Israel News | By One Jerusalem

Obama Declares Support For Dividing Jerusalem

Allen — 2009-11-06T08:25:08-05:00

This week Obama's Mid East policy has begun to publicly unravel. Yesterday, Palestinian President Abbas threatened that he would not run for re-election. This surprise declaration came after Secretary of State Clinton publicly praised Israel's flexibility on the settlement issue and then retracted her praise when the Arab world protested. And on the day of Abbas' threat the UN - the Obama international organization of choice - voted to adopt the anti-Israel Goldstone Report. (Watch Dore Gold's spirited defense of Israel in his debate with Goldstone.)

In all this tumult, President Obama once again reaffirmed that he sees Jerusalem as a divided city. Haaretz reports: "President Barack Obama has promised the Palestinian leadership that there will be no change to U.S. policy on the issue of Jerusalem, and that East Jerusalem does not constitute part of the State of Israel."

It is important to always keep in mind that when the term "East Jerusalem" is used it includes the Old City and the Temple Mount. In other words Obama supports dividing Israel's capital and taking a way Israel's control of the Old City. By all accounts Israel's governance of the Old City has been stellar. Before Israel took control, Jews were banned from the Old City and Christians had limited access. Today, thanks to Israel, the Old City is open to everyone.

We must redouble our efforts to keep the status quo. Prime Minister Netanyahu has repeatedly reaffirmed his commitment to keeping Jerusalem united. You can help by getting friends and family to sign the One Jerusalem petition. It is important for us to be able to contact friends of a united Jerusalem to keep them updated on news about the Holy City and to inform them how they can be helpful in times of crisis.

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VIDEO EXCLUSIVE :: Dore Gold debates Goldstone at Brandeis

editor — 2009-11-05T20:07:06-05:00

Scroll down for videos!

Last night Ambassador Dore Gold debated Justice Goldstone at Brandeis. Organizers were careful not to call it a debate but a debate it was and judging from the reaction of the audience Ambassador Gold was the winner. Ambassador Gold gave a rousing defense of Israel's actions during Operation Caste Lead otherwise known as the Gaza War.

Gold's presentation revolved around three themes: the ethos of the Israeli military that runs completely contrary to the claims made by Goldstone; the sending of 12,000 rockets by Hamas into southern Israel for 8 years before Israel responded, and finally the extent to which the Israeli army went beyond what any other normal army would do to protect Palestinians in Gaza.

For a far more comprehensive update and summary read Carl's live updates from the event at Israel Matzav.

Tonight, Ambassador Gold defended Israel as few have ever done before.

Brandeis President Judah Reinharz:

Here's Goldstone:

Ambassador Gold responds:

Q & A:

AUDIO :: Professor Barry Rubin -- Full Interview!

Podcaster — 2009-11-05T02:37:28-05:00

MP3 File

Omri interviews Israeli analyst and scholar Prof. Barry Rubin, director of the Herzliya IDC's Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and author of dozens of books and articles on the Middle East. They discuss Prof. Rubin's new edited volume, 'Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict, and Crisis' and what it suggests about Lebanon's future, Syria and Iran's ambitions, and the global consequences of continued US blundering in the region.

Even Left Wing Jews Are J Street's Enemy

Allen — 2009-11-03T09:45:29-05:00

President Obama's favorite Israel lobby recently held their first conference where their hostility to the State of Israel was on display. Journalist Joel Mowbray captures the heart and soul of J Street in this report for the Washington Times:

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Blame-Israel-first mindset

Joel Mowbray

"They hate us. They want to kill us. So what are we going to do about it?"

These are not the words one would expect to hear about Palestinians at the Oct. 25-28 first annual conference of the left-tilting J-Street, let alone from a left-wing rabbi who has worked extensively for Palestinian human rights.

Rabbis for Human Rights Executive Director Arik Ascherman, though, believes that delusion serves no one's interests, least of all those who genuinely want peace. His love for his adopted homeland of Israel was unmistakable, and he admits that his criticisms of Israel are because he's a "Jewish racist" who's "going to expect more of Jews."

