Posted on 12/10/2017 9:54:21 PM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
The 1662 Book of Common Prayer translates Psalm 122 more elegantly even than the King James Bible. “Jerusalem is built as a city that is at unity in itself.” Hubert Parry set those words to music in 1902 for the investiture of King Edward VII, and his gorgeous anthem has been sung at every subsequent British Coronation.
But Jerusalem has rarely been “at unity in itself,” and it certainly is not today. Neither the dazzling Anglican hymn, nor Thomas Cranmer’s baroque translation, nor, indeed, the original Hebrew words bear much relation to contemporary reality.
The status of Jerusalem isn’t part of the Israel-Palestine dispute. It is the Israel-Palestine dispute. Everything else might be resolved by negotiation. A border could be agreed that took account of demographic reality, probably involving land swaps. A compromise could be reached on the right of return, perhaps offering compensation to those whose theoretical right was not a practical reality. Steps could be taken to ensure the security of both sides. But the City of David, Al Quds to Muslims, remains the nub of the quarrel.
Hence the rage over President Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy there. When we consider the frequency with which the region is cursed by terrorism and war, the movement of a few dozen diplomatic personnel to a piece of land in West Jerusalem which will, in any conceivable final deal, remain Israeli, seems disproportionate.
After all, it is normal diplomatic practice to allow states to designate their own capitals, and to situate foreign legations in those designated capitals. Israelis have considered Jerusalem their capital since 1949, and, like the Psalmist, have declared it indivisible. That position was also taken by the U.S. Congress in 1995. Barack Obama told an AIPAC meeting in 2008: “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided”.
So, what has Trump done that is such a radical departure? True, he has isolated the U.S. from most of the rest of the world; but, frankly, on the issue of Israel, that was already the case.
The more serious charge against him is that he has made a peace settlement harder to achieve. Jerusalem was always going to be the final piece in the jigsaw. If agreement could be reached on all the other issues, and confidence between the two sides increased, maybe some imaginative way out of the most intractable real estate dispute on the planet might present itself. By anticipating the territorial outcome, the argument runs, Trump has made life tougher for the negotiators.
There is some truth in this, but we should keep a sense of perspective. Lining up behind the Israeli position on Jerusalem hardly precludes a two-state solution. Three times in recent years, Israel has offered Palestinians an independent territory which included a share of Jerusalem: in 2000 (to Yasser Arafat) and in 2001 and 2008 (to Mahmoud Abbas).
Jerusalem is not the city it was in the time Jesus, let alone that of Solomon. Those earlier Jerusalems have been (as Jesus sadly prophesied) razed to the ground. The heart of the dispute these days concerns one walled enclave within a noisy modern metropolis. Even within that enclave, there are already imaginative ways in which the claims of different religions coexist. It is the status of the Dome of the Rock on the ruins of the ancient Temple, considered in Medieval times to be the center of the world, that remains the center of the conflict.
That dispute remains as far from resolution as ever. But no one has proposed moving the U.S. embassy to the Old City. West Jerusalem’s status as a seat of government, containing the Knesset and the government ministries, is not in dispute. Shifting foreign representation to where that government operates hardly makes a deal impossible.
The more subtle criticism of Trump’s decision is that the supposedly great deal maker has offered this big symbolic gesture in return for nothing. A card like moving the embassy, which can be played only once, should not be tossed onto the table cheaply. It should certainly not be used simply because domestic headlines are unhelpful, and a distraction is timely.
Perhaps secret undertakings were made by the Netanyahu government which will come to light later, but it seems unlikely. An opportunity to use the embassy move to push the peace process along appears to have been squandered — which really is a pity.
“O pray for the peace of Jerusalem: They shall prosper that love thee.”
Daniel Hannan, a Washington Examiner columnist, is a British member of the European Parliament.
This is one of the big unanswered questions
Interesting way to explain it. Do you believe we were pre-known to God? As in, did we exist known to him in some other form prior to our birth and all rebelled in some way, and thus when we are called “all are as filthy rags and wretches” we shouldn’t get too offended because after all we are being given a second chance kind of thing? I mean, it would help make sense of some things.
People find it hard to imagine what the existence of God would even be like with respect to the existence of people, but that hasn’t stopped philosophers from trying.
C. S. Lewis called it an “eternal now.” IMHO this seems to tie in well with God’s biblical title as “I am.”
The biblical philosophical treatment is sparse. “In Adam all sinned.” The consequences aren’t so sparse.
Anyhow, a lot of people vastly underestimate the divine hope that undergirds their creation. If we were only expected to putter around a bit on earth till we die, and manage not to do something so extravagant as to put ourselves in danger till we die safely, then anything else seems foolish, an excess, a pointless extravagance. But it’s the people who defy such a view whom we will be looking at in retrospect and say “Wow! What a ride.” It’s in relationship to THAT that we are right to evaluate how wretched we are. And that’s pretty jolly wretched. Afraid to do anything but die safely.
Permission to steal/quote? Very well stated! Thank you.
If you'd like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
..................
...It is the status of the Dome of the Rock on the ruins of the ancient Temple...
Mooselimbs have a nasty protocol of pissing upon and razing other peoples culture and history.
That’s why all others have animosity towards mooselimbs.
Mooselimbs should not have built a structure over top of the Jew’s most holy of holies
...The more subtle criticism of Trump’s decision is that the supposedly great deal maker has offered this big symbolic gesture in return for nothing. A card like moving the embassy, which can be played only once, should not be tossed onto the table cheaply. It should certainly not be used simply because domestic headlines are unhelpful, and a distraction is timely...
The two sides are stuck and cannot find a way forward. Trump took the issue off the table.
Trump made the same move in a budget dispute. Both sides were dug in and not negotiating, not moving. Trump declared the trans folks were no longer welcome in the military, therefore breaking the logjam
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.