Jerusalem
- “Jerusalem is an Arab City.”
- “The Temple Mount has always been a Muslim holy place and Judaism has no connection to the site.”
- “Jerusalem need not be the capital of Israel.”
- “Unlike the Jews, the Arabs were willing to accept the internationalization of Jerusalem.”
- “Internationalization is the best solution to resolve the conflicting claims over Jerusalem.”
- “While in control of Jersualem, Jordan ensured freedom of worship for all religions.”
- “Jordan safeguarded Jewish holy places.”
- “Under Israeli rule, religious freedom has been curbed in Jerusalem.”
- “Israel denies Muslims and Christians free access to their holy sites.”
- “Israel has refused to discuss a compromise on the future of Jerusalem.”
- “Israel has restricted the political rights of Palestinian Arabs in Jerusalem.”
- “Under UN Resolution 242, East Jerusalem is considered ‘occupied territory.’”
- “East Jerusalem should be part of a Palestinian state because because all its residents are Palestinian Arabs and no Jews have ever lived there.”
- “The United States does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.”
- “Palestinians have been careful to preserve the archaeological relics of the Temple Mount.”
MYTH
“Jerusalem is an Arab City.”
FACT
Jews have been living in Jerusalem continuously for three 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 only one site—the Dome of the Rock—not the city. “To a Muslim,” observed British writer Christopher Sykes, “there is a profound difference betweenJerusalem 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. 1Jerusalem’s Population 2
“The Temple Mount has always been a Muslim holy place and Judaism has no connection to the site.”
FACT
During the 2000 Camp David Summit, Yasser Arafat said that no Jewish Temple ever existed on the Temple Mount. 3 A year later, the Palestinian Authority-appointed Mufti of Jerusalem, Ikrima Sabri, told the German publication Die Welt, “There is not [even] the smallest indication of the existence of a Jewish temple on this place in the past. In the whole city, there is not even a single stone indicating Jewish history.”4These views are contradicted by a book entitled A Brief Guide to al-Haram al-Sharif, published by the Supreme Moslem Council in 1930. The Council, the principal Muslim authority in Jerusalem during theBritish Mandate, wrote in the guide that the Temple Mount site “is one of the oldest in the world. Its sanctity dates from the earliest times. Its identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.”
“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 Temple Mount in the Old City 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.”
“Unlike the Jews, the Arabs were willing to accept the internationalization of Jerusalem.”
FACT
When the United Nations took up the Palestine question in 1947, it recommended that all of Jerusalem be internationalized. The Vatican and many predominantly Catholic delegations pushed for this status, but a key reason for the UN decision was the Soviet Bloc’s desire to embarrass Transjordan’s King Abdullah and his British patrons by denying Abdullah control of the city.The Jewish Agency, after much soul-searching, agreed to accept internationalization in the hope that in the short-run it would protect the city from bloodshed and the new state from conflict. Since the partition resolution called for a referendum on the city’s status after 10 years, and Jews comprised a substantial majority, the expectation was that the city would later be incorporated into Israel. The Arab states were as bitterly opposed to the internationalization of Jerusalem as they were to the rest of the partition plan.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. The UN partition plan, including its proposal that Jerusalem be internationalized, was overtaken by events.
“Internationalization is the best solution to resolve the conflicting claims over Jerusalem.”
FACT
The seeming intractability of resolving the conflicting claims to Jerusalem has led some people to resurrect the idea of internationalizing the city. Curiously, the idea had little support during the 19 years Jordan controlled the Old City and barred Jews and Israeli Muslims from their holy sites.The fact that Jerusalem is disputed, or that it is of importance to people other than Israeli Jews, does not mean the city belongs to others or should be ruled by some international regime. There is no precedent for such a setup. The closest thing to an international city was post-war Berlin when the four powers shared control of the city, and that experiment proved to be a disaster.Even if Israel were amenable to such an idea, what conceivable international group could be entrusted to protect the freedoms Israel already guarantees? Surely not the United Nations, which has shown no understanding of Israeli concerns since partition. Israel can count only on the support of the United States, and it is only in the UN Security Council that an American veto can protect Israel from political mischief by other nations.