While he was careful to clarify that he wasn't necessarily speaking of most Palestinians and adding that Israel's own failures have played a role in fostering this hatred, Rabbi Ascherman was adamant that excuses should not be made for Palestinian terrorism.

Unfortunately, he was mostly alone - both in his passion for Israel and his willingness to assign some blame to the Palestinians.

Excuses abounded at the J-Street conference for Palestinian terrorism and the popular support it enjoys.

In all, the event's notion of "pro-peace" meant an almost exclusive focus on Israel's misdeeds and the steps the Jewish state should take. This, presumably, is the "pro-peace" part of the slogan of J-Street, which was established early last year as "pro-Israel, pro-peace," seemingly to act as an alternative to "pro-Israel" groups that support the democratic will of Israel.

One panel, featuring left-wing Israel politicians Ami Ayalon and Haim Ramon, carried the basic message that the path to peace was paved with the removal of settlements.

"Palestinians want something very simple: The end of the occupation," said Mr. Ayalon, a Labor Party member of Knesset. Ending the "occupation," he explained, would magically transform a Palestinian society that has long tolerated and even embraced attacks on Israeli civilians through rockets and suicide bombings. "If they [the Palestinians] see the peace process is working, they will reject terrorism."

Nowhere on the official program was anyone who gave more than lip service to the problems created by Palestinians' continued force-feeding of anti-Jewish, anti-peace propaganda. Children learn from textbooks that might make Nazis blush. Jews are "pigs" who have "raped" the "land of Palestine."

One could make the case that poisoning children's minds hurts the prospects for peace. But not at J-Street. Asked about the implications of Palestinian propaganda, J-Street's Israel-based consultant Colette Avital, herself a former Israeli legislator, responded, "That doesn't matter. You can go to Israeli schools and not see some very nice things. It's not easy on either side."

If anything, the J-Street consultant appears to believe Israel is primarily responsible for Palestinians' radicalized society. "If you would live under occupation, you wake up and see Israeli soldiers everywhere, you have to go through checkpoints to go to school or to the hospital, would you love Israelis?" she rhetorically asked.

What Ms. Avital couldn't answer, though, is how exactly her reasoning applied in practice given that a non-occupied Gaza population is far more radical than their brethren in the West Bank. Nor would her logic answer why much of the Islamic world hates Israel even more than most Palestinians do.

Her comments, though, were in keeping with the overall theme that it's all about Israel. Very little seems to be expected of Palestinians, who are either seen by conference attendees as either tragic victims of Israel's stubborn rejection of "peace" or mere bystanders who happen to be neighbors.

Many, perhaps most, of the 1,500 J-Streeters in attendance firmly oppose pushing around the Iranian leadership, yet have no qualms about strong-arming Israel's democratically elected leaders.

Missing from this conference was the palpable affection so common among Jewish and Christian Zionists alike, who speak of Israel the way Francophiles discuss Parisian culture or cuisine. The love, in short, was not in great supply.

Applause and passion were on display, however, whenever a speaker spoke of the dignity of Palestinians or of Israeli "oppression" or "occupation." The love was also shown to speakers who talked about uprooting settlements.

One of the chilliest receptions was given to left-leaning Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, who condemned the United Nations' Goldstone Report on the conflict in Gaza for assigning most of the blame to the Jewish state. Attendees gave little indication that they agreed with his call "to reject the trap of false moral equivalence."

Minutes later, J-Street founder Jeremy Ben-Ami dished out the very type of moral equivalence Rabbi Yoffie warned against: "Actually believing that one has that monopoly [over morality and what is right and wrong] is what leads to the endless wars and the conflict, the sadness and the bloodshed."

One should wonder how to apply Mr. Ben-Ami's logic to rather major tenets of the platforms of Israel's enemies, such as driving Jews into the sea or "wiping Israel off the map." Does it actually inspire "endless wars," "conflict," and "bloodshed" to believe yourself morally superior for rejecting those ideas as wrong?

