Posted on 03/18/2010 12:01:27 PM PDT by anotherview
Would Muslims surrender Mecca? Should Catholics give up the Vatican? These may seem like ridiculous questions. The answer to both by any sane person would be "of course not." Why on earth would the answer to "Would Jews ever surrender Jerusalem?" be any different? The answer is simple. It shouldn't.
With the exception of a seven year period in the sixth century when the Persians restored Jewish sovereignty, the Jewish people were denied a homeland from 70 C.E. until 1948. During that time the Jewish people suffered pogroms, expulsions, mass murder, persecution, and assorted other forms of denial of basic human rights. Throughout that time the Jewish people prayed for one thing consistently: "Next year in Jerusalem." It's part of the Passover seder, the ceremonial feast, which the world's Jewish population will celebrate in two weeks time.
Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem, is a Zionist prayer in song, a prayer for a Jewish home in the land of Zion and Jerusalem. Jerusalem is stressed and is in the refrain, the only part of the anthem which is repeated. Here is a translation of the lyrics:
As long as in the heart, within,These words, taken from a poem and set to music in 1888, are the essence of Zionism. More, they are the essence of Jewish national and cultural identity.
A Jewish soul still yearns,
And onward, towards the ends of the east,
An eye still gazes toward Zion;
Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free people in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.
In recent days some have said that Prime Minister Netanyahu, and indeed the nation of Israel as a whole, will eventually have to make a choice between concessions which amount to surrendering sovereignty over much of Jerusalem or the friendship between Israel and the United States. Actually, that is no choice at all. Jews simply will not surrender sovereignty over Jerusalem. Those, particularly in the United States, who argue that we should include Jews who have somehow become divorced from their traditions, culture, their very identity as Jews. If we have to say goodbye to those people and say goodbye to support from the White House then that is what we will do.
Notice that I have made this argument without even once referring to Jewish and Christian religious beliefs. Of course it is religion which makes Jerusalem holy to Jews, just as Mecca is holy to Muslims and the Vatican is holy to Catholics. These beliefs, which the majority of Americans happen to share, are also being challenged by the White House. That has never been a recipe for much political support.
During Israel's 1948-49 War of Independence my father fought to lift the siege of Jerusalem. To him a Jewish state and the city of Jerusalem was worth fighting for. I can't say my views are any different. Israel survived against what seemed like impossible odds without any American help then. If need be it will do so again.
Anyone who insists that Israel should offer sovereignty as a concession prior to any negotiations for peace, with nothing in return, is asking Israel to surrender. What is the point of a Jewish state if not to maintain Jewish identity and hold on to what is precious to the Jewish people? Anyone who demands such a thing is no friend of Israel or the Jewish people, even if they can claim to be Jewish by birth. Oh, and yes, that includes the Obama Administration and anyone within the administration who insists that Israel not build in Ramat Shlomo or anywhere else in our holy city and capital.
““..the Jewish people were denied a homeland from 70 A.D. until 1948”
“the Jewish people were denied a homeland from 3830
until the 5th of Iyyar, 5708”
Fixed it.
My, aren’t we politically correct... “Common Era” is a revisionist farce. What’s the basis for its starting point (i.e., what supposedly happened in year 1 CE)? What’s ‘common’ about it?
“Don’t tell me the Jews side with the humanists who created that C.E. bunk.”
No, they merely meet the pagans who established the Julian calendar (upon which the Gregorian calendar is based) part of the way.
“What’s ‘common’ about it?”
Well, it’s for people who don’t understand the real calendar. Ergo, it’s common.
Different spelling. He’s just a muslim.
Well, in the past, Christians had to surrender Constantinople, a city some called ‘The Second Rome’.
Yes you are right. I was just testing the limits of what I could get away with.
I don’t know you, but I respect you.
Braruch ata Adoni Elohanu Melech ha olam asher natan le Haver cemo otach.
I'll let the Jews speak of Jerusalem and the mohammedans speak of mecca.
Barry Hussein is a servant of demons.
If the author would like an audience with friends, they should learn not to use the enemy's dialect.
Gag.
It never does go down easy.
Yes, I agree with you from the Christian point of view. However, I would be lying if I say I won’t have any problem to see churches like Notre Dame, Cologne Cathedral, Westminster Abbey or St. Peter’s Basilica to have same experience as Hagia Sophia: turned into mosques.
To use your own words: “sorry, no sale”.
Yes, idiots who think Jewish people should adopt a pagan calendar are gagging.
“To use your own words: “sorry, no sale”.”
I am not familiar with that post.
I don’t understand why Israel should not give back the land that they stole from the Palestinians in 1948.
Nothing was stolen. In fact the Cherokees have a more solid claim to the State of Ohio than the 'palis' (no such thing btw) have to one inch of Israel.
In May 1948, Jordan invaded and occupied East Jerusalem, dividing the city for the first time in its history, and driving thousands of Jews — whose families had lived in the city for centuries — into exile.
Try to be factual.
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