While in control of Jerusalem, Jordan ensured freedom of worship for all religions.”
FACT
From 1948–67, Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan. Israel made western Jerusalem its capital;Jordan occupied the eastern section. Because Jordan maintained a state of war with Israel, the city became, in essence, two armed camps, replete with concrete walls and bunkers, barbed-wire fences, minefields and other military fortifications.Under paragraph eight of the1949 Armistice Agreement, Jordan and Israel were to establish committees to arrange the resumption of the normal functioning of cultural and humanitarian institutions on Mt. Scopus, use of the cemetery on the Mount of Olives, and free access to holy places and cultural institutions. Jordanviolated the agreement, however, and denied Israelis access to the Western Wall and to the cemetery on theMount of Olives, where Jews have buried their dead for more than 2,500 years.Under Jordanian rule, “Israeli Christians were subjected to various restrictions during their seasonal pilgrimages to their holy places” in Jerusalem, noted Teddy Kollek. “Only limited numbers were grudgingly permitted to briefly visit the Old City and Bethlehem at Christmas and Easter.” 9In 1955 and 1964, Jordan passed laws imposing strict government control on Christian schools, including restrictions on the opening of new schools, state control over school finances and appointment of teachers and the requirements that the Koran be taught. In 1953 and 1965, Jordan adopted laws abrogating the right of Christian religious and charitable institutions to acquire real estate in Jerusalem.In 1958, police seized the Armenian Patriarch-elect and deported him from Jordan, paving the way for the election of a patriarch supported by King Hussein’s government. Because of these repressive policies, many Christians emigrated from Jerusalem. Their numbers declined from 25,000 in 1949 to fewer than 13,000 in June 1967. 10These discriminatory laws were abolished by Israel after the city was reunited in 1967.
“Jordan safeguarded Jewish holy places.”
FACT
Jordan desecrated Jewish holy places during its occupation in 1948–67. King Hussein permitted the construction of a road to the Intercontinental Hotel across the Mount of Olives cemetery. Hundreds of Jewish graves were destroyed by a highway that could have easily been built elsewhere. The gravestones, honoring the memory of rabbis and sages, were used by the engineer corps of the Jordanian Arab Legion as pavement and latrines in army camps (inscriptions on the stones were still visible when Israel liberated the city).The ancient Jewish Quarter of the Old City was ravaged, 58 Jerusalem synagogues—some centuries old—were destroyed or ruined, others were turned into stables and chicken coops. Slum dwellings were built abutting the Western Wall. 11
“Under Israeli rule, religious freedom has been curbed in Jerusalem.”
FACT
After the 1967 war, Israel abolished all the discriminatory laws promulgated by Jordan and adopted its own tough standard for safeguarding access to religious shrines. “Whoever does anything that is likely to violate the freedom of access of the members of the various religions to the places sacred to them,” Israeli law stipulates, is “liable to imprisonment for a term of five years.” Israel also entrusted administration of the holy places to their respective religious authorities. Thus, for example, the Muslim Waqf has responsibility for the mosques on the Temple Mount.The State Department notes that Israeli law provides for freedom of worship, and the Government respects this right. 12
“Israel denies Muslims and Christians free access to their holy sites.”
FACT
Since 1967, hundreds of thousands of Muslims and Christians—many from Arab countries that remain in a state of war with Israel—have come to Jerusalem to see their holy places.According to Islam, the prophet Muhammad was miraculously transported from Mecca to Jerusalem, and it was from there that he made his ascent to heaven. The Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque, both built in the seventh century, made definitive the identification of Jerusalem as the “Remote Place” that is mentioned in the Koran, and thus a holy place after Mecca and Medina. Muslim rights on the Temple Mount, the site of the two shrines, have not been infringed.
“Israel has refused to discuss a compromise on the future of Jerusalem.”