Joel Mowbray is an investigative journalist living in New York City.

Marching Toward A Palestinian State

Allen — 2009-11-03T08:29:57-05:00

While Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tries to smooth the Arab feathers ruffled by her praise of Israel's curtailing of settlement activity ( her response to the criticism is to once again turn against Israel) Salam Fayyad continues his dogged campaign to build a Palestinian State, based on the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital. Fayyad is not the first to propose a Palestinian State but his plan is unique because it is based on declaring the state in two years whether Israel agrees to it or not. In other words the "State" will be presented as a living fact.

One Jerusalem has learned that Fayyad is a favorite of the Obama White House and The European Parliament. Fayyad has been revealing his plan for statehood to the elites in Europe and the United States. His plan is appealing because it does not require agreement from Israel. And it is likely to win international recognition of the "State" should it come to fruition.

In a recent interview with the Christian Science Monitor, Fayyad discussed his plan and defended his call for the building of Palestinian settlements in the West Bank. There is no doubt that if Palestinian settlements go up the world will embrace them while condemning Israel's settlements.

Fayyad's plan poses a serious challenge to Israel.In the court of international public opinion it will be difficult to argue against a Palestinian State if Fayyad is successful in building the infrastructure for a state in the disputed areas.

It is vitally important that friends of Israel understand the dangers posed by this Fayyad initiative. The best resource on this matter is work of Dan Diker and Pinchas Imbari at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Below is a summary of their latest findings.

In August 2009, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad announced a unilateral plan to establish a de facto Palestinian state in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem following a two-year state-building process. Fayyad's plan is the first serious Palestinian outline of a state-building effort since the PLO was founded in 1964 and replaces the traditional PLO position of armed struggle to "liberate Palestine."
The Fayyad plan represents a bold anti-Fatah posture and is seen to pose a direct challenge to Fatah and its leader, Mahmoud Abbas. Fayyad enjoys only limited political backing and his political rivals, such as Tawfiq Tirawi, Abu Maher Gneim, and Mahmud al-Alul, who were recently elected to the new Fatah Central Committee, have already blasted Fayyad's plans.
Israel supports "bottom up" Palestinian state-building. However, Israeli leaders have voiced legal and security-based concerns over Fayyad's intention that the PLO would unilaterally declare Palestinian statehood in 2011 based on the June 4, 1967, lines. The one-sided establishment of a Palestinian state would contravene a key provision of the Oslo Interim Agreement, according to which: "Neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status agreement."
Another direct challenge to Israel is that Fayyad's "blueprint" calls for massive Palestinian development in Area "C" of the disputed West Bank, which is under Israeli civil and security control, and which directly challenges the delicate, agreed-upon framework of the 1993 Oslo accords.
Israel's requirement of "defensible borders" involves its continuing control in Area "C," including the strategically vital Jordan Valley and the high ground surrounding Jerusalem and overlooking Israel's vulnerable cities along the Mediterranean coast. Hizbullah's 4,000 rocket attacks from the north in 2006 and Hamas' 10,000 rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza, culminating in the 2009 Gaza war, both underscore the potential rocket threat against Israel's cities that could emerge from a Palestinian state in the West Bank if Israel were to withdraw to the pre-1967 lines.

J Street: Obama's Jewish Lobby

Allen — 2009-10-31T23:58:50-05:00

Despite reports that Arab money is helping fund the upstart (2008) Israel lobby that the Obama Administration has adopted as its own, it is accurate to describe as a organization representing Left wing views on Israel and related issues.

The Obama Administration has publicly adopted J Street as its voice in the Jewish American scene. When President Obama held his first meeting with American Jewish groups J Street was invited but several established Jewish organizations that unequivocally support the State of Israel did not receive invitations.

J Street represents a minority fringe segment of the American Jewish community. On the issue of Iran J Street opposes the imposition of sanctions on the current repressive regime. It steadfastly supports the Obama policy of negotiating with the a regime that has repeatedly threatened to destroy the State of Israel.

