Jerusalem: Myths and Facts

MYTH

“Jerusalem is an Arab City.”

FACT

Jews have been living in Jerusalem continuously for nearly two millennia. They have constituted the largest single group of inhabitants there since the 1840’s. Jerusalem contains the Western Wall of the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism.

Jerusalem was never the capital of any Arab entity. In fact, it was a backwater for most of Arab history. Jerusalem never served as a provincial capital under Muslim rule nor was it ever a Muslim cultural center. For Jews, the entire city is sacred, but Muslims revere a site — the Dome of the Rock — not the city. “To a Muslim,” observed British writer Christopher Sykes, “there is a profound difference between Jerusalem and Mecca or Medina. The latter are holy places containing holy sites.” Besides the Dome of the Rock, he noted, Jerusalem has no major Islamic significance.

MYTH

“Jerusalem need not be the capital of Israel.”

FACT

Ever since King David made Jerusalem the capital of Israel more than 3,000 years ago, the city has played a central role in Jewish existence. The Western Wall in the Old City — the last remaining wall of the ancient Jewish Temple, the holiest site in Judaism — is the object of Jewish veneration and the focus of Jewish prayer. Three times a day, for thousands of years, Jews have prayed “To Jerusalem, thy city, shall we return with joy,” and have repeated the Psalmist’s oath: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.”

Jerusalem “has known only two periods of true greatness, and these have been separated by 2,000 years. Greatness has only happened under Jewish rule,” Leon and Jill Uris wrote in Jerusalem. “This is so because the 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.”

MYTH

“East Jerusalem should be part of a Palestinian state because all its residents are Palestinian Arabs and no Jews have ever lived there.”

FACT

Before 1865, the entire population of Jerusalem lived behind the Old City walls (what today would be considered part of the eastern part of the city). Later, the city started to expand beyond the walls because of population growth, and both Jews and Arabs began to build in new areas of the city.

By the time of partition, a thriving Jewish community was living in the eastern part of Jerusalem, an area that included the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. This area of the city also contains many sites of importance to the Jewish religion, including the City of David, the Temple Mount and the Western Wall. In addition, major institutions like Hebrew University and the original Hadassah Hospital are on Mount Scopus — in eastern Jerusalem.

The only time that the eastern part of Jerusalem was exclusively Arab was between 1949 and 1967, and that was because Jordan occupied the area and forcibly expelled all the Jews.

In March 2010, during a visit to Israel by Vice President Joseph Biden, the Israeli government announced the construction of 1,600 apartments in the Jerusalem suburb of Ramat Shlomo. The United States strongly condemned the announcement and the continued Israeli construction in East Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized for the timing of the announcement. Israel’s detractors have claimed Israel’s expansion in East Jerusalem represents a violation of the Road Map and prevents peace, despite the fact that Israel is adhering to its unprecedented moratorium on West Bank settlement, previous peace talks were not impeded by construction and every Israeli government since 1967 has supported the development of the Nation’s capital.

MYTH

“The Palestinians have been careful to preserve the archaeological relics of the Temple Mount.”

FACT

Though it has refused to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Temple Mount, the Waqf cooperated with Israeli inspectors when conducting work on the holy site. After the 1993 Oslo accords, however, the Jordanian-controlled Waqf was replaced with representatives beholden to the Palestinian Authority. Following the riots that accompanied Israel’s decision to open an exit from the Western Wall tunnel, the Waqf ceased cooperating with Israel.

The Waqf has subsequently prevented Israeli inspectors from overseeing work done on the Mount that is believed to be causing irreparable damage to archaeological remains from the First and Second Temple periods. Israeli archaeologists charge that during extensive construction work, thousands of tons of gravel –– which could contain important relics –– have been removed from the Mount and discarded in the trash. Experts say that even if artifacts are not destroyed they will be rendered archaeologically useless because the Palestinian construction workers are mixing finds from diverse periods when they scoop up earth with bulldozers.

Given the sensitivity of the Temple Mount, and the tensions already existing between Israelis and Palestinians over Jerusalem, the Israeli government has not interfered in the Waqf’s activities. Meanwhile, the destruction of the past continues.

MYTH

“Israel tried to burn down the al-Aksa mosque in 1969.”

FACT

The readiness of Arab leaders to employ falsehood in their propaganda was demonstrated when Nasser and other leaders called for a Holy War against Israel when an arsonist set fire to the al-Aksa Mosque in August 1969. The guilty party was an Australian Christian tourist, Michael Rohan, who confessed to the crime. The accused was tried and found to be mentally ill.

Source: Jewishvirtuallibrary.com

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