FACT
Jerusalem was never the capital of any Arab entity. Palestinians have no special claim to the city; they simply demand it as their capital. Nevertheless, Israel has recognized that the city has a large Palestinian population, that the city is important to Muslims, and that making concessions on the sovereignty of the city might help minimize the conflict with the Palestinians. The Palestinians, however, have shown no reciprocal appreciation for the Jewish majority in the city, the significance of Jerusalem to the Jewish people or the fact that it is already the nation’s capital.The Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles (DoP) signed in 1993 left open the status of Jerusalem. Article V said only that Jerusalem is one of the issues to be discussed in the permanent status negotiations.
“Israel has restricted the political rights of Palestinian Arabs in Jerusalem.”
FACT
Along with religious freedom, Palestinian Arabs in Jerusalem have unprecedented political rights. Arab residents were given the choice of whether to become Israeli citizens. Most chose to retain their Jordanian citizenship. Moreover, regardless of whether they are citizens, Jerusalem Arabs are permitted to vote in municipal elections and play a role in the administration of the city.
“Under UN Resolution 242, East Jerusalem is considered ‘occupied territory.’ ”
FACT
One drafter of the UN Resolution was then-U.S. Ambassador to the UN Arthur Goldberg. According to Goldberg, “Resolution 242 in no way refers to Jerusalem, and this omission was deliberate. . . . Jerusalem was a discrete matter, not linked to the West Bank.” In several speeches at the UN in 1967, Goldberg said: “I repeatedly stated that the armistice lines of 1948 were intended to be temporary. This, of course, was particularly true of Jerusalem. At no time in these many speeches did I refer to East Jerusalem as occupied territory.” 17Because Israel was defending itself from aggression in the 1948 and 1967 wars, former President of the International Court of Justice Steven Schwebel wrote, it has a better claim to sovereignty over Jerusalem than its Arab neighbors. 18
“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 began 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 such as 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.
“The United States does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.”
FACT
Of the 190 nations with which America has diplomatic relations, Israel is the only one whose capital is not recognized by the U.S. government. The U.S. embassy, like most others, is in Tel Aviv, 40 miles fromJerusalem. The United States does maintain a consulate in East Jerusalem, however, that deals with Palestinians in the territories and works independently of the embassy, reporting directly to Washington. Today, then, we have the anomaly that American diplomats refuse to meet with Israelis in their capital because Jerusalem’s status is negotiable, but make their contacts with Palestinians in the city.In 1990, Congress passed a resolution declaring that “Jerusalem is and should remain the capital of the State of Israel” and “must remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected.” During the 1992 presidential campaign, Bill Clinton said: “I recognize Jerusalem as an undivided city, the eternal capital of Israel, and I believe in the principle of moving our embassy to Jerusalem.” He never reiterated this view as president; consequently, official U.S. policy remained that the status ofJerusalem is a matter for negotiations.In an effort to change this policy, Congress overwhelmingly passed The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995.This landmark bill declared that, as a statement of official U.S. policy, Jerusalem should be recognized as the undivided, eternal capital of Israel and required that the U.S. embassy in Israel be established inJerusalem no later than May 1999. The law also included a waiver that allowed the president to essentially ignore the legislation if he deemed doing so to be in the best interest of the United States. President Clintonexercised that option.
“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 has caused irreparable damage to archaeological remains from the First and Second Temple periods. Israeli archaeologists found that during extensive construction work, thousands of tons of gravel––which contained important relics––was removed from the Mount and discarded in the trash. Experts say that even the artifacts that were not destroyed were rendered archaeologically useless because the Palestinian construction workers mixed finds from diverse periods when they scooped up earth with bulldozers. 22
Sources:
1 Encounter, (February 1968).
2 John Oesterreicher and Anne Sinai, eds., Jerusalem, (NY: John Day, 1974), p. 1; Israel Central Bureau of Statistics; Jerusalem Foundation; Municipality of Jerusalem; JTA, (May 20, 2009). Totals include those classified as “other.”
3 Interview with Dennis Ross, Fox News Sunday, (April 21, 2002).
4 Sheik ‘Ikrima Sabri, PA-appointed Mufti of Jerusalem, Interviewed by German magazine Die Welt, (January 17, 2001), [Trans. MEMRI].
5 Leon and Jill Uris, Jerusalem, (New York: Doubleday and Company, 1981), p. 13.
6 “A Brief Guide to the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem,” Supreme Muslim Council, (1925).
7 Teddy Kollek, Jerusalem, (DC: Washington Institute For Near East Policy, 1990), pp. 19–20.
8 Sir Eveyln Shuckburgh, Descent to Suez; Diaries 1951–56, (London, 1986).
9 Kollek, p. 15.
10 Kollek, p. 16.
11 Kollek, p. 15.
12 “2010 Report on International Religious Freedom,” Released by the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State, (Washington, D.C., November 17, 2010).
13 Pearl Sheffy Gefen, “Irshad Manji, Muslim Refusenik,” Lifestyles Magazine, (Summer 2004), p. 29.
14 Jerusalem Day Address to Knesset, (May 29, 1995).
15 Voice of Palestine, Algiers, (September 2, 1993).
16 Saudi Press Agency, (July 15, 1986).
17 New York Times, (March 12, 1980).
18 American Journal of International Law, (April 1970), pp. 346–47.
19 Letter from President George Bush to Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek, (March 13, 1990).
20 Jerusalem Post, (November 12, 2001).
21 Speech to AIPAC Policy Conference, (May 22, 2000).
22 Jewish Telegraphic Agency, (February 13, 2001).
23 Martin Asser, “Israeli anger over holy site work,” BBC News, (August 28, 2007).
24 Martin Asser, “Israeli anger over holy site work,” BBC News, (August 28, 2007); Etgar Lefkovits, “Archaeologists: Muslim dig damaged Temple wall,” Jerusalem Post, (August 31, 2007).
25 Mike Seid, “Western Wall was never part of temple,” Jerusalem Post, (October 25, 2007).
1 Encounter, (February 1968).
2 John Oesterreicher and Anne Sinai, eds., Jerusalem, (NY: John Day, 1974), p. 1; Israel Central Bureau of Statistics; Jerusalem Foundation; Municipality of Jerusalem; JTA, (May 20, 2009). Totals include those classified as “other.”
3 Interview with Dennis Ross, Fox News Sunday, (April 21, 2002).
4 Sheik ‘Ikrima Sabri, PA-appointed Mufti of Jerusalem, Interviewed by German magazine Die Welt, (January 17, 2001), [Trans. MEMRI].
5 Leon and Jill Uris, Jerusalem, (New York: Doubleday and Company, 1981), p. 13.
6 “A Brief Guide to the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem,” Supreme Muslim Council, (1925).
7 Teddy Kollek, Jerusalem, (DC: Washington Institute For Near East Policy, 1990), pp. 19–20.
8 Sir Eveyln Shuckburgh, Descent to Suez; Diaries 1951–56, (London, 1986).
9 Kollek, p. 15.
10 Kollek, p. 16.
11 Kollek, p. 15.
12 “2010 Report on International Religious Freedom,” Released by the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State, (Washington, D.C., November 17, 2010).
13 Pearl Sheffy Gefen, “Irshad Manji, Muslim Refusenik,” Lifestyles Magazine, (Summer 2004), p. 29.
14 Jerusalem Day Address to Knesset, (May 29, 1995).
15 Voice of Palestine, Algiers, (September 2, 1993).
16 Saudi Press Agency, (July 15, 1986).
17 New York Times, (March 12, 1980).
18 American Journal of International Law, (April 1970), pp. 346–47.
19 Letter from President George Bush to Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek, (March 13, 1990).
20 Jerusalem Post, (November 12, 2001).
21 Speech to AIPAC Policy Conference, (May 22, 2000).
22 Jewish Telegraphic Agency, (February 13, 2001).
23 Martin Asser, “Israeli anger over holy site work,” BBC News, (August 28, 2007).
24 Martin Asser, “Israeli anger over holy site work,” BBC News, (August 28, 2007); Etgar Lefkovits, “Archaeologists: Muslim dig damaged Temple wall,” Jerusalem Post, (August 31, 2007).
25 Mike Seid, “Western Wall was never part of temple,” Jerusalem Post, (October 25, 2007).
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