Moreover, J Street supports the outlandish conclusions of the notorious Goldstone Report that accuses Israel of deliberately targeting civilians in the Gaza War. One of J Streets stars even went to work for Goldstone, while Israel's Prime Minister called Goldstone's report as dangerous as a nuclear Iran.

Even the left wing head of the Reform movement , Rabbi Eric Yoffie wrote that the group "demonstrated an utter lack of empathy for Israel's predicament"

But the group's antagonism to Israel is precisely why the Obama Administration has chosen J Street to be the voice of the American Jewish community. It compliments the position of the Obama Administration.The Administration recently demonstrated its commitment to J Street by sending National Security Adviser Jim Jones to be a key note speaker at a J Street conference.

Every friend of Israel should be aware of J Street and its anti-Israel bias. We will be reporting on their shenanigans and their ties to the Obama Administration on a regular basis.

United Nations Agency Boosts Arab Claims to Jerusalem

Allen — 2009-10-31T18:23:34-05:00

The Lebanese Daily Star is reporting that "occupied Jerusalem" has been appointed by UNESCO to be the "Arab Culture Capital 2009."

"Jerusalem was chosen by UNESCO and the Arab League this year ...for its unrivaled contribution to Arab culture, despite Israeli protestations that the holy city is its own."

The coordinator of these celebratory events is quoted as saying, " What we are doing with the events is highlighting the Palestinian cause."

Of course Israel does not claim that Jerusalem is holy only to Jews. And unlike under Arab jurisdiction, the Jewish State allows freedom of religion to the point where Christians and Muslims control their own Holy sites. When the Arabs controlled Jerusalem, Christians were limited in their access to their Holy sites and Jews were banished from the Old City completely. The Jewish quarter was destroyed and many Jews were killed by Arabs. Tombstones from the great cemetery on the Mount of Olives were used as latrines.

If one needed any more proof that UNESCO is an Arab League you can just read the statement that Jerusalem was chosen to highlight the Palestinian cause.

UNESCO, which is charged with preserving historic sites should be protesting the Muslim campaign to rid the Temple Mount of archaeological evidence that Solomon's Temple existed. Their destruction of precious materials on the Temple Mount is greater than the Taliban destroying the Buddhas in Afghanistan. But while the world condemned the Taliban destruction the world is silent when the Muslims destroy Jewish and Christian History.

For superb history of Jerusalem we highly recommend the new expanded soft cover edition of Dore Gold's The Fight For Jerusalem.

AUDIO EXCLUSIVE :: Norman Podhoretz -- Full Interview!

Podcaster — 2009-10-29T03:28:39-05:00

MP3 File

Omri interviews conservative journalist and theorist Norman Podhoretz, author of the new book, 'Why Are Jews Liberals?'. One of the leading thinkers of contemporary political discourse, Podhoretz discusses how thousands of years of history have culminated in an American Jewish ideology that adheres unblinkingly to the Torah of Liberalism while still seeking the imprimatur of the Torah of Judaism, ultimately undermining both.

Arab Radicals Encourage Violence in Jerusalem

Allen — 2009-10-25T19:04:35-05:00

Today, Israeli riot police confronted militant Arabs holed up in the Mosque on top of the Temple Mount. The Muslims claim they have taken to the streets and are committing violence because there is a rumor that Jews are going to come to the Temple Mount to pray.

Reflect on the reason for this violence: To stop Jews from praying on the Holiest site in the Jewish World.

This eruption is a good time to remind our readers of some pertinent facts:

All the talk about dividing Jerusalem between East and West is deceiving. What the Muslims want is the Temple Mount. Currently, even though Israel has jurisdiction over all of Jerusalem the Muslim religious authorities control Muslim sites and the Temple Mount. Under this arrangement Jews have very limited access to the Temple Mount. While the Muslims have used their authority to destroy invaluable archaeological materials that help document the rich Jewish and Christian history on the Temple Mount

Many Muslims, including Abbas the President of the Palestinian Authority, believe that Jews never had a presence on the Temple Mount. They refuse to acknowledge the Jewish Temples on the Temple Mount and to help prove their absurd contention they are trying to destroy any evidence that Jews existed on the Temple Mount and in Jerusalem.

When the supposedly moderate Mr. Abbas insists that the Arabs control Jerusalem he means control the Temple Mount. He understands that control of the Temple Mount will be a great victory over his Jewish and Christian enemies. He will then allow the complete cleansing of the Temple Mount and Jerusalem of all things Jewish. He knows that undermining the Jewish claim to Jerusalem is a thrust at the heart of the Jewish claims to the Holy Land.

The Wall Street Journal, recently cited a Palestinian historian on this topic:

"On an Aug. 11 PA television program, "Jerusalem--History and Culture," Mr. Alawneh argued that the Jews invented their connection to Jerusalem. "It has no historical roots," he said, adding that the Jews are engaging in "an attack on history, theft of culture, falsification of facts, erasure of the truth, and Judaization of the place."

It is important for all defenders of Jerusalem to understand what is at stake in the debate over Jerusalem. It is not just another diplomatic talking point. When Israeli politicians and the American President and Secretary of State support the division of Jerusalem they are in fact assisting Abbas and his Palestinian allies to attain their ultimate goal: To rob Jews of their eternal capital. I am not suggesting that is why they are taking this negotiating position -- but if they are successful this what they would have accomplished.

Last week, Jordan's King Abdullah also voiced his opinion on Jerusalem. He called on the international community to stop Israel in Jerusalem:

"His Majesty King Abdullah instructed the government to work immediately and effectively to intensify political action in the international arena to highlight the seriousness and illegitimacy of Israeli violations against al Aksa Mosque and Jerusalem.... The King called on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities and take an immediate and firm position to stop all unilateral Israeli measures in Jerusalem and to put an end to Israeli violations of international laws and charters pertaining to holy sites.... The King noted that preserving Jerusalem and protecting it is a Hashemite and Jordanian priority and Jordan will never stop exerting all efforts to realize that objective."

Abdullah has suddenly woken up on this issue because he does not want the Palestinians to become the guardians of Jerusalem's holy sites, he wants his Hashemite's to once again rule Jerusalem. Those were the days when Jews could not visit the Old City and Christians were severely restricted in their visits. They were also the days when the Jewish Quarter was destroyed and Jewish cemeteries desecrated.

Natan Sharansky once told a synagogue audience gathered in support of a united Jerusalem that we think we are saving Jerusalem when in fact Jerusalem is saving us. Today, more than ever we need to save Jerusalem because without Jerusalem there is no Jewish State.

Goldstone's Long Reach

Allen — 2009-10-24T14:15:21-05:00

The Goldstone report is not just another meaningless United Nations action against Israel. Goldstone is one more step in alienating the State of Israel from the international community. It continues to infuriate that Israel is condemned by the tyrants at the United Nations. But what is more troubling is that the cumulative effect of years of anti-Israel decisions by United Nations bodies has been to legitimate legal actions against the State of Israel and their citizens.

It is important to understand that the Goldstone Report is a political document that could only have a negative effect on a law abiding State like Israel. Criticism of the likes of Hamas have no impact on Hamas. Hamas will still get financial assistance from the international community and will still be treated as a legitimate representative of the Palestinians.

Robert Goldberg succinctly states the purpose of Goldstone:"was to provide a "rationale" for domestic courts around the world that are sympathetic to militant Islam to arrest Israelis -- whether they be political leaders, military officials or ordinary soldiers -- and prosecute them for war crimes under so-called " universal jurisdiction laws".

Watch here a video on universal jurisdiction.

For years Israelis have been restricted from entering certain countries because of the fear they would be incarcerated by authorities for crimes they did not commit. Goldstone, by declaring that Israel deliberately committed atrocities against Palestinians, provides evidence that being aggressive about dragging Israel to court about war crimes is a proper course of action.

The challenge of Goldstone and the deligitimaztion of Israel is real. The need to set the record straight is essential.

For an excellent summary of the impact of Goldstone so far see Tom Gross.

AUDIO EXCLUSIVE :: Dr. Richard Landes -- Full Interview!

Podcaster — 2009-10-22T17:01:26-05:00

MP3 File

Omri interviews historian, author, and Pallywood expert Richard Landes. Landes, who cracked the 21st century's first blood libel when he uncovered inconsistencies in the al-Durrah film, discusses how he's now taking aim at the international community's newest anti-Israel slander, the Goldstone Report.

AUDIO EXCLUSIVE :: Michael Ledeen, Author of 'Iran & The War Against the West' -- Full Interview!

Podcaster — 2009-10-19T14:02:58-05:00

MP3 File

Omri interviews foreign policy expert and conservative scholar Michael Ledeen, author of the new book, 'Accomplice to Evil: Iran and the War Against the West.' Ledeen, who served as an adviser in the Reagan administration and currently holds the Freedom Scholar chair at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, will focus on the West's ongoing appeasement of Tehran's apocalyptic Republican Guard-controlled regime.

Deligitimizing The Jewish State

Allen — 2009-10-17T13:27:09-05:00

Tel Aviv: This morning I had breakfast with a friend -- a child of Holocaust survivors. Not surprisingly, our conversation included the infamous Goldstone Report which vilifies Israel for defending itself. My friend said that Goldstone reminded him of the Jews who served the Nazis in the concentration camps. "They," he said, "thought they could escape the fate of their fellow Jews by helping the enemy, but they came to the same brutal end." He went on to say that he saw where Goldstone's Rabbi called the person the enemies of Israel are calling a "respected jurist" a man you cannot trust.

We cannot underestimate the dangers of Goldstone's report. Yesterday's United Nations action legitimized this biased report as a tool that will assist the campaign to deligitimize the State of Israel. It is no surprise that criminal countries voted against Israel but a moral crime has been committed by those Western democracies that chose to sit on the sidelines. (Our friend Robin Shepherd has an interesting analysis of the actions of the various countries)

But far more important is to understand the dangers Goldstone creates for the State of Israel. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has wasted no time in preparing for a "lengthy fight" to deligitimize the deligitimizers. He clearly understands that Goldstone's criticism of Israel's defensive action in Gaza is a shot at the heart of the Jewish State.

Every friend of Israel must join this fight against an insidious enemy that wants nothing else than the end of the Jewish State. When an international body gives credence to an investigation based on the fallacious assumption of moral equivalency between Israel and the Hamas terrorists you know the deck is stacked against the civilized nation of Israel. And to reach their critical conclusions they use the testimony of nameless terrorists who placed civilians in harms way. Here is a summary of the problems with Goldstone:

Blocking the Truth of the Gaza War:

How the Goldstone Commission Understated the Hamas Threat to Palestinian Civilians

Col. (res.) Jonathan D. Halevi

Was the UN commission's approach one-sided against Israel, or unbiased and objective as commission chairman Richard Goldstone contended? Statements of Palestinians recorded by the commission and posted on the UN website provide authentic evidence of the commission's methodology and raise serious questions about its intentions to discover the truth.

Commission members did not ask the interviewed Palestinians questions about the activities of Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip which could be classified as war crimes or that were potentially dangerous to innocent Palestinians. Furthermore, there was no serious consideration of Palestinian "friendly fire" incidents, and we can only guess how many Palestinian civilians were killed or wounded by Palestinian fire.

Reports issued by the Palestinian terrorist organizations themselves detailed the fighting in a way that often contradicted the Palestinian witnesses. In addition, the witnesses hid vital information from the commission regarding the presence of armed terrorists or exchanges of fire in their vicinity.

Read more expert analysis here

For years, Israelis have been targets of anti-Israeli forces abusing the European legal system to threaten current and former members of Israel's Defense Forces if they set foot in the United Kingdom and other countries. This has seriously curtailed the movement of Israelis in free and open societies -- societies which often host Islamic firebrands with blood on their tongues and on their hands.

