About Us Israelis - Jerusalem

Humans, each to a different degree, combine cognitive reasoning with other less-cognitive elements. The latter group mainly includes components of their identity, their sense of history, their ideologies, their nationalist orientation, their faith, their spiritual beliefs, their emotional characteristics, their political worldview etc. With this well in mind, and in very general terms, I shall try to explain how the majority of Jews living in and outside of the State of Israel regard Jerusalem.

Our connection to the eternal city is more than 3,000 years old; and as the last 2,000 years of Jewish history clearly demonstrate – the connection is not only physical; it is first and foremost spiritual and it constitutes one of the most important bases of our national and personal identities. No matter what the historical circumstance were, harsh or favorable, the Jews in the Diaspora kept looking to the east, longing to reunite someday with their ancient homeland. For generations, they promised themselves and their families, every single day of the week, to be "next year in Jerusalem."

3,000 years ago, King David established Jerusalem as the capital of his secular kingdom. His son, Solomon, built the Holy Temple in the city (which the Babylonians destroyed some five decades later), thus soldering its symbolic national and religious significance to Jewish identity. Since that ancient era, and throughout history, Jerusalem's status as the holiest city for the Jewish people grew ever-stronger.

The Jews were expelled from Jerusalem by the Babylonians but returned and eventually erected the Second Temple. Crashing the Jewish rebellion in the year 135, the Romans destroyed the second temple and expelled the Jews from Jerusalem, banning their return for centuries to come. All that was left of what had been for Judaism the holiest place on the face of the earth was its Western Wall. This Wall remains – until this very day – the most important religious place of ritual for Jews.

No other people but the Jewish people ever considered Jerusalem a political, spiritual or religious capital. All through history, and like no other people, Jews maintained a substantial presence in Jerusalem. All through history, and like no other people, Jerusalem, both as a physical and a spiritual place, played a major role in Jewish life, theology, teachings and yearnings.

19^th century Zionist thoughts and deeds brought about a massive immigration of Jews into the Ottoman-ruled "Eretz Israel" (known then, internationally, as Palestine), an administration later replaced by the British Mandate. This immigration greatly bolstered the existing Jewish population of Jerusalem, as well. By the time the United Nations approved the partition plan, and the State of Israel was established (14 May 1948), Jerusalem's population was characterized by a clear Jewish majority.

Although Israel's War of Independence resulted in a phenomenal military and political triumph, it left Jerusalem divided. The Western part of the city was now controlled by the new State of Israel and the Eastern part, which included Jerusalem's Old City and the Western Wall, was controlled by the Jordanians. This meant devastation for religious Jews, who were deprived of a basic right that had hitherto been given both by the Ottomans and by the British – i.e. to practice their religious rituals in their holiest of places.  

The Jordanians, who were in total control of the Holy places from 1948 until 1967, provided limited access for Christians and no access whatsoever for Jews. Israel liberated Eastern Jerusalem during the 1967 Six Days War, immediately implementing freedom of religious practice to all faiths and denominations. The reunification of Jerusalem also brought about recognition of the rights of these faiths to manage their respective holy sites. Israel even went further and granted the Muslims in Jerusalem the right to administer what Judaism considers its holiest site – the much contested Temple Mount.

It should be noted that History has witnessed an absurd process with regards to Muslims and Jerusalem. Although there is no evidence that the prophet Muhammad ever visited Jerusalem, or that Jerusalem was ever an Arab city for that matter, Muslims still consider the city holy. Studies by the finest Islamic scholars claim that Muhammad was influenced by Judeo-Christian ideas, those adhering to Monotheism, Judgment-Day and one's moral responsibility for his/her actions. The holy importance of Jerusalem, they claim, was a part of this set of beliefs and values. It seems that the Israeli-Arab conflict, and the rise of a new tribe of Arabs during the 20^th Century called Palestinian, shifted the focus of Islamic theology from Mecca as its holiest city to Jerusalem.

With this in mind, the Arab claim for East Jerusalem has no historical basis. What it really means – at the end of the day – is that Arabs control the most sacred Jewish and Christian holy sites. One has to consider past and present experience with Arab intolerance toward other faiths, mainly with Christianity, before supporting such an idea. One has to also consider Terror.

Jerusalem has experience terrorist attacks by so called Palestinian Arabs like no other city in the world. Horrific attacks, inhumane ones, which targeted innocent civilians – woman and children. Dozens of innocent people have been killed on Jerusalem's streets, in its busses and cafés. The proponents of these barbaric onslaughts wish to make our lives in the city so unbearable that we will forfeit our historical right to it. They have been at it since the 1920s but have failed to learn from experience. Nothing will ever make us Israelis give up Jerusalem – Nothing!

All those who favor Arab total claims for Jerusalem or the division of the city must understand the implications on the Jewish people as a whole and on us Israelis in particular. For Jews living in Israel and out, disengagement from  the Old City, which is located in East Jerusalem, means spiritual desolation

Unified Jerusalem is the Capital of the State of Israel. This is an undisputable fact for us Israelis, and confronting us with baseless claims about the rights of others to the Holy City will not change it. No amount of terrorist attacks on our populations, no amount of political pressure and no international posturing for dividing the city could ever change what Jews feel towards Jerusalem. In fact, all of those do just the opposite – they unite us and strengthen our convictions.

This is how we feel as a People. This is how most of us feel as individuals. So please remember to take all of that into consideration when forming your opinion about us Israelis.

A link for a short movie about Jerusalem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mR2W43t6tI&feature=youtu.be