Friday, March 29, 2024 -
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A divided Berlin didn’t work; why redivide Jerusalem?

Would a doctor prescribe Prozac without ever having seen the patient? Would George Steinbrenner trade Derek Jeter for a player about whom he had no scouting report? Would the US ship enriched uranium to a group of unidentified peacekeepers?

Knowledge is a prerequisite for major moves, is it not? Sweden’s proposal to the European Union to redivide Jerusalem lacks the most basic knowledge of Jerusalem and her history.

When Jerusalem was divided from 1949 to 1967 — half Arab and half Jewish — the city was a small backwater and a bastion of tyranny. The Arabs did not allow the Jews religious freedom at the Western Wall. And when Berlin was divided from 1948 to 1989, the city was also a bastion of tyranny. The East Berliners did not allow her citizens political freedom. Divided cities divide people from each other and separate people from freedom. Sweden’s idea to redivide Jerusalem, making it half-Israeli and half-Palestinian, flies in the face of recent history.

Let Sweden just ask the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem today whether they would like to be under Palestinian sovereignty — denied Israeli health care and other Israeli benefits. Not one in 100 Palestinians would say yes. But . . . knowledge is a prerequisite for major moves, and Sweden’s ignorance is astonishing.

Not to mention, Sweden seems to lack any knowledge of Israel’s three-thousand-year roots in Jerusalem; and of Islam’s total silence on Jerusalem in the Koran. Jerusalem is not, was not from 1949 to 1967, and never was an Arab capital. In fact, when Jordan controlled Jerusalem for 19 years, leaders of major Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, did not even visit Jerusalem. Not once! That’s how “holy” the city is to Islam.

Why do the Palestinians suddenly claim historical roots and political necessity in Jerusalem as their capital? For one reason only: It is Israel’s capital. If Israel had declared Tel Aviv to be its capital, then the Palestinians would have claimed Tel Aviv as their own capital. The Palestinian goal is not to return to their own roots, but to prevent (or at least to hinder) Jews from celebrating theirs.

Incidentally, the Jewish majority in Jerusalem long predates the Six Day War of 1967, when Israel tore down the dividers in the city and instituted religious freedom there. The Jewish majority in Jerusalem predates even 1948, when Israel’s independence was declared. In fact, Jews were a majority in Jerusalem even before the beginnings of political Zionism in the 19th century. Sweden, obviously, lacks this knowledge, or doesn’t care.

But Jews and Israelis do care. That’s why the Swedish proposal is a non-serious non-starter.




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