Israel's defenders are constantly under attack and Goldstone will provide Israel's enemies with more legal ammunition to shoot at Israelis who are only guilty of defending their nation in the most humane manner.

In this dark time let us start by sending a message to Israel's Prime Minister declaring our support for his campaign to defend the Jewish State. This is not a battle we can afford to lose.

Jews Have No History In Jerusalem

Allen — 2009-10-09T09:04:18-05:00

This headline is an accurate description of the mindset of the Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim leadership around the world. This distortion of history is what fuels the rabid insistence that Jerusalem is a Muslim City and Jews are the occupiers. (For a good statement of the facts watch this brief video.)

Palestinian firebrands like Sheikh Salah and Shamekh Alawneh, and Sheik Tayseer Rajab fills the heads of their people with this deliberately counter-factual message so they will get the young people into the streets of Jerusalem throwing stones and participating in other forms of violence. The de-Judiaizing of Jerusalem is similar to the dehumanizing of Jews by the Nazis. If you effectively and persistently repeat the Big Lie you can distort the truth in the minds of millions.

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Bari Weiss points out that the Koran and other Muslim traditions acknowledge an ancient Jewish presence in Jerusalem:

The Koran, which references many biblical stories and claims figures like Abraham as Islamic prophets, also acknowledges the existence of the Jewish temples. The historian Karen Armstrong has written that the Koran refers to Solomon's Temple as a "great place of prayer" and that the first Muslims referred to Jerusalem as the "City of the Temple." Martin Kramer, a historian who has combed through Koranic references to the temples in Arabic, notes surra 34, verse 13, which discusses Solomon's building process: "They [jinn/spirits] worked for him as he desired, (making) arches, images, basins large as wells, and (cooking) cauldrons fixed (in their places)."

There is still more recent official Muslim acknowledgment of Jerusalem's Jewish history--a booklet put out in 1924 by the Supreme Muslim Council called "A brief guide to al-haram al-sharif." Al-haram al-sharif, the Arabic name for the Temple Mount, is currently the site of the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosque. It is, according to Islamic tradition, where Muhammad ascended to heaven.

Yet it is also, according to the council's booklet, a site of uncontested importance for the Jews. "The site is one of the oldest in the world. Its sanctity dates from the earliest (perhaps from pre-historic) times. Its identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute." And the booklet quotes the book of Samuel: "This, too, is the spot, according to the universal belief, on which 'David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offering and peace offerings.'" Later, the booklet says the underground structure known as King Solomon's Stables probably dates "as far back as the construction of Solomon's Temple." Citing the historian Flavius Josephus, it claims the stables were likely used as a "place of refuge by the Jews at the time of the conquest of Jerusalem by Titus in the year 70 A.D."

Dr. Gerald Steinberg ends his article "Jerusalem: We win, you lose" in the Jerusalem Post with this important piece of advice to so-called peace-makers and funders of the Palestinians: "As long as the Arab and Muslim position slams the door to block Jewish history, Jerusalem will remain a battleground in which the Jewish nation will no choice but to use force when necessary to defend these rights."

With the recent statement by the Quartet (led by the Obama Administration) that the Palestinians should accelerate the establishment of institutions for governing based on the 1967 borders it is clear that the division of Jerusalem is on the agenda of the United states, Germany, Russia, ..etc. Now, more than ever, there is need to dedicate ourselves to promoting the truth about Jerusalem and its place in Jewish history. We must fight to set the record straight before the lies of Abbas, Arafat, and Muslim clerics become the public record.

In answer to the question, "What can I do?" let us offer a few suggestions. Urge as many people as you know to watch the film that states the facts about Jerusalem.

Also, encourage everyone to sign the One Jerusalem petition. This is a good way to make our voices heard and to stay informed. Act Today. The Clock is ticking against us.

The Real Truth About Israel and Jerusalem

editor — 2009-10-08T19:51:37-05:00