that it's a place sacred to Jews, and has been in the original plans of Israel for an eternity is not at least the last 3,000 years. It's part of Israel's land that is not to be bartered with. Panic struck and the announcement came out. I think the interior minister felt the steam roller coming and pushed back.

The timing was amazing. First, I was really expecting Mitchell to be there. It was announced in the papers that he was coming for peace talks and Biden would come after him in a few days. At this time there were all kinds of demonstrations going on in Jerusalem by the Palestinians over Israel's decision to protect religious and cultural places because the Palestinians were letting them go to pot. Try to do something nice and you get in doo doo. There's never a dull moment in Israel as I recall from living there from 1980-1985. I haven't heard a word about Mitchell but this episode is bringing out all sorts of hate-mongers towards Israel.

Israel is a nation, albeit a very teeny one. It is not a state or a city of the United States. It's cross to bear is that it is dependant on money from the United States to buy arms to protect itself from these same enemies. The United States is so fair that it has also been supplying money to all the other enemies in the surrounding neighborhood, making the necessity continuous. Now the biggest ogre in the neighborhood, Iran, is a threat with the worst weapon of all, atomic ones that can reach Israel.

If the future Palestine were made up of lovely Canadians who wanted offices in East Jerusalem for their state, it might be a different story. It would be lovely to have such nice neighbors who are so similar with similar goals and acceptance in their hearts. But these Palestinians have been fighting us for over 60 years now and only a few have decided to accept us. Fatah hasn't really come around at all, only on the surface for show, I'm afraid. They've had their share of attacks on Israeli civilians. Of course they're easier to deal with than the off the wall Hamas and other terrorists who are as bull-headed as they come. Finding an enemy who is willing to live in peace is hard to do. The problem is that the Palestinians are divided and not acting as a unit. How can we come to an agreement about a new state next door or in our living room that way ? Come off your high horses, Biden and Clinton. Don't act so shocked. Palestinians need to earn the trust you expect us to have, and we haven't got any so far. We've been slapped in the face for 60 years now. You just experienced it one time for a few moments.

Reference: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100